"Crackers can't play basketball!" "Honkies can't rap!' "White guys got no soul..."
These are a few common sentences I hear from blacks and hispanics. Especially when me and my white friends step onto a community basketball court, or at school when one of my friends writes a rap. I hear these slurs all the time. They infiltrate our schools and out popular music. Yet, when some white guy says a racial slur, you hear about him getting beaten up behind campus.
I've been raised to not use racial slurs. My parents used to tell me that I could never address someone of a different race with a slur because they wouldn't like it and that it was racist. I still can't even bring myself to even type the words when I don't know my audience's racial makeup. That's how many white kids are brought up nowadays. What about the kids of different races?
I've been called cracker and honkie so many times now. It makes me angry that it's socially acceptable to them to slur my race yet if a white person slurs their race, there's hell to pay for it. Racism is a poison pill for a white politician but when someone of a different race is racist, they get excused because of the "white man's past injustices" to them. Drop the past. The vast majority of whites today are completely not racist. We're taught not to judge by colour of the skin. What about the rest of the races? I've known hispanic families who wouldn't let a guy date their daughter because he was white. Same with other races. They can be racist and hate whites for crimes their great great grandfathers commited but if a white person favours a white person over someone else, for any other reason, they get viciously attacked.
Let's drop the racism thing. The more you seperate yourselves from other races by slurs or just racism, the more people of other races will begin to be racist against you. You know, everytime I get called a racial slur or get insulted because of the colour of my skin, I have to fight back the urge to retaliate against the race of the person attacking me. You have to realize though that not everyone is as forgiving as me. The more you are racist against other people, the more they'll be racist against you.
I'm not racist. Most whites aren't racist. It seems the inverse when applied to other races though. It seems like most hispanics are racist against people who don't have "colour". It seems that a lot of blacks are racist against whites. I think that it might be due to an inferiority complex. Well if that's the case, white people don't think that they're better than you, you have nothing to prove.
So as a nation, let's put an end to racism. Not just white racism, but racism coming from other races as well...
I agree. I think it's ridiculous that ANYONE should be allowed to use racial slurs. It's horrible to everyone. White, blacks, yellows, purples, whatever. Racial slurs are racial slurs and they should not be used.
"My Shoes Are On The Ground, But My Feet Are In The Air."
-Katt Martin.... whenever... who the crap knows what this girl is talking about anyway?
It's never socially acceptable to use a racial slur, no matter the race of the person.
There is still a lot of hurt and anger in some parts of the black community about past and present racism. It is possible that their use of those slurs stem from anger about that. Even so, there is no excuse for calling you names like that. This is just something to keep in mind...people who call other people names don't usually feel very good about themselves. Like your mom used to tell you about bullies when you were little.
Your school sounds like it needs some diversity training. Students need to know there's a no tolerance policy for ANY kind of racial slur.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I've graduated already. I still get called racial slurs though. No, there were strict rules in my school. However, in highschool you can't run to your teacher and whine about someone calling you a racial slur... believe me! But yeah, it's totally wrong. I understand that their grandparents might have been discriminated against but that doesn't excuse anyone's racism. Everytime someone brings up slavery it ticks me off. People need to stop living in the past. These things never will affect them past how far they let it. If they choose to dwell on the wrongs commited to their ancestors then it will just fuel the hatred within them. But if they choose to drop all of that and go off of the basis that they are equal to everyone else in the country and their rights are not being threatened, then they'll lead more productive lives and things like racism will die down. I don't know if it could ever be eliminated from the human psychi altogether but hey! The less the better...
-Cheez Out-
Because no one has stopped racial slurs from happening they have been added to the common language in some places. Unfortunately some people don't see it as a bad thing anymore. We need to really think about the weight that our words carry.
I do agree with your arugment that no race should use racial slurs aganist someone else. I do not think that its okay when a white person or any other race says the N word and at the same time I would get mad a black person for say the C word.
I noticed in your argument that you have said that may white people are not racist and that their parents do not bring them up to be that way nowadays. You can't actually say that for a fact because their are many white people who racist. Tell that to some one who lives in the south and goes to a majority white school, where kids are racist and they listen to racist things that their dad told them, and his dad said, and his dad said, that has been past down from generation to the next.
Liv Life Your Way
I was talking from my own experience. I was born in Arizona. I'm sure it might be different everywhere but down here the major problem is hispanics being racist against whites. I'm not talking about just schools. I've already graduated. I'm out of that and I still get called racial slurs by other people cuz I'm white... don't excuse your own racism with the racism of others...
-Cheez Out-
I from south carolina, i have never been to Arizona and i find it funny that more hispanics are being racist to whites where you are. Where i live most hispanics are the only ones not being racist even through a lot of attacks are thrown at them. That just shows how everyones view points are different.
I am sorry that you still get called racial slurs. So do I and same for a lot of the Hispanic people i know. I am not a racist and would never make an excuse for racism.
Liv Life Your Way
Hola :)
I'm bohemienne...anywho, simply put, step outside of Arizona and you'll find plenty of racist white folks.
With that initial statement out of the way, I def know how you feel. It's not right in any way, shape, or form. You will not ever understand how we (blacks) feel, but I can help you try--racial injustices have not gone anywhere, they just simmer. This is most often the reason why we're not too happy when racism is labled a thing of the "past." I was just ran out of a shopping complex because I supposedly matched the description of a some make believe trouble maker, a complex I'd never even been to before.
I cannot speak for hispanics, though I believe their discontent stems from the fact that that a good chunk of America was originally theirs, but hopefully I made some sense.
