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Friday, April 13, 2007
Racist Houston, Racist AmericaFor a good long while now, it's been freaking me out that Houston's Craigslist Rants & Raves seem way, WAY more racist than those of other American cities. Also, our Houston Chronicle is littered with more racist/conservative/hateful commentary than other online papers I've read.
And I wonder why, and I come up with various theories (uh... Houston is a port town and more of a melting pot than other cities and therefore on the cutting edge of race-relationships exploration... uh...) but, in the end, it just makes me sad and ashamed, and I wonder if I should go live somewhere else.
Racism fascinates me, though. Maybe because I'm of mixed ethnicity and have seen a lot of it from alternate sides, it always has amused and interested me. I like to read honest, anonymous, insane racist commentary and use it to draw thumbnail pics of what's going on in the world.
Here is a recent, racist rant on Houston Craigslist that's stuck in my head lately. If you're too tired to click, I'll summarize and say that it's about a white person who is upset that Rucci's (a taqueria in a trendy neighborhood) is full of Mexican employees and patrons who don't give white people preferential treatment.
This post touches my heart because it reveals what's going on a lot lately around these parts. That is: Racist white people are afraid, because the Latino population is growing so quickly. Racist white people know that they're the minority here, now, and they don't want to be treated the way they've always treated non-whites.
Sob.
I mean, that's a dynamic that's been happening in America for a long time, anyway, but now I see the very specific, anti-Mexican manifestation of it here in my hometown. It's pathetic, but kind of amusing, too. Especially in the case of that post. My friends and I don't go to Rucci's anymore because, last time we were there, some stupid-ass white people tried to start a fight with us. There were ten of us and three of them--one guy and two blondes with implants--and the reason for the argument was very stupid. The blondes kept parading around our table in their skimpy outfits, and one of the women at our table made a disparaging remark about them, so the two blondes went to their male friend and demanded that he defend their honor. And the lone guy walked up to our table and randomly picked the lightest-skinned of our men to start shit with, and our light-skinned friend didn't know what the issue was, but he was willing to beat this guy's ass just for the fun of it. And some of us tried to reason with the guy and send him back to his blondes, but he was hell-bent on impressing them by getting his ass beat, I guess. And the (Mexican) security guards eventually came over and made everybody chill.
And it was funny, and pathetic, and we often reminisce about it and wonder if the guy ever got any sex for his foolish trouble. But, at the same time, we don't go to Rucci's anymore because, obviously, trashy people eat there. Trashy white people who start fights, over nothing but the hope of rutting with each other at 2 AM.
I guess it's probably difficult to go from being the majority culture to the minority one. Well, I know it is, because I'm expected to go back and forth between cultures all the time. When in Rome, you do as Romans, and sometimes conflicts arise. It gets stressful.
But that's the thing, isn't it? You do as the Romans if you want to go to Rome, don't you? You don't walk into Rome wearing your "Grecian and Proud!" t-shirt and screaming rants about how non-Grecian these effing Romans are. Unless, of course, you're stupid.
Yes, I know, racist white people: You didn't ask to go to Rome. Your city is becoming Rome all around you, without your permission. I know, I know. Hush, little babies. You might have to move away. Or, you might have to learn to get along with Romans. Poor racist white people, I know it's hard.
So, anyway--from the specific to the general, now:
Don Imus deserves to get fired. You know why? Not because he exercised his right to racist free speech. No. He needed to get fired because he's behind the times. His show is no longer entertaining to the masses. It's outdated, old-fashioned, not funny anymore.
You know why no one says wop or dago or spic on the radio anymore? Because it's boring. It's lame.
You know why ads got pulled from Don's show? Because there's nothing interesting about a racist old white men. It's old. It's stale. Move on.
And you can complain all you want that Dave Chappelle gets away with it, or that non-Mexican Mexican-disparager Carlos Mencia gets away with it. And you're right, they do. But I promise you that when they get stale, they won't be able to sell ads anymore, and then we'll all move on to the next big (offensive, stupid, lowest-common-denominator-serving) thing.
If you want to succeed, you have to sell to the masses, even when they aren't the same color as you. That's how it works in America. That's how you live in Rome.
Labels: culture, pop culture, venting
9:28 AM #Comments:
Gwen for the Win!I think Memphis' Craigslist would be just as bad, but I think our racist white people don't know how to use computers.
No, seriously.
