[Discussion] ''7 Things I Can Do That My Black Son Can’t''

[Aim64C]

1. I Can Walk Through a Store Without Being Followed

To take one high-profile instance, Macy’s and the city of New York recently settled with actor Robert Brown, who was handcuffed, humiliated, and accused of committing credit card fraud after buying an expensive watch at the store.

I never have to worry about this happening to me.

I see black people walking through the store all the time. I've been followed by the plain-clothes security more so than they have, and I spot them quite often (granted, this is likely because my behavior would lead them to expect I'm part of a 'secret shopper' or corporate evaluation of some type).

Of course, it could also be because I'm German - not really white.

2. I Can Succeed Without It Being Attributed to My Race

When my wife, who is black, received her acceptance letter from Boston College, a peer told her she must have gotten in due to affirmative action, effectively ruining the experience of receiving the letter.

When I succeed, people assume I’ve earned it.

Because nerds were never called the "Teachers' Pet" or made fun of in school?

What I see, here, is an argument to get rid of government-controlled 'Equal opportunity' qualifications. The reason no one says: "It's because he's German" when I blow tests out of the water is because no one gives a **** about how many Germans are or aren't in the school. Most people don't even bother to distinguish German-Americans from Irish-Americans.

Yet the distinction would be about as valid as the "African-American" distinction. Actually, more so, since most blacks in the U.S. don't actually have a connection to Africa.

3. I Learned About My Ancestors’ History in School

I can tell you all about Louis XIV, Socrates, and the Magna Carta, but I always wondered when we would finally learn about African history (beyond Pharaohs and pyramids). The subject never came up.

Did it ever come up in school that most Irish were brought to the U.S. as slaves? That Britain literally cut Ireland's population in half through a combination of war/executions and abduction into slavery?

Or how about the Germans? 49 million people self-report as being of German ancestry. 41 million Americans report themselves as black -OR- African (sorry Moorish, Persian, Indian, and Indonesian groups - you're part of the African culture). 35 million report themselves as being Irish. 31 million report as "mexican."

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So, by all means, continue to tell me about how I learned about my ethnic ancestry in school and blacks didn't.

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4. I Can Lose My Temper in Traffic

Once, an acquaintance who got into a confrontation while driving told me how scared she was of the other driver, describing him as a “big black guy.” When I get heated, no one attributes it to my race.

Big men who get angry are generally intimidating.

That said, all it takes is a drive through some of the "rough" areas of town to note that the majority of the population in those areas will be black and that the incidents of crime in those areas are considerably higher.

Thus, a big, intimidating guy who has a statistical probability of being from a locale where violence is more normal is upset.

5. I Can Loiter in Wealthy Neighborhoods

No one has ever called the cops on me to report a “suspicious person.” My wife can’t say the same.

My father would park in a public park to talk to my mother on the cell phone. He was working and living in another town while we tried to find a house to buy in the area. This was back in the day when StarTAC was all the rage.

Spoiler

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He got decent signal in the park (didn't back at his apartment). He and my mother would talk to each other each night for an hour or so (I never knew how lucky I was until I was older and saw other people's parents live together while acting in ways that made one wonder as to why they chose to live together in the first place).

Someone called the police to report a suspicious person.

I've been reported as a suspicious person. It happens when people don't recognize you and you seem to be waiting for something too close to their home/business.

6. I Can Complain About Racism

When I point out that black people are incarcerated at alarming rates, or largely forced to send their children to underperforming schools, or face systemic discrimination when searching for JOBS and housing, no one accuses me of “playing the race card.”

This is where 'you' are wrong.

'You' are just as full of shit as anyone who plays the race card and stupid, to boot. While someone who plays the race card can be said to be reporting their subjective experience/bias - 'you' cannot claim such an excuse.

If you actually bothered to review the statistics, you would see that there is absolutely nothing racist about black incarceration rates. A case review of incidents reveals that most of the times a black person is incarcerated for a crime 'a white man would not' - foul language and a hostile attitude were at play that were not present in similar cases where whites were not incarcerated.

7. I Can Count on Being Met on My Own Terms

If I’m being treated poorly, I don’t stop and think about whether it’s due to my race. But unless we somehow make a giant leap forward, my son will always have to wonder.

And if it is because of his race?

How does that change what he should do?

So someone looked at him funny. Does it change how he should behave as a person?

People in Korea look at me a little funny. It's blatantly because I am the foreigner in their world. It doesn't change how I treat them or change what I expect of myself.

Why?

Because it will do no good to obsess over whether or not their difference in treatment is related to my lack of being Korean (and, hey, in their eyes - at least I'm not Japanese). If they refuse me service because I am a "round eye" - then I'll go hand money to someone who is fine with letting a round eye into his establishment.

Generally, though, the Koreans are hospitable and enjoyable to be around. I've no problems with them. There are a few that just don't like non-Korean things - and that is fine. I've no right to go in and tell them that they need to bow down to my concept of equality and what it means for how they treat me.

But that's the fun thing about equal rights. It's always unequal unless one is getting what one wants.

 

[Kai NB]

Interesting read

 

[YowYan]

You bring shame to the Black community.

/thread ._.