Nobunaga wrote:
... I do not believe you. I generally do, but this claim of losing a job because you were too friendly to whatever race... I don't buy it. If in fact such took place, you failed to meet your responsibility. You must file a legal claim against your ex-employer.
You are a bit naive, if you think its that easy. First, you have to have substantitive proof. The people involved were way too smart to leave any proof or to be obvious enough to make this the issue, but if you looked back, there is a particular pattern. Ironically, those of color were "protected", because they could claim the obvious. It was those of us who were white who were penalized for not buying into the "automatic" segregation that was supposed to occur.
... Race is only an issue because the left keeps beating us about the head and shoulders with it in this naziesque mind-police state of PC living we experience today.
Sorry, but race is a pretty mainline issue nowadays.
There are 2 groups. The older folks (those over 70 mostly) who were raised racist and have not revised their thinking. Then you have the middle group, where I (and I believe you???) fit -- roughly 30-70. Baby boomers, but also a bit beyond that group. Most of us were born in racism, but were raised to see it as wrong and actively taught on many fronts to not judge people just by race, along with some varying appreciation for other cultures. (ALL cultures, including our own-- this all happened together -- Foxfire books, better education about no-whites and their contributions to the world, etc.).
BUT, the worrying part is the younger generation. This group is becoming racist again. Yes, I absolutely agree that part of it is a kind of response to the whole "PC" thing (with which I mostly do not agree), BUT it is also a factor of complacency, of assuming that "these issues are solved"..when they really are not. Treating the "other guy" well is always easy when times are good.
The test comes when things get tough. Suddenly, its all too easy to believe that the black guy got to keep his job because he was black. And, its easy for an employer to put out that word (secretly, of course) to deflect attention from any real issues.
... Percieved racial strife keeps the left in business. That really is the bottom line. Without percieved racial division your candidates lose.
WHOA WHOA WHOA. You start talking sensibly .. yes, race strife does divide. BUt then you leao to
" Without percieved racial division your candidates lose"... Come on! It is YOU, trying to pull out the race card. This is exactly what I meant when I said that the far right is using this to divide, when I said this has nothing to do with real liberalism.
The people who use race to their advantage are
individuals and
businesses. Individuals (of ALL races) who find it convenient to blame race for why they cannot succeed. Similarly, businessses use it. They use it to get themselves work, they use it to "explain" why they laid off one person instead of another (erm.. can't say this officially, of course, but you know [sad to say, sorry] we just
can't lay off the
black guy -- more often even less is said, but .. the message is heard or interpreted).
... Sure, somewhere in Alabama there will be some true, hardcore redneck spawn of cousins racists, just as there is a Jeremiah Wright. These assholes still exist, but their numbers are very small in terms of percentage of the population.
I agree that racists are far fewer in number today than in years past. I also agree that some people use race. BUT, race is again rearing its ugly head, and the worse the economy, the more it will be apparent. Just study history. There have always been periods of general tolerance and acceptance. Then, things get bad, the rich get richer and the poor and what't left of any middle get poorer and begin attacking each other. The wealthy are all too happy to keep the fires burning.
