White Cop vs Black Scholar

[n david]

Originally Posted by Irreligious

n David...

I had pretty much promised myself that I wouldn't reply to anymore of your posts because you just make me mad. But...I just wanted to respond to one thing you said in this post.

Do I need to take sensitivity training before posting so your feelings won't get hurt?

Originally Posted by Irreligious

You mentioned that the professor used the word "whitey" in his application.

I don't think any of us have a defense for that, BUT...200+ years of institutionalized racism in the "land of the free and the home of the brave" can make a person say things that maybe you or I wouldn't say when we've NEVER experienced being slighted because of the color of our skin.

I understand where he's coming from and my only response to slurs like that is to do my part in creating an environment where he wouldn't say things like that.

Uhm, 200+ years of "institutionalized racism?" Where you pull that number out of? The "institutionalized racism" ended before 200+years. There may well be racism yet, but it's not institutionalized. Good grief, look no further than who's in the White House.

And you're right ... there's NO defense for that. You can bet your sweet aunt bessie that if a white person were to write on their application to Morehouse or Texas Southern: "As always, (n-word) now sits in judgment of me, preparing to cast my fate. It is your decision either to let me blow with the wind as a nonentity or to encourage the development of self. Allow me to prove myself," all heck would break loose.

Both are meant to be derogatory towards each race ... neither should be more acceptable than the other, though it seems a black can say "whitey" and get away with it more than the white who says the n-word.

Hope I didn't bruise your thin skin with the post.

[Irreligious]

Originally Posted by n david

Do I need to take sensitivity training before posting so your feelings won't get hurt?


Uhm, 200+ years of "institutionalized racism?" Where you pull that number out of? The "institutionalized racism" ended before 200+years. There may well be racism yet, but it's not institutionalized. Good grief, look no further than who's in the White House.

And you're right ... there's NO defense for that. You can bet your sweet aunt bessie that if a white person were to write on their application to Morehouse or Texas Southern: "As always, (n-word) now sits in judgment of me, preparing to cast my fate. It is your decision either to let me blow with the wind as a nonentity or to encourage the development of self. Allow me to prove myself," all heck would break loose.

Both are meant to be derogatory towards each race ... neither should be more acceptable than the other, though it seems a black can say "whitey" and get away with it more than the white who says the n-word.

Hope I didn't bruise your thin skin with the post.

Mr. David, you DESPERATELY need sensitivity training and the idiocy of the this post shows that very well. Institutionalized racism ended before 200+ years ago??? Tell Jack & Jill I said "Hi" because you're in a fairy tale world.

It's funny.....I went days without looking at this thread because when I saw who posted it, I knew what position you would be taking on all this and I knew I'd just get completely flabbergasted again.

You need to read "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin.

So go ahead and hit me with your best shot because I'm not responding to your stuff. It just takes WAY too much joy out of my day.

[n david]

Originally Posted by Irreligious

Mr. David, you DESPERATELY need sensitivity training and the idiocy of the this post shows that very well. Institutionalized racism ended before 200+ years ago??? Tell Jack & Jill I said "Hi" because you're in a fairy tale world.

It's funny.....I went days without looking at this thread because when I saw who posted it, I knew what position you would be taking on all this and I knew I'd just get completely flabbergasted again.

You need to read "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin.

So go ahead and hit me with your best shot because I'm not responding to your stuff. It just takes WAY too much joy out of my day.

*sigh*

Irreligious - I apologize that your skin is rice-paper thin and your feelings get hurt with anything I post. If I, or responding to me, takes too much joy out of your day, then ... whew I don't know what to tell ya man. You need more joy, perhaps.

Tell ya what, from now on we won't debate - you and I. You say whatever you want and I won't respond, even if I feel strongly one way or another about what was posted. And likewise, if you see something I've posted, ignore it.

And if you decide to respond to me, don't get your feelings hurt if I respond with a bit of sarcasm ... it's what I do. Learn it, love it, live with it or leave it. (And no, I'm not telling you to leave the forum - you brighten my day too much, I'd miss you. *tear*)

So ... help me help you.

[coadie]

This past March 29th, Professor Henry Louis Gates was being interviewed in front of a small group by Walter Isaacson on C-SPAN's Book TV. Thirty-three minutes into the discussion about his new book on Lincoln, Professor Gates began a detailed account of his own genealogy. He said that in doing so he had discovered he was about "50% white". He said that this was quote, "To my astonishment and horror...".


He continued by saying that he had subsequently sent his DNA off to be tested. This time, upon finding out he was "57% white", he said again, "to my horror .... I was becoming more white by the minute". To this Gates, Isaacson and everyone else there chuckled.


Something tells me that if Mr. Isaacson had said that he also had sent his DNA off and found that to his "astonishment and horror" he was 57% black, no one would chuckle, least of all the Professor of African American Studies at Harvard, Dr. Gates.


This diminutive man is the epitome of intellectual elitism.

Poor Gates is frustrated.

[StillStanding]

Originally Posted by coadie

This past March 29th, Professor Henry Louis Gates was being interviewed in front of a small group by Walter Isaacson on C-SPAN's Book TV. Thirty-three minutes into the discussion about his new book on Lincoln, Professor Gates began a detailed account of his own genealogy. He said that in doing so he had discovered he was about "50% white". He said that this was quote, "To my astonishment and horror...".


He continued by saying that he had subsequently sent his DNA off to be tested. This time, upon finding out he was "57% white", he said again, "to my horror .... I was becoming more white by the minute". To this Gates, Isaacson and everyone else there chuckled.


