Conversation about Racism

[ccsl2]

Interesting take that I think we should all heed, including yours truly.

[skinsfan07]

is that you???????

very good video. Made me think about things.

[buenosdiaz]

Diversity day! and yeah i prefer just calling people racist haha jk

[One Shot]

the guy talks kinda like will smith

[Thiebear]

Yes he does sound like Will Smith and it was a very good speach for a racist.

[Busch1724]

well can't see the video here at work, but a few thoughts before i watch it at home.

for racism to not be an issue, there can't be the double standards that are currently associated with it. you have obama calling out black families, bill cosby doing the same, etc.; all the while getting criticized by the folks who continue to feed the stereotype. every race has a positive and negative stereotype, mostly for good reason. stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason since many times perception is reality to most people. in order for that mentality to change, people must change. each race is currently running the risk of being uneducated and less individualistic. illiteracy rates are climbing and education is seen as a way of "selling out" in the some circles, that includes every race. unfortunately we have a situation where people with low levels of education are becoming bigger and depend on the government for help without wanting to sacrifice to succeed. we are creating a society of dependence on the government and creating our own tougher times. maybe soon racial lines will blur, but class line will emerge. there needs to be a resurgence of self pride and not taking hte easy way out.

[Guest sith lord]

That man speaks the truth. Like over here in Buffalo, a man burns a cross on these peoples (I believe they were hispanic to be clear) front yard. And of course, the mans mom states "HE'S NOT A RACIST." Whatever.

[ccsl2]

is that you???????

very good video. Made me think about things.

LOL I wish I had that talent. Actually that is this guy Jay Smooth who does video blogs on XXL Magazine online. He has had really good video blogs.

[bschurm]

I respect this man's view. Now, I know there are racists of all types, but I want to ask a question in regards to recent events that have recently died down.

According to this man, Mel Gibson would be viewed as a racist. I can see that and I can respect it from the comments Gibson made to the police.

My question is this, does this mean that Rev. Wright is a racist since he made the comments he did about white America? I really dislike that a lot of people belabored the Wright issue but I just want to know if this man's view of racisim in this 3 minute clip would apply to Wright?

[ccsl2]

well can't see the video here at work, but a few thoughts before i watch it at home.

for racism to not be an issue, there can't be the double standards that are currently associated with it. you have obama calling out black families, bill cosby doing the same, etc.; all the while getting criticized by the folks who continue to feed the stereotype. every race has a positive and negative stereotype, mostly for good reason. stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason since many times perception is reality to most people. in order for that mentality to change, people must change. each race is currently running the risk of being uneducated and less individualistic. illiteracy rates are climbing and education is seen as a way of "selling out" in the some circles, that includes every race. unfortunately we have a situation where people with low levels of education are becoming bigger and depend on the government for help without wanting to sacrifice to succeed. we are creating a society of dependence on the government and creating our own tougher times. maybe soon racial lines will blur, but class line will emerge. there needs to be a resurgence of self pride and not taking hte easy way out.

A lot of people can't handle the truth, which is what Obama was speaking. I think if you can get people to take persoanly responsibility, combined with help from programs created byt the Government, I think you will see things get better. But taking responsibilty must be first priority.

I think also another to get out of these stereotypes is to see more images of people doing well through the media. Not every black woman is a video girl or an angry woman. And not every blakc man is a rapper, sells drugs or is a pimp, etc.

[ccsl2]

I respect this man's view. Now, I know there are racists of all types, but I want to ask a question in regards to recent events that have recently died down.

According to this man, Mel Gibson would be viewed as a racist. I can see that and I can respect it from the comments Gibson made to the police.

My question is this, does this mean that Rev. Wright is a racist since he made the comments he did about white America? I really dislike that a lot of people belabored the Wright issue but I just want to know if this man's view of racisim in this 3 minute clip would apply to Wright?

I think his point was to deal with what was said as being racist, not the if the person who said it is racist or not.

[bschurm]

I think his point was to deal with what was said as being racist, not the if the person who said it is racist or not.

I'm not so sure I saw it that way. It sounded more like the actions of the individual dictate who they really are, which holds some reality. I will look it over again but right now I have to get to class.

[Busch1724]

I respect this man's view. Now, I know there are racists of all types, but I want to ask a question in regards to recent events that have recently died down.

According to this man, Mel Gibson would be viewed as a racist. I can see that and I can respect it from the comments Gibson made to the police.

