nornerator

This is a shoot off from "taking on the R word" and is quite related in my opinion.

Perhaps this is all just me and a few people I talk to, but this is the way I feel about things.

Do you come into close contact with other races regularly? I do, at my university I work side by side with people from India, people from China, people from South America, and Black Americans. I myself am a white american.

Something interesting I have noticed, I don't feel much racial tension at all between me and the people from India, China, or South America. However I do feel some tension between myself and black americans.

Why is this? I have never been wronged by a black person, I hold no conscious bigotry's against black people in anyway. Yet I still feel a tension, why?

The conclusion I have come to, and that I have discussed with others, is that I feel a tension because of how much the media and schools focus on the relationship between black people and white people. Now I am not saying that we shouldn't learn our history, but by continually focusing on race relations between black and white people, we create tension.

I am worried that I might say something, or make a subconscious gesture that would offend the black person, or make him think I am racist. Why don't I feel this way around other races?

Its because the schools and the media focus on issues like the "n" word, and political correctness, specifically in reference to relations between black and white people, and little between the other races.

If the schools and the media would stop focusing on being "politically correct" people in my opinion would be less tense around others of a different "race" because they wouldn't be constantly worrying "If I say or do this, will they think this?"

We shouldn't ignore issues that genuinely exist, but instead of focusing on a rigid system of words to use, we should teach people that it is the intent of words rather than the words themselves that bring meaning into a conversation.

This is all just my opinion, and I hope it came through clearly that I have nothing against any "race" whatsoever, in my opinion we are all part of the human race, and that distinctions between us merely serve to divide.

Doc Mitch

I grew up in an area with quite a few more blacks than where I live now. I feel racial tension here, but never really experienced too much where I used to live. I never had to worry about saying things (the word nigga comes to mind) because everybody knew it was just another word that was said. I have slipped up a few times here (mainly when I first moved here) and have gotten the third degree for it. I was even told about how the word nigger was "buried".

Buzzby

For most people, it's guilt about racism and a bit of fear of Black violence.

I would say that they focus on it because it's real and a major factor in American society. The focus is because of the tension, not the other way around.

The US doesn't have a history of enslaving them and the history of violence we associate with Black/White relations.

Back when I was a kid, Whites used the "N" word with impunity. The world of race relations is much better now. Not referring to minorities by pejorative terms is a matter of simple good manners and respect between human beings.

I'm sure that would make latently racist White people feel much better. Try looking at it from the viewpoint of a minority member who isn't particularly fond of being referred to by inherently negative terms. Just because nobody tells you it's offensive doesn't take away any of its offensiveness.

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nornerator

I definitely do not think minorities or anyone should be referred to by derogatory terms. I just feel that the media's focus on these issues helps to create tension.

The way I see it is this, the thoughts and feelings you have are a culmination of the interaction between your brain and your environment.

I have never been wronged by a black person, and its not like I grew up in a place without many black people (suburb of Detroit)

So if my thoughts and feelings are a product of my brain and my environment, assuming that I was not born with racial tension on the brain, I must have picked the tension up from somewhere.

And if all my interactions with black people have been positive ones, where did my brain get the idea to become tense around black people?

Is it just a coincidence that the media rarely focuses on relations between other "races" (I hate the word race), and that it focuses a lot of attention on black-white tension?

I'm sure it could be a coincidence, clearly its not impossible, but I am curious as to where these feelings arise from.

tdlex420

Your post makes a lot of sense. I have always believed that racism, at least to some degree, would go away if people just quit talking about it and making a big deal about it. I've never had a problem getting along with people of other races, but there are times where some things may be a little awkward. I've always found it funny how it can be ok for one race to do or say certain things among each other but when another race picks up on it, then it is called being racist.

From my personal experience the majority of the time someone tries to play the race card, it's simply because they can't get their way by any other means. Now before I get into the next part let me say that I am far from being a racist, in fact I have friends from all different walks of life and they would laugh at someone calling me racist.

If anything people in the minority end up having more rights than the majority (white people) and in my opinion that is completely unfair. An example would be affirmative action, where technically a white person could actually be better qualified for a job but they have to give it to a minority to keep from getting in trouble. Somehow that doesn't seem fair to me at all, I mean sure it is a good idea to have a law in place to prevent discrimination but something needs to be done differently.

I truly believe that if it weren't for the media and/or certain people or groups claiming racism at the drop of a hat that the problem would eventually work itself out. Don't get me wrong, there will always be people who have racist beliefs but mainstream America is no longer racist, and the fact that so many people so easily claim racism is pretty much ridiculous. Until we see organizations such as the NAACP and others get real then the problem will still exist like it does.