Geez.... everybody knows that black women with natural hair are thieves!
... seriously, though, you should put a complaint in with the owner of the complex, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and the Chamber of Commerce. It doesn't matter if "somebody matching your description" was a trouble maker; that's totally ridiculous and unnecessary. I wouldn't make a HUGE deal about the racism because it speaks for itself... but just write a nice little letter outlining what happened, that you are clearly an upstanding citizen, and that you are sure it will never happen again.
*shakes head* I sometimes wonder about the ridiculousness of people and if they will ever grow up. The truth is, some people will never get over the fact that other people are different, and you just have to deal with it as best you can. But then again, others will stand up for you if you stand up for yourself (like me). So write those letters... and keep blogging!
From a black female perspective there are different things that tie to racism and I'm going to share mine:
1. Racism is an act of hating a race for the simple fact that they are that race as well as having to power to "retaliate" to continue the personal ideas of that person. So- minorities don't really have enough power in this country to be racist, but they surely can be prejudice and jerks which is a horrible combination.
2. Racism will never go away- I wish it would, I would pay it to go, but it's here to stay. Why? Because the ideology never dies. Maybe actions, maybe overt and obvious feelings can go away, but the ideology is like a disease- it can mutate and it can spread very easily.
3. We still live in a nation where we are economically, physicially, sexually, etc separated. That will not change in either of our generations.
4. Just like I can not speak for the entire black community, you can not speak for the entire white community. People create for themselves their realities and they assume by saying what they aren't that the rest of the world or at least the majority are the same. It's not true- We live in a world that perpertuates hate in everyday life. We feed it to our children, our family, our friends. We learn to dislike fat people, skinny people, gay people, fundamentalist, republicians, democrates, rich people, poor people, criminals, prudes, etc. We hate because we can and even if we don't want to admit it we do and that will ultimately reinforce for us that little bit of racism that lives inside. We justify our existence by hate and so that kind of hatred remains.
I do however hope that those people stop calling you names...but I don't want you to forget either that in your head at that moment you want to retaliate against that person coming against you and you have to fight it back is the moment that ideology exists. So it's in you...you just have to chose to keep holding it back.
If a racist could love instead of hate there would be no problem. All of the examination of racism is generally racist itself.
Hate is the problem.
Love is the solution.
"Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message."
Malcolm Muggeridge
All of the examination of racism is generally racist itself.
It isn't "racist" to point out when someone is behaving is a racist manner agaist another person, nor is it "racist" to examine the motivations behind those attitudes. This is just a sematic excuse used by some to avoid having to face and take their part of the responsibility for the systemic racism which is still a reality in this country.
TTFB,
Blackout
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Yes, I've changed my username from "percivale" to "Blackout." Go here if you want to know why.
...you can hate as much as you want to, for what ever reasons you choose.
Though you will suffer more from those feelings than the target of your hate.
I suppose that it should come as no surprise to us that you have evaded any actual defense of your most recent indefensible position. Perhaps you would like to break from tradition and give us an intelligent response explaining how those who act to identify and prevent the pervasive racism in this county are engaging in "hate."
TTFN,
Blackout
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Yes, I've changed my username from "percivale" to "Blackout." Go here if you want to know why.
Quote the position you refer to, and I'll be glad to.
The one you made up is a bit too far from anything I said, as usual.
Perhaps you would like to break from tradition and give us an intelligent response explaining how those who act to identify and prevent the pervasive racism in this county are engaging in "hate"...or, if you prefer your own words, "All of the examination of racism is generally racist itself."
TTFN,
Blackout
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Yes, I've changed my username from "percivale" to "Blackout." Go here if you want to know why.
"...how those who act to identify and prevent the pervasive racism in this county are engaging in "hate" "
I would love to see an 'intelligent response explaining how' that phrase has anything to do with what I said.
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To clarify: Race is one issue, hate is another. The NAACP, Black Panthers, ADL, KKK, and the Aryan Brotherhood are all racist. The only portion of any of their activities that is a problem worth opposing is hate. All of them discriminate based on race, but not all of them oppose progress for other races, some of them merely encourage or protect progress for their race. Which would you say are the problem?
If you think you are a superior decendant of Ceasar because you are Itallian there is no problem, even though you are a racist. If you hate everyone that is not an Itallian, and oppose their rights then there is a problem. That problem is hate not race.
Who are these 'those who act to identify and prevent the pervasive racism in this county'? Give me some names and I may be able to identify the hate for you, though I only said they were generally racist.
Racism will most probably remain a reality in your lifetime, but it will fade overtime, there are quite a few reasons for this to manifest itself.
Humanity is slowly melting together, this fact alone is already breaking down the hatred which had been created around all the different races which are present on this globe.
Our species is evolving to, meaning that we are yet again on the breach to gain in new forms of consciousness which will provide us with new common sense and reason.
The ideology will die when proper educational programs will be implemented in the schooling programs.
It is true racisms is like a disease and it can indeed spread very easily, I always refer to it as being a cancer because it eats one from the inside out.
You brought up some important truths in your comment, still it is important to remain positive regardless of what is happening within the spam of one’s life. Things have drastically improved when it boils down to racism, things used to be dreadful not that long ago.
Education, whether being parental or school wise is the cure to bring a more rapid change in order to eradicate this cancer out of anyone’s lives.
Be the change you want to see in others and act accordingly.
Great comment,
http://www.ghostsofcitesoleil.com/
I agree. I think anybody can do anything. In the world today so many people are aquiring new roles and it is great because it is reducing the amount of stereotyping. Great post.