My question is this, does this mean that Rev. Wright is a racist since he made the comments he did about white America? I really dislike that a lot of people belabored the Wright issue but I just want to know if this man's view of racisim in this 3 minute clip would apply to Wright?

Same kind of situation, what Jesse Jackson breaking out the n-word off camera while doing a TV show?

I find it ridiculous that someone can beat a woman, abuse drugs, rape, etc. and it's seen as far more obscene and gets more TV play and talk radio play than someone that says something some group finds offensive. An example, people got so worked up about what Don Imus said. Not saying he was right or wrong, but the man lost a job over it. It's just words, many time out of context (not in Imus's case), and we (as a society) get more worked up about that stuff than much more severe character flaws like those who rape.

[DjTj]

It's just words, many time out of context (not in Imus's case), and we (as a society) get more worked up about that stuff than much more severe character flaws like those who rape.

Don't rapists go to jail?

In my mind, jail is a LOT worse than losing your job.

[zoony]

Why can't he talk without a funky beat over-dub and multiple shifting camera angles?

What you lack in substance, make up for in creativity.

I got thru about 10 seconds and realized that I don't give a **** what this clown has to say. If he has a message, why doesn't he talk to us like grown ups? Or maybe this was for 14 year olds, in which case, I made the right call skipping it.

.....

[Guest sith lord]

Same kind of situation, what Jesse Jackson breaking out the n-word off camera while doing a TV show?

I find it ridiculous that someone can beat a woman, abuse drugs, rape, etc. and it's seen as far more obscene and gets more TV play and talk radio play than someone that says something some group finds offensive. An example, people got so worked up about what Don Imus said. Not saying he was right or wrong, but the man lost a job over it. It's just words, many time out of context (not in Imus's case), and we (as a society) get more worked up about that stuff than much more severe character flaws like those who rape.

I'm a black man and I wish Jackson would just go away. I personally believe he turned off a lot of blacks with his comments about Obama. As for Imus, the man deserved to get fired. He's been using racist undertones for far too long and he finally messed big time. He had no right to bring those college educated young women into that kind of scandle. As for everything else you said, I agree.

[Guest sith lord]

Don't rapists go to jail?

In my mind, jail is a LOT worse than losing your job.

But the point I believe he was makling is that society seems to don't get too worked up about about guys that do drugs, beat their woman or engage in other criminal activity.

[Busch1724]

Don't rapists go to jail?

In my mind, jail is a LOT worse than losing your job.

Absolutely, but the point I'm making is this...use an athlete as an example. how many times have we seen athletes do some of the most outrageous things like driving drunk and killing someone (leonard little anyone?), but an athlete expresses an opinion (doesn't even have to be racist, could just be critical of a teammate, official, or coach) and gets muuuuch more play than a true character flaw.

[Busch1724]

I'm a black man and I wish Jackson would just go away. I personally believe he turned off a lot of blacks with his comments about Obama. As for Imus, the man deserved to get fired. He's been using racist undertones for far too long and he finally messed big time. He had no right to bring those college educated young women into that kind of scandle. As for everything else you said, I agree.

Agree with you that Imus deserved to get fired, but not over giving his opinion on something. he should have been fired for low ratings before this though. however advertisers pulled out and so on so he lost his job eventually, but people can pick and choose what they listen to. the guy gets paid to give opinions, let him give it. if it's offensive, don't listen to him. the comment he made didn't even become an issue until several days (literally)later jesse jackson made a big deal about it and took the opportunity to get some limelight. he got himself the exposure he craved, and gave Imus the exposure he craved. we all got worked up about a couple words from an idiot. Imus could have beat up on the kids on his ranch and it most likely would not have become a big deal.

[DjTj]

Absolutely, but the point I'm making is this...use an athlete as an example. how many times have we seen athletes do some of the most outrageous things like driving drunk and killing someone (leonard little anyone?), but an athlete expresses an opinion (doesn't even have to be racist, could just be critical of a teammate, official, or coach) and gets muuuuch more play than a true character flaw.

Well, I think part of that is because the legal system doesn't provide much punishment for saying crazy things. Leonard Little was convicted and sentenced under the law for what he did. It's hard to say a lot about that - we have a system, and it did what it was supposed to do. All the arguing and media attention about drunk driving occurred back in the 1920's with Prohibition or in the 1980's with MADD. The issues were fought in state legislatures and in Congress, and as a society, we reached some kind of consensus about what the punishments would be. There's just not much of a conversation we can have about issues like that because everyone really agrees that it is a bad thing that deserves serious punishment.