Something tells me that if Mr. Isaacson had said that he also had sent his DNA off and found that to his "astonishment and horror" he was 57% black, no one would chuckle, least of all the Professor of African American Studies at Harvard, Dr. Gates.


This diminutive man is the epitome of intellectual elitism.

Poor Gates is frustrated.

Gates was being facetious when he spoke of the "horror" of being partially white. You are correct that if the white Mr. Isaacson had joked of the "horror" of being partially black, he would have been attacked as a racist by Gates himself!

It will be interesting how the good professor explains himself if the tapes back up the police report!

[aegsm76]

Irreligious - I think you just like to stir the pot and then get upset for the grease popping on ya!!!
Fact - some slave owners were paid compensation for freeing their slaves.
Fact - these were all Union supporting slave owners.
Fact - the 13th amendment freed the slaves in the South and no compensation was paid to slave owners who were in rebellion against the Union.
We cannot right every wrong, we cannot even begin. Otherwise, you are going to wind up with people who say "what about me?".
Fact - my ancestors were forcibly removed from their land, were marched over thousands of miles to a inhospitable land and forced to live there.
Fact - I cannot "officially" lay claim to this part of my heritage, because I am not on an official government roll. Even though DNA proves that this is my heritage.
Does this bother me? Not overly much. Because "I yam what I yam"!
All of this leftover culture stems from LBJ's great society, which led to the dissolution of the family unit, by giving women more money and benefits if they were single, then if they were married.
Everytime government attempts to fix a social problem, it ends up making the situation worse.

[Irreligious]

Originally Posted by aegsm76

Irreligious - I think you just like to stir the pot and then get upset for the grease popping on ya!!!
Fact - some slave owners were paid compensation for freeing their slaves.
Fact - these were all Union supporting slave owners.

My point was, and it ALSO is a "FACT"...there were slave owners that received compensation and I really don't care WHO they supported. FACT....whatever slave owners received is more than the slaves received. Slaves were released into society with NOTHING, not even last names, and we're still paying the price for it. Release 4 million people into society with nothing and what do you expect? The African-American Community is still suffering for it.

Fact - the 13th amendment freed the slaves in the South and no compensation was paid to slave owners who were in rebellion against the Union.
We cannot right every wrong, we cannot even begin. Otherwise, you are going to wind up with people who say "what about me?".

While we certainly can't "right every wrong" we certainly CAN and SHOULD begin!! Are you comparing the "wrong of slavery" to other insignificant wrongs? We're talking about 4 million existing human beings that were stripped of everything and treated like animals. We owed them MORE than just opening the gates and taking another 100 years to give them the right to vote.

Fact - my ancestors were forcibly removed from their land, were marched over thousands of miles to a inhospitable land and forced to live there.
Fact - I cannot "officially" lay claim to this part of my heritage, because I am not on an official government roll. Even though DNA proves that this is my heritage.

Are you speaking of Native Americans? If so, I am in your exact position. I'm sure you're aware of available health insurance to Native American descendants. Is there such a program for African-Americans?

Does this bother me? Not overly much. Because "I yam what I yam"!
All of this leftover culture stems from LBJ's great society, which led to the dissolution of the family unit, by giving women more money and benefits if they were single, then if they were married.
Everytime government attempts to fix a social problem, it ends up making the situation worse.

That sounds like Rush Limbaugh jargon and I don't terribly disagree. But slavery wasn't a "social problem." It was a monumental crime against humanity.

All I'm asking is for non-blacks to give serious thought to walking in their shoes before you tell them to get over it and minimize what it's STILL like to be an African-American in this country. Have we improved? Yes. Are we anywhere CLOSE to resolving the issue? No.

[Truthseeker]

I just listened to part of the 911 call and the lady didn't even mention the two guys were black as many have been led to believe. She said she thinks one is hispanic and the other she couldn't tell. She just sounded like a concerned neighbor. I hope Gates as spoken to her to thank her for the concern.

[Cindy]

Good grief, racism is very much alive in America. It's a sad fact, but it's true. We cannot compensate anyone for slavery, because how do you put a cost on bondage, humiliation, and inhumane treatment of generations of people? And lest anyone think that there are not groups of people in small towns or large cities in America, that thinks all nonwhites should not breathe air, you are sadly mistaken. In small insidious comments, and outright face to face comments. They spew hatred, and teach it to their children. And I don't think it really matters what age a black is in this country, how do they forget the past. Or overcome the present, when it is usually something that white people don't want to talk about, because they will have to admit the truth.

I still think the President of the US should not have commented on this situation as he did, without knowing all the facts.

[Irreligious]

Originally Posted by Cindy

Good grief, racism is very much alive in America. It's a sad fact, but it's true. We cannot compensate anyone for slavery, because how do you put a cost on bondage, humiliation, and inhumane treatment of generations of people? And lest anyone think that there are not groups of people in small towns or large cities in America, that thinks all nonwhites should not breathe air, you are sadly mistaken. In small insidious comments, and outright face to face comments. They spew hatred, and teach it to their children. And I don't think it really matters what age a black is in this country, how do they forget the past. Or overcome the present, when it is usually something that white people don't want to talk about, because they will have to admit the truth.

I still think the President of the US should not have commented on this situation as he did, without knowing all the facts.

Nothing could ever repay the atrocity of slavery. But affirmative action in the educational system that directly benefits African-Americans would be a good start.

Clarence Thomas is one who benefited from an educational affirmative action program.