We're a credit to our race (and theirs)

I am more than fed up with folks like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, ad nauseam caterwauling about what us white folks need to do and need to stop doing to our black brothers and sisters. White men seem to be their perpetual target, so let's examine some facts:

1. It was a white man who issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
2. It was a white-man dominated Congress that passed the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
3. It was a white-man dominated Congress that passed the 14th Amendment, which, inter alia, gave state and federal citizenship to all persons regardless of race.
4. It was a white-man dominated Congress that passed the 15th Amendment, which granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
5. It was a white-man dominated Congress that passed the Civil Rights Acts of 1866, 1964 and 1991.
6. It was a white-man dominated Congress that passed The Voting Rights Act of 1965 that prohibits racial discrimination in voting.
7. It was a white-man dominated Congress that passed the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, the results of which created quotas for and requirements that minorities be hired for jobs, regardless of whether there were more qualified white applicants.
8. Universities have established lower ACT and SAT score requirements and enacted other procedures that discriminate against white applicants to increase minority enrollments. They have also established curriculums such as "Black American Studies" to provide a better likelihood of success for these students.
9. Blacks, which represent about 13% of the population, are 39% of the welfare recipients, again benefiting out of proportion to a white-man enacted law.
10. And pick your own Affirmative Action Program to cite.

I could go on, but I hope I've made my point.

All of this might sound "racist, racist, racist" as Diane Ragsdale likes to say, but contraire. I'm simply trying to point out that us white folks have done quite a bit to improve opportunities for people of color, but most of these opportunities require some initiative on the part of the black community.

There are a lot of very successful blacks, including our current President. And he got there with the help of a lot of us white folks. Strangely he doesn't sound all that appreciative.

Look out...here it comes... Lol.

+1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ,000.......................... ..................Wheretonow

Are you going to leave out the negative things the "white man" has done?

U.S. Slavery

Jim Crow

Constant war all over the world

Colonialism

The establishment of a caste system in our oligarchy of a government

Murdering 50-100 million Native Americans and stealing their land

I guess we could go on and on...

The point is the people in power control negative and positive things that happen. If you want to take credit for the positives then you should take credit for the negatives as well.

Trill, any of your points could be a deep discussion in itself. But what stands out to me as a blatant exaggeration is the number of native Americans supposedly killed. There were, maybe, 7-10 million around 1500. How that grew to 50-100 million for killing and still have any left requires an unreasonably significant birth rate.

Perhaps the person who estimated that number also counted the participants in the million man march?

We don't owe each other anything except mutual respect and friendship. It is time we spend more time developing that bond instead of exaggerating the past which can not be changed, as horrible as it was in some (but not all) people's actions.

Now hold up...you wanna blame "white people" for "constant war all over the world"????

Let's just put aside radical Muslims and Islam for a minute and take a look at the hundreds of guerilla armies that flourish across Africa (the 2nd highest populated continent in the world, Asia being #1) or the wide spread belief there that raping a virgin will cure you of HIV and AIDS so the men go to the youngest victims they can find.......who almost always die from the physical trauma. The things that Africans are doing to each other "all over the world" makes my stomach turn!

Don't get started with that racial sin bullshit because you will lose if you are going off of skin color.

Check your facts before you go spewing that propaganda as truth. I'll let someone else dissect the rest of your ignorant statements. I have better shit to do today.

To the OP, I understand your frustration with race relations, but posting stuff like this isn't gonna get any of us anywhere but deeper into our opposition.

Edit: I was raised to judge someone on their own individual merit. Not what color their skin is. Yes, the talking heads make me want to scream sometimes (on both sides), but I just have to turn it off when it gets to be too much. We are all individuals first. Treat others how you would want to be treated. It really is that simple.

This is an obvious troll job, but I'll offer a word of advice for future trollers: Contrary to what Fox News wants you to believe, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't speak for all or even a majority of black people. Further, there are tons of other black civil rights leaders, politicians, business men, etc. that you could use to set up a straw men argument instead; using those same 2 is just being lazy.

