Being Black

We homeschooled my son until the 9th grade, when he went into a public high school. When he got into freshman english, he was introduced to the term prejudice. He had to come home and ask me what that meant. When I explained it to him, he looked at me with a confused look on his face and asked, "Why would anybody do that?"

At that moment, I was incredibly proud of him. I think the whole concept of race is manufactured. We are all in the same boat, bleed the same red blood, struggle with the same emotions and insecurities. Life is too short and precious to waste on a concept as divisive as race.

Just my opinion.

How are we going to get rid of racism? Stop talking about it!

I follow the gospel of Mr. Freeman. That man can do no wrong...besides cheating on his wife. But he's awesome, so he gets a pass.

Black History Month exists because black history wasn't and largely still isn't recognized by the mainstream in this country. You don't need a special month because everything is tilted in your favor already. This is why I take issue with white people whining about minority-specific things.

Morgan Freeman is black.

Thank you. I hadn't noticed that in all my years of loving his films.

I was referring to the girl who quoted the pic.

It's actually really sad that you assumed she was ragging on black history month just because she's white. Morgan Freeman said it, not her. She was simply pointing that out.

Thank you! And you dont know anything about me. I have black and interracial family...so please dont assume honey!

I didn't assume anything about you. I disagreed with what you said, and then added my opinion on the subject in general. Please learn the difference. And, please quit with "I know black people so you can't disagree with me!" thing. It's trite.

Responses like this are the exact reason why racism exist. If you put up walls where people cant relate to one another.. then we can never be one as a human race

It shouldn't matter if someone's black, white, yellow, red, or purple.

Ok... maybe we draw the line at purple people. Unless they're choking. Then you should probably help them out.

but what would the flying purple people eater eat if there where no purple people? Or is it colored purple and eat flying people? I was never too clear on that.

As a heterosexual white male, you're not being discriminated against and your equal rights aren't in jeopardy. All of us who belong to an oppressed minority group have the responsibility to stand up for ourselves and other oppressed minorities. What you call "promoting an agenda" is simply demanding equal treatment. I'm not surprised you can't empathize.

There's a lot of bias against heterosexual white males, kind of like a backlash. They will be blamed for sexism and racism first. They will be stepped over just so that a company has a woman or ethnic person in positions to fill their quota. And that's speaking as a woman. All of this just needs to find a balance but it'll take a while. I don't care about this enough to be honest, live and let live.

A white heterosexual man with a criminal background has more of chance getting a job over a black man without one. You can take a look the unemployment rates as well and see which groups are hurting the most. Trust me, white men do not as much as a hard time finding a job as a black male. Many white men over exaggerate because they know of the affirmation laws and stuff so they try to blame the regulations instead of their own flaws to why they may not be getting a job but they still don't have the hurdles that other races face.

Unemployment rates don't tell you if people are unemployed because they were discriminated against, come on. Youve gotta be smarter than that. I'm not saying discrimination doesn't happen, but your example is ridiculous.

But studies that do take different races with the same qualifications and see who gets the job does. There's been plenty of these studies done, you can look them up for yourself.

I don't doubt that, but what you said up there made no sense at all.

Educate yourself further and it will.

You quoted ONLY unemployment rates. You can not possibly draw any conclusions regarding discrimination SOLELY based on unemployment numbers, and you know that.

I stated that's another thing you can look at basically. Its not a coincidence when the recession hit that certain groups got hit harder. If you feel otherwise then tell me why you think they got hit harder? When there aren't many jobs out there and 100 plus people fighting for the same job, who you think has more of a chance?

You were basically saying this:

Timmy has 2 green apples and 1 red apple. You can assume Timmy doesn't like red apples.

Which is wrong. And that's all I was saying. Your logic wasn't working out. I even said that I knew that discrimination happened.

Okay, my logic doesn't work. Then tell me why are certain groups being hit harder with the recession? I'm always open to learning new things.

Are you actually reading what I've been saying? I've said about three times now that discrimination exists. All I was telling you off for was using faulty logic. Faulty logic is what misinforms people and makes them think things about certain groups.

I'm not sure you understand what you are saying. If my logic is faulty and not just faulty but ridiculous, then you must have some idea of your own? You say there is discrimination but then the idea that discrimination plays in unemployment is faulty? How so if discrimination does exist? You're basically stating that discrimination doesn't exist when people try to get a job? Is that what you are saying? It doesn't happen? If so, then what is your idea on what is happening when certain groups getting hit harder with unemployment?

