Racism in America Today

[jonesthecurl]

Absolutely.

[HapSmo19]

Maybe it was just a bad idea to go into a river when you can't swim.

I can swim and I'm still very leary of rivers.

[mviola]

Maybe it was just a bad idea to go into a river when you can't swim.

I can swim and I'm still very leary of rivers.

I don't blame you. I wouldn't have gone in it. Lakes freak me out.

[b.k. barunt]

I did a lot of work with black children in New Orleans and taught a few of them swimming during the summers. There really is nowhere for them to swim besides Lake Pontchartrain and that's frequently polluted by one source or another. Also there's no supervised swimming areas in the lake. I taught most of them in the pool at the home of the administrator of the community center i worked with.




Honibaz

[danes]

Why did you only teach the black children to swim?

[Pedronicus]

[KoolBak]

Wow. As a parent I simply cannot imagine watching my children die. What a nightmare.

There is a river here locally with high rocky banks easily accessible to the unwashed masses and a dozen people or so a year die there. This river has no preference to race color or creed; it kills all kinds.

Your nasty comment that you actually submitted Paps brought this to memory; the most recent death was the kid of a wealthy out of towner on vacation and down there with relatives; good swimmer, no drinking, etc involved; the findings DID however reveal that the idiot was one of those "pants on the ground" punks and that his vain attempt to look cool most likely killed him.

Nice pic Pedro

Can you find any nice article Paps? Like how the hell to replace the clutch in a TT600??

[Frigidus]

Back on topic:

Maybe the guns in the waistbands of their speedos weighed em' down.

Or their pants drooping down around their knees kept em from treading water.

Oh shit. I'm actually gonna hit 'submit'......

Oh HapSmo, you're so enlightened.

[ViperOverLord]

It's less about racism than it is about the race card. That's all I gots to say. You feelin me?

No. The race card certainly does get played...all too often. But real racism exists in much more reality than that of the race card. Then again, you and I would probably disagree in some instances on what constitutes real racism and what constitutes playing the race card.

I think you're feelin me. That's cool. C'mon look at Cong. Rangel and Cong. Waters. Cong. Waters is a racist and she is playing the race card and quite frankly it perpetuates because libs do not self regulate themselves and never will. Nobody on the left has condemned her behavior. Racism and race politics are just tools in the left's tool bag. These issues will never go away because the left will always perpetuate racial friction.

[ViperOverLord]

[HapSmo19]

Thanks.

[b.k. barunt]

Why did you only teach the black children to swim?

I worked in the poorest neighborhoods genius. I worked in neighborhoods you and yours wouldn't drive through in the middle of the day. Strangely enough, there seems to be a marked shortage of white children in these neighborhoods.


Honibaz

[b.k. barunt]

Back on topic:

Maybe the guns in the waistbands of their speedos weighed em' down.

Or their pants drooping down around their knees kept em from treading water.

Oh shit. I'm actually gonna hit 'submit'......

Oh HapSmo, you're so enlightened.

Ok here's one just for Hap:

Between Lafayette, LA and Morgan City there's a little bitty town called Waterproof. While living in Lafayette in 1971 i was in a diner and i heard these construction workers cutting up in the corner booth. 3 black guys and 2 white guys were cracking up and one of the black guys was going "oh man that just aint right!". Pretty soon the whole diner was laughing - headline in the morning paper:

"Two Waterproof Negroes Drown In Bayou Teche"


Honibaz

[daddy1gringo]

Lifeguard's motto: "reach, throw, row, go". Actually having to swim to save someone is a last resort. It sounds like they were not far out from shallow water; "sudden drop-off". It's good they tried throwing the lifejacket, but they should have tied it to something so they could pull them in one by one. If they brought a blanket or tablecloth that would serve. Belts are another option. They had to walk through woods to get there, reaching a long stick would have served. Another option would have been a human chain, anchored by the biggest guy there with his feet planted in shallow enough water, and everybody grabs someone's ankles.

Of course I'm aware that I'm sitting comfortably in my house and not having to think quick while my child is drowning. Tragic story.

[b.k. barunt]

Most inner city blacks in the south can't swim because they don't have access to swimming areas. Deep water for someone who can't swim is an alien environment that creates immediate panic. I hear about it on the New Orleans Lakefront from time to time.

A guy i worked with (black from the inner city) was on the lakefront where it's all tiered down to the water like steps. If you fall in off the steps and go under the tide may push you under the steps. No problem for even the most basic swimmer as the tide is not strong, but if you can't swim then you're easily trapped down there. My coworker's 7 year old daughter fell in, got trapped under there and when he unthinkingly jumped in to save her he was trapped there too.

Seems like they could sink some bars or other obstacles under the steps to keep that from happening but hey, it's only poor people drowning so who gives a shit amirite?


Honibaz

[Baron Von PWN]

Somewhat related, last month over 200 people drowned in the moscow area as people trying to escape the heat went swimming. This is Russia so naturally vodka was involved, the worst incident was when some daycare supervisors got drunk on duty and several young children drowned.

I agree with others that this is an issue related to poverty the poor simply don't have easy access to swimming facilities for a variety of reasons.

[PLAYER57832]

id say if anything there was a small call to action to make sure children learn basic swimming skills.

That's a good idea I'd say but how is this kind of stuff even relevant to that call of action?:

For decades, segregation limited the access of black people to public and private pools and the disparity continues because many poor and working-class children still have limited access to pools or instruction.

A quick google search brings up seven public swimming pools in the shreveport area and I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that none of them are segregated. Not even way back around 1995 when those kids were born.

