Why is Race an Issue?

50 Years after Dr. King's , "I have a Dream" speech

I now have a question

Why is Race a Issue?

By that i mean why do we still even acknowledge it why does it still seem to matter if one is black or white?

I have never understood Racism, I can understand Religious bigotry, homophobia, Agism and so on (although i disagree strongly with all forms of discrimination) but Racism I just dont get it. I can understand (but disagree with) why someone might be homophobic because they dont like the idea of a same sex couples. But Racism?

We all bleed the same, we all hurt and love the same so i dont get it.

I personally see no difference between black man and white man other than the pigmentation of skin, but to me that is no different than a guy with brown hair and a guy with blond hair or a fat man and a skinny man.

So why is the color of skin a issue, I think its terrible that we still need to pass laws to prevent racial discrimination, for me it shouldn't even be a issue.

Best race thread ever. Its only an issue to the people who allow it to be an issue.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


At the risk of being slammed here...

I've spent many years living in Europe and Asia as well as the US. There was little racism in Europe or Asia as far as I could see, a little maybe but not much. It's the US that seems to have the problem. If we look at the rhetoric and the actual violence committed "one race on another" in the US it's pretty clear where the hate is coming from. Just don't say it out load.

Most rational people have gotten over the race thing long ago.
But since we have a mostly liberal run media and since most hipsters are liberals we still have a long way to go. Today the first person to bring up the race issue is normally a white middle or upper class person who will say something incredibly stupid and race related before saying "race is a non-issue with me i don't care if you are black, brown, yellow [insert random color that nobody really is like green]". Don't get me wrong there will always be those KKK and black supremacists types but for the most part we just have to wait until the hipsters shut the hell up and stop trying to convince everybody they are not racists or "anti-racists" then we can all sit back and laugh at the white/black supremacists together.

There are people out there that think having a different skin makes them superior.

These mindset has diminished but not disappeared.

1.) Divide and conquer.

Or,

2.) There is a human race and subsets within the human race distinguished by skin color and subsets within skin color determined by dna, blood type...I don't claim to even know.

But since a race is a game involving a finish line or some other objective,,,

What if Earth is a game board and each group (race) of people are game pieces (pawns) who represent off-world game-players (rulers, kings and queens) and the goal of the game is the race to evolve the game pieces...

Or quite possibly, de-evolve them...

Originally posted by luciddream
There are people out there that think having a different skin makes them superior.

These mindset has diminished but not disappeared.

That's the bit i really dont get why would anyone think that their skin color makes them superior to another

Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin
50 Years after Dr. King's , "I have a Dream" speech

I now have a question

Why is Race a Issue?

By that i mean why do we still even acknowledge it why does it still seem to matter if one is black or white?

I have never understood Racism, I can understand Religious bigotry, homophobia, Agism and so on (although i disagree strongly with all forms of discrimination) but Racism I just dont get it. I can understand (but disagree with) why someone might be homophobic because they dont like the idea of a same sex couples. But Racism?

We all bleed the same, we all hurt and love the same so i dont get it.

I personally see no difference between black man and white man other than the pigmentation of skin, but to me that is no different than a guy with brown hair and a guy with blond hair or a fat man and a skinny man.

So why is the color of skin a issue, I think its terrible that we still need to pass laws to prevent racial discrimination, for me it shouldn't even be a issue.

edit on 28-8-2013 by OtherSideOfTheCoin because: (no reason given)

Crime, Hypocrisy, Favoritism, and Double standards. That is why race is an issue.

I don't believe all the human races/sub species are identical apart from skin colour; there are many differences in behaviour, and physical and cognitive capacity but we aren't allowed to say so because it's not PC.

I believe black Africans (and their descendants) are dominant in sporting pursuits, and the evidence for that is crystal clear. They dominate many sports in the US and UK, despite forming only a small percentage of the population.

Intellectually they consistently under-achieve compared to other races, and are massively over-represented in crime stats.

Flame away.

reply to post by CJCrawley


I don't think at all they are naturally better at sports. I think it is just something that is somewhat easy to fall back on. No matter how bad you are in school if you are good enough at a sport some recruiter will pick you up for the team. And even prominent black rights speakers know this and wont touch that issue, because you can't blame crime and poor education on socio-economic factors and turn around to say that the sports thing is "natural".

Originally posted by CJCrawley
I don't believe all the human races/sub species are identical apart from skin colour; there are many differences in behaviour, and physical and cognitive capacity but we aren't allowed to say so because it's not PC.

I believe black Africans (and their descendants) are dominant in sporting pursuits, and the evidence for that is crystal clear. They dominate many sports in the US and UK, despite forming only a small percentage of the population.

Intellectually they consistently under-achieve compared to other races, and are massively over-represented in crime stats.

Flame away.

They dominate in many sports in the US & UK???? I know they do in the US.... but in the UK as well?
Also, didn't the slave owners only pick the stronger males and females to "buy".....
this could explain thier dominant "sporting pursuits" through genetics. no?

either way who cares.
Race shouldn't be a big deal anymore...
on a long enough timeline.... I'm sure we will ALL eventually be one color.
plus we all bleed red.

Originally posted by resoe26

Originally posted by CJCrawley
I don't believe all the human races/sub species are identical apart from skin colour; there are many differences in behaviour, and physical and cognitive capacity but we aren't allowed to say so because it's not PC.

I believe black Africans (and their descendants) are dominant in sporting pursuits, and the evidence for that is crystal clear. They dominate many sports in the US and UK, despite forming only a small percentage of the population.

Intellectually they consistently under-achieve compared to other races, and are massively over-represented in crime stats.

Flame away.

