Is 'white' the only color of success?

Christian Science Monitor ^ | October 31, 2005 | Marilyn Gardner

[darbymcgill]

If not for that, what do you think he was banned for?

Let's put it this way. If his remarks were sooooo abusive why weren't they pulled immediately? Why did someone have to press abuse before they were pulled? Why hasn't the "kill the honkeys" post been pulled? Why hasn't the POS post been pulled? You answer this and you will have answered your own question.

[Graybeard58]

I don't have a ping list nor am I on one nor do I want to be on one. I ping my sons occasionally, when I think a subject might interest them but never ping anyone to help me in a discussion to "gang up" on someone.

Want consistency? Go here and give me your opinion on posts numbers 10, 15, 27, 30.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1513198/posts

I am consistent.

I am white and grew up in the south in the 50s and 60s, I know what racism is, it's ugly and it's evil.

[Graybeard58]

Why did someone have to press abuse before they were pulled?

Because the mods don't read every reply in every thread. If they did there wouldn't be a need for an abuse button.

I make a point of not using personal invective in any of my replies and when someone first uses it with me, I simply ignore any more posts from them.

[darbymcgill]

Because the mods don't read every reply in every thread. If they did there wouldn't be a need for an abuse button.

I'm glad we can agree that many abusive and offensive posts are not pulled because nobody tattled. Therefore content is not the only reason.

[darbymcgill]

Go here and give me your opinion

Your point is well taken.

I personally could care less what your race is. Don't take this wrong or as pious but I try to live my life race neutral. With much difficulty I must confess.

I will relate a personal experience in this regard that I cherish. A friend/co-worker and I were playing golf one day discussing a future construction project. He asked who the engineer was and I told him. I suppose he had heard the name before and asked me if he was black. I looked him straight in the face and told him without a flinch that I had never noticed (of course a lie). He was speechless and the look on his face was priceless.

Would you mind telling me your purpose behind posting this article in the first place. These threads rarely if ever take the desired tack.

[Graybeard58]

I'm glad we can agree that many abusive and offensive posts are not pulled because nobody tattled. Therefore content is not the only reason.

There's no relationship between "not pulled because nobody tattled" and "Therefore content is not the only reason". It does not follow. It certainly would not be pulled unless someone complained or unless the owner/mod just happened to see it.

I don't want to insult your intellegence by running this point into the ground but the abuse feature wouldn't be there if the owner/mods read every single reply on every thread. It exists so a post in question can be brought to their attention and then they make a decision about whether it should be pulled. By making "Abuse" available they are implicily encouraging it's use. By making it available for me I incur a certain responsibility not to abuse the abuse feature.

I am a retired union member, I am against the death penalty, I like Wal-Mart, my wife is in management there. I have had plenty of discussions on these issues and have been called a lot of names and I have never reported anyone for abuse in those exchanges. I just learned to ignore the posters whose idea of a debate is to call me names.

I hope you followed the link I posted. That poster was wrong in his remark about "white trash" and he knew it and eventually dropped it. (No one was reported for abuse)

If you reply to this, I probably won't answer until tomorrow. It's getting real close to my bed time here in the central time zone. You have a good night.

[Graybeard58]

Just saw your number 285.

I posted the article hoping to get some responses from professional types here at FR on their experiences and first hand knowledge. I am a retired factory worker. It's a whole different world, I'm sure.

[darbymcgill]

It really is all a matter of perspective. I look at the article and I read one perspective. Then I consider my own experiences.

I am a manager at a fortune 500 company. When I was hired over 30 years ago I was told the only place for me was in a "traditional" woman's position even though there were openings in "traditional" men's jobs. It took me almost 5 years to get a position I wanted in the first place.

I have been to more sensitivity / diversity training than I have technical training. I have seen men's careers ruined by anonymous sexual harassment hotlines simply because they expected their employees to work. I have seen peers of mine make statements like "they can't fire me cause I'm black". I have been appraised over the years with the highest evaluation rating permissible and be told by my supervisor point blank that my chances for promotion are virtually nil because of my race and my gender. I have been in meetings with upper management and been told if I didn't think minorities and women deserved to be advanced in front of white males then I didn't deserve to work for the company. I see every commercial and drama on TV and theater portray people like me as everything but honorable while everyone not like me is portrayed in a positive light.

Then when I read an article like the one you posted I wonder what world they are living in because it sure doesn't look like the one I see in corporate America. These relative positions are what makes it difficult to have a meaningful discussion when race is involved. And it will never happen if we continue to silence those with whom we disagree.

[BadAndy]

"The claim at the inner city schools was that children living in inner cities could not be expected to achieve academic standards due to the stress of racism and poverty. Any student at such a school who dared to apply himself academically was going against the grain of the official propaganda."

The black community is even more screwed up than I thought it was.

[Seamoth]

I remember that one. It was so over the top, it was almost funny. Warty duck-bills and all.