How in the world did I miss this thread???Originally posted by Cataholic
I hate it when I am so late to a thread that is so interesting. I want to make a few comments, as a white female, and, so that no one questions if I have 'lived enough' to make these statements, I am 38. I have lived in the mid west and both coasts.
The problem with discrimination- be it religion, race, sexual preference, physical, whatever, is its necessarily silent nature. We ALL can say we aren't for discrimination. Who, really, would say, "heck yes, I discriminate! I hate (fill in the blank)". It is such a pervasive part of our CURRENT world. Forget the historical stuff...(not really, but, I am saying we have major problems today). While I might not have enslaved your people, my 'people' (the white majority) are still practicing discrimination today. It isn't in the form of endentured servitude, but, it still exists.
Just last week, in Boone County, Kentucky (reference for those inclined to look it up), a african american family was targeted. They had a cross burned in their front yard, and cinder blocks thrown through their car windows. 2004! This happened not in some backwater woods, but, less that 30 miles from the Greater Cincinnati area. I hear discriminatory stuff all the time! While not AT my work place (meaning from my co-workers or employer), I hear it in my capacity as an attorney. From clients. From other attorneys.
Because it is still in our country today (I am limiting myself to the US...), I think it is necessary to encourage, help, assist (you fill in the blank) minorities into colleges, into professional fields, into trades. I don't see it as the only answer, nor, necessarily, the best answer. But, it is an answer. Are there people that take advantage of it? Sure. It is human nature to take advantage of a situation. It isn't limited according to race/religion/gender.
I can't imagine what it would be like to be a minority. I can **nearly** relate, by way of two incidents, and they will stay with me forever. Both took place in Worcester, Massachusetts, and put things into perspective. One time, I was with my girlfriend and her daughter. They are african american. I had the little girl with me. She was young, maybe 2? We were walking around a deli, getting something to eat. I was helping her pick out juice, and we were acting silly, so, we had drawn some attention, I am sure. I was kissing all over her, making her giggle. My girlfriend had already sat down at a table. I turned to look at her, and she nodded for me to look over at a table of four older adults. They were all staring at me and the little girl. They had a look of disgust on their faces. As soon as I looked, they ALL averted their gaze. We went back to my girlffriend's table, and she told me she had seen them staring at us, and whispering to one another. Now, maybe they were just disgusted cause I looked particularly heinous that day. I can't say for sure. But, it was not a warm and fuzzy feeling I got.
The second time, I was in a store with a PR friend. We were just looking around. I think I was shopping for something in particular, and they didn't have it, so, we were just killing time. He brought to my attention the fact we were being followed by store personnel. We WERE! I now noticed it. However, I had been completely oblvious to it..as I am usually not followed around in a store. He told me it happened quite often with him. Now, he doesn't look particularly 'thuggish', nor were we dressed poorly. He said he gets used to it, and laughed when I first told him I thought he was mistaken. The store clerk kept up with us, discretely, for the whole 7-10 minutes we were in the store! (No, we didn't steal anything.).
I guess my point with those two incidents is..as a white female, I don't even have feelers out for such type of discrimination. It doesn't happen to me, so, I am not in tune to it. I can't imagine what it would feel like to think someone is watching me just because of my skin colour.
Wow Johanna. I totally, 100%, agree with you.
There are times when I feel *stared at*, because of my skin color/religion. I can't help but notice people staring at me, and I know its because of who I am. It never bothers me to be honest.......Makes me laugh more than it hurts. It makes me laugh because of how ignorant they are towards me, and how little they seem to know before making judgements. I always give them a looooong stare right back, and that ALWAYS works in making them look away.
I am neither white, nor black, so I can't side with either, and say one faces more discrimination than the other. I would say blacks do, but recently, I have seen blacks at school calling whites *white trash* and other things that I can't stand hearing. But then the blacks call themselves *niggers*, so I don't know what to think. They seem to call themselves that more than I have ever seen any whites say it. Why they would call themselves something like that, I don't know, but the fact is they do. I have heard it, and seen it, many times. I must say that us *middle colored ones*, are discriminated against just as much. I think all races experience racism up to a certain degree, by people of other races. It doesn't matter if you're white, black, brown, red, tan, whatever. SOMEONE out there is going to discrimate against you. While some races seem to face discrimination more, the fact is that all races face it to a certain degree. If you are white, and live in a land where whites are minority, I'm sure you'd face discrimination too.
Honestly though, discrimination in California is really, not like it is in other states. While I *have* experienced it, and continue to feel stared at on occasion, the fact is, whites are a minority here, and if you choose to live in CA, you choose to live amongst Asians, Indians, Mexicans, Arabs, and almost every other race that exists, so MOST whites here are very accepting and tolerant. Of course there are those bad apples here and there that show how much they hate you at first sight, but it still isn't so common that one would feel hated by everyone on the streets.
While discrimination is certainly not as *open* as it was in the past, it still exists in the hearts and minds of people. It doesn't only exist here in the US........it exists everywhere, in different forms, but still, everywhere. It is sad, and shameful, to discriminate against someone for something they have no control over. God created us in different colors, and we are all equal before God. We're all human beings, and no matter what the color, we are equal. Its just SO wrong to discriminate against people because of their race/religion/etc. Personally, I would *never* discriminate against anyone because of their skin color. I have friends that are as white as white can get, as well as friends that are of Asian/Indian/Arab/African/other descent. I cannot stand it when I hear people saying *Blacks act wierd* or *Chinese people don't know how to drive*, or any one of those sterotypes that I hear ALL the time. True, some blacks do act wierd, but a lot of whites and people of other races act wierd too. And I myself have experienced Chinese people driving poorly on the roads, but I have experienced that with other people too. You just can't make general statements like that. Its wrong.
I actually like it when people get married to someone of a different race. It always feels good to know there are people who love others no matter what skin color God gave them. To marry someone of a different race just shows how accepting and tolerant you are. I can't see why some people look down upon it. I feel its a good thing.....not only for the couple, but for their children too, who will most likely grow up not questioning and wondering about the skin color of others, just because it differs from their own.
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