O....M.....G. You lack such basic reasoning skills it is getting to be a bit ridiculous.

WHAT I SAID is that you can't ONLY give someone unemployment numbers if you want to back up claims of discrimination. How does that not make sense to you??? And have you ignored the FOUR times now I've said discrimination DOES exist? I'm just not going to reply anymore. It's sad that I'm 19 and have more logic and basic reasoning skills than someone nearly twice my age.

Why are you so upset being asked what your idea on this is? You haven't really said why it can't be used. You admit there is discrimination so what I'm asking is that you feel it does not come into play when people go for a job? Your apple example is false since it implied there is zero discrimination going on but you state there is discrimination. You don't have any idea of your own to why you feel there is higher unemployment with certain groups of people? That's all I'm asking. I didn't say unemployment was the only thing to back up claims of discrimination, you keep saying that I've said only and never did. The first line in my original comment on this is from an actual study, yes I didn't site it but as I said later on you can look up studies on this, if you're interested.

If you don't cite your work it doesn't count. If you've ever written an academic paper you'll know that. Sorry to burst your bubble

Wow, a forum is an academic paper? You still for some reason can't give me any ideas of your own?

You should treat any debate like an academic paper, if you expect to be taken seriously, which you seem to want to do. I already stated that discrimination does exist (which is an agreement with you, btw). I guess I just wanted to call out your faulty logic

you are human being. now become a human 'doing'. you sound like a great person...worry about being a better person, not how 'black' a person you can be.

^^ LIKE

I like the way you put that. It may sound confusing to others, but I know exactly what you mean. You don't have to go around saying,"I have black friends". They're your friends, and it should just be left as that. I have friends of different ethnicities, and I would never label them by their race. They're my friends and thats all that matters. I think people get so caught up in skin color and statistics, they then end up missing out on an opportunity to know a pleasant soul.

As a heterosexual white male, you're not being discriminated against and your equal rights aren't in jeopardy. All of us who belong to an oppressed minority group have the responsibility to stand up for ourselves and other oppressed minorities. What you call "promoting an agenda" is simply demanding equal treatment. I'm not surprised you can't empathize.

There's a lot of bias against heterosexual white males, kind of like a backlash. They will be blamed for sexism and racism first. They will be stepped over just so that a company has a woman or ethnic person in positions to fill their quota. And that's speaking as a woman. All of this just needs to find a balance but it'll take a while. I don't care about this enough to be honest, live and let live.

A white heterosexual man with a criminal background has more of chance getting a job over a black man without one. You can take a look the unemployment rates as well and see which groups are hurting the most. Trust me, white men do not as much as a hard time finding a job as a black male. Many white men over exaggerate because they know of the affirmation laws and stuff so they try to blame the regulations instead of their own flaws to why they may not be getting a job but they still don't have the hurdles that other races face.

Unemployment rates don't tell you if people are unemployed because they were discriminated against, come on. Youve gotta be smarter than that. I'm not saying discrimination doesn't happen, but your example is ridiculous.

But studies that do take different races with the same qualifications and see who gets the job does. There's been plenty of these studies done, you can look them up for yourself.

I don't doubt that, but what you said up there made no sense at all.

Educate yourself further and it will.

You quoted ONLY unemployment rates. You can not possibly draw any conclusions regarding discrimination SOLELY based on unemployment numbers, and you know that.

I stated that's another thing you can look at basically. Its not a coincidence when the recession hit that certain groups got hit harder. If you feel otherwise then tell me why you think they got hit harder? When there aren't many jobs out there and 100 plus people fighting for the same job, who you think has more of a chance?

You were basically saying this:

Timmy has 2 green apples and 1 red apple. You can assume Timmy doesn't like red apples.

Which is wrong. And that's all I was saying. Your logic wasn't working out. I even said that I knew that discrimination happened.

Okay, my logic doesn't work. Then tell me why are certain groups being hit harder with the recession? I'm always open to learning new things.

Are you actually reading what I've been saying? I've said about three times now that discrimination exists. All I was telling you off for was using faulty logic. Faulty logic is what misinforms people and makes them think things about certain groups.

I'm not sure you understand what you are saying. If my logic is faulty and not just faulty but ridiculous, then you must have some idea of your own? You say there is discrimination but then the idea that discrimination plays in unemployment is faulty? How so if discrimination does exist? You're basically stating that discrimination doesn't exist when people try to get a job? Is that what you are saying? It doesn't happen? If so, then what is your idea on what is happening when certain groups getting hit harder with unemployment?

