Reply to So Called White Priviledge

Forum Index » Political Discussion

Reply to "So Called White Priviledge"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I see this thread is on the brink of running off the rails so let me get my last two cents in before the ignorant antagonists totally take over...

If I were to ask you, “Do you believe that folks of color had equal opportunity and were treated equally in 1963” I am confident that no one would say, “Well, of course, naturally they did in 1963. That was a damn good year to be black or brown in America.”  Everyone would quickly acknowledge how bad it was back in the day, because it is no sweat off your back to admit such in hindsight either you weren’t born or you were too young to have anything to do with the perpetuation of racism back then, right?  So forty plus years later it’s easy for you to talk about how bad it was.
But see, here’s the kicker…
What do you think white folks said when those very questions were put to them in 1963, in a time where the apartheid system of Jim Crow was very much in effect, before the Civil Rights Act and before the Voting Rights Act and before the Fair Housing Act?  Well in 1963 whites were asked the very same question.  “Do you think that racial minorities are treated equally in your community?” - and 80% of white folks said yes.
In 1962, when Gallup asked, “Do you think that black children receive equal educational opportunities in your community?” 90% of white folks said yes.  
In the 60’s whites were just as blind to the plight of people of color as they are now and they were steadily expressing the same frustration then as they do now, “What is all this complaining about?”

I bring all this up to stress one simple fact - the same denial rooted in pride and prejudice that prohibited people from acknowledging and addressing the injustices right in front of their face back then...that very same denial is still in full effect now and that is why we still have the same problems relating to racism and privilege today as we had back then.[/quote]

Agreed. For someone who is not in the same situation, it is not easy to see whats going on. I can add the drug addiction issue as a case in point. For decades blacks were suffering from addiction and they were put in jail for possessing illegal drugs. Now vast swathes of rural and suburban white america is suffering from heroin addiction, suddenly there is talk about addiction as a disease that needs to be treated. What gives? Ofcourse now that whites are suffering they can relate to it and they want treatment. So maybe whites should suffer from Jim Crow to understand what racism means. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics