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Jan. 30, 2005 Yes, I am white, but I don’t believe that makes me unqualified to speak of racial discrimination as the white perspective is as significant as any other in that discussion. Having also suffered because of racism against blacks, maybe my perspective is unique. After divorcing my father, my mother married a black man when I was six. She left us at my father’s shortly thereafter and we’ve never seen her again. After 35 years, my father tracked her down in Alaska. We exchanged a few emails in which she claims it was society’s discrimination against her marriage that drove her away. My brothers and I lost a mother because of racial discrimination. Mr. Graham recently wrote about hidden discrimination citing four instances as examples. As much as I abhor racism, his obvious paranoia reflects the defeatist attitude that is preventing blacks from rising above America’s past. By defeatist, I do not mean that he has accepted defeat or that he doesn’t have the will to continue the fight, I mean that his attitude defeats any further progress in the war against racism. Blacks have kept their battle against racial discrimination in the headlines for over 40 years – all of my life in essence. Great strides were made in the ‘60s and ‘70’s against tremendous powers and entrenched hatred. Protests, marches, boycotts, and voting in block have all been valuable tools for those victories. I have supported those victories as have the great majority of Americans and we are proud of the progress of our generation. As Mr. Graham notes, the brutality and violent repression of blacks that occurred in my father’s generation is virtually non-existent today. But we’ve also seen Vietnamese, Cubans, Hmongs, Russians, and Arabs immigrate in large numbers to America during those same years. Each has assimilated into our culture easily (perhaps too easily for the corrupt Russians) and we hear no widespread claims of discrimination against them. And we know that during different periods of our history, Irish, Chinese, Italians, etc. immigrated in large numbers and we no longer hear their cries of discrimination. Today, Mexicans, Guatemalans, and El Salvadorans traverse thousands of miles at great expense and risk to their lives to immigrate (illegally in most cases) to America despite obvious discrimination. From this, I have two points: I believe Americans have grown numb to the anger of blacks, and any discrimination in America that remains is not systemic. I would definitely consider the examples of discrimination that Mr. Graham provided, as he fears, “nit-picky” and “hypersensitivity”. Worse, I believe him paranoid and myopic in his fears. Only one of his examples could even be construed as intentional discrimination, that being the inattentive waitress. But everybody suffers inattentive waitresses, this is not a uniquely black experience. Should I jump up every time a waitress ignores me, an old white guy by myself, in favor of a party of young, laughing couples? I feel the discrimination, I’m one of the Unattractive, UnCool, Old, Married, Glasses- wearing, Conservatively-dressed. I know that my Poor Tip, in comparision to the larger party’s gratuity, makes the discrimination economic as well. ARRGGGH! But should I start smashing tables? The solution to discrimination in a restaurant is to not patronize the restaurant again, and to tell others you know. As Mr. Graham noted, the restaurant has since closed. Despite Mr. Graham’s attempt to characterize the banks as racist for underwriting the higher interest loans that car dealers sold to blacks and Hispanics, I firmly believe their motives were purely greed without a moment’s thought of race. One might accuse the banks of targeting Stupid People who will stupidly pay too much interest, and you would be absolutely correct about every loan they make, but in this instance, they are not the most agrievous party. Accurately, it is the car dealers that are discriminating against consumers - they sell the loan and make a lot, if not most, of the extra money from a high interest rate loan. Whether those dealers are targeting blacks and Hispanics, or Stupid People, I cannot tell you. Knowing that many blacks and Hispanics purchase cars from dealers of their same race, I suspect that more often than not, it is stupidity that attracts the greedy car dealer. I fully expect that Mr. Graham reads a news report about the banks only because a trial lawyer (probably a Democrat) figured out that there were deep pockets to be found in these contracts and took it upon himself to locate a few plaintiffs, have the suit designated as a class action, and extort a huge settlement from the banks, of which he got a huge sum and any individual plaintiff very little. This example is about greed and stupidity, not racism. If blacks and Hispanics are, as a demographic, paying higher interest rates, they are absolutely being stupider as a demographic, have lower credit scores as a demographic, or both. With a good credit score and average intelligence, any individual has too many credit options available today to not have access to market rates. If the car dealer’s rates are too high, go to a bank or credit union with your good score. Have an account there, and savings. You can get a good loan. Regarding the video game that only offered black cheerleaders with one hairdo, Mr. Graham loses me on this one. He’s probably OK with Grand Theft Auto since all the black prostitutes getting run over have different hairdos and different feather boas. I hope he’s not wasting his time defending the sanctity of black cheerleaders for my sake. Can’t we find some better examples, I have to think there’s some training film somewhere with a couple of black research