You'd think these people would have the sense not to draw attention to themselves after this:
I really hope those of you on FR who, IMO, fixate on blacks only when they riot and do other bad things read this and see another side of black life. It's always been there.
A good suggestion.
You'd think these people would have the sense not to draw attention to themselves after this:
Your profile says exactly what I was hoping would be one product of this crisis. It is awesome to see people from all backgrounds, including myself, spending more time focused on what is great about this country and a little less on what keeps us apart.
I've seen it too. In an emotional discussion in my doctor's office (two days after the event) about this subject with some blacks and others, I felt closer to blacks than I have in decades. It was encouraging to hear, 'they attacked us,' from the blacks.
Good that Mfume says the right thing. I wonder why he is apparently not speaking at the Black Congressional Caucus meeting.
Concur, and thanks...
Unfortunately, there are many whites in rural, Midwestern America whose only exposure to blacks are depictions on television (which even in the black produced shows aimed at a black audience) depict blacks as either criminals or buffoons. The exceptions were few and far between The old Cosby Show (the new one depicts the title character as clownish, albeit a good and decent man) and even Star Trek (Deep Space 9) showed strong, intelligent, decent black men and women. For the most part, you get "The Parkers" and "Martin". Not exactly accurate depictions of black Americans. The other exposure is video footage of riots. These thugs (and that is what they are) do not reflect most blacks, yet, that is the image that many whites retain. The whole "gangsta" rap thing makes it worse. Listen to the songs...many are about violence. They are about rape, murder, the videos glorify the "gangsta" culture. Of course whites who have no real contacts with blacks are going to come away with the mistaken impression that blacks, as a whole, are like that. Especially when it is the popular culture produced by blacks themselves that reinforces that opinion!
When I was a young child, my neighborhood school closed. I was bused to a school in a predominately black neighborhood. The racial mix was close to equal, with whites being a slight minority, and for the first time, I was exposed to blacks on a large scale. I was scared at first, because I had seen depictions of blacks as violent. I saw the news footage of the Black Panthers as it was happening. But you know what? I was wrong. I learned that, yes, there were some thugs among blacks, just as there are among whites, but most were exactly like me. I found growing up that most blacks I came in contact with were good decent people. Most that I have contact with as an adult are good, decent, hardworking men and women with the same dreams, the same hopes and the same fears that I have. Although there are times when I fail, I try to not make judgments based on how someone looks. I try to raise my daughter to see past what's on the outside. I don't make an issue of it with her. She has been around blacks and other ethnicities since she was three and doesn't see any difference...to her the different skin is no more than the different color of eyes or hair; it doesn't matter and it shouldn't.
This article, I fear, is just as guilty of depicting a false image of blacks as the old TV cop shows of the 70s and the gangsta crap of today (crap was a typo, but it works for me!) The "victimhood" in the black community sees the flag as racist or oppressive; most blacks don't; never did, never will. Of those 6,000 killed in the attacks, many were black. The blacks of America aren't angry that blacks died; they are angry that AMERICANS died. They are angry that America was attacked. Black, white, brown, yellow, it doesn't matter. The events of September 11 awoke a patriotism that had fallen silent in many Americans. There are many whites that never hung a flag on their house prior to September 11. Many of those, just like their black brothers, are waving the flag today; they do it because they love America. They do it because they love the freedom and opportunities offered by America. They just never realized how much until someone tried to take it away.
I've tried hard to develop a "neighborly" relationship but he insists on seeing everything through the eyes of a victim (even though both he and his wife have M.A. degrees from a major university paid for by the government, hold nice middle-class jobs, own three brand-new automobiles, live in a $400,000 home, take frequent and expensive vacations, etc.) The only thing he really seems interested in is nursing his grievances. The mailman once put his mail into my box by mistake and it consisted mainly of Black-oriented publications like "Ebony," where I suspect a "party line" is promulgated.
In discussing the WTC tragedy he made it clear, as he has on many other occasions, that "White Europeans" are the cause of all of the world's problems, including this one. Being an American of white European extraction, I take that personally. He refuses to accept any expression of neighbor-like friendship even though we have frequent over-the-fence conversations. I once asked him if he'd be kind enough to collect my newspaper for me while I was on vacation and he let me know he interpreted it as a master/slave relationship even though I've offered to do the same for him on several occasions. He loves to play race-baiting games. Once when a neighbor and I were chatting with him while he was weeding his flower beds, a door-to-door salesman headed down the sidewalk toward us. My neighbor said: "He'll go for you two; he'll think I'm just doing your stoop labor." That remark angered me to the point I've barely been able to talk with him since.
Why does this attitude persist? What can be done to change it? If blacks and whites can't live harmoniously together as patriotic Americans-in-common, is separatism the only answer? I don't feel there's a lot of time left for this question to be answered.
Fantastic observation. Does that mean the idea of reparations goes by the wayside????
Freegards.