Opening a dialogue on race in America.

Mark,

I believe the people that want a "racial dialogue" fall into a couple of different catagories: 1.- They have a "chip" on their shoulder and wish to express why. 2.- OR the ones that have a "chip" on their shoulder and want to dare you to knock it off!

Everyone wants to "dance" around anything to do with "race". Well, I don't have a problem with race and I have little tolerance for racists, be they of ANY color. Yes, by that I mean "black racists"! God Forbid this soceity in it's politically correctness admit that YES! Blacks CAN be racists!!! And let us not forget our "middle classed PC" white folk that speak openly against anything not racially PC in public, but behind closed doors they reveal their true colors.

But now that I've addressed the 2% to 7% of the population, let's speak to the rest of us! I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't see "color" when it comes to people. After 20 years in the military I because aware that there are jerks amongst all of us, but being a jerk isn't being a racist, it's being a jerk! I wasn't always this way in my thinking. I grew up in the heart of Virginia Klan country. My family wasn't "in" the Klan, but we sure sympathized with them on a lot of issues. We were a farming family and had many field hands working on the farm, all were black. When I was 5 years old or so, I used to sneak up to the house up the road from us. A black family lived there and we kids played together all the time...until my Dad found out I was going there. After getting a whipping I didn't go there anymore. Fast forward: I was raised in trhat kind of mental environment, but God Graced me with a good helping of commonsense/intelligence. After I joined the Navy in 1969, my "worldly" education began in earnest. It only took me about 2 years to come to my own conclusion about black folks: They are just people like anyone else. They are no different, none what-so-ever. Just as whites have their own unsavory characters, the black community is the same.

 And I believe THAT is part of the problem: "The black community" - "The white community", "The Latino community"....get the idea? We're ALL in the SAME COMMUNITY!!! Why do we have to draw these imaginary "lines of separation"? If ANY country NEEDED to "COME TOGETHER", WE do! All of this "separation" by color, culture etc is what is tearing us apart. SURE! Have your own "Pride" in all of those things, but DO NOT use them as an EXCUSE to make lines of separation. We ALL lose when that happens and continues to happen. The way we witnessed folks coming together after our disasters of recent years is evidence that all of the "separation" between us is being created by US, consciencously, with forethought and often with malice!

Thanks.

While I agree with Claude in theory, I wonder if being colorblind in the literal sense would be counterproductive. A perception that we are all alike supposes a universal acceptance of what our common ‘likenesses’ are and could imply that to be different is to be somehow inferior. We are all the same as whom? The fact is that we all share countless similarities but there are elements that determine ‘lines of separation’ and to ignore those lines could be insensitive and possibly insulting. As Anais Nin once said, “We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.” We all grow up with reference points for our behaviors and we all learn survival skills that allow us to navigate our own particular worlds. Those worlds and the resulting and necessary skills and reference points we use as our ‘compasses’ will vary from person to person, family to family, culture to culture and sometimes even individuals within families within cultures, etc. These variations might make communication more difficult but they are not divisive in and of themselves. It is the assigning of stereotypical definitions to the variations that make them divisive. It is the refusal of one to acknowledge the ethnic, cultural, racial and/or socio-economic differences of another and to express that refusal in a manner that inhibits another’s individual rights and freedoms that is divisive. It is the unwillingness to allow another to express opinions and beliefs through language, manner of speech, dress, music or religious affiliations that may differ from our own that is dangerous and destructive and that allows racism to flourish in our country. The ability to look at another person and to see the unfamiliar or exotic in that person’s face is not wrong and it is not racist. The refusal to recognize or to attempt to impede that person’s inalienable right to be, act, think, feel, express and/or look like whoever they are is racist. Because the truth is that people are very different, whether it be from race to race, culture to culture or individual to individual. We do not all think alike or act the same; this is reality, not racism. Our similarities are important and are the basis for some common ground, yes, but do they make us all the same? Acknowledging our differences is not racist; it is a springboard to understanding.

As for Obama and the pastor, the ability to listen to an opinion that one cannot personally embrace and to do so without anger or recrimination is an indication, not of weakness or covert acceptance, but of a level of confidence of personal conviction that stems from strength and resolution. And, that freedom of speech is a premise upon which our country was founded. Do we want a president who is secure enough in his or her own beliefs and abilities to allow others the same hard won freedoms, or one whose lack of confidence makes it necessary to bully, bribe or deceive others into acquiescence?

