Zappa.com

No.

No one knows the answer to this question.

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Don't Be Stupid Unless You Want To

Like most white people, it wasn't until I was well into adulthood that I realized how easy white people have it this country, compared to people of color. We (white people) are raised by our culture to be racist. I include myself in this. I don't mean that parents intentionally teach racism. I don't think it's the virulent active racism ala the KKK or such. But we are taught unconsciously that black people are dangerous/not as smart/dirty/have rhythm/welfare cheats....... Yes, some black people are like that, but not nearly as much as we assume and there are sources that can back that up. So I don't assume a white person is racist, but I do assume that a strong majority of white people have been infused with the idea of black people as "other," by virtue of being brought up in an institutionally racist culture.

I look at black people and assume most have experienced more instances of racism than they can count, and mosty have stopped counting and it's simply a fact of their life. I assume that some black people hate white people and might even act on that. I KNOW life is harder for most black people than most white people. I can list examples of that if you'd like. I don't think race is simple and your idea that if we just pretend it's not there we'll all get along wonderfully is really simplistic.

White privilege ? How could you possibly assume that about me when you don't even know who the fuck I am ?? Do you say that because I'm white ? Are you privileged and white ??
In this culture, I am privileged. It's easier to get a job because I'm white. I don't get pulled over for driving while black. I don't have a glass ceiling. You are the one who said I have white guilt, and you don't know me either.

So if you want to stop slinging shit and have a CONVERSATION, I'm up for it. But if you are just invested in dismissing facts (like those from the SPLC and the FBI that recently posted), and pretending that racism either (a) doesn't exist, or (b) is heavily a black on white thing, then I'm out.

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Everytime we picked a booger we'd flip it on this one winduh. Every night we'd contribute, 2, 3, 4 boogers. We had to use a putty knife, man, to get them damn things off the winduh. There was some goober ones that weren't even hard...

well spake ronnys. same in this country, in respect of the indigenous (Aboriginal) community, and also the Asian community. as you say, it's not intentional teaching by our elders, but more an ingrained perception of superiority that is passed on. one hopes that we are whittling this away with successive generations.

i remember an aunt of mine (long dead) admonishing one of her kids for not washing an apple before they ate it with the comment..."how do you know a chinaman didn't spit on it?" as if it mattered more that it was a chinaman that might have spat on it rather than "regular folks".

I don't really want to drag this back up, but I found this interesting video someone put together for YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gLDzDkl ... re=related

I think Frank would have supported Ron Paul.

That's a good video. It shows that Howrd Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Ron Paul, and FZ are all on the same page.

I agree FZ woulda supported RP.

Nah. Frank was smarter than that; he would've seen through the facade.

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Everytime we picked a booger we'd flip it on this one winduh. Every night we'd contribute, 2, 3, 4 boogers. We had to use a putty knife, man, to get them damn things off the winduh. There was some goober ones that weren't even hard...

My thoughts on the black/white divide in the U.S.A, based on my personal, but limited experience. I grew up in a small town in Northern California with a black population of probably 10-15%. I'm probably the mellowest guy I know and the last thing I'm interested in is confrontation or violence but of all the confrontations or harrassment I encountered during my school age years probably about 75% of it was from my black peers. Two of my three brothers (siblings) had their faces and bodies beaten to a pulp by blacks (I can't say my brothers level of responsibility because I wasn't there). So yeah, I've got to say that blacks in the U.S.A. are angrier, in general, towards white people based on their history in this country but it doesn't excuse any harrassment or violence in modern day America on their part (and I really hate speaking in generalities but sometimes it's impossible not to). By the same token, whites obviously still have racist views of black society. I remember being taken aback by the attitudes of some of the white kids in college who were obviously from more affluent areas than I was. Even though I had my problems with a few black dudes in my hometown, I also had some black friends and even at that time could recognize the social injustice that blacks faced. Everyone just needs to remember that rasicm goes in all directions.

Well said K.

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Everytime we picked a booger we'd flip it on this one winduh. Every night we'd contribute, 2, 3, 4 boogers. We had to use a putty knife, man, to get them damn things off the winduh. There was some goober ones that weren't even hard...