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WHAT IT MEANS TO BE WHITE IN AMERICA
boblonsberry.com ^ | 07/22/13 | Bob Lonsberry

Posted on 07/22/2013 6:08:33 AM PDT by shortstop

The president told us on Friday what it’s like to be black in America.

A couple of days before that, his attorney general said that America needs to be honest about race. Since then, any number of prominent black people have said we need to have a national discussion about race.

So let’s.

Let’s have a discussion about race.

Not a one-sided harangue, but a two-way discussion. Let’s move beyond the politically correct “Whites are racists, blacks are victims” and actually talk things out.

You do that by hearing both sides.

Toward that end, in the spirit of the president’s remarks, I’d like to discuss what it’s like to be a white man in America. And I’d like to be held to the same standard as the president. His remarks were personal impressions based on generalizations, traditions, culture and folklore.

He was called brave.

I’ll be called racist.That’s because our system is based on a double standard. Black criticisms of white society are insightful; white criticisms of black society are bigotry.

White people know that if they say anything that doesn’t exactly toe the line of political correctness, they run the risk of losing their jobs and their public reputations. We live in a society where the accusation of racism is evidence enough; to be accused is to be guilty.

That’s what we white people think.

We also think that we pay the bills. We think that we disproportionately pay the taxes and that black people disproportionately collect the welfare. We feel like we are being ripped off and that this uneven shouldering of the burden will eventually bankrupt and kill our country.

I work in a building that houses a Social Security office. One elevator serves that office specifically. It is stunning to note the demographic difference between the elevators. Overwhelmingly, white people go up one set of elevators to work, and black people go up the other set of elevators to apply for SSI.

Young, healthy people.

All day long.

The culture of many white Americans is one of hard work and self-reliance. Our heritage teaches us that work is ennobling, and our religion teaches us that by the sweat of our brow we should eat our bread.

And we feel like we are being robbed by a socially dysfunctional urban black America where out-of-wedlock birth, educational failure, criminal conduct and other irresponsibility perversely entitle people to money we earned to support our families.We believe that races are equal, but cultures are not, and that a woefully failed black urban culture is cancerously destroying lives and communities. And we feel like we have to both foot the bill to support it and fight it, and watch out for spillover that might threaten us.

White people also believe black America has a predatory crime problem that creates a real danger for all of us.

We believe that because it happens to be an undeniable truth. Blacks are disproportionately involved in crime, and while some blacks believe that’s because of a racist criminal justice system, most whites believe it’s because blacks are more likely to commit crime.

We all pretend not to notice the race of the mug shots on the evening news, but we’re only pretending. We notice, and we don’t forget. We don’t believe the criminal justice system is victimizing inmates, we believe the criminal justice system is protecting us from inmates. We believe people in prison deserve to be there – they did the crime, they do the time.

Black violence – much of it directed against other blacks – has over the years since 9-11 racked up a higher body count than the war on terrorism.

White people think that is a big deal.

If black people are complaining about Stand Your Ground laws of self-defense, white people are saying that you don’t have to worry about it if you don’t attack anybody. The cry against Stand Your Ground is a cry in defense of people who are violently assaulting other people. Black people are disproportionately injured in all types of self-defense situations because black people are disproportionately involved in attacking other people, and pushing those people into self-defense. That’s not a problem with the law, that’s a problem with people’s conduct.

White people also believe that we are disadvantaged in the workplace. We believe that quotas and diversity programs discriminate against us in hiring and promotion. This is truest in the government and corporate workplaces.

It’s true for the white male hoping to get hired on the police or fire department, and it’s true for the mid-career white person passed over for less-qualified minority employees.

Many white people are bothered by the social conduct of some black people. Often there is a loud, obnoxious and profane behavior, and a crude sexual harassment of women in public settings.

Black apologists often speak of “culture” and of the need for whites to understand and respect black culture. The president on Friday said we needed sensitivity training. Many whites would like that to be a two-way street. We’d like a little courtesy extended to our sensitivities, too.

White people believe that black people have a chip on their shoulder about race. And a persecution complex. And an inability sometimes to talk or think about anything else.

We also think that black people get pulled over by the police for the same reasons anyone does – for breaking the traffic law – and that the cry of racism anytime anyone has contact with the police is a bunch of crud.

These are some of the things white people think.

Of course, my account is just as full of generalizations as the president’s. He made assumptions about the thinking of the very diverse group of Americans who happen to be black, and he made assumptions about the thinking of the very diverse group of Americans who happen to be white. I have done the same. He was undoubtedly part right and part wrong. I am also undoubtedly part right and part wrong.

Do you think some of my observations were hurtful and overbroad? What of the president’s implicit assertions that white women on elevators are racists, and that cops on patrol are racists, and that store employees are racists? Are his claims different or more justified?

The president, to the extent that he understands the subject, told us what it’s like to be a black man in America.

But what he had was not a conversation, it was a condemnation. And two can play that game.

With all this clamoring in recent days for a conversation, it is understood that what activists and politicians really want is one more denunciation of white America. The conversation is about how racist America is and how unfair it is to blacks.

And that’s simply not true.

And if this is truly a conversation, then I am free to say that.

But I’m not.