For someone like T.O. who just says crazy things, there is no legal punishment, and there is no system for taking care of incidents like that. All we have is the media circus and the water cooler talk. We haven't had the kind of high-level debate that we've had about rape or murder or drunk driving, so everyone can give their own opinion. The reason there is so much conversation on these more trivial issues is because people can disagree. It takes two sides to create a big issue, and that's what we have when it comes to racism or politics or entertainment news. If we haven't passed a law about it yet, it's because it's debatable ... so we debate it.

[Busch1724]

Well, I think part of that is because the legal system doesn't provide much punishment for saying crazy things. Leonard Little was convicted and sentenced under the law for what he did. It's hard to say a lot about that - we have a system, and it did what it was supposed to do. All the arguing and media attention about drunk driving occurred back in the 1920's with Prohibition or in the 1980's with MADD. The issues were fought in state legislatures and in Congress, and as a society, we reached some kind of consensus about what the punishments would be. There's just not much of a conversation we can have about issues like that because everyone really agrees that it is a bad thing that deserves serious punishment.

For someone like T.O. who just says crazy things, there is no legal punishment, and there is no system for taking care of incidents like that. All we have is the media circus and the water cooler talk. We haven't had the kind of high-level debate that we've had about rape or murder or drunk driving, so everyone can give their own opinion. The reason there is so much conversation on these more trivial issues is because people can disagree. It takes two sides to create a big issue, and that's what we have when it comes to racism or politics or entertainment news. If we haven't passed a law about it yet, it's because it's debatable ... so we debate it.

True, but it does get tiresome. Sportscenter is pretty much a televised version of talk radio instead of highlights. Football Night in America is the same way, we used to get highlights instead of talking heads on Primetime.

Back to racism though, there used to be an idea called "rugged individualism". We've lost that in recent decades. We look for the easy way out instead these days. If people weren't so offended by words and motivate themselves through action, we might not have the Jesse Jacksons of the world. We would have Obamas, Will Smiths, Bill Cosbys, and so on. We wouldn't have people like Wanda Sykes getting mad because Bill Cosby called it like it was.

[ccsl2]

True, but it does get tiresome. Sportscenter is pretty much a televised version of talk radio instead of highlights. Football Night in America is the same way, we used to get highlights instead of talking heads on Primetime.

Back to racism though, there used to be an idea called "rugged individualism". We've lost that in recent decades. We look for the easy way out instead these days. If people weren't so offended by words and motivate themselves through action, we might not have the Jesse Jacksons of the world. We would have Obamas, Will Smiths, Bill Cosbys, and so on. We wouldn't have people like Wanda Sykes getting mad because Bill Cosby called it like it was.

I think the good thing about Wanda Sykes disagreeing with Bill Cosby is that it showed that not every black person thinks alike. Some agreed, some disagreed.

[Busch1724]

I think the good thing about Wanda Sykes disagreeing with Bill Cosby is that it showed that not every black person thinks alike. Some agreed, some disagreed.

Unfortunately, I don't think the message got through to the people that it should have gotten to. I wish more people of authority whether they're minority or not would speak to these issues instead of allowing it to happen because they're afraid of turning off voters or endorsement dollars.

[ccsl2]

Unfortunately, I don't think the message got through to the people that it should have gotten to. I wish more people of authority whether they're minority or not would speak to these issues instead of allowing it to happen because they're afraid of turning off voters or endorsement dollars.

You know that is a great point. it doesn't just fall on minorities in high positions to make statements of change or point out issues in our country that need fixing, it is incumbent on everyone in a position of power to speak out on these issues. Whatever the cause is (Poverty, racism, health care, etc.). I think the message of personal responsibility alone will not change issues in the country, but it is a start.

Your last point about people being afraid of of speaking out because they are afraid to turn off voters or lose money is a great point. But you have people who want to speak on certain things, but are threatened by loss of money or endorsements if they do speak out on these issues. Case in point Nas. Now he wanted to name the title of his album the N-Word. But was not allowed to because his company Def Jam/Universal was threatened the loss of income. And they had to say No to the title of the album. Now whether I think it is right for him to use the word as the title of his album is another debate. But the fact that he wasn't allowed to use it tells alot about who rules the world: those with the green.