It is 2006.
Why can’t this race issue die off already? We are no longer hunting down witches, and the moon isn’t made of cheese. The world is no longer flat and the Russians aren’t the biggest threat to democracy any more.
But why in the hell are we still pre-occupied with Race?
Refer to this thread and the fact that I was a “victim” in a hate “crime” recently. I honestly don’t give a rats ass what some neo-nazi’s want to think of me, but aren’t we passed this?
Because the white man is keeping us down?
-Thirst
Because we’re preoccupied with differences.
Daybreak’s got it. because there are still differences there will always be different emotions related to race. the worst part is that it is a viscious cycle where because there are minor physical differences, the caucasians begin the negative outlook. this leads to less opportunity in the white world and thus a lower socio-economic status. this leads to the caucasians creating more negative stereotypes related to not only physical, but now social (crime), and economic (inner-city, poverty) ones.
the solution? the only one i see is for the black society begins working their way into the higher socio-economic world that is dominated by the white folk. lower percentages of inner-city black populations compared to white will slower but surely change that perceived link.
People will generally take any excuse to feel superior to other people, especially when all it is is a feeling, and not a fact. Racism is a social institution in America and other places. So are a lot of other isms that allow a given group to feel superior to another group. See “The Sneetches”, by Dr Seuss, for an authoritative and comprehensive discussion. It’s all you need to know about the rationale of racism.
I assume you mean any society and not just black society.
I think that what is going on with White America at least is going a bit overboard. Because of trying to be politically correct all the time, I think some of them start feeling guilty without having done anything to begin with. Then it has become socially normal for African Americans and Latinos / Hispanics to say racial slurs, but it isn’t cool for whites to say them. Then you have blacks feeling superior to Latino’s because they are an American institution, and then every other race that lives in the US caught in the middle.
I don’t think Racism exists the way it did 60 years ago, and when I see people look at me around here. I don’t think they think bad about me. They see me and don’t assume I’m hispanic and that I’m not American. They really believe that I’m an African American. So I always end up in conversations that surprise me.
When they see me I know that their only concern is if I’m going to rob them. Not because I have a dark complexion, but because I dress in the norm of my culture. The Hip-Hop culture.
I’m not mad at them because I know there are MILLIONS of misconceptions about rap and its culture, most of which are based on stupidity and ignorance.
Data
Attention to race is puzzling.
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and
Portent
Until humans admit that there is great social competition and dislike, for even minute details of, and adherence to bizarre social norms, then the problem will continue.
Additional Data
Portent
Ignoring, or being unaware of, subtle signs of slow suicidal behavior on a mass scale can destroy civilization.
Harbringer, can you elaborate on your comments a bit more?
not sure what you are saying but would like to …
Bishop,
I believe the best elaboration, if I am understanding his comment correctly, is: Flava FLAV!!!
Though, it could be far subtler than that. I mean, Flava Flav did pioneer the clock-as-jewlery phenomenon, and I think we all know what that means:
Time’s running out . . . for whitey.
X- I had a completely different assessment of what Harbinger is saying. 
I agree with Faust.
People who clutch to the (positively perceived) characteristics of their ingroup will immediately place onto an individual the negatively viewed characteristics of an outgroup they can categorize the individual into (unless one or some of the characteristics they associate themselves with–such as racial tolerance or acceptance–prevents them from doing so–although in this case latent discrimination can still exist).
How much of a racial issue is there still, really? Being an academic who hangs out with other academics, I don’t see very much of one, so I’m probably not the one to comment on racial issues, besides just to say, among smart liberals, I don’t think there is one.
However, it is something I’ve thought about. Race exists, and there are racial differences - this makes it something worthy of thought, even if it isn’t really important at all. Are you contending that racial differences (or issues in general) are given more weight than they deserve?
I have heard a lot of criticism remaining about people assuming those dressed up in hip-hop garb are going to rob them, or how cops still pull black people over disproportionately more than white people, or things along these lines. Although these are stereotypes (whitey fears the hip-hopper, the cop pulls over the black guy), they are true stereotypes. However, unfortunately, the same is true on the other end. The cop believes the stereotype that black people are more prone to crime than white people - and he’s actually right. There are numerous political studies that verify this - in an objective sense, a disproportionately high percentage of black people are criminals compared to white people. Of course, it isn’t hard to see why - african americans are much poorer than white people on average, and poverty, across all races, is linked with crime. It’s nothing about black people specifically - the same is true with white trash, mexicans, etc. - but police perceive and understand these statistics, and act on them. And the result is something that is unfair to all the black people who get pulled for no other reason than that they’re black, but is still reasonable from the perspective of the police.
It’s a difficult problem, and the answer, I don’t think, can be “the police are racist - hire some police who aren’t!” The police, often, are being reasonable - but the people are also being reasonable in being pissed off about it. Similarly, I think you are justified in disliking that people fear you just for your race plus how you dress - but statistically, those people are also justified in their fear, not of you specifically, but of people who dress in hip-hop garb. It’s an unfortunate thing. What would a good resolution be?
Simple answer to a complex question:
Understanding human constructs/instutions/sociological normatives is exactly like watching a pack of monkeys trying to hump a greased football.
Stupidity is at least entertainment.
racism still exist in this country. Its driven by the media using stereotypes. The stereotypes attached to people thoughts and make them react in ways that hurt other people. TV makes us believe all black people can play basketball and do crack. They may make us believe that all Chinese are good at math and Jewish people are all rich and control hollywood and other stuff that doesn’t really matter. The problem is the media. I thought about it the other day when I heard a comedian on TV joking about Jews being rich. Then I laughed saying thats true. Later on I realized I don’t even know any jewish people. The only reason I know anything about their culture is because of TV. Then thought about a few other cultures that I have no clue about but from images on TV.
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They do (in the US).
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Black people and racism.
Portent
The denial that blacks in America are troubled and confused people has led to de facto slavery via poverty and prison. Meanwhile, the lack of rational analysis of the construct “Jew” will result in another mass murder of the people that identify themselves as such.
This will happen sooner than later, but “sooner” is a relative term.
race will be an issue in this country for a while longer.
When this country was founded, racism was part of it.
The civil rights movement was only 40 years ago.
You can’t expect a group of people to just bounce back in one generation, and especially in a place that still harbors a lot of negative views of them.
Also, Look how our media plays on stereotypes of black people today.
That means that it will continue on for quite some time. How long? Hmm
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The media also plays on the denial of stereotypes.
Portent
See previous portent.
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Media plays on stereotype
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Media plays on denial of stereotype
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Either way, it is not portraying the issue correctly historically or currently.
Obvious Portent #2
Racism lingers.
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Harbinger will post more Portents 
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Please see previous portent.