Has the '08 Election taken the issue of racism to the front burner?

Question

I think so. I was raised in the 1960's & 70's and I have grown up in the age of "Roots", civil rights, the Cosby show etc. I have only heard the black perspective of issues of race. It seems for the first time white people who have shut out of the conversation...we were always told to shut-up & listen. I attended Huge H.S. a nearly all black H.S. and want to tell how myself & sister were treated by blacks all our lives. WE too have a story of unbelievable racism including our single mother who raised us. We want our movie(s), we want our civil rights, we want our story told.

Is it our time yet?

Answer 1

than write a ******* book and stop whining!!

Answer 2

So you are a poor little white boy who has been forgotten by the "system".

Either you are part of the system or the system is a part of you ..take a choice.

Write a book , make your own movie, make and tell your own story.

Stop whinging like a little sniveling beatch and grow a pair.

Do not wait for others to do it for you....that then makes you the a part of the problem not  part of the answer.

Answer 3

It's put it back on the front pages, but it's iffy if America is ready to deal with this yet.

America may not have a choice in the matter, though - this is an abcess that's been building for a long time.

Obama isn't the instigator of the discussion - he's the pressure valve that allows this to be dealt with non-violently ( remember the Watts riots?).

And 2042 is coming, the year when the minorities become numerically superior to the whites in the US.

This needs to be dealt with now.

Answer 4

Racism is wrong whoever it is directed against. It is incredibly destructive both to the people who are the targets and the people who do the targetting (because they have the nasty attitudes stuck inside them and can't get away from their conditioning, {and they keep their self-esteem low through their prejudice}, whereas we can get together with our fellow countrymen and be understood for who we really are, not as a  just stereotype!) It is very unintelligent too, because anyone who thinks that everyone in a particular ethnic or national group is the same, is sadly deluded. There are so many differences right across the whole human race in every nationality and religion, we should be happy for the differences and not afraid of them. Of course we should not be allowing others to be racist to us any more than we should be racist to them. The law should be fair to all of us or else it won't work. I think there should be a world council to agree on shared human needs and desires (which I think are basically the same in everyone) and that we would do well to concentrate on those, and gradually allow the irrationalities of our various cultures to fade away.

Allowing bad behaviour out of guilt for past mistreatment is a bad idea all round.

Unlike some other people who have answered, I don't think it's whingeing to tell of your pain, but in fact it's necessary for healing, just as it is for all other groups.

I live in Australia and am subjected to quite vicious racism almost daily but if we say anything about it we are called whingers. This is the way an oppressive society keeps us all in place and stops us from questioning the "status quo".

Answer 5

Who says 'front burner'?

Incidentally I agree with zoticat.

Answer 6

Not to trivialize the issues you may have faced growing up as a white person in an all black environment, but it has been YOUR time the entire time in the U.S. Other than discussions about whom blacks may or may not vote for, the issue of race has more or less been trivial in all previous elections, reason being that there has never been a black presidential candidate in the history of the U.S. This doesn't imply that race wasn't an issue- it was and has always been, but it's just that it has never been such a prevalent topic before. In other words, whites (and everyone else, including blacks) have always had only white candidates to choose from prior to this election. Now that you have the first serious black candidate for the presidency ever, the issue of race has come to the forefront, and many whites are confused and upset because they are now faced with a very tough decision: Do I vote for the candidate who has my best interest at heart even if he happens to be black, or do I vote for the white candidate regardless because he is white, even if I agree more with the platform of the black candidate? I'm not telling you who you should vote for (that is a decision YOU must make at the polls), I'm only trying to explain what the problem is regarding race, and why and how it has automatically become an issue in this election. I personally believe Obama represents a chance to get the U.S. back on its feet after what has transpired in the past 10 years or so, and if he were white, female, Hispanic,  or any other ethnicity, he would still be my choice for the presidency come November. You may or may not agree with that, and that's fine- but don't make your choice based on race- instead, look carefully at the issues. And if you're basing your "racism" experiences on growing up in an all black neighborhood, chances are you've experienced petty prejudice directed towards whites, but not full blown racism. In order for racism to flourish, those who perpetrate it must have tremendous economic power and dominance in all parts of society. Black Americans have neither. Even with an Obama presidency and an all black cabinet, and if Obama set out to "take away" all that whites have and give it to blacks, the country would still be in the hands of whites, and this could never be carried out. Of course this is a very extreme, totally ridiculous scenario, but I mention it for the purpose of making my point only.          

Answer 7

You know I come from Australia, and our new Prime Minister (an idiot) has apologised to the Aborigines for mistreatment back when Captain Cook first discovered Australia nearly 200 Years ago, and also the children were taken from the Aboriginals communities as they were being mistreated by their own people, not feed, raped (still do it today) and just handed from family to family, and no education, anyway these kids were placed into communities run by the government, given an education, fed, clothed and treated really well, but yet they call themselves "THE STOLEN GENERATION", when in fact they were not, and alot of them even handed over their children, so now 60 odd years on, they say, we stole them and their culture and the kids of today are behaving badly because of this!!  Which is a load of c**p, white children were also removed and placed into care for the same reasons, or if a white girl were to be unwed and fall pregnant, they were sent to a Nuns Convent, to give birth and the child  taken straight off them and given up for adoption, as not to cause shame on the families, but yet none of the white people are jumping up and down demanding an apology, nor are they wanting compensation like the Aboriginals.

The government is making us racist, as the Aboriginals do not pay to go to school, nor for their uniforms, nor for excursions, they buy a new car and only have to make 3 payments and if they don't pay the rest the Aboriginal Lands Council pay the rest, they live in better homes than the poor white people, and they are given breakfast / morning tea/ lunch/and afternoon tea at school, the white kids aren't.  Their house loans go through, and they only pay 3% on the loan, now is this fair, NO IT ISN'T, they have their own flag, and have a special Apology Day every year, and also NAIDOC day, but god help us if we were to have a National White Persons day, or have just a white persons flag.

They say they want to be treated the same, well they are not, they are treated so much better.

They choose to live the way they want and if they get in the media for abusing alcohol, it is always the White Mans fault, or our Governments fault.

But, obviously by reading your story, it sounds the same over there in America, tell me your story I would so love to hear it.  It sounds very similar to ours in Australia.  

Also, if they (group of Aboriginals ) walk past us, they will always pick fights or say "Whaca look'n at ya white s***s", and god help us if we were to say that to them, we would be charged with racism.

So, if you have time right me your story and I would so love to read it and hear the h**l you have gone through.

Thanks for reading mine.  Sorry I went on so much.

Minny :-)

Ps...  Not all Aboriginals are bad, probably 90%.

Answer 8

I don't know if the elections will take racism to the front burner, but certainly race. And meanwhile, everyone pretends it's not even an issue.

Answer 9

sorry i dont know