This is an obvious troll job, but I'll offer a word of advice for future trollers: Contrary to what Fox News wants you to believe, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't speak for all or even a majority of black people. Further, there are tons of other black civil rights leaders, politicians, business men, etc. that you could use to set up a straw men argument instead; using those same 2 is just being lazy. Originally Posted by blackmaleindallas

I'd welcome your list of the black voices of reason on race relations, and which of them have been interviewed on any of the network news shows regarding recent racial events.

And there are many positive black role models. Colleen Powell, Conny Rice, and Ben Carson readily come to mind. But for some reason MSNBC hasn't seen fit to give any of them a one-hour primetime show. I guess they haven't evaded paying enough taxes to qualify.

Radical Islam? You didn't know anything about that religion before 2001.

dont let a few bad apples ruin an entire religion of 1.5 billion people.

Should we judge white people by the actions of Hitler or Stalin? After all they're white.

We live in a country that tortures prisoners of war and the current president has targeted and deployed weapons in 7 Muslim-majority countries since taking office. So are they the radicals or are we?

We have killed more than they have, we have invaded more countries than they have. But somehow we are immune to our actions because "the Iraq war killed 1 million civilians, but it was a mistake and doesn't represent our values"

You know who determines what "violence" is? The people with the most guns.

Now hold up...you wanna blame "white people" for "constant war all over the world"????

Let's just put aside radical Muslims and Islam for a minute and take a look at the hundreds of guerilla armies that flourish across Africa (the 2nd highest populated continent in the world, Asia being #1) or the wide spread belief there that raping a virgin will cure you of HIV and AIDS so the men go to the youngest victims they can find.......who almost always die from the physical trauma. The things that Africans are doing to each other "all over the world" makes my stomach turn!

Don't get started with that racial sin bullshit because you will lose if you are going off of skin color.

Check your facts before you go spewing that propaganda as truth. I'll let someone else dissect the rest of your ignorant statements. I have better shit to do today. Originally Posted by thathottnurse

I'm simply trying to point out that us white folks have done quite a bit to improve opportunities for people of color, but most of these opportunities require some initiative on the part of the black community.
Originally Posted by Wheretonow

this comment as stand-alone would be ok.. but the first 7 examples are strange.. almost like commending someone for sitting on your chest for 6 hours, then giving you an oxegen mask to help you breathe..

Contrary to what Fox News wants you to believe, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't speak for all or even a majority of black people. Further, there are tons of other black civil rights leaders, politicians, business men, etc. that you could use to set up a straw men argument instead; using those same 2 is just being lazy. Originally Posted by blackmaleindallas

its not just Fox News... MSNBC and others do the same.. that's how the "news" business operates.. its easy to get a ready quote from a specific contact source, than to dig further for responses from others.. the UVA Proffessor Larry Sabato is a designated contact for political commentary, Jonathan Turley is a designated spokesman on Constitutional Law issues, Sonjay Gupta is practically the National Spokesman for medical discussion... locally, UTA Proffessor Alan Saxe is the go-to guy for political talk..

Jackson and Sharpton are the spokesmen for Race (i.e., black) issues.. they are not self-appointed, as many believe, but are the standby, ready-to-deliver spokesmen that all sources of news rely on..

The OP is a racist clown spitting out the same tired racist talking points. People are individuals. If someone is white, it doesn't mean they automatically believe or agree with everything Bill or Hillary Clinton agree with, nor does it mean that they agree with everything a Rand Paul or Michelle Bachmann believe just because they are white. People like the OP hold on to idiotic beliefs that the amount of melanin someone's body produces in response to their ancestors living in warm climates make up who they are as people. People views opinions and behaviors are influence by their own personal experiences in life, their upbringing, surroundings, and education.

