I agree with Dr Laura.

[Anonymous]

This is something that is talked a lot within anti-racist circles. The argument is that whites succeed as a group and fail as individuals and while people of color fail as a group and succeed as individuals. What is meant by this is that when individual white people are successful, the positive characteristics related to that success are ascribed to the whole group. When individual white people fail, they are seen as individuals and not representative of the whole group. When a white guy goes postal and shoots up a work place, the conversation is always, "What was wrong with that guy?" or "What happened to him that made him do that?" No one ever says, "What's wrong with white people?" or "There must be something about the music" or "White culture is poisonous." Yet, when the roles are reversed just the opposite happens. When black people succeed, they are seen as individuals. Obama wins the Presidency, but how many people who had a negative perception of black people said, "Hey, maybe I was wrong?" Compare that to when a black guy does something egregious and the response is, "It's the rap music!" or "THOSE people can't control themselves" or "What's wrong with black culture?"

Unfortunately, your post is right on and I think you summed it up perfectly. It is a sad commentary on U.S. relations and how far this country still has to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In addition:

I think both the civil rights narrative and the oppressed white people narrative are correct.

1. In most cases, it is probably slightly to somewhat harder for a minority to get a job than an equally qualified white person. There's too many studies, too many anecdotes, to deny this is the case.
2. Affirmative action comes down occasionally, striking at random, permitting a few lucky minorities to get in to the front of the line in maybe 20-30% of the cases (probably more common in government and megacorps).
3. Once on the job, it is harder to remove an under-performing minority, both due to managers who are too lazy to document, lawyers who are lawsuit-averse, and minority employees who have learned to game the system.
4. But, much like affirmative action helps random minorities, luck of the draw means a few unlucky minorities get low-level harassment from racist managers/co-workers (e.g. an Arab co-worker got some flak from another manager not in his chain of command after 9/11) or even fired through un-justified means.

I've less problems with affirmative action in college admissions, although:

1) What's the point of having 25 percent minorities in your incoming class if your graduating class is 95% Asian and white?
2) Why should the white son of a semi-employed coal miner in Wise County get a disadvantage compared to the son of a Black lawyer in McLean?

Perhaps I am mistaken, but I believe the U.S. Supreme Court, with O'Connor's swing vote, threw out affirmative action based on race alone. So, the Black lawyer's son from McLean would have no more advantage than the semi-employed coal miner's son. Race is only a factor among many other factors, including legacy, elitism, gender, athleticisim, geographic region, gender, social economics, etc.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to 7:08 for pointing out something I've always known but hadn't put together in my head. The biggest problem I have with this discussion is the assumption that all Black people are the same. And that's why Laura's rant was a bunch of BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, there is not. People are not genuinely upset about academic discussion of the word. Dr. Laura suggested that the caller should ignore its use as an epithet.

And if the caller had complained about generic insults from her husband's family/friends, I guarantee you that Dr. Laura's answer would've been different.

[Anonymous]

you're goin to have to get over it. gen x'ers and gen y'ers don't care about dicriminaton that happened before we were born. you have to cut out blaming us and take care of your own shit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, there is not. People are not genuinely upset about academic discussion of the word. Dr. Laura suggested that the caller should ignore its use as an epithet.

And if the caller had complained about generic insults from her husband's family/friends, I guarantee you that Dr. Laura's answer would've been different.

agree, if the complaint had been about sexist remarks like nasty sexual words that women hate to hear, Laura would have seen it differently.
That brings to mind that so many whites can see gender discrimmination as a real issue, but any other kind of discrimmination is not an issue. So many complaints about affirmative action for minorities, but when their daughters get into MIT's engineering program with lower scores or get a job at NASA for which they are unqualified, that is just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, there is not. People are not genuinely upset about academic discussion of the word. Dr. Laura suggested that the caller should ignore its use as an epithet.

And if the caller had complained about generic insults from her husband's family/friends, I guarantee you that Dr. Laura's answer would've been different.

agree, if the complaint had been about sexist remarks like nasty sexual words that women hate to hear, Laura would have seen it differently.
That brings to mind that so many whites can see gender discrimmination as a real issue, but any other kind of discrimmination is not an issue. So many complaints about affirmative action for minorities, but when their daughters get into MIT's engineering program with lower scores or get a job at NASA for which they are unqualified, that is just fine.

Sorry 'bout the typos

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you're goin to have to get over it. gen x'ers and gen y'ers don't care about dicriminaton that happened before we were born. you have to cut out blaming us and take care of your own shit.

Yeah, I know unpleasant truths can be hard to handle.