They dominate in many sports in the US & UK???? I know they do in the US.... but in the UK as well?
Also, didn't the slave owners only pick the stronger males and females to "buy".....
this could explain thier dominant "sporting pursuits" through genetics. no?

either way who cares.
Race shouldn't be a big deal anymore...
on a long enough timeline.... I'm sure we will ALL eventually be one color.
plus we all bleed red.

Kangaroos bleed red too

Hans put it best when he went on about the Liberals and the Hipsters. I must say, he was spot on.

I've yet to meet a real person who thought it was an issue.

I've seen plenty of geriatrics on TV claim its an issue while trying to relive their protesting glory days of half a century ago. I've seen sheltered elitists on TV claim it's an issue. I've seen people with the potential to gain or maintain their power over a group of people claim it's an issue. I've seen the POTUS claim it's an issue.

Not once have I met a real person face to face who thought it was an issue. Most everyone I meet mocks race freely as an obsolete paradigm much like phrenology and wizards.

Wait, I take that back. I had some friends back in the city who threw around the "n-word" a lot. I asked why they called each other and their families such a thing and they explained it "diffused" the meaning.

Okay, I'll buy that. It totally does take all the harsh meaning away when people start throwing it around. Look at "fag" and "gay" and those terms have come to mean everything but.

So I used it. But that was not considered "okay." I asked why. Apparently me using was not contributing to the diffusion. So I said "dont you see how that arbitrary caveat just perpetuates the meaning you're trying to diffuse and is in itself quite racist?"

Blank stares.

I stand by saying it isnt an issue with any real people. Those kids, as I soon learned, were complete morons through and through. Not real people. Just fools and no longer friends. I would lump them into the category of someone who had some power to gain or maintain. They just havent made it to TV yet.

It's a given anyone spouting genuine racist ideas is a moron. What should be a given is that anyone complaining about those morons are themselves morons. It takes two to play the race game. An idiot offense and an idiot defense. For everyone else it just simply doesnt matter.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Touche
Good post

reply to post by thisguyrighthere

Wait, I take that back. I had some friends back in the city who threw around the "n-word" a lot. I asked why they called each other and their families such a thing and they explained it "diffused" the meaning.

I have heard the same thing and I'm willing to bet that the person who told you that was probably black. Because its generally not okay for white people to use that word as it offends some black people but it REALLY REALLY offends liberal white people.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


I think it's to keep us at each others throats so they can screw you some more. I mean if your government was serious about it, they would hold the media accountable for breeding hate right? Why do you think that is? You think maybe they want it that way? I sure do.

Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin
50 Years after Dr. King's , "I have a Dream" speech

I now have a question

Why is Race a Issue?

I have a theory about that. Perhaps not the best theory, but a theory all the same.

I think it is evolved behavior hardwired into our genetic makeup as a survival tool.

Early in Human history survival would have required hating anyone not a part of your tribe / family /community. You get rid of the competition for food and to pass on genes or fail to survive.

It seems like most everyone is victim to that survival instinct. Right hates Left, Black hates White, White hates Black, Vegan hates Meat Eater and ........................................... It plays a part in so many ways and to me it's all the same as racism.

I'm not sure their is a solution. It is irrational entirely. We rationalize that our hates are reasonable, but they are not. Nobody seems willing to actually live and let live.

What is the easiest way for a small group of people to control a massive group of people without drawing too much attention? To throw them all into smaller subcategories, and pit them against each other. Religion, racism, sex, sexual preference, etc. If we're all butting heads and judging each other, it divides us, which makes it so much harder for us to join together if we were to ever try to fight back against the government.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


If you turn on any news channel, or sports channel actually, within at least 30 minutes of viewing....race will be brought up. A lot of the time they are not saying anything that would directly make people of different races argue (although here recently they have been)...but it's like they have to remind us that we are "different".

I am from the south and hear this # in real life everyday...it's quite depressing and it shows that we, as a society, aren't moving forward one bit. The whites are pissed at Obama and blacks are pissed at the whites for being pissed at Obama.

It seems that race will always be an issue in this country...it always has been.

reply to post by Bassago


I have to disagree with part of that. I dont know where you lived, but I too lived in Europe for over half a decade.

I saw blatant racism from national TV, to everyday street interactions. I cant quantify it as more or less than the US, but I can say that places in the US that have always been melting pots arent as racist as other parts of the world where culture shock translates into racism.

Also lets look to history to provide a background to Europe´s racism. From WW2 which was a racially fueled though not a racially motivated war, to the treatment of Gypsies and other dark skinned people through out its different periods. I think Europe has a strong trend towards hiding racism as of late, but ultimately has it as acceptable in a nonchalant way.

I saw everything from blackface comedy on TV, to news casters making little comments in between segments. Things that the US would NEVER allow.

I have had discussions where some people argue against racism and others almost violently defend race distinctions.

In the end, I see the US has at least brought race to the table in its recent history and has addressed the problems of our past in a very real way. Europe has "respected" the Taboo and just kind of side lined the issues while pretending to have worked it out.

Seeing Europe in its financial crisis I saw people show their true colors when things were hard for all. Suddenly certain races deserved less consideration when the "home breed" was not making ends meat.

In the US we tend to mix our culture more since as a former colony of ALL of europe for the most part, we just have more of a history bringing in people of different backgrounds into our national family. We had a very real civil rights struggle and for the most part integrated our many races here. The US doesnt even have a "home breed" like European countries. We have always been a melting pot of the world.

As far as Asia .....I feel the racial Isolation Asia has had for most of its history has everything to do with what racism may exist there. Different Asian cultures are far better received within any Asian culture than non asian cultures as far as I can tell.

For example: If you are korean, its not as big a deal to marry some one from China than for a black or white guy to do the same.