re: Everything isn't political or social.

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Sometimes black people scream "racism"

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I'm perfectly happy to state that I have no idea what it's like to be a black person. As a 50 year old white guy who's lived most of his life south of I-10 in Louisiana, however, I'm pretty sure I've got a handle on what's it's been like being around white people since 1970.

So..."speaking as a straight white 50 year old male" I have never, not once, been in a situation where I heard a white person directly use a racial slur at a black person to their face. Not as a kid and being around older folks who DID grow up and live through Jim Crow, not around my peers and not as an adult. This seems to fly in the face of the rampant claims of every black person seemingly having whitey running around screaming racial slurs at them nonstop. I'm simply telling you "my truth."

Have I been around people who used racial slurs behind closed doors? 100%. Again, I'm of the generation whose parents were born in the 30, and 40's. Their parents back in the 10's. OF COURSE they held bigoted views! Didn't make them correct and no one is saying they were. All that did was force me to look at my own friends and classmates growing up in the 70's and 80's, some of whom were black, and realize how wrong they had been and understand that it was mostly due to the fact that they simply grew up at a time when they had no real contact with anyone other than white people. That wasn't my reality.

So I'm not sure where all this racism has been taking place. Surely as a 50 year old white guy living n the deep south I should have seen a ton of it. I never have. So either I'm simply deaf and blind and white folks have been running around the past 50 years all around me being all kids of racist and I wasn't able to see it, or MAYBE all of this is blown way out of proportion and what you're seeing now is a moral panic which is ginning up resentment and anger where there essentially was none.

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So what is the real discussion?

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In my opinion, the inability to have a real discussion. There's an immediate barrier erected when this topic is brought up.

Wtf does listening to his experiences solve?

Nothing.

He wants to be a victim and will misconstrue his experiences to claim racism to maintain that victim status.

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some sees me as that stereotypical black man

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Who? Who in particular "sees" you as that stereotypical black man? Is this fact, or your personal opinion that has not been confirmed?

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Some of us just have been victimized!!! Is it really that hard for folks to understand or care???

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By whom? Who victimized you?

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America should be striving to make everyone equal in this country.

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It's 2020, what freedoms do you not have, that others do have? You are equal. You are not "more equal" because of your own misguided preconceived notions. Just because you are black, does not mean you need to be treated special. You should be treated on your merit, nothing else.

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Get to know our spirit and talents.

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Wow, so you talk about equality, and the very next sentence seek to exclude yourself into a group? what is "our spirit"? You are an individual. You have your own "spirit" that defines you. Your skin color should not define who you are as a person, nor should you let it.

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I am truly struggling with the racial division that's going
on because in my 43 years of life I have seen much better race relations.

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And who is creating this division? The only groups that are creating division in this country are Liberals, regardless of their color. And they are doing it, because of an election year, and they are USING people that share your same skin pigment to further their gains.

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My hope is that I can encourage someone to treat their neighbor and fellow man better.

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You are assuming we don't. You assume, based on either the shitty people you hang around with, or the false narrative presented to you, that "we" treat black people different from others.

THink about this. How many white people do you interact daily? How many of those interactions are negative? Are they negative because of your actions? Are they negative because of their actions? Do you think that skin color is the reason for negativity, or could it be that the people you hang around with, are not quality people?

America is not "racist" as the media wants you to believe, and the racists are not the people the media tells you they are.

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He wants to be a victim and will misconstrue his experiences to claim racism to maintain that victim status.

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Actually listening to what a person has to say goes a long way.

Again, I don't know him personally, so maybe you know more than I do. Saying you've experienced racism doesn't mean you're claiming victim status.

To the OP, I think almost everyone on this board agrees that everyone should be treated equal in this country by the government, which for the most part they are.

The problem currently in this country is that one party has decided that race is the only thing that matters in this country. The idea that everyone should be judged by the content of someone’s character and not by the color of their skin is the exact opposite of what the Democratic Party is preaching right now.

So everything in this country dealing with race is political right now due to the Democratic Party.

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You do realize a discussion has multiple topics to discuss.

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Yes, I realize how incredibly complicated this issue is, and how many layers are involved.

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Just wanting everyone to hear your side but not accepting listening to the other sides doesn't qualify as a "real" discussion

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That is exactly what I'm saying. No one, either side (on almost any matter) wants to have a real discussion.

Agree - you too have proved my point. But it works on both sides.

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Now let's talk about what they think and say about these black Americans behind their back.

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In case you missed it...

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Have I been around people who used racial slurs behind closed doors? 100%. Again, I'm of the generation whose parents were born in the 30, and 40's. Their parents back in the 10's. OF COURSE they held bigoted views! Didn't make them correct and no one is saying they were. All that did was force me to look at my own friends and classmates growing up in the 70's and 80's, some of whom were black, and realize how wrong they had been and understand that it was mostly due to the fact that they simply grew up at a time when they had no real contact with anyone other than white people. That wasn't my reality.

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The point in mentioning this was to illustrate that bigotry certainly existed and likely still may for some people. But what was said behind closed doors in 1975, unless you can also show me where it manifested itself directly into overt actions, is not the kind of racism anyone ought to be concerning themselves with. It's certainly not the type of racism claimed by those complaining about it. For starters, unless someone has a camera set up in another person's home, what is said there does not effect them at all. You'd have no be aware of a thing to be wronged by it. My neighbors may dislike me for any number of reasons, but unless they act towards me in any meaningful way, there is no reason to assume they do, and certainly no reason to hold some perceived anger towards them because I think they may.

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This is progress.

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We don't need progress. We made progress decades ago. Pretending we have not is not only a waste of time and demeaning to those who actually DID experience racism while attempting to fix problems in this country, but it puts at a decided disadvantage white kids today who have never once been racist to anyone. Those kids were rasied by parents that were Gen X or Millennial who themselves were taught to be colorblind. They are being asked to accept an original sin for which they should have absolutely no guilt.