Is racism legally ensconsed the way it was in 1950? No, of course not. There's some parts of the civil rights establishment that are having a hard time handling this, much as the NRA is still in 1990s mode and trying to scare folks that Obama's somehow going to institute gun control.

But does racism and discrimination still exist? Of course it does.

[Anonymous]

No, not really. It's the old folks that keep bringing it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you're goin to have to get over it. gen x'ers and gen y'ers don't care about dicriminaton that happened before we were born. you have to cut out blaming us and take care of your own shit.

If you hadn't noticed, Gen X and Y don't run the country yet. And Dr. Laura wasn't dancing to Flock of Seagulls at her sophomore formal.

So until that fine day arrives where the colorblind generations take over and the Dr. Laura's of the world are safely ensconced in the old folks' homes, that shit still needs taking care of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you're goin to have to get over it. gen x'ers and gen y'ers don't care about dicriminaton that happened before we were born. you have to cut out blaming us and take care of your own shit.

Yeah, I know unpleasant truths can be hard to handle.

Is racism legally ensconsed the way it was in 1950? No, of course not. There's some parts of the civil rights establishment that are having a hard time handling this, much as the NRA is still in 1990s mode and trying to scare folks that Obama's somehow going to institute gun control.

But does racism and discrimination still exist? Of course it does.

The only people exercising gun control are black politicians in DC who don't think African Americans are smart enough to make their own decisions about whether or not to own a gun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you're goin to have to get over it. gen x'ers and gen y'ers don't care about dicriminaton that happened before we were born. you have to cut out blaming us and take care of your own shit.

Yeah, I know unpleasant truths can be hard to handle.

Is racism legally ensconsed the way it was in 1950? No, of course not. There's some parts of the civil rights establishment that are having a hard time handling this, much as the NRA is still in 1990s mode and trying to scare folks that Obama's somehow going to institute gun control.

But does racism and discrimination still exist? Of course it does.

The only people exercising gun control are black politicians in DC who don't think African Americans are smart enough to make their own decisions about whether or not to own a gun.

Wow, is it remotely possible to have a discussion on any subject without introducing race. What in the world does the NRA have to do with Black people and gun control. Get outside DC and you will find that almost most metropolitan areas have issues with the right of their citizens to bear arms. Such locals as San Fran, Chicago, NYC, LA. I don't think any of those cities are dominated by Black politicians and Black citizens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you're goin to have to get over it. gen x'ers and gen y'ers don't care about dicriminaton that happened before we were born. you have to cut out blaming us and take care of your own shit.

You're going to have to realize that gen x'ers and gen y'ers are involved in the subtle kind of racism that pervades our society. Just because there aren't cops setting dogs on kids anymore doesn't mean that all the problems have been solved -- and you guys are just as much a part of it as anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Ive never used the word of care to use it. I did use the example of the double std of things like the use of the word. My main point is that AfricanAmericans are very sensitive and thus seem to be looking for racism under every stone and thus seem to find the illusion of racism even when it doesnt exist.[/b]

I agree. I worked with an African American woman who yelled discrimination and threatened to file grievances with EEOC at every perceived act of discrimination. She managed to have another employee fired because she claimed White empoyee had discriminated against her when said employee asked for ID from African American's husband when he said he was there to pick up package for her and white employee didn't know him.

The sad part of any minority crying discrimination constantly is that those who are truly being discriminaed against are not taken seriously.

Is there any reason someone shouldn't take a claim of discrimination seriously? I think, though perhaps you may disagree, that some women have falsely "cried rape." Just my opinion, but it doesn't make me think I should not take any woman who alleges rape seriously. It just makes me think that there are always people who abuse/game the system to their own advantage. I understand that not everyone makes that distinction. But at the risk of sounding incredibly judgmental, I think people that can't are pretty limited in their thinking.

The concern I have with some of these posts is that some seem to be taking experiences with one black person (or a few black people) and then making generalizations about an entire race. I just don't see that done to/with white people. And I also wonder the extent to which some posters actually interact with black people on a regular basis.

A co-worker of mine was recently telling me a story of her son who was called the "n-word" in kindergarten. We were talking about our kids and school, and she was saying how she was surprised that she had to have "that discussion" with her son at such a young age. I didn't think she was being overly sensitive or crying racism. I just felt sad and speechless.

Wish I could send you a band aid for your bleeding heart.

[Anonymous]

I'm gen Y and no, racism is not something we participate in or even think of, nor are feminist issues. It's when the baby boomers keep rehashing their old struggles that we are introduced to the bitterness, the distorted thought processes, and the outdated categorizations. Really a shame that they worked so hard to move our country fwd and now are, in a way, holding it back.