The Energon Pub

So I grew up in a rural community in the mountains. White and Mexican immigrants, and we each kept to ourselves.

I went to college in a super super super liberal town, that was still predominantly white. Rich hippie's kids, pot, earthtones, SUV's, cell phones, and no shoes. A real hippie, when you saw one, was striking and kind of scary in a way.

Now I'm living in the city. The City, with a capital C. The other night, I swear on my mother's grave I heard a woman cry out "Nooooo" in the distance, and sirens.

The supermarket is not in a very good neighborhood. Trader Joe's is in a nice place, of course. I'll define nice place as buildings that look clean, and relatively new. Not to mention the upscale shopping district across the main road.

But the supermarket is much grittier, the apartments around it much older. Homeless people were predominant in Hippie Town, but they became commonplace and typical, and therefore almost funny. But here, they're frigtening and alien.

What's my problem really? I'm ashamed to say it, but I have to. I find myself uncomfortable with all the african people around me. I can at least try to balance the shame of it with the politically correct term.

I've always considered myself a reasonable guy who thought logically and practically. What does the evolutionary physical state of people from a certain region and climate have to do with their character? Nothing. I know this. But I feel so uncomfortable around them. It's pissing me off. I suppose that's the first step in overcoming it.

All the negative imagery I've seen, all the bling bling rapper sports star stereotype, all the stories of real oppression, without actually being around them almost all my life, and now I'm getting predomint feelings of insecurity.

I'm better than this. I have to be.

I hate to sound harsh, but it has less to do with them being African, and more to do with them being worthless, and unwilling to put in the work that would improve their lives and situations.

Ironhidensh wrote:I hate to sound harsh, but it has less to do with them being African, and more to do with them being worthless, and unwilling to put in the work that would improve their lives and situations.

That's just it. A lot of the people around the place tend to look that way.

The problem is, I'm projecting it onto all of them, even though I know that's not the case.

Ironhidensh wrote:I hate to sound harsh, but it has less to do with them being African, and more to do with them being worthless, and unwilling to put in the work that would improve their lives and situations.

Funny, I know several white-skinned who fit that category, and several black-skinned who don't.

Well, since this is a sensitive and serious subject.

Time to throw all of that out of the window with this; Everyone's a little bit racist. While it's not the original version, it still does the job.

I could yammer on and on about race, how society in their environments act, but I think that video sums things up quite nicely.

I'm fairly new to the whole "racism thing." I was born in the United States and lived there until I was 23. As a white guy, racism was always "the other guy's problem." I believed, as I still do, that racism is not about race. It is about culture. Black culture in the United States invites a bit of apprehension from those outside of it. But, as I said, it was always somebody else's problem. I am not a racist and I never have been. I know that, just because the culture/race a person belongs to has a bad reputation, that does not mean that you must assume that every person of that race/culture can be judged accordingly.

Awhile back, I moved to Japan. As you may assume, I am in the minority here. The race breakdown in Japan is something like 99% Japanese, 1% every other race. Caucasion, African, Korean, Chinese, etc. We all share that one percent.

And here's the kicker. Even though non-Japanese people make up only 1% of the population, we account for 6% of the crime. So, every now and then, I notice people looking at me a bit suspiciously. Every so often, I will notice that a shopkeeper is following me with her eyes.

Do I cry, "RACIST!" No. I understand that other foreigners have a habit of commiting crimes. So I put the blame on my fellow foreigners. If they would set a better example, the situation would be different.

It's the same deal with minorities in other cultures. If a lot of black people did not indulge in antisocial behavior, then the rest of society would not be suspicious of every black person they came across.

You are right to feel uncomfortable. But do not let it turn you into a racist. There is a difference between feeling uncomfortable around people who are different from you and being a racist. Being uncomfortable is standing on a train instead of sitting next to a black guy. Being a racist is putting your bag on the empty seat next to you so the black guy who just got on the train can't sit there.

Mkall wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:I hate to sound harsh, but it has less to do with them being African, and more to do with them being worthless, and unwilling to put in the work that would improve their lives and situations.

Funny, I know several white-skinned who fit that category, and several black-skinned who don't.

Absolutely. Hell, go into any rundown trailer park in America. Its has nothing whatsoever to do with skin color.