# posted by
Ali : 10:15 AM
Having lived away from Houston for so many years, I always thought it was much less racist here. I was appalled by the segregation in the places I lived while away from Texas (San Francisco, Madison, Minneapolis). The racism in the Midwest drove me insane.
In some ways it was due to growing pains, those towns are just experiencing the first population changes. They were completely white until the last 10 years or so. But I couldn't believe that people in liberal towns, who considered themselves to be liberal would refer to "those people" from Chicago who move here for all the benefits.
# posted by
Purl : 10:40 AM
I totally agree with you re: Imus. I told a friend of mine in my perfect world he wouldn't be fired. He would go back on the air but the whole world would be so tired of that bull that he would have negative ratings and THEN he would get fired because he show was tanking and it was finally proven that he and folks like him are obsolete. I know the industry doesn't work that way, so I got my close second choice for what would happen. :)
# posted by
lumenatrix : 10:45 AM
Though your point is well-taken and clearly the trend in many cities around the country, it is very facile of you to manipulate the situation in the restaurant to suit your argument. Again, obviously the white guy trying to start the fight was an idiot, but so was your friend who initiated the situation by apparently disrespecting a total stranger who had no interaction with your table other than walking near it? I think you are only willing to see half the issue.
# posted by
: 10:56 AM
Well, I guess it's pretty obvious you have not much more than contempt for racist white people. Makes me wonder how you feel about racists of other "colors", (is white a color?). But hey, I've got to agree with you on the Imus deal. The thing that I wondered about with the Imus situation was that yea, Imus is toast and fired, but what about MSNBC and CBS? Why are they still in business? They are so far behind the times they approach irrelevance. As far as I'm concerned their credibility is shot. Done, Toast. I don't watch either one and I'd not be surprised to see either one or both go under or be retired by way of acquisition.
# posted by
: 11:14 AM
KC is the most overtly racist place I have lived, and coming from DC and Boston, that may tell you something. I sit next to a good ol' girl, who has held forth on her opinion of mixed-race marriage: it's bad, because you shouldn't do that to the kids, and races should keep to their own kind. Since my sister-in-law is of a different racial background, and my cube buddy knows this from seeing a wedding photo, you'd think she'd know better than to say it to me. Not only did she discuss it at length, she didn't have the decency? brains? whatever? to understand that this is no longer (if it ever truly was) an acceptable opinion to hold, never mind shout from the rooftops.
I mentioned that Imus got fired, and she asked what it was all about since she hadn't paid attention. I told her about the latest comment, which she laughed at, then explained that it wasn't just the "nappy-headed hos" bit, but a string of less than funny, questionable comments. Slate.com had a compilation of some of his doozies, and I read them to her to illustrate my point, and she giggled or outright laughed at every single one. All of them.
My husband had a good point; he said that instead of laughing, she should be nervous, because slowly but surely the world is changing, and those kinds of "jokes" and that kind of behavior is just not going to be acceptable anymore.
Speed the day.
# posted by
Jenna : 12:14 PM
So, was the comment that your friend made about how the women were blonde, not properly covered and in your presence? Because that is some messed up stuff there.
# posted by
: 1:29 PM
What a perfect example of the pot calling the kettle black. Classic.
# posted by
: 3:32 PM
Regarding Imus -- I know next to nothing about the guy because if his show was on in the Toronto market, it did not register at all on my radar. His ridiculous hair and eyebrows automatically disqualify him from gaining any more of my attention. So, I admit to being lookist and ageist.
I was talking to a coworker about the "nappy-headed ho" turn of phrase. He wanted to know if Imus was even aware of what nappy-headed meant beyond being lyrics in an old Stevie Wonder song. He also wondered how anyone who speaks English couldn't know that calling women "hos" is offensive, regardless of age.
- maggie
# posted by
: 3:32 PM
I heard about this Imus foolishness while we were vacationing in Mexico. Yeah, black folks in Cancun, y'all. Anyway, I couldn't help feeling embarrassed by the whole thing. What must our Mexican hosts think of us as Americans. First we show up in their country and can barely form a response in Spanish and now they must surely be watching the news and thinking (once again) that we are all a bunch of assholes. And part of the reason Imus got canned? He's kind of an asshole. He has been for years and maybe they were looking for a reason to ditch him. I'm sure FOX will pick him up, though. Meanwhile, everyone please learn some more Spanish. People come from Central and South America (like my Abuela)and work their asses off to be here. Recognize.
