(standing ovation)
Keith, I've got a true story that you reminded me of when you commented about
being followed by a security guard in a store.
Back when I worked for Soulless Evil Inc (aka Federated DEepartment Stores,
owners of M*cy's), I decided to splurge one Chrsitmas for the young lady I was
seeing, so I went shopping at the old Downtown M*cy's. Thye minute I walked in,
I had my own private security guard on my a$$, despite my habit of looking as
untreatening as possible (never putting my hands in my pockets, always looking
up and making eye contact, not carrying bags, et cetera). As I went, I noticed
a White guy shoplifting, and had to point it out to the guard who was so
ficused on me that he didn't catch the theft. When filling out the report for
the police, "Occupation" came up on the form. I made myself say aloud the words
as I wrote them, "Supervisor, Federated Department Stores, Store #13", and
smiled at the guard and the assistant manager before leaving and never gracing
the place with my presence again.
BTB- I got a commendation from the Chairman of the board, and a write-up in
the company newsletter.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
i really have to disagree with your saying America's not racist. As a
Black man I still fight this stuff every day, whether it's inferiour white guys
on my job giving me grief, the white cop or security guard who follows m ein
the store, or the more generic white attitude that has whites speaking what
they think is black slang to me, or making assumptions about my values and
interests. I worked in HR for a while, and i can tell you that black people get
discriminated against in hiring all the time, even now in 2008.
And to say that black people don't want to end our problems? I'm surprised at
that. I know a lot of blacks, rich and poor, educated and illiterate, who might
blame some of their problems on racism, but they don't *embrace* that as an
excuse. But they do see a system that still redlines black neighborhoods, that
has businesses skittish to build in black neighborhoods, real estate agents
leery of showing homes to blacks in a majority white neighborhood, and
companies where white people support other whites at our expense. It's changed,
it's gotten better, but it's not at all some fantasy we cook up to blame others
for our problems. I'm fairly well educated (BS in Electrical Engineering,
several hundred hours in Microsoft NT/Windows 2000 etc. training) speak "good"
English, etc., and I still encounter racism and prejudice. i don't go looking
for it, but i acknowledge it.
And even if Obama's elected that doesn't mean racism will end in America. A
president can attain the White House with basically half the vote, meaning half
th electorate can still be just as backwards and unenlightened as they want.
Finally, i have to comment on the thing about black man having all the
advantages. I agree with Tracey's statement: while black men may apparently
have an "in" in a male dominated corporate structure, the truth is that many
whites only have room for one or the other, black men or black women. And the
truth is that often white men see competent black men as threats. I have been
in many a situation where white guys view me with veiled hostility even though
i've done nothing to them, yet will joke and kid around with black women. some
of that, frankly, is a sexist attitude: they see the women as less of a threat
and someone they can joke and kid and flirt with. My wife has commented to me
more than once on how white guys in corporate America are getting bolder than
ever in flirting with black women. They're *women*, and that makes the guys
feel good. but as a black man, what can I do for a straight white guy in that
area? He can't flirt with me, can't feel somehow more
physically powe
rful over me the way he might with a woman. he might assume that i'm in
incoming Alpha male who might mess with his little fiefdom. So out goes the
threat (me) in favor of a black lady that threatens the guys less.
I feel that you're kind of putting a divide here, drawing a line between
Brothers and Sisters and lumping us with white men. as if you're saying black
men take advantage of Sisters too and use the system against them. That's not
true of all of us by any means. My wife is my partner, and i'm just as
angry--angrier--at the combination sexist/racist treatment she takes as the
racist treatment i get. i see a victory for her and all Sisters as a victory
for us as a people and would never subscribe to the philosophy that i'm in the
old boys club like the white guys.
-------------- Original message --------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In a message dated 1/4/2008 1:12:44 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Most biracial people with African blood are seen as Black -
particularly those who look Black, say they are Black and are
Considered prominent members of the Black community. Obama and his
family are seen as Black.
Tracy
Poll after poll; discussion after discussion sees Obama as a biracial man.
Halle may be the first "black " actress but she is also seen as biracial. Tiger
woods may be seen blacks by some people but he is still seen as multiethnic
also.
Conservatives like him because of his biracial background. Not his black
background.
Black men get paid less than White men. a Black man with a
traditional name is less likely to even get a job interview than a
white female
Obama did not start from humble beginnings either. He is not the "my father
was a sharecropper" black as many blacks who have achieved many things like
to suggest.
When people actually start asking what does Obama stand for. they cannot
answer. I don't know who I will vote for, but I do not that this "woe is the
black
man" stuff will have to end with the election of a black man. That why I
don't understand why people still think that America is still a racist society.
I
don't think that black america can really stomach and end to their problems.
I am sure that white America cannot wait for the end of the Jena 6 soul
patrol.
Black men are still men. They are still part of the network.
**************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.
http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489
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"There is no reason Good can't triumph over Evil, if only angels will get
organized along the lines of the Mafia." -Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man Without A
Country"
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