Hmm..what do you think?

[catnapper]

Oh boy, this is a topic that irks the heck out of my husband! He has discussed this at length with the students and they all agree that there should be other months such as Irish history, Latino History, and so on down the line. Please note that he has a large minority population in his school and these are the minoroties thinking its unfair.

Now on to racism... I'm scared about this subject. My area is ripe for a race riot. Mexicans hate the Puerto Ricans, Puerto Ricans hate them back, whites hates the Puerto Ricans (truly, and honestly a lot of whites here do... I won't defend them or go into their reasons. ) Blacks hate the whites. Its a spiraling circle that is very very scary. Gangs rule big-time here. And the gangs are all based ethnicity.

My husband has been threatened several times by parents stating he's racists - HE IS NOT! He can't give a kid detention because the parent will come back and say, "You don't like my kid because he's black." Ugh. Do you know how many times he hears this a week? He just gave up and handles the kids his own way and sends maybe one or two kids to the Vice Principal a week.

Back to black history. Every year they try to teach them about black history, and especially Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Every year when the reports are due, overwhelmingly the kids sayd that he freed the slaves. They have no clue. That is sad and one of the reasons hate and intolerance is on the rise.

Now onto racism. I am not a racist. Have never been, never will be. I believe that everyone has potential to be someone great and its up to them to live their lives how they please. What I do hate is people who cop an attitude and say, "hey man, I can't do this because the white man put me down." Come on! Left your lazy butt off the couch, turn off the tv and do something! I see it in my husband's students. All of the ones doing the loudest complaining are the ones who fill out one answer on a test and never hand in homework They don't pay attentuion in class - they sit there and doodle or pass notes. No, whites aren't your problem, you are because you don't want to work to make something of yourself. Its easier to blame someone for something, especially since its been a blame for many years. Perhaps, at one time, they were put down by ignorant whites. It was bad judgment on some foolish people long ago... we've spent a lot of time and consideration trying to make civil rights and equality work. But today, with all of the government programs, its easier to take a handout than it is to stand on your own two feet and succeed.

I could go on, but I fear I might end up putting my foot even deeper into my mouth.

[GoldenRetrLuver]

Originally posted by Kfamr
Just yesterday IN CLASS I heard a girl (Who was Black) say over and over how she hated 'White people'. Despite the fact that half if the class was white. She said that she hated crackers, she hated white people, and a bunch of other rude disrespectful things. No one said a word.

YET, If a white person was to say "I hate black people" or "I hate spanish people" or mention a hate for any other race, i'm sure every single student in that class would have been down his/her throat.

Exactly the same as over here.
People at my school think whites are the "superior race", therefore, we deserve what they say.

[G.P.girl]

Originally posted by catnapper
they all agree that there should be other months such as Irish history, Latino History, and so on down the line.

well there are only 12 months in a year. i thought about that before, but then i realized that it wouldn't be anything special if ever ymonth was 'something histroy month'. that's what i think anyway.

I think that if there are scholarships for black, hispanic, latino, asian people then they should be allowed to make ones for white kids too. but i thihnk it would be even better if none of the scholarships were based on race, becasue i'm halfwhite/half black and sometimes that makes it difficult because black pepole will say "your not black!" and white people will say i'm not white.

i think that in a way whites are discriminated against, but there are so many of them and like somebody said they are consdiered the supirior race so they should be expected to just deal with it. i really wonder if we're ever going to get over the whole race thing? maybe it would be better if we were all blind for a while

[catnapper]

Originally posted by G.P.girl
I really wonder if we're ever going to get over the whole race thing? maybe it would be better if we were all blind for a while

I hope we get over it soon. Like I said, we are ripe for a race riot here. Believe it or not, the KKK is growing by leaps and bounds here. Nobody mentions it, but it is. I checked out their site when my daughter was doing a history report on them last year, and it was SCARY the things they said on the site! Funny things was, that for her report, she wanted to put a burnt cross on the poster... got the teacher's approval first. So here we are, building an 18" cross in our backyard... try as we might, the thing wouldn't catch fire! Seriously! Two of my neighbors (both minoroities) were both out - handing me lighter fluid, nail polish remover, gasoline - all trying to light this dang thing. It wouldn't light! LOL. Gosh, if anybody walked by and saw the three of us tossing highly flammable liquids on a cross to burn! We finally got it lit for like two seconds. We were high-fiving each other for that two seconds! Guess someone was trying to tell us something.

My neighborhood is such a variety of colors. Why don't we get along? Really, I think that living in a town of such diversity should be a good thing. We should learn tolerance of each other's differences and embrace each other and learn and grow from those differences.