O....M.....G. You lack such basic reasoning skills it is getting to be a bit ridiculous.

WHAT I SAID is that you can't ONLY give someone unemployment numbers if you want to back up claims of discrimination. How does that not make sense to you??? And have you ignored the FOUR times now I've said discrimination DOES exist? I'm just not going to reply anymore. It's sad that I'm 19 and have more logic and basic reasoning skills than someone nearly twice my age.

Why are you so upset being asked what your idea on this is? You haven't really said why it can't be used. You admit there is discrimination so what I'm asking is that you feel it does not come into play when people go for a job? Your apple example is false since it implied there is zero discrimination going on but you state there is discrimination. You don't have any idea of your own to why you feel there is higher unemployment with certain groups of people? That's all I'm asking. I didn't say unemployment was the only thing to back up claims of discrimination, you keep saying that I've said only and never did. The first line in my original comment on this is from an actual study, yes I didn't site it but as I said later on you can look up studies on this, if you're interested.

If you don't cite your work it doesn't count. If you've ever written an academic paper you'll know that. Sorry to burst your bubble

Wow, a forum is an academic paper? You still for some reason can't give me any ideas of your own?

You should treat any debate like an academic paper, if you expect to be taken seriously, which you seem to want to do. I already stated that discrimination does exist (which is an agreement with you, btw). I guess I just wanted to call out your faulty logic

Your issue was with what I said about unemployment anyways, not my first statement. If you feel like calling me out you should have a good reason to do so but you can't tell me any ideas on why this is or why it can't play a role in unemployment?

People are people no matter what the color and everyone needs love and relationships. Relationships are and should be color blind. From my experience, once you get to really know a person, their color ceases to matter much. However, being Black is not only a race, it is a culture. It is good to experience some cultural activities to feel a sense of belonging. Most major cities have cultural activities and restaurants. Seek them out.

O....M.....G. You lack such basic reasoning skills it is getting to be a bit ridiculous.

WHAT I SAID is that you can't ONLY give someone unemployment numbers if you want to back up claims of discrimination. How does that not make sense to you??? And have you ignored the FOUR times now I've said discrimination DOES exist? I'm just not going to reply anymore. It's sad that I'm 19 and have more logic and basic reasoning skills than someone nearly twice my age.

Let me give you another example: You want to prove Timmy hates red apples. But the ONLY information you have is that TImmy has less red apples than green apples. You can't logically draw the conclusion that Timmy hates red apples ONLY based on the information you have.

Speaking as a Banker, I wonder if my own white, Western Culture is getting it wrong.

I see bank accounts from all different races... I see financial statements, and I build financial plans. And as a white female, I find that white people make BY FAR more mistakes than any other culture.

I see Asians... mostly from India, China, Korea, Japan, & the Philiipines... & I notice one bank account with 8 owners. I see one mortgage on a $400,000 six-bedroom house with 8 names on it. One mortgage payment... one cable bill, one hydro bill, gas, water, sewer, internet.... I could go on. They DON'T use credit cards... they pay cash for everything. One person handles the finances... & withdraws heaps of cash from accounts with 6-figure balances & divides the money into envelopes. AFTER depositing payroll cheques from each of those 8 people into the account first.

Of the North-American Born... I lump myself into this group... I see people on welfare. Disability. Pensions.... fixed income people going to food banks, (we don't food stamp in Canada). In these other cultures... if someone in this household loses a job... there are 7 other incomes to keep it going. Someone gets hurt? Same scenario. Everyone else just pitches in to take care of everything.

Having an inside look into how the imigrants tend to handle money... it teaches SO much about our values. This sounds totally racist, I realize... but what I REALLY mean is... it's people BORN in North America. It doesn't matter what colour they are, they all make the same mistakes. We all have the same hang-ups & financial issues. The SAME problems finding work... wether it's lack of skill, criminal records, affirmative action (which has a different name in Canada)... there just AREN'T ANY jobs to be had out there. And more cut every day. Our government & social assistance programs CAN'T keep up with the demand, because extended families aren't helping. They don't think they can.

But imagine if you will... EIGHT incomes... one household to sustain. And tell ME who's coming through this recession/economic downturn ahead? Screw the Employment rate. It's our society that's the problem, not the colour of our skin.