# posted by
: 4:19 PM
Since moving back to the US a month ago, I've been pretty jarred by just how aware one is of race as an issue here. Europe has its tensions - mostly between fundamentalist Muslims and those of us who don't think rape victims and gays should be stoned to death - but race is really not a huge deal there the way it is here. (I'm sure for someone living there who is a minority, it's a much bigger deal than it could ever be for a white person like me. But here in the US, I've been much more conscious of race than I ever was in Europe.) Shit is tense.
# posted by
jax : 5:24 PM
Ali: You think? That's some comfort, maybe. Thanks. :)
Purl: !!! Word! Same here - when I lived in Austin, everyone there considered themselves so awesomely liberal, and yet the whole town was literally divided in half, with whites on the West Side and non-whites to the East.
Lumenatrix: I agree with you totally. In a perfect world, people would vote against him with their dollars.
Anonymous 10:56: Maybe. It depends on what you think my point was. If my point was that white people are bad idiots and non-white people are good not-idiots, then, yes, it was facile of me to use that story.
If my point was that I found the Craigslist anecdote particularly amusing, since it was about white people not getting preferential treatment at Rucci's, then... Well, you can have your own opinion over whether or not I shoehorned the anecdote to make it amusing to myself. For the record, I don't think my friend was being un-idiotic when she made the disparaging comment.
Anonymous 11:14: "Racism fascinates me, though. Maybe because I'm of mixed ethnicity and have seen a lot of it from alternate sides, it always has amused and interested me."
I guess, if you don't read this blog often, you don't know already that I'm half white. And, therefore, the quoted sentence from my post alludes to racism from whites and non-whites. If you think I enjoy hearing non-white people disparage half my heritage, then you don't know me very well, and should probably read more of my site. Or my books, even.
Jenna: Do you think she passive-aggressively lectures you on the subject purposely, as if she might persuade you to kick your s-i-l out of the family, thereby ensuring the purity of your family's race?
We have a chick at work who keeps telling one of my coworkers (born in Mexico) that Mexican immigrants are all criminals with hepatitis. And my coworker says, "I came here from Mexico, and I'm not a criminal, and I don't have hepatitis." And racist coworker pulls the, "Well, I don't mean *you*" card. Good times.
# posted by
Gwen : 5:35 PM
Don't anonymous commenters just make the most insightful contributions to the conversation? God bless you, anonymous commenters, for keepin' it real, anonymous-style!
(But seriously, what the eff? I don't get people who comment anonymously. Do you think someone's going to look up your username and start crank-ordering pizzas to your email inbox or something?)
Anyway. Free speech, shmee speech. Of course Imus's employers are within their rights to fire him. What you say on your own clock is your business. But most companies have corporate policies as to harassing/hateful speech in the workplace, and I don't see where this is any different.
# posted by
Doppelganger : 5:36 PM
Anonymous 1:29: No, it wasn't. I guess I can see how you might assume that from the scant details I've written, but no.
Anon 3:32: Think so?
I would agree with your assessment, if all the posts on this blog were unfunny and racist against whites, and I somehow got fired from the blogosphere, and then became indignant about it. But, as it stands, I think you're just jumping to conclusions, assuming I hate white people. So... hush. Read more carefully. Read more. Don't talk until you know what you're talking about. Shhh.
Anon 4:19: I imagine people in Cancun think Americans are dumbasses, and yet they put up with it for the money. And, yeah - Newt Gingrich learned some Spanish, you guys. If he can do it, we can, too!
I like how some of you, btw, are very quick to call me racist against white people. I'm not! I love white people just as much as I love latinos, blacks, and asians.
And, at the same time, I hate white people just as much as I hate latinos, blacks, and asians. In fact, some of my best enemies are white, black, latino, and asian. Seriously!
# posted by
Gwen : 5:44 PM
The most racist jerk of my (ex) acquaintance was a white guy who lived in New Haven and went to Yale (a Latin scholar, actually), and *constantly* complained about all the poor black people living in New Haven, and how they a) served him slow at restaurants, and b) got really nice houses built for them by the govt. (though he never specified why that was a crime).
He went. to fucking. YALE. He's probably got some cushy meaningless prof-job now. As opposed to the people he felt threatened by, the minimum-wage black teenagers...who are probably still making minimum wage. I mean...Jesus. How is it possible to have your head so far up your own ass?