Zarak, I think it's awesome you are pissed off with your own discomfort. In America, the phrase, "Everyone's a little bit racist," is true, but not for the reasons the song suggests. Racism isn't about a tendency of all individuals to perceive their own group as superior and outgroups as odd. This perspective takes the teeth and the politics away from Race, which is about power, with a specific and nasty history of uneven power among groups. If you grew up in America, you have internalized the categories of Race, period.

On an individual level, as Smooth points out, the decision to act on discomfort in a discriminatory way is what constitutes a racist act. But what you want to attack is the discomfort itself. This requires a lot of reflexive thinking and unlearning. For example, very few people are conscious of the amount of physical distance they give different people, unless they're specifically uncomfortable with someone's proximity. How much berth am I giving this person, and why?

Your discomfort may never go away entirely, but untethering that discomfort from a racial generalization is admirable.

Well, one thing I was looking forward to was being around these people more often, for that very reason, of unlearning.

I think a lot of the discomfort that white people have with black people is the way their portrayed in the media. A black person might see some of a white person's hesitancy and uneasyness as a racial thing and get mad when a shopkeeper watches them in the store. But in a way, that is not the white person's fault or the shopkeep's. What are they suppost to think when a lot of the images they see of them are negative? The black person might get mad at the white people, but some of his fellows are prancing across T.V screens as rappers, rapping how they're going to put a cap in some guy who looked at him wrong or about the glories of having drugs, money and mindless bimbos. The white person hears in the media about the huge amount of black children born out of wedlock, and the crimes commited by young black males. And the white person is asked to "accept" and "tolerate" black people, without taking into account that it is a lot harder to do so after they have seen that stuff on T.V.

Stereotyping may be what's keeping poor African-Americans poor as well as poor attitudes.

Perhaps those poor people don't value themselves enough (or they can't see a way out) and there are still too many impoverished black people out there even 40 years after the civil rights movement.

I think the best way to help stop the poverty cycle is to give the young black children better role models - other than stars in sports (some could still be corrupted) and music industry (doesn't always teach good outlook.) This means more black characters in media and literature so the black youth can see themselves in a better light.

While there are fortunately also many well-off black people, I think the black race in general is a little lonely in a rather white-dominated American society (even anime and manga is full of white-looking young characters, BTW.)

Ironhidensh wrote:I hate to sound harsh, but it has less to do with them being African, and more to do with them being worthless, and unwilling to put in the work that would improve their lives and situations.

I think it is pretty judgmental to call people "worthless" without knowing anything about them or their circumstances.

God Thundercracker wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:I hate to sound harsh, but it has less to do with them being African, and more to do with them being worthless, and unwilling to put in the work that would improve their lives and situations.

I think it is pretty judgmental to call people "worthless" without knowing anything about them or their circumstances.

I believe he just defined "worthless" just after that, though "worth" in itself is a subjective quality. Not to say much, but a big factor with the phobia against the blacks in the US is the fact that skin color is a very identifying factor, and that people are using that to see that a general group of people that on the general have lived in lower-class housing, compose a larger percentage of the crime rate, and have a significantly higher rate of illegitimacy, a trend going back for generations, and people thus mentally stigmatizing that skin color as a general red flag.

This state something not totally a person's own fault, nor blacks' as a whole or part, but is a result of generally reasonable thought processes, and a useful one at that, and not one that should be stigmatized in itself, but recognized as something that, like all methods of perception, can be erring in it's sense of the truth.

My rules are that you can be anyone or anything you want as long as you put the effort in work at it. And the saying "God (or whatever deity you prefer) help those who helps themselves" and being responsible in general goes along way too.Last thing I have is that life's a two way street, if you make the effort then so will I. Does this make me racist? No damn way. Im sure that there are those who argee with me.

And then there was the Don Imus issue. I'm surprised this hasn't been brought up yet.

Seibertron wrote:And then there was the Don Imus issue. I'm surprised this hasn't been brought up yet.

Because it was bullshit. Imus should be suing CBS and MSNBC for everything they are worth.

Seibertron wrote:And then there was the Don Imus issue. I'm surprised this hasn't been brought up yet.

Those are some nappy headed hos right there.

Best meme of 2007 so far.

homelessjunkeon wrote:

Seibertron wrote:And then there was the Don Imus issue. I'm surprised this hasn't been brought up yet.

Those are some nappy headed hos right there.

Best meme of 2007 so far.

I personally think people are way to sensitive.

Agreed. I can understand it to a point, but not when it gets ridiculous.