When I was growing up, we were THE ONLY Catholic family in a all Jewish neighborhood. Boy, you should have seen my block at Christmas! All dark except my house, which looked like Christmas threw up! But my Jewish friends learned about Christmas from me and I learned all about the Jewish way of life. I knew what kosher meant very young and made my mom buy kosher food so my friends could eat lunch at my house on the weekends! Why can't we do that today? Why can't we teach each other our traditions, what they mean, and why they are special? To this day, I think Hanukkah (sp?) is one of the prettiest holidays. I love the meaning and symbolism behind it.

If we share and listen to each other without bias, we might learn something and grow as human beings.

How did I get to this from a question about Black History month?

[wolfie]

Originally posted by catnapper
So here we are, building an 18" cross in our backyard... try as we might, the thing wouldn't catch fire! Seriously! Two of my neighbors (both minoroities) were both out - handing me lighter fluid, nail polish remover, gasoline - all trying to light this dang thing. It wouldn't light! LOL. Gosh, if anybody walked by and saw the three of us tossing highly flammable liquids on a cross to burn!

I'm glad you're not my neighbor! LOL

[trayi52]

Catnapper, very well said. I remember years ago, I guess its been about 6 to 8 years, that the KKK came in to our county and set up road blocks at our county court square(yes we are that small!) with their money bucketts. I would not even stop, It just pissed me off to even see them in our town.

Then they had a cross burning in a small town, in the same county. I don't think the county seat would let them do it there. But the small town, HICKVILLE is what I call it, let them do it right in the park. I just could not believe it. I was so outraged!

I wish we didn't have such organizations around, I was hoping that crap would die out.

[catnapper]

Originally posted by wolfie
I'm glad you're not my neighbor! LOL

Ha! They are so cool (my neighbors that is) they know we were doing it for a project and they now that we aren't in any way racist.

The KKK is really getting a grip here. A new restaurant opened last spring. A coworker and I went to eat there for lunch when the restaurant was about 3 weeks old.... and it was CLOSED. We went to the appointment we had sceduled across the street and asked a VIP in the company what happened. She said that they shot themselves in the foot because they made a big deal about the opening and had their picture in the paper. What's so bad about that? They were an inter-racial couple posing for a picture in the heart of KKK territory. They had THAT much power to get the place closed in under a month. I was really scared for the first time. They are being real quiet, but gaining power and momentum.

[pitbullmommy]

i dont really know what to say on this subject, i have many many opinions! but i will not say.

[trayi52]

Catnapper, that is just sad! I hate stuff like that going on! I was really counting on that being in the past! I just don't understand such things. I was a child in the 60s, I seen a lot of the crap that went on, enough anyway to sicken me.

I really feel sorry for the couple you mentioned! That is just an outrage!

Willie

[Amber]

i think we should all be green

maybe that will teach us?

Im not racist either. I accept everyone, for who they are.

Im not sure if the KKK has been in our county. Population here is mostly covered by whites. In my school I think we only have like 2 colored people.

[Twisterdog]

Originally posted by WolfChan
I have to say that in my experience if you're white and proud of your heritage it automatically makes you "racist", even if that's not true.

I agree with that. I remember when I was in college there were dozens and dozens of clubs and organizations that only a certain race or ethnic group was allowed to join. Not fair. And can you even imagine if a group of students said, "Let's form a club for White Business Students, and not let anyone in who isn't caucasian." OMG, they would be tarred and feathered! Hmmmm ..... two wrongs do most definately NOT make a right. If it is wrong for me to do it to you, it's just as wrong for you to do it to me.

... becasue i'm halfwhite/half black and sometimes that makes it difficult because black pepole will say "your not black!" and white people will say i'm not white.

That is indeed a difficult situation for a young person at times. I remember my son asking me in all seriousness when he was about seven years old, "Mom, Steven said I'm Mexican? Am I? What's Mexican?" I'm caucasian, and my son's father is Hispanic. I like to think that children of mixed race will grow up to be strong adults with their feet happily planted in two cultures. I hope.

Now onto racism. I am not a racist. Have never been, never will be. I believe that everyone has potential to be someone great and its up to them to live their lives how they please. What I do hate is people who cop an attitude and say, "hey man, I can't do this because the white man put me down." Come on! Left your lazy butt off the couch, turn off the tv and do something! I see it in my husband's students. All of the ones doing the loudest complaining are the ones who fill out one answer on a test and never hand in homework They don't pay attentuion in class - they sit there and doodle or pass notes. No, whites aren't your problem, you are because you don't want to work to make something of yourself. Its easier to blame someone for something, especially since its been a blame for many years. Perhaps, at one time, they were put down by ignorant whites. It was bad judgment on some foolish people long ago... we've spent a lot of time and consideration trying to make civil rights and equality work. But today, with all of the government programs, its easier to take a handout than it is to stand on your own two feet and succeed.

