Slippery Slope -- Tony

Indeed, even with the best of intentions, the topic of race relations can gather dangerous speed very quickly. That's the beauty of this blog. With a one person blog, you get one person's viewpoint. Here,
you get to hear two people opine from various angles and take what you will from it.

I'm going to use the terms "white" and "black" in this post for a couple reasons:

1. I can't spell caucasion--cacuasion--cau....forget it
2. I dont' really agree with the term African American, If you were born here, I feel you are an American. otherwise, there would be no Americans, just PolishAmericans, GermanAmericans, etc... (just my personal viewpoint) I know that's enough to start a firestorm right there.

Is it true, as I've heard many people say (both white and black), that everyone is a little racist? Or is it that everyone has a little bit of anomosity towards those they think are wrong/different/wierd? I know
yuppy consultants in DC that hate, I mean absolutely despise, rednecks, and country people. I've heard them call them backwoods, ignorant inbreeds who don't deserve children. Seriously, real hatred. If both parties are white is that racism?

Here's the thing, nobody but Eric knows how hard or not hard it is coming up the way he did. Eric can't expect me to understand as well as he does how being black in America really is. As politically correct and sensitive as I can pretend to be, I'm just not able to really understand completely. I think it goes both ways, I can't expect Eric to understand what it was like growing up the way I did. People can stand up and say they aren't racist, they don't see color, they "understand" where the other group is coming from, but the bottom line is, that's all lip service. It's impossible for me to completely comprehend how another ethnic group really feels, and vice versa.

With that said, we can do our best to listen and learn from each other. Something we can't get away from are stereotypes. I mean, I don't drive a 4x4 truck with a Rebel flag in the back window and drink budwieser while dancing like a frog with a nervous disorder. Likewise, Eric doesn't live in the projects, wear his pants down below his butt, and collect unemployment while sipping a 40 during the work day. But those are stereotypes. I'm not going to go into the whole "not everyone's like that" routine. I think we (anyone reading this) understands those groups are a minority of the total, but gain the most attention.

Now, I said all that stuff because I was thinking it, don't know if I even addressed anything in Eric's post. But I'll attempt to now:

This is my take on race in America. Is racism still around? 100% yes. Those who say the playing field is all square now, are off their rockers. Think about this:

Two candidates for a Unix Architect job, one black, one white (we won't name any names: Eric and Tony). For arguments sake lets say they both have 13 years experience, same skill set, same education. On paper they are both identical. The both go interview, in person, for the same position. They both have the same oratory skills.

Now, lets take two scenarios:

Scenario 1:The manager who interviews them is a white collar white guy, who has typical (stereotypical) "white guy" qualities: likes golf, listens to country or rock radio, grew up in the burbs.
Based on these facts alone, who is he more likely to hire? Obviously Tony (I mean the white guy). why? Because subconsciously, if all other factors are the same, he's going to pick someone he feels
more closely resembles his way of life.

Scenario 2: The manager who interviews them is a white collar black guy, who has typical (stereotypical) "black guy" qualities: likes basketball, listens to rap or r&b, grew up in the city.
Based on these facts alone, who is he more likely to hire? Obviously Eric (I mean the black guy). Why? Because subconsciously, if all other factors are the same, he's going to pick someone he feels
he can relate too, and that he thinks came from the same background as he did.

Are these two managers racist? You can look at it two ways: did they hire the candidate they most related to? Or Did they NOT hire the candidate they didn't relate to? If choice A wasn't in the picture, would they have hired choice B. If not, that's racist.

But here is where the problem is, and why affirmative action was so important. 80% of the white collar managers out there are white guys. That's why government programs are key to get qualified people in those manager positions when otherwise they wouldn't have had a chance. Are their abuses in this system...come on, are there any government run programs that are not abused. Of course, some under qualified blacks are put in positions when they probably shouldn't have been, but does that make the whole system wrong? No. You have to go with the best solution at the time.