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Buzzby

Other than affirmative action, please name one right that minorities have that the majority doesn't.

Affirmative action was put into place as a corrective to the long-term discrimination against the Black minority. I'd say they deserve a break because the White majority has been fucking them over for 400 years. The United States Supreme Court shares that position.

Isn't it amazing how problems just go away if you simply ignore them?

Let me guess... You're White, right? It's easy to pretend that abuse isn't taking place when you don't happen to be the target. It's easy to pretend that America isn't a racist country - until you look at the facts.

goodgirl

"I have always believed that racism, at least to some degree, would go away if people just quit talking about it and making a big deal about it."

I have always felt the opposite....that people would quit talking about it when it ceased to be a big deal.

White guilt.....it isn't fair and I haven't discovered a way out of it yet. The fear not that we are acting racist but that we will be perceived to be racist is a real one. There are times when I have to force myself not to go off on a tangent about how liberal I am as if in a preemptive strike against racist allegations.

Sure, it sucks that I sometimes feel a racial tension because I am worried that I will be judged racist because of the color of my skin....but I figure that it balances out because I have never had anyone clutch their purse tighter because of the color of my skin....I am not more likely to be questioned for driving a nice car, and I am not more likely to be put to death for a capital crime based on the color of my skin.

Until society actually reaches a point that the inequality and perceptions based on race no longer exist on any level there is bound to be some racial tension. It is how we react to that tension and how we allow it to effect us that defines us.

I don't feel media coverage or special interest groups are anything other than a reflection of the tension that is already there. It wasn't that long ago that blacks were forced to ride in the back of the bus.....do we really expect that tension would have already disappeared if people didn't acknowledge it?

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"No one is free when others are oppressed."

nornerator

I am so happy about all the thoughtful responses to this thread.

I guess I am just having a hard time telling if art imitates life, or if life imitates art.

All of your thoughtful comments are helping me shape my opinion on the subject, and I thank you all.

tdlex420

Typically I tend to agree with a lot of the stuff you say, but either you are misconstrued on the point I was making or willingly avoided it. So according to you overall America is still a racist country, which I find quite funny considering a black man was elected president. I'm not saying racism does not exist, as it will probably always exist to a certain degree. As far as your comment about it being amazing how problems just go away, I have to say you completely misinterpreted my point on that. It's not so much that I was saying ignore the problem as I was saying if people quit focusing on it so much then it would become less of a problem.

This country has came a long way in the last 30 or 40 years and while I do agree that certain laws needed to be put in place back then, I think they need to be looked at now to see how effective they are. Specifically affirmative action, and to be quite honest if I was a minority I would take it as a slap in the face that people think I need a head start based on my race to succeed. It may have been needed years and years ago but in today's society they cause more problems than they solve.

What happened to minorities, specifically black people, in the past was absolutely wrong and completely horrible. This country has came a long way since then, and I truly believe that if racism is to ever become a non issue then it will take both sides working towards the same goal. That can't happen if groups like the NAACP play the race card any time a minority doesn't get their way. It seems like anytime something happens to a person in the minority and the NAACP finds out about it, it quickly turns into a problem simply because it was a minority (regardless of whether the problem had racial undertones or not.)

I am by no means against minorities having rights, but I do feel that we are past the point as a society of having to give preferential treatment to someone based on the color of their skin. As far as you guessing I am white, you are absolutely correct although you are a bit mistaken when you said this "It's easy to pretend that abuse isn't taking place when you don't happen to be the target." Having lived in both predominantly white, and predominantly black neighborhoods I tend to have a pretty good idea of what kind of things go on. A lot of people tend to forget that racism works both ways, it isn't just the white people that are racist. I've been racially profiled for being white and in a black neighborhood and I have seen it happen the other way around. Regardless of how it happens it is wrong, and until people in the media and other networks quit making a bigger deal of it than it really is we will continue to see the same problems.

MestUp7

Affirmative action pisses me off. It's simply another form of racism. One person gets into college or the job they wanted over the other solely based on the color of their skin - that IS racism.

And you can see the effects of it anywhere. If someone were to make a commercial with all white americans, they would be racist. Now when you see commercials with multiple people, there's normally multiple races.

Why is it such a hard concept to just forget about skin color and judge people based on who they are? Affirmative action is working in the opposite direction.

I always wanted to see what would happen if someone started a scholarship for white people.

P.S. - I am not racist in any way at all and treat other races with the same respect I do my own.