And that’s what it means to be white in America.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: liberalism; obama; race; racism; trayvon
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This is Lonsberry at his best. Also, check out the comment section of his website. Some interesting stuff.
1 posted on 07/22/2013 6:08:33 AM PDT by shortstop
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To: shortstop

Ping for truth....it’s notable that the author must have really watered down his observations.


2 posted on 07/22/2013 6:12:20 AM PDT by mountaineer1997
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To: shortstop

The writer is spot on.


3 posted on 07/22/2013 6:12:44 AM PDT by BipolarBob (Democrats will give you the shirt off somebody elses back for a vote.)
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To: shortstop

Hunted. Exploited.


4 posted on 07/22/2013 6:13:27 AM PDT by Truth29
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To: shortstop

It would be hard to find something disagreeable in that article.

It would also be hard to find something that isn’t objectively true, as well, if one were honest.


5 posted on 07/22/2013 6:15:10 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: shortstop

THIS!


6 posted on 07/22/2013 6:16:38 AM PDT by ealgeone (obama, border)
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To: shortstop

I can’t add much to this, except to point out that black violence against whites is on the rise, and being deliberately masked by our media.


7 posted on 07/22/2013 6:17:14 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady
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To: BipolarBob

I found myself nodding yes throughout.


8 posted on 07/22/2013 6:17:15 AM PDT by leapfrog0202 ("the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery" Sarah Palin)
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To: shortstop

Everything is our fault. That it what it is like to be white in America.


9 posted on 07/22/2013 6:17:30 AM PDT by Tammy8 (~Secure the border and deport all illegals- do it now! ~ Support our Troops!~)
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To: shortstop

Spot on, and definitely watered down.


10 posted on 07/22/2013 6:17:34 AM PDT by pieceofthepuzzle
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To: shortstop

Thx for sharing!


11 posted on 07/22/2013 6:17:48 AM PDT by leapfrog0202 ("the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery" Sarah Palin)
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To: shortstop

Yup!


12 posted on 07/22/2013 6:17:54 AM PDT by LucianOfSamasota (Tanstaafl - its not just for breakfast anymore...)
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To: shortstop

Spot on.

About time someone says the truth.

It is long, long overdue - to eliminate laws about racial bias in America.

Long overdue.

We are all equal now.

Act like it.


13 posted on 07/22/2013 6:20:14 AM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network
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To: shortstop
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE WHITE IN AMERICA

Armed 24/7

14 posted on 07/22/2013 6:20:27 AM PDT by grobdriver
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To: shortstop
I lived in Rochester, NY for 24 years; this is where Lonsberry hosts his talk show, so I've listened to him many times, and also read his online column. With me it's often a case of like the message, dislike the messenger. This may be his best column ever.
15 posted on 07/22/2013 6:21:44 AM PDT by Fair Paul
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To: shortstop

Whites are the new slaves. Blacks are the new masters. But at least the old white masters were actually leading the PRODUCTION of a crop and involved with legal COMMERCE. Can’t say the same about the new black masters...other than the ILlegal drug/sex trade.


16 posted on 07/22/2013 6:21:45 AM PDT by AbolishCSEU (Percentage of Income in CS is inversely proportionate to Mother's parenting of children)
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To: shortstop
The president has spent the last 6 years looking at the way White people live in America, and looking at the way Black people behave in America. And his conclusion is clear: "You White people are messed up. You have a bad culture. The way White people behave is no way for a decent society to act. White people must change."

An normal, intelligent, well-intentioned man would never express such a thought.

17 posted on 07/22/2013 6:22:49 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (21st century. I'm not a fan.)
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To: shortstop

Read some of it. Dead on. The Democrat plantation is still alive and well and keep blacks on it using welfare. If I were black or Hispanic I don’t think I’d find much to be proud of: High crime, high welfare, low education, ghetto neighborhoods, etc.


18 posted on 07/22/2013 6:23:33 AM PDT by CodeToad (Liberals are bloodsucking ticks. We need to light the matchstick to burn them off. -786 +969)
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To: shortstop

it strikes me that the only thing not mentioned in this fine tale on being white in America is the urge to hurl. No Im not exaggerating.

A casual glance at the regime and its deeds has on a number of occasions inspired me to eject my “lunch” . Most usually Ive been able to control that spastic urge.

There’s something so not right about this gang of punks that the inherent toxicity they represent is recognized by my GUT as something to be evacuated asap.

This last blast of surreal jibber jabber form the mouth of the DEMORALIZER IN CHIEF stands ALONE in OUR History as the most FOUL most reprehensible blast of rage IMAGINABLE.

the DEMORALIZER IN CHIEF doesnt want DIALOG. the DEMORALIZER IN CHIEF wants to continue to spew his MONOLOGS..PRETENDING that by doing so hes engaging in DIALOG

Being heartbroken about the condition this Nation is in doesnt cut it. SYSTEMIC CLEANSING of the toxic dreck that passes for “dialog “ will,

ONWARD AND UPWARD


19 posted on 07/22/2013 6:25:51 AM PDT by MeshugeMikey (Macabre Crumpet of Caucasian Ethnicity)
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To: shortstop
Thanx shorty ... I sent the link to my entire list ... my racist list .... they're all white.

Black people don't go out of their way to say hi to white people in Walmart .... or anywhere else, for that matter.

20 posted on 07/22/2013 6:26:06 AM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof, but they're true.)
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