scientists with similar hairstyles, go defend their honor. And why isn’t Lara Croft black (or is she?) But if one seeks to protect the image of the black cheerleader, hypothesizing that the programmers that created this game had a conscious intent to insert discriminatory images into this video seems very, very tormented. Likewise, with the TV commercial featuring a black lady telling jokes at work. Yes, the contestants were Moms, and the black Mom was shown at work and not at home as were the white Moms…..but the show was about “Moms being funny”, not just “Moms”. Moms do work, and funny Moms are funny at home and work. It was right to show a Mom being funny at work, and simply because that Mom was black does not make it discriminatory. If the roles were reversed, I get the feeling Mr. Graham would still complain - and, if so, I’d even be more inclined to support him. Imagine instead, the commercial features two black Moms at home telling jokes to their kids, and one white Mom at the office telling jokes to co-workers. We’d be hearing cries of discrimination – “as if black Moms don’t work.” If I were black and had to choose, I’d take the black Mom at work. My point is, we’re tired of hearing these pitiful “woe is me” cries from blacks. Yes, discrimination still exists – against blacks and against nearly every other demographic. Blacks discriminate against whites. Young versus Old. Etc. Etc. All that can be accomplished via protests, marches, boycotts, and whining has been accomplished (I will grant an exception for individual cases), those who remain bigots will not be changed by that message. America has seen racism diminish gradually over generations. In fact, the single most important factor in this change has been time, most change has occurred from one generation to the next, not within a generation. I am less prejudiced than my father and more aware of discrimination. My children will grow up in a world where discrimination is the rare exception. Who would deny that in America today, a black person of intelligence, talent, skills, education, ambition can succeed? Too many examples exist to prove otherwise. Who can deny that simply being a white male does not guarantee success? Even given those same talents and skills listed above will not guarantee a white man success. The reality is that everyone in America has the potential for success. Honesty and hard work are the first differentiating factors. Ambition and drive limit another level to average success. Intelligence or unique and skillful talents allow another group to rise higher. Intensity, disregard for personal happiness, or ruthless competitiveness are found in those who achieve the greatest financial success. The time has come for blacks to sever the shackles of their corrupt leadership and recognize their individual ability to succeed in America. After achieving the goals of Mr. King’s Dream, black leadership has latched onto the illusion of systematic discrimination as a means to preserving its power through the lockstepped march of battle. But the battle is over, you have won. Today, there exists little if any systematic, intentional discrimination against blacks. Yes, there exists individual discrimination, as can be said by any demographic. The solution to discrimination at the individual level is success at the individual level, and assimilation into mainstream American culture, morals, and society. Bigots will only change their views, if at all, after witnessing repeated examples of blacks being successful and reflecting American values. Successful gangsta rappers will not change those bigots. Successful black athletes do have a little positive influence, but not much, and probably invoke as much jealousy in return. Bigots need to see their black neighbors and co-workers being successful Americans and contributing equally on a daily basis if one has any hope for their change. Understand that almost every white American recognizes bigotry and disapproves. As long as black leadership seeks to segregate blacks in the guise of establishing black culture, as long as blacks vote as a group without regard to their personal beliefs on individual issues, and as long as blacks keep whining about discrimination with one hand out looking for compensation, Americans of all colors will continue to ignore them like a car alarm at the mall. Black leadership has packaged their race in a nice tidy bundle and sold it at bargain rate prices to the Democratic party who treat them with the respect that price deserves. If blacks do not want to be treated like minorities, they need to quit acting like a minority – think independently, act independently, succeed based on your individual talent, vote independently. Be American. White America has made the first move, we’ve held out our hand to blacks, fighting with them over the last generation to combat discrimination. We have made huge improvements. Now it is your turn, blacks, your turn to make something of the opportunity – just as those Vietnamese, and Irish, and Italians, and Hmongs, etc. have done. And just as the Hispanics are doing today. Quit complaining and get to work. We’re all pulling for you to be successful. With your help, the children of those few remaining bigots will not be the next. ------------ About the author: Ron Lewis is a software salesman extraordinaire, albeit habitually unemployed, with no significant accomplishments at age 47 other than two wonderfully talented children who take after their mother. All his friends note his keen insight, bad eyesight, doggedly jaded disposition, and rugged bad looks. A third person seems to recall that he talks too much. Email: grnacres@direcway.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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