# posted by
emjaybee : 9:25 PM
Anon : 3:32 PM - Wouldn't it work both ways?? You say we show up in Mexico and can barely put a sentence in Spanish together yet we here in the US should learn Spanish b/c there are those in the US who speak only Spanish? Why wouldn't it work both ways? I agree, more languages one knows the better, but hey, can't have it both ways! I'll learn Spanish when those here learn English.
# posted by
: 11:36 PM
Hi! I'm happy to see someone point of how racist and crazy those Craigslists are.
Here in Denton (North Texas) we don't do Craigslists, we do Fry Street. A Klan for every race, the Neo-Nazis and the local Gay Pride group will march on the street at the same time, and the local pagan groups looking on like "WTF". I'm 14 and have no clue how to handle this because no one will talk about it so I *really* *really* appreciate/enjoy your posts.
# posted by
: 1:56 AM
As someone who went from being the only brown face in town to being one of many, I'm afraid to say that your post will come back to bite you in the ass one day. People change.
# posted by
: 5:01 PM
For the record, my name is Mike. I just don't have a Google/Blogger account so I used the "anon" button. Now, to my point. I would say that you seem to me to be fairly racist yourself. If not that, you definitely have some hatred going on for or arrogance towards people who think differently than you, in a political/moral manner I surmise.
I cannot stand racism, but, I don't hate the racist. I feel sorry for them, even when I am unable to operate with the spiritual discipline to avoid choosing to be angered by them. That hate separates them from God, separates them from many good people, and separates them even from any decent friends and loved ones they have, or could have, because you cannot compartmentalize the effects of unrighteous hatred. It will and does shade everything about who a person is. It may start off in one specific area, but eventually, it poisons the whole soul.
Christ said hatred is murder; not like murder, but is, in fact, murder. Even if you don't believe in Him, think about the veracity of the statement. How many people, both physically dead and still walking but hardly alive in any worthwhile sense, were murdered by the hatred of others as well as their own.
You seem to almost feel justified by the fact that racism is being demonstrated back upon white people, or that it will, as they become a smaller and smaller percentage of the surrounding area. You seem to think, by the content of your post, that, either only whites can be racists, or that, somehow, racism against whites is a lesser or negligible sin. I say this because surely you know that not only white racists will or do experience racism back from the racists of other races and ethnicities around them. Whites who are not racists will be attacked by racism as well, just as white racists do not seek out only the racists of other races or ethnicities to demonstrate hatred toward.
It doesn't matter who's giving it and who's taking it, racism is sin from one of God's children against another of God's children and against God. It doesn't matter what anyone did in the past nor even in the present, we are responsible for our own moral actions, and its a responsibility that we owe to God, and thus even to some misguided or evil individual who may treat us badly or even horribly. Goodness does not go unnoticed by God, and its possible that the good you do, even in the face of the evil you recieve, may reverse the dimming of the humanity of the person who did wrong by you, and it will protect against the dimming of your own humanity for certain.
You have said that you find the racist tensions amusing. You find evil amusing. You should think about that, what that suggests about yourself. I find it saddening and frustrating. I live in an area where I am the definite minority, and I have experienced plenty of racism demonstrated towards me, both very direct and personal, as well as very indirect, but nonetheless still very personal. But I have experienced much good in this community from the other races around me as well. For God, for them, and for myself I will never succumb to being racist because of the racists around me.
Imagine for a moment that you came across a blog just like yours, but take out the word "white" in every place you put it, and put in the world "black" or "latino". Imagine you read that the blogger found it amusing and fascinating that the whites were quickly taking over the area and that it was putting fear into the individual race that was living there in majority numbers previously. Even though this person was just talking about the racists of that group, do you think, upon reading that blog in its entire context, you would imagine that white blogger really just disliked the black or latino racists in the area that were about to get it thrown back upon them, along with the understood implication that it would be happening to other blacks and latinos as well that weren't racist? Or would you be thinking, "Well, here's one white racist experiencing a little anticipatory schadenfreude at the expense of some other racists"? Or, would you be thinking anybody but the white person could be racist at all?
I don't really suppose it matters whether you would think that blogger was a racist or whether I think you are. From your blog, I am not certain. But I am certain that your blog in no way helps to heal the racial wounds individuals of all colors have experienced. It might impede the healing of some individual that comes across it. It might even worsen the wound.