I agree with Claude: "And I believe THAT is part of the problem: "The black community" - "The white community", "The Latino community"....get the idea? We're ALL in the SAME COMMUNITY!!!"

I've lived in this country for ten years, and I have yet to learn how to refer to people by their race or ethnicity, because we are much more complex than the picture we see before our eyes. Take Tiger Woods for example: is he really black? or is he Asian? Maybe a bit native American, and a bit..... you guys get the idea. If we are going to categorize people, lets at least get it right. Take my case for example: I was born to a Jewish American father, and a Jewish Turkish mother, with them, I lived many years in South America. Later on, I lived in the Middle East, Europe, and spent my last 10 years in this country...So who I'm I??? I'm I a Jew, or maybe a Hispanic female, an Israeli....I have to admit I don't like to be one more than the other. I don't like to be classified under one group because I might identify more with the cultural traits of another. The moment we classify someone in a certain group, we immediately exclude him or her, from another. So, it is not when we divide people into groups when harm the most, it is rather, the moment on which we begin to exclude those people from their own identities. That, is the biggest mistake ignorance can make!

I am a colorblind person when it comes to the black race. I do acknowledge different cultures and some I find repulsive while others I find very admirable. Last year while participating in a Jax forum, I became the "bad guy" to one of the other members because I stated, emphatically, that I did NOT trust "Muslums". I still do not trust them and never will. It is their religion and culture that condones "lieing" to any non-Muslum. So no matter what they say or how convincingly they say it, how could any "infidel" EVER truly "trust" them?

The meat of this thread is all mostly about "black/white" relations in this country and in our own community. I find it difficult to believe, with all the laws and PC requirements today, that someone - anyone - can OVERTLY discrimminate based on race, sex, religion or age. All it takes is one phone call to EOE and an attorney to ruin any individual or company that does it.

So, what is happening? I believe it has a lot to do with a predominate "in your face" attitude by people in a workplace. Gone are the days of appreciating HAVING a job and actually showing subordination to your BOSS etc! Nowadays it seems that the "tail is wagging the dog" in the workplace. This kind of "attitude" is what continues to "feed" the racial divide, or at least so far as I have observed.

If I ran/owned a business, the people working for me are a reflection upon ME and MY BUSINESS! If I say no face piercings, no 3 inch nails or ten ear studs, blue or purple hair etc....then that is MY right as the business owner and the things I want to project to MY customers. However, the "trend" seems to be that anything anyone wants to do in their "persoanl time" is being carried over into their work lives; tattoos, numerous piercings or face piercings etc. It's not JUST a "black thang" either, but the examples I post are easily equated to things that are predominately a "black thang". How about just being a NORMAL PERSON! Assimilate to the predominate culture at work and keep your "personal rebellions" to YOUR time...NOT MINE!

I hope this isn't too far out in left field that the point isn't lost here. If so, I'll try to articulate better next time, ok?

  I completely understand what you are saying!  First off, and it is a fact, Muslims and followers of the Islamic faith BY THE LAW OF THEIR RELIGION! cannot and should not speak to or interact with anyone not of their faith. (Infidels to them)  In fact, their religion calls upon them to wage war (Jihad) against us infidels!  Therefore, anyone who is a professed muslim is also BY THE LAW OF THEIR FAITH my enemy!  Why in hell should I like such a person?  How am I to know if the fact that one of them does speak to me, (gas station owner/attendant, etc) they are just being fake, and in fact hate my non-muslim butt?  I play the odds.  If you're a Catholic, you follow the Bible and the pope is your spiritual leader.  You don't go and pray to Allah.  If you are a republican, you don't go and vote for Hillary.  If the Islamic leaders disagree with the old way of interpreting their faith, they should say so and re-write it.  Until then, I do not like or trust any muslims.  They are my enemy, ACCORDING TO THEM!  As for the whole issue of race in the workplace, I also agree.  If it is your own business, you say what goes on.  Just because someone wants to show off their tribal tattoo that means nothing to anyone else does not mean  that they should.  Too many people in today's society are afraid of running afoul of anti-discrimination laws, fearing that people are going to sue at the drop of a hat.  This is because of a-holes like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.  The less attention we pay these schmucks, the less impact they will have.