Imus has himself one helluva wrongful termination suit....

black man makes a joke bout a white guy, everyone laughs
white man makes a joke bout a black man, white man is in trouble.

im going to stick my head in the toilet

Professor Smooth wrote:I'm fairly new to the whole "racism thing." I was born in the United States and lived there until I was 23. As a white guy, racism was always "the other guy's problem." I believed, as I still do, that racism is not about race. It is about culture. Black culture in the United States invites a bit of apprehension from those outside of it. But, as I said, it was always somebody else's problem. I am not a racist and I never have been. I know that, just because the culture/race a person belongs to has a bad reputation, that does not mean that you must assume that every person of that race/culture can be judged accordingly.

Awhile back, I moved to Japan. As you may assume, I am in the minority here. The race breakdown in Japan is something like 99% Japanese, 1% every other race. Caucasion, African, Korean, Chinese, etc. We all share that one percent.

And here's the kicker. Even though non-Japanese people make up only 1% of the population, we account for 6% of the crime. So, every now and then, I notice people looking at me a bit suspiciously. Every so often, I will notice that a shopkeeper is following me with her eyes.

Do I cry, "RACIST!" No. I understand that other foreigners have a habit of commiting crimes. So I put the blame on my fellow foreigners. If they would set a better example, the situation would be different.

It's the same deal with minorities in other cultures. If a lot of black people did not indulge in antisocial behavior, then the rest of society would not be suspicious of every black person they came across.

You are right to feel uncomfortable. But do not let it turn you into a racist. There is a difference between feeling uncomfortable around people who are different from you and being a racist. Being uncomfortable is standing on a train instead of sitting next to a black guy. Being a racist is putting your bag on the empty seat next to you so the black guy who just got on the train can't sit there.

I know that feeling. When I was in a model shop in Fussa-shi, the store owner followed me around like I was going to steal one of his models! lol If only he knew I had over 10,000 Yen in my back pocket at them time. I was there to purchase Gundam markers, glue, paint for my Perfect Grade Wing Zero Custom that I never built...still have it.

Sorry for the sidetracking. I would not say I am racist, but more of a culturist. this means, all cutures are not valuable in my eyes. Some are PC and say; "No, YouFearGalvatron, ALL cultures are valuable! Whhhaaaa! Racist!"

I say no. Some cultures advance, and others are subjugated. It is simple really: Adapt...or face assimilation/anhialation. Assimilate or be assimilated. This tends to irk many people, but guess what, it does not matter in the grand scheme of things. Neither do your feelings.

So long as you treat all men as your equal, as you should...everything else will handle itself, Professor Smooth.

Oh yeah, I FARKING miss Japan!!!

do not worry, in be not the thought that be racist, but the action that is taken based upon the thought.

Good topic and thoughts.

I was born and raised in a very liberal California town and moved to a very conservative Southern City later in my late teens. I've seen racism from several different angles.

In California people were racist against the Vietnamese, the Japanese, and the Koreans. In an odd twist I noticed the Koreans hated the Vietnamese, the Japanese hated the Koreans and well everyone hated the Mexicans.

When I moved to Memphis It was utter culture shock. The white and black communities are and continue to be completely divided. An example, as the black community grew and their population started moving into the white suburbs the white community would completely abandon the particular suburb and move further east. In a way all the growth out east was fueled by the white community fleeing the black community as they moved towards the burbs. Just odd! (One day at a gas station in Memphis this little old white lady said to me "Dont they have colored people that do this for you anymore?" I was dumbfounded...)

Now that I live in Florida I notice that racism is very similar to what I saw in California. However instead of Asians being racist against each other its the Hispanics. Cubans hate Puerto Ricans, Puerto Ricans hate Cubans, Colombians hate Venezuelans and Everyone hates the Argentinians and as usual the Mexicans.

My point if there is one is that racism is by far just a white vs. black or black vs. white issue.

I'm not sure what drives all of this, I guess we can all learn to me more tolerant of each other.

I just see humans. I guess by human standards my eyes are defective, as i believe racism is ultimately rooted in the facial recognition mechanism.

Galvatron, that worldview works until the rest of the world fights back, see WW2. Hitler thought the Germans were the best people on earth - and indeed, if this man were to have used his speaking power for good, we might be learning German as the current leading world language.

His arrogance cost him Germany. The deflation of the Nazis was foreshadowed years ago by the Hindenburg, and later in Munich when a black man beat the living crap out of Max Schnelling.

Now do you want to believe in social darwinism?