For me personally, it reminded me of the time a latino girl at an auto parts store in my area kept passing by checking me out at the counter and instead checking out the other latino customers behind me. That happened three times, with me saying, "Ma'am, excuse me, but I was here, would you please check me out." Finally, I told her that, if she didn't like me, the best way to get rid of me was to let me make my purchase. I still don't think she would have checked me out except that the next latino customer in line behind me refused to be checked out until I was taken care of. If looks could kill when she finally did check me out, she would have stabbed me through the heart with her eyes. Many times I've been called "whitey", "cracker", or "gringo". Trust me, it doesn't feel any better than a black person feels if called "nigger", a latino person feels if called "spic", a Viet Namese person feels if called "gook", etc.
Now, my response to this is to then remember the latino person in line that refused to be served before me, or to remember that many times, instead of having racist slurs slung my direction by those of another race than me, I've had good times and thoughtful conversations. Somebody else who has experienced what I have--and its fairly all inclusive, most people have experienced racism--might read your blog and have their heart just a little bit more hardened.
Sorry if this came across harsh, but at least the tone, if not the substance of your blog, is wrongheaded. And, I say these things to you not as some paragon of morality, for no one's personal righteousness is better than filthy rags compared to true righteousness. What's more, though I have been spared by God of being eaten up by the hatred commensurate with becoming a racist, I have been consumed by other hatreds and participated in other evils, and, it doesn't really matter what path you start on towards evil, they all meet in the end, and it devours those who find themselves at the end of that destination. So, I say this to you as surely no better than you and quite possibly lesser than you: guard your heart against evil, other's and your own. Because if you don't, it becomes harder to turn away from evil even should you recognize you need to, and worse, it becomes harder to recognize you need to.
For what its worth, for the racism you have experienced, I am sorry. I wished you never had, and I hope it will not get the best of you in the end or turn you into that which you propose to rail against. I hope you will spend the rest of your life, through the good and the bad, with a resounding inner peace and indefatigable joy. I hope God blesses your family and yourself.
# posted by
: 8:09 PM
the world doesn't owe anybody any favors for being born with white skin - at least not in this corner of the world - and i don't see any white people losing their freedoms anytime soon. when you live in a country founded on the principle that all people are welcome, the decent thing to ask is 'what the hell took so long?'
of course, decency is one thing we're clearly lacking.
all these poor misunderstood white people who think the minorities are out to get them are arrogant fools. it's not about you. quit whining and live your lives.
# posted by
Blake : 10:56 AM
Boy, Gwen, the crazies just love hanging out here, don't they? You're admirably patient.
This is neither here nor there, really, but I grew up in the city of Detroit, which I think is ~80% African American, and which is the most racially relaxed and harmonious place I've ever lived (including NYC and various predominantly white suburban communities). (I'm white, btw.)
Not really speculating about why this should be the case, but it is worth noting, I think.
# posted by
Calista : 10:57 AM
I hate that it's nearly impossible to talk honestly about race in America without getting defensive and ugly.
I'm a white girl living in Chicago, and I can appreciate the humor in the role reversal. I've worked in places where I've been the minority, and I've been made decidedly uncomfortable by it at times. But you know, so what? So the shoe is on the other foot for a change. It's good for me to have the experience, to realize all that I take for granted as a part of the racial group that is portrayed as the norm in most media. And I can laugh at myself in the situation, when I have to ask another stupid question about something I don't understand.
I don't think it's okay for any culture to try to subdue and control another culture. However, as blake mentioned, whites aren't in real danger of anything more than being inconvenienced. We (unfairly) still have most of the money and most of the power. That's why, for me at least, it's something that can be laughed at. The fear on the part of whites of being the minority is funny, because they just don't get how good they have it. If they can't handle minor discrimination at a restaurant, how would they handle years of institutional discrimination from the school and criminal justice systems, for example?
What I don't find funny is the education and income gap between different racial groups and all the very real disadvantages that come from being non-white in America.
# posted by
Anne Claire : 1:52 PM
Listen, ya'll.
The key to closing the income, education, power, and influence gap is what you do at home with your kids, every single day. Everyone knows the middle-class white people's secret: Both of the parents' non-stop fussing over their kids' academic performance, sports performance, sugar intake, TV exposure, what friends they're allowed to play with, etc. etc.
Day in and day out, for 18 + years. It is like a huge pain in the a**, but damn if it doesn't work. It turns out that being white isn't even a necessary part of the formula, as black, Asian, and Hispanic families have shown over and over again. But it's hard to be that focused on your kids. It's a huge sacrifice for the parents and not everyone will put in that kind of effort. No one can do it for you either, no government daycare or afterschool program will ever give a shit about your kids the way that their parents do.