Having lived in Europe part of my life and traveled around the world, societal problems exists everywhere, even in places where the majority of people are the same race and speak the same language. I dare the OP to walk down a down alley in Leeds, England at night and think because he doesn't see any minorities that he'll be safe. Europe gets painted as a liberal utopia by some media outlets here, but Europe has a bigger problem with racism, nationalism, and ethnic hatreds than the US. It's not uncommon to find (what we would consider) white people with absolute hatred for other white people because they belong to the wrong tribe (Serbs, Croats, Albanians... the Balkans are fucked).

There's social unrest in a lot of places because people in power try to hold those out of power down. In America, it plays out among racial lines. In other parts of the world it's other things, but sometimes it's race as well.

European colonialism cause a lot of problems in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia because the Europeans drew borderlines that suited their self-interest while ignoring the ethnic makeup of their new found colonies. Kurdistan is a prime example. Instead of having a country of their own, Kurds now live in Turkey and Iraq while being a minority in both. Kurds are also oppressed in both countries leading to civil unrest all because my people, the British decided the borderlines would make sense for reaping the benefits of their oil fields.

there are many positive black role models. Colleen Powell Originally Posted by Wheretonow

I suggest you do some research before you describe "Colleen" (Colin) Powell as a positive role model... he is very liberal, which judging from the other things you have said, is not "positive"... did you hear his speech at the Republican National Convention in 2008? I was on the floor laughing so hard, it was as good a liberal democratic speech as I had ever heard.. furthermore, Powell apologized for lying to Congress about the threat Iraq/Saddam Hussein posed.. he was simply a shill for the Bush Administration, spouting their position, which was not his.. I find it freaking funny how "Conservatives" hold up Powell as one of them..

Instead of having a country of their own, Kurds now live in Turkey and Iraq while being a minority in both. Kurds are also oppressed in both countries leading to civil unrest all because my people, the British decided the borderlines would make sense for reaping the benefits of their oil fields. Originally Posted by Roger.Smith

indeed.. we (the Allies) set up artificial boundaries after WW2, that suited our vision of the World... then we blame the people in those areas for the trouble they cause, and ascribe it to personal shortcomings they have, as a result of ethnicity, religion, or simple lack of culture.. and if they cause us enough trouble, we attack them..

this comment as stand-alone would be ok.. but the first 7 examples are strange.. almost like commending someone for sitting on your chest for 6 hours, then giving you an oxegen mask to help you breathe.. Originally Posted by Chung Tran

I see your point that these were laws enacted to correct white injustices, but the injustices were also corrected by whites.

These laws were resisted by violence, Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, etc. But these facts are often stated without recognizing that "the angels of our better virtues" prevailed.

There are many, many problems that exist in the black community that cry out for black leaders to address in a civil manner. One that would most likely attract enthusiastic white support.

Instead the networks continue to air Sharpton and Jackson, whose sole purpose is to perpetuate racial discontent. Unfortunately they now have Obama and Holder as allies.

I see your point that these were laws enacted to correct white injustices, but the injustices were also corrected by whites.

These laws were resisted by violence, Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, etc. But these facts are often stated without recognizing that "the angels of our better virtues" prevailed.

There are many, many problems that exist in the black community that cry out for black leaders to address in a civil manner. One that would most likely attract enthusiastic white support.

Instead the networks continue to air Sharpton and Jackson, whose sole purpose is to perpetuate racial discontent. Unfortunately they now have Obama and Holder as allies. Originally Posted by Wheretonow

you're coming off much more reasonable... understand, though, it's not in the interests of the networks to present sane, responsive black leadership.. they are in the business of making money, which is enhanced when controversial figures are trotted out, not just in racial matters, but all matters.. I agree that Obama and Holder have gravitated away from Governance, and towards the big business of racial discontent.. I voted for Obama the first time, and fled to the other side in 2012.. I was disappointed his "hope and change" spirit never materialized.. and his big issue in 2008 was transparency.. this from the least transparent President in history..

he and Holder should quit sticking their nose in everyone's business.. not just racial matters, but all matters..