Why aren't we better talking about race
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My two cents:
My two cents:
- In talking to someone else of another race, we say stupid things. So does the other person. We need to cut each other some slack. Grace.
- Few of us have declared personal war on segregation. I mean practical segregation...we don't have meals or fellowship or go to church with folks of other races. God wants your personal life integrated. Get moving.
- Whites too easily dismiss historical wrongs and don't fairly consider contemporary outcomes of those wrongs. Pity.
- Blacks suspect that whites are too often talking about them when we are not with them.
- We lack love. Jesus said to love your neighbor. Then he told a race story (Good Samaritan) to show what he meant. That racial divide at the time of Christ was deeper than what blacks/whites have today. Wonder what story Jesus would share today to get the "majority" to hear "minority" perspective.
- Both sides deny that they have any problems at all on race. Look deep. You have problems. Saying, for instance, that "some of my best friends are black" doesn't dismiss those problems. More likely, it proves you really do have a major blind spot.
Labels: Race
posted by Matt Friedeman at
6:38 PM
5 Comments:
Good post Matt. Finally we agree on something.
People try to talk about race, but what happens is that people do not want to hear what the other person has to say. All I can tell anyone is what it has been like being an African American. It is impossible for blacks to seperate ourselves from our heritage. It seems that is what whites want us to do in order to be acceptable. My parents and grandparents went through some hard times just because they were black. Even in my lifetime, I have experienced racism. So, often times, we look at things from that perspective. Blacks have that in common with each other. Whites have different heritages that can be totally different from one another. I also think that if you never have experienced something, you really do not know what it is like. White America really does not know what it is like to have had only 2 elected Governors and 5 US Senators of their race. We like to think that we are past certain things, but whenever we are tested, we fail. Blacks hear everythings is ok, put see something different when we get pull over by the police. We see something different when we try to move into certain neighborhoods. We see something different when our children want to date outside of their race. There are things that happen on a regular basis that remind us we are black. From my experience, I do not know blacks that just hate white people. They had experiences that made them very upset that tend to stay with them.
Even when we are not being prejudice or racist toward one another, we support people that are. Both sides do it and it has to stop. We laugh at jokes we should not. We listen to and support people we should not. Maybe blacks hold on to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton because whites love Rush Limbaugh. Instead of looking the other way, we should call people on their attempts to keep people divided racially. People will never agree, but it does not have to be racially.
I will tell you alot of the attraction for blacks is beyond political. There is a pride in seeing someone like you get to a point none has before him. Political opposition is fair, but blacks are going to naturally question whether the opposition is political or racial. I personally follow politics and I question people's motives when they are not consistent. Sean Hannity has probably pushed the Jeremiah Wright story more than anyone else. The story needed attention. But is he consistent based on the following, "Sean Hannity aired video footage of musician and right-wing activist Ted Nugent at an August 21 concert calling Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) a "piece of *&^%" and referring to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) as a "worthless *&^%$." In the video clip, Nugent holds up what appear to be two assault rifles and says he told Obama "to suck on my machine gun" and says he told Clinton "you might want to ride one of these into the sunset." After airing the clip, Hannity referred to Nugent as a "friend and frequent guest on the program..." How can Sean Hannity support a man and these type of statements yet act so outraged about Wright? So, when people see that conservatives will jump all