Are we to repent for our ancestors past sins?

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

I don't deny our country has had these problems, but over time we work through it. Afterall, our country has the shortest history of slavery. There were white people who marched at Selma.

I believe an employer has a right to hire whomever fits the workplace. I was once engaged to a boy whose father was an executive with Southwestern Bell. I remember him ranting that they were passing over more qualified people in order to spread the company with some color. I have talked with teachers who were furious with the busing issues because they were bringing in kids who weren't interested in an education, thus causing those who cared to slow down so others could keep up.

I remember reading an article in Sports Illustrated, not the swimsuit edition, about a black athlete that said the people back home resented him getting a leg up and pressuring him to mentally stay in the hood.

There are a lot of serious issues that we can't work out because people are screaming inequality and racism if we try.

I believe that birds of a feather flock together and that can also be said of a church body. People visit various congregations to find their place.

There's a lot of truth in what you're saying. But I try to remember that there are at least two sides to every issue. Sometimes the other side has points that are equally true.

I believe an employer has a right to hire whomever fits the workplace. I was once engaged to a boy whose father was an executive with Southwestern Bell. I remember him ranting that they were passing over more qualified people in order to spread the company with some color.

I do not believe anyone should be denied a job based solely on race or color. But, I think we can agree that such a policy creates certain challenges for business. But these policies didn't just drop out of the sky. Most of us haven't lived in the America wherein more times than not, blacks just weren't hired, qualified or not. It's a double edged sword. But going back to the days when an employer could deny any minority applicant, or hire a white person who knows next to nothing over a minority who is qualified would be far worse. The better qualified guy, if he's really all that qualified, isn't going to feel sorry for himself. He's more than capable of finding opportunities elsewhere. But, that's just my opinion.

I was insulted when a local mall argued that they didn't want a bus route put in place for people to get to the mall. They assumed people without cars were poor, destructive, and criminal. My car was broke down during that time. And riding the bus, I found myself in the minority. And you know what, most of those folks just don't have the finances to get a car, have health issues that preclude them from driving, are just riding until their car is fixed, or are tree huggers minimizing their carbon footprint. The worst thing the mall really had to worry about was high school students. But they found a way to create a mall culture that had "cool" places for those students to chill and cut up in. In the end it all worked out. It was nothing but an irrational fear of "poor people".

Being a white guy and coming from a Scott-Irish family, I don't think the biggest problem in America right now is "racial". I think it is about the "haves" and the "have nots". The "haves" run our society. And among the "haves", it doesn't matter if anyone in their club is black or white. What matters is money. And they have us "have nots" arguing and fighting over gender, race, sexuality, religion, blah, blah, blah. And while we're all divided and fighting ourselves, they're passing laws that allow them to shelter more and more money from taxation, laws that allow them to impose greater penalties and fees on us, and laws that grant corporations the right to pass any law they need, even if it includes dumping raw toxic waste in our backyards. It's all about divide and conquer.