And life hands you things, like the wrong spouse or illness or financial setbacks that makes it double-hard, but you just don't ever slack up on your kids.
So it's not at all a secret how to move up in the world generation by generation. It's just hard as hell and takes a whole lifetime's sacrifice by the parents. But that's what closes the gaps, people.
# posted by
: 5:31 PM
I love this post. Seriously love it. Why do people get so so so scared when they lose a bit of their privilege--or fear losing it. White people still rule, even in the Southwest after all.
It is amazing to leave the Southwest and see the different flavors of racism throughout the U.S. but the terror of the Anglos that the Mexicans have invaded is the one I'm most familiar with. It's also the most absurd: The Mexican invasion of Los Angeles! "Why can't those Mexicans call it THE ANGELS? I mean, we Anglos invaded first and took over and I just can't understand why our dominance must be challenged!"
Like: why do they come here and speak their language that was the first European language spoken here (prior to the U.S. Revolutionary war) instead of the language that started being spoken here 100 years later?! Why can't they speak OUR language--the language we said must be spoken after our aggressive war with Mexico?
I don't know anything about Mencia except one commercial I saw. What is he? He is not Mexican? Wait--but George Lopez is Mexican, no?
# posted by
ozma : 10:32 PM
Dude with fake boobies blondes, sounds like what I've seen at Rucci's before. Trashy, indeed.
I find most discussions online super racist, sexist and homophobic without remorse. Why? Because people don't have to be accountable. They can say whatever stupid things in their mind without their usual social filters. By the way, Wikipedia is totally White-a-pedia.
As for Carlos Mencia, he's just an asshole. Being racist is even not the most offensive thing about him. The worst thing about him is he is NOT FUNNY. People can laugh all they want because that is the only time they feel appropriate to be racist. What a joke.
# posted by
Francisco : 11:48 AM
I'm not a big fan of racism. Let me point out that you equate conservatism with hatred and racism. There is a word for that. What was that word? Oh yeah, I've got it: "Bigotry." Would you be blown away to know that liberal views on race appear to be often demeaning, patronizing, and approach racism when viewed from a conservative angle? Can't we all just get along?
# posted by
: 4:26 PM
I can tell I'm getting more mature, because, whereas in the past, I'd have felt the need to rebutt every negative comment here, now I can just let them lie.
I like having the comment moderation, because it gives people more freedom of speech, and then I can just censor the parts of their freedom that I don't like. :)
But I've never deleted a comment yet. And there's no use arguing with you guys who think I'm racist or stupid, because I'm sure you posted your comment and then went away, never to return.
# posted by
Gwen : 10:34 AM
I really have to express this:
I welcome all origins and embrace what we as a people have to offer.
EXCEPT RACIST
I see that in our American world there is a huge disease the deadly disease of racism!
It has murdered the most profound leaders in our day and the days past .
It has lied to our past men and women telling them that they are indeed equal and that is a lie! It is lying to us now telling us it is {racism} not o.k. but it is still able to persist .WHY??????
I see that folks will lie cheat and steal someones peace in order to look as though they are Lily White ... but the fact is when I look at people these racisct who try to conceal and fake what we really are here in America and all the good we "minorities" do they take it from us!
Americans no matter your color no matter your style no matter if you can read or write be proud proud people.
I applaud the immigrants ~ blacks and hispanics the culture that I am made of.WE are the good and faithful workers of this land!
WE are the ones who make this country look good .
WE work , WE play and WE have culture something that WE can be proud of!
WE do not need to put down any one to make ourselves look like we are better, that is what racist do,
they have us work like slaves and then have someone else take credit for the good it has done , our country was built by non whites remember that!
the white just layed down the law , not the foundation! but never do they follow the law , they can break the law because they have the green!
# posted by
: 1:28 PM
Funny, i never knew what racism was till blacks moved in next door.
# posted by
: 5:07 AM
Why? Because they were racist in their treatment of you? Or because, living among your own race for so long, you had no reason to be racist until you met another?
Are you white?
If so, do you assume that we all know you're white, as we read your post? If so, is it because white is the default setting in your mind? Do you think of first of "people," then "blacks," then Mexicans, Asians, and all the others that aren't white?
I'm willing to believe that your neighbors dislike you for the color of your skin. It happens all the time, to all of us. But are you willing to examine your own mindset and behavior?
# posted by
Gwen : 9:55 AM
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