I agree with this. To paraphrase (can't find the exact quote) George Carlin .... 'I didn't wander forty years in the desert, I've never owned a slave ... and neither have you. So get over it already.' My family is Scottish ... so shouldn't we still be hating the English? Saying that we can't rise above the English opppression? Puh-leese. Almost every culture and race and group has been oppressed, conquered, treated badly at one time or another in their history. Get over it already.

And, to quote my buddy George Carlin again ..... "I don't understand this notion of ethnic pride. "Proud to be Irish," "Puerto Rican pride," "Black pride." It seems to me that pride should be reserved for accomplishments; things you attain or achieve, not things that happen to you by chance. Being Irish isn't a skill; it's genetic. You wouldn't say. "I'm proud to have brown hair," or "I'm proud to be short and stocky." So why the f*** would you say you're proud to be Irish? I'm Irish, but I'm not particularly proud of it. Just glad! G****** glad to be Irish!" That's pretty much how I see it .... you need to actually DO something to be proud of it. I'm proud to have graduated magna cum laude from college ... I'm not proud to be caucasian ... I was just born that way.

[catnapper]

Originally posted by Twisterdog
I remember when I was in college there were dozens and dozens of clubs and organizations that only a certain race or ethnic group was allowed to join. Not fair.

That reminds me, I remember when I was in college, I became friends with a man from Africa. He happened to be white. We was applying for a scholarship for "African Americans" and it was down to him and a few other people. All he had left to so was the formal in-person interview. They took one look at him and said, "You aren't African American." He replied, "Yes, I am. I was born in Africa,and my parents moved her when I was young." Their mouths dropped... they were using "African American" as a polite way of saying "black" It turned out that he got the scholarship because they were afraid he would have sued if they ruled him out based on his skin color - after all, he fit all of the criteria outlined in the scholarship.

Also, back in college, I knew a girl from Jamaica. She was so very insulted to be called "African American." She was Jamaican. It was a slap in her face. She'd rather be called the N word before African American.

As for me, I am such a mutt. Yes, I'm Irish, not particuarly proud to be Irish... all I know is that my dentist says I have "Irish teeth" - they are soft and decay easily. Whoopie! I'm Irish with bad Irish teeth! I also have Scottish, German, and American Indian in me. I do not define myself by any of these nationalities... though I would like to know which one the dreaded "Hayes Gene" came from... everyone in my family has it - we are all overweight

[cali]

I think its a good question. think about it, people wants whited and blacks to be treated equally but they are not being treated equally! they are only getting a bunch of extra things just for them, while whites are being left out. if the point is equality then this is not the way to do it, equality means whites and blacks treated equality neither one above the other, all thats being done now is tipping the scales putting whites downs and blacks up. and some blacks use this to there advantage, on another board I go to someones friends black daughter applied for a job she was not qualified so she did not get the job, as soon as her father found this out he marched into the store, and accused them of being racist, they ended up being forced to hire her when they were doing what they were supposed to. treat everyone EQUAL.

[ziron]

George Carlin is so great I think he has alot of great ways at lookin at things.
I live in mostly an alll white town with a few colored ppl and the town right next to mine is mostly ricans who work the fields.
I am not a racist by any measure. I do think though some blacks use the "slave" word a bit too much. Yes maybe their great grandfather was a slave but they were not. Every race has been a slave at one time or another. So I don't think any race should get their own speical month. However I would like a HISTORY month. Where we celebrate all history.
See I am the liberal with a gun. Some people have real problems like the homeless. Others are just lazie sobs that just sit around and cry how they got it so very hard. Now I am not saying some blacks don't have it "hard" but many whites have it just as hard. Theirs poor people in every race and rich people in every race. I would bet that most of these ppl are are racist got it form their parents. Theirs one moment that comes to mind. Since Iam still a high school student I usually have a part time job at resturants and such. While workin at one of these resturants (sweeping the foor) a white man in about his 30's with his about 5yr old son with him walked through the door to exit the resturant and he said something along the line of " your doing the n*****s job huh" with his son right next to him

[DJFyrewolf36]

Originally posted by ziron
While workin at one of these resturants (sweeping the foor) a white man in about his 30's with his about 5yr old son with him walked through the door to exit the resturant and he said something along the line of " your doing the n*****s job huh" with his son right next to him

Thats a whole lot of BS....
Work is work...which is better than SOME arses who choose to leech of the government...at least you have a job. Idiocy exists in every race on this planet...personally I think *to quote someone I can't recall at the moment* "Why hate someone for the color of thier skin? Get to know them then you'll find REAL reasons to get POed"
Ok ok, I'm not that bitter...but the point is the same. Get to know someone before making hasty judgements...hasty judgements often mean pulling your foot out of your mouth later on...