It absolutely boggles my mind that you Americans can seriously mean this kind of stuff. You're absolutely obsessed with race. Every time people of different racial backgrounds interact in any way you people start sniffing for 'racial motivations' and 'racism' like it's going out of style.
Why is it a racial issue? Why not a social issue?
I mean, some of the stuff you say is incredibly misleading. Like, I can't tell you whether blacks and whites commit a similar amount of violent crimes, but what I
can tell you is that blacks make up 12.61 of the population where whites make up 72.41 (
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). If they commit an equal amount of violent crimes... you see the problem, right?
Blacks are overrepresented in national crime statistics. Very much so. That's not racism, it's not bias, it's not racial prejudice; it's just fact. Even if half of the crimes committed by blacks were fabrications they would
still be overrepresented (
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).
Now, before you start typing up a whole list of reasons why American police departments are racist and terrible I think we should get a few things out of the way: Do police officers pull over, search, question and otherwise 'target' blacks more than they do whites? Statistics would say yes, yes they do. Are federal prosecutors more likely to push for mandatory minimum when they face black and Latino defendants? Yes, statistics say they are. (
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) Do most police departments patrol black neighbourhoods more than they do white neighbourhoods? Statistics would say yes. Is it weird that the federal courts treat crack cocaine like it's much worse than powdered cocaine? Yes, yes it is (
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).
Is the police an inherently racist institution? Of course not. Is it a vicious circle that blacks are overrepresented in crime statistics, thus prompting more scrutiny and suspicion from police departments, thus resulting in more arrests, etc? Yes, yes it is. Has the United States had an awkward history with slavery, Jim Crow laws and racial prejudice? Yes, yes it has.
Are the whites of today in any way to blame for the institutions of their ancestors? Of course not. Implying otherwise is really, really retarded. I don't blame the Kingdom of Congo for selling their countrymen to the Portuguese, just as I don't blame the Germans for occupying my country in World War 2. History is history. Bringing it up as a weird kind of social casus belli is an exercise in futility.
Now, white privilege. Are there more poor blacks than whites? Yes, yes there are (
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). Blacks are overrepresented there as well.
So, that begs the simple question; what can we do about it?
How about looking at poverty as a social issue? The debate about race has gotten you nowhere, but there are lot of political programmes that
can.
Also, don't use terms like 'multi generational wealth.' Yes, a lot of the richest people in America are white, but multi generational wealth is not a 'white thing.' If it was you wouldn't have the amount of poor whites that you do. Rich people get richer, and those born into rich families will often leave their kids a bigger fortune than they were left by their parents.
That's 'multi generational wealth.' It has nothing to do with being white.
Seriously... a debate about privilege. How about actually trying to make a difference for a change?
This is a false claim. It's illegal to pay employees a lower salary based on their sexual orientation, gender or race. You can complain that whites occupy positions that pay more, but I'm not sure where you'll want to go with that. Do we need more blacks in the board of directors?
Huh. Hiring someone because of the colour of their skin. That sure sounds racist.
But that kind of thinking is what led to 'gender quotas' and 'ethnic diversity quotas' in the workplace. As if it isn't completely humiliating for a serious worker to be hired because of their gender or race. As if America needed more focus on race.
Jesus Christ.
Oh, and thanks for the rep
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