As a heterosexual white male, you're not being discriminated against and your equal rights aren't in jeopardy. All of us who belong to an oppressed minority group have the responsibility to stand up for ourselves and other oppressed minorities. What you call "promoting an agenda" is simply demanding equal treatment. I'm not surprised you can't empathize.

There's a lot of bias against heterosexual white males, kind of like a backlash. They will be blamed for sexism and racism first. They will be stepped over just so that a company has a woman or ethnic person in positions to fill their quota. And that's speaking as a woman. All of this just needs to find a balance but it'll take a while. I don't care about this enough to be honest, live and let live.

A white heterosexual man with a criminal background has more of chance getting a job over a black man without one. You can take a look the unemployment rates as well and see which groups are hurting the most. Trust me, white men do not as much as a hard time finding a job as a black male. Many white men over exaggerate because they know of the affirmation laws and stuff so they try to blame the regulations instead of their own flaws to why they may not be getting a job but they still don't have the hurdles that other races face.

Unemployment rates don't tell you if people are unemployed because they were discriminated against, come on. Youve gotta be smarter than that. I'm not saying discrimination doesn't happen, but your example is ridiculous.

But studies that do take different races with the same qualifications and see who gets the job does. There's been plenty of these studies done, you can look them up for yourself.

I don't doubt that, but what you said up there made no sense at all.

Educate yourself further and it will.

You quoted ONLY unemployment rates. You can not possibly draw any conclusions regarding discrimination SOLELY based on unemployment numbers, and you know that.

I stated that's another thing you can look at basically. Its not a coincidence when the recession hit that certain groups got hit harder. If you feel otherwise then tell me why you think they got hit harder? When there aren't many jobs out there and 100 plus people fighting for the same job, who you think has more of a chance?

You were basically saying this:

Timmy has 2 green apples and 1 red apple. You can assume Timmy doesn't like red apples.

Which is wrong. And that's all I was saying. Your logic wasn't working out. I even said that I knew that discrimination happened.

Okay, my logic doesn't work. Then tell me why are certain groups being hit harder with the recession? I'm always open to learning new things.

Are you actually reading what I've been saying? I've said about three times now that discrimination exists. All I was telling you off for was using faulty logic. Faulty logic is what misinforms people and makes them think things about certain groups.

I'm not sure you understand what you are saying. If my logic is faulty and not just faulty but ridiculous, then you must have some idea of your own? You say there is discrimination but then the idea that discrimination plays in unemployment is faulty? How so if discrimination does exist? You're basically stating that discrimination doesn't exist when people try to get a job? Is that what you are saying? It doesn't happen? If so, then what is your idea on what is happening when certain groups getting hit harder with unemployment?

O....M.....G. You lack such basic reasoning skills it is getting to be a bit ridiculous.

WHAT I SAID is that you can't ONLY give someone unemployment numbers if you want to back up claims of discrimination. How does that not make sense to you??? And have you ignored the FOUR times now I've said discrimination DOES exist? I'm just not going to reply anymore. It's sad that I'm 19 and have more logic and basic reasoning skills than someone nearly twice my age.

Why are you so upset being asked what your idea on this is? You haven't really said why it can't be used. You admit there is discrimination so what I'm asking is that you feel it does not come into play when people go for a job? Your apple example is false since it implied there is zero discrimination going on but you state there is discrimination. You don't have any idea of your own to why you feel there is higher unemployment with certain groups of people? That's all I'm asking. I didn't say unemployment was the only thing to back up claims of discrimination, you keep saying that I've said only and never did. The first line in my original comment on this is from an actual study, yes I didn't site it but as I said later on you can look up studies on this, if you're interested.

If you don't cite your work it doesn't count. If you've ever written an academic paper you'll know that. Sorry to burst your bubble

Wow, a forum is an academic paper? You still for some reason can't give me any ideas of your own?

You should treat any debate like an academic paper, if you expect to be taken seriously, which you seem to want to do. I already stated that discrimination does exist (which is an agreement with you, btw). I guess I just wanted to call out your faulty logic

Your issue was with what I said about unemployment anyways, not my first statement. If you feel like calling me out you should have a good reason to do so but you can't tell me any ideas on why this is or why it can't play a role in unemployment?

My issue is that you claimed unemployment told a story about discrimination. Which it doesn't. You can agree with that, right? If you can, then the conversation should have ended a long time ago.

How do you know it doesn't?