Now, the "slavery ended along time ago, get over it" mentality is ignorant as well. The same idiots that say "slavery ended along time ago get over it" are the same idiots that have the rebel flag in their back windows of
their pickup trucks. Which they say is a heritage thing from the civil war and don't want to forget....Wait a second, you want one group to "get over it" but you want to "remember your heritage". Just morons, that's the only answer.

How can we get past the race issue? Can we get past the race issue? Being 100% transparent, if I was black and knew that my grandmother was treated like a second class citizen, I'd still be holding a grudge.
This is where I think Martin Luther King was so great....he didn't abandon his race, he didn't say it was right the way they were treated, but he realized that to make things better, they had to be the "bigger/better" people. He wanted equality and was willing to start fresh and move forward. It's like when two brothers fight, they are mad at each other for months, but the only way to make it better is if one is a bigger person and makes the move to communicate and move forward. I don't know if I could do it, but I think that's what it takes. The more the past is brought up, the more emotions are stirred (on both sides) and the less likely the two groups are going to be to work it out.

I remember as a kid, I went to an Elementry school that was mostly black kids, all my friends were black. Then middle school the same. Neither them, nor I, had a clue about past race issues. I'd play at their house, they would play at my house. Race genuinely never came into play at all. I never felt any negative feelings from their mammas and daddies and they felt none from mine. Why is this? Because we were kids and the playing field was square at that point. Teachers treated us the same, we did the same things...now what if the teachers had said, tony you need to come in from rescess now, but Daryl, Paki, and Myron (My real friends from Elementry School) you can stay out and play 15 minutes longer because your black, and your grandparents were involved in segregation? Two things:

1. I would have began to build up an anomosity towards them, probably.
2. They would have began to realize that they were not equal to me, they were different, and wondered why.

Maybe they deserved the extra 15 minutes, but would it have made the situation better? No. I know it's easy for me to sit here and say, just let bye gone's be bye gones, because I'm white right? Maybe, but
It's going to take something along those lines to bring us closer to equality. I know that was a pretty lame example, but it's the best analogy I could come up with to get my point across.

When MLK was saying let us be equal, JJ and AL are saying we were mistreated, any action against us is a racist action. This really does nothing good. Again, easy for me to say, but speaking as the "white spokesman", it drums up alot of bad feelings. The government throwing money or new programs at JJ and AL to meet their demands is not solving the problem. It's causing more divide.

The Rev. Wright issue:
All the conservative talking heads blasted him as un American, and blah blah blah....Do I think he hates America, no. Do I think he dislikes white people? Yes, to an extent. The question is, why shouldn't he? There are white folks that hate black folks for no good reason. At least he has a reason. He couldn't use the same bathroom as his white counterparts. I'd be pissed still too. Rev. Wright has every right to be mad, and to say whatever he wants. The issue with Barrack is not that he agrees with the Rev., it's that as the President, you are Commander of all people in America, and if the perception is that you spent 20 years learning under a guy who dislikes a group of people, it is going to be hard for you to be the bond that brings everyone together.....that's what the issue is with Rev Wright, not that he hates America. Again, it's going to take the "bigger person" to bring us closer to cohesion.

I know blacks that won't go to Alabama, why? why do you think, it's all KKK members in pickup trucks. Likewise, I know whites that think all blacks are unemployed aspiring rappers with saggy pants. Why? because they've had limited associations with the majority of blacks and
that's what they see on MTV and in the inner city? Funny thing is that I'm from Alabama and Eric has a Master's Degree and sometimes his pants are just too tight :) Does racism exist in America, yup. Is it fair? Nope. Can there ever be true equality from either viewpoint?????

Just to summarize, I dont' know what it is like to be black in America. Eric doesn't know what it's like to be raised white in America. We have our personal accounts and stereotypes to base our opinions on, but
the bottom line is that it is unrealistic to expect another group to fully appreciate your upbringing.