Shrevport is unusual, then. Most of the towns East of New Orleans, along I-10 and 90, have no public pools at all. They do have country club pools, with boards who get to decide who can and cannot joing. While not all technically discriminate against blacks, you have to have referrals, etc to get in.

At any rate, pools all over the country are closing as cities tighten budgets. So, that problem is likely to continue. Its not just that more kids won't know how to swim, but that more will turn to unsafe places to swim. Often times the reason towns put in pools to begin with was to keep kids away from dangerous rivers, gravel pits, etc.

Anything to do with poverty in the south is going to be linked more to folks of color in the south. That is historical reality. Race caused the poverty in the past, but today.. poverty is the problem itself.

[PLAYER57832]

I want to add that even knowing how to swim and knowing how to be safe around a river, lake or ocean are quite different. Kids who are not regularly around moving water (which can include lakes) just don't get the danger. They also like to dive into places they shouldn't.

I am not suggesting you should encourage your two year old to play in white water, but do take him/her to a nearby creek (if its safe) and let them play, explore. Problem is, too many just are not safe.

[PLAYER57832]

Lifeguard's motto: "reach, throw, row, go". Actually having to swim to save someone is a last resort. It sounds like they were not far out from shallow water; "sudden drop-off". It's good they tried throwing the lifejacket, but they should have tied it to something so they could pull them in one by one. If they brought a blanket or tablecloth that would serve. Belts are another option. They had to walk through woods to get there, reaching a long stick would have served. Another option would have been a human chain, anchored by the biggest guy there with his feet planted in shallow enough water, and everybody grabs someone's ankles.

Of course I'm aware that I'm sitting comfortably in my house and not having to think quick while my child is drowning. Tragic story.

oops.. third post in a row.

I just did a training session with my cub scouts. They estimate it takes 7 times for people to learn something well.

Take the time not just to talk about, but practice this with your kids and any others you are around. Its easy to make such things into a game. BUT, for young kids, you also have to (sadly) emphasis when NOT to go. Teach them to "brace" themselves, to sit, but -- also to let go if they have to and get help.

If anyone needs advice, some hints on how to do this.. pm me.

[Queen_Herpes]

This is NOT an issue of race.
This is SOMEWHAT an issue of poverty.
This is ABSOLUTELY an issue of ignorance AND stupidity.

Yes, poor people have fewer opportunities to learn how to swim. They do not have less access to information about water safety. People who have never seen water and do not know that there are inherent dangers involved with water would be ignorant of the dangers and therefore, sad that they died. However, as humans, we all tend to approach new situations with a certain degree of caution. I therefore qualify my comment that this is an issue of ignorance because people should never enter an unknown situation without assessing the dangers. People who choose to ignore the possibilities are just stupid and I believe this situation is just that. The group had to arrive at the river somehow, whether by bike or car or bus or walking. Using any road would help you to understand that people use roads for transportation a majority of the time. Some people use water for transportation, and these people live in a state that is inundated with water. Water, water, everywhere. There is abundant inherent information out there about the reasons why water is used less frenquently than dry land for transportation. There is abundant inherent information out there about the dangers of water. Have they never stepped outside of their homes before?

[danes]

Why did you only teach the black children to swim?

I worked in the poorest neighborhoods genius. I worked in neighborhoods you and yours wouldn't drive through in the middle of the day. Strangely enough, there seems to be a marked shortage of white children in these neighborhoods.


Honibaz

I was trying to be funny/silly, it was obviously lost on you. I live in South sac. Here are some things people say about south sac.

"Sacramento's south side. Known mostly for it's broad diversity, drugs, and gangs. South Sacramento is where most Sacramento area rappers are based. Also known for it's high homicide rate, which is the highest in the city. "

"The worst part of Sacramento,it has a history of gang violence and shootings ever since crack cocaine was introduced in 1986.The bloods and crips moved into South Sac in the 1980's and they started new gangs.There is also alot of Norteno gangs from South Sac
South Sac is where we smoke that purple"

Its not the worst place to live ever, but its no white picket fence house in the suburbs either.

[thegreekdog]

Sad Story merged with this one.

[b.k. barunt]

Why did you only teach the black children to swim?

I worked in the poorest neighborhoods genius. I worked in neighborhoods you and yours wouldn't drive through in the middle of the day. Strangely enough, there seems to be a marked shortage of white children in these neighborhoods.


Honibaz

I was trying to be funny/silly, it was obviously lost on you. I live in South sac. Here are some things people say about south sac.

"Sacramento's south side. Known mostly for it's broad diversity, drugs, and gangs. South Sacramento is where most Sacramento area rappers are based. Also known for it's high homicide rate, which is the highest in the city. "

"The worst part of Sacramento,it has a history of gang violence and shootings ever since crack cocaine was introduced in 1986.The bloods and crips moved into South Sac in the 1980's and they started new gangs.There is also alot of Norteno gangs from South Sac
South Sac is where we smoke that purple"

Its not the worst place to live ever, but its no white picket fence house in the suburbs either.

South Sac is just like East San Jose used to be before Silicon Valley. My parents live in the mountains above Grass Valley and i go there every now and then to visit them. You may have some bangers out there now but it's still the suburbs compared to New Orleans. The Sacramento cops are paid twice as much as New Orleans cops for one thing . . .


Honibaz

[Nobunaga]

http://www.prisonplanet.com/obama-plays ... paign.html

[Lootifer]

http://www.prisonplanet.com/obama-plays-race-card-calls-on-churches-to-support-campaign.html

Whites for Ron Paul, in itself, would not be racist though; however how would he justify such a campaign without being racist?

African Americans for Obama is justified because of the [very tentatively elluded to] links between socio-economic standing and race. That link doesnt not exist (or is reversed) in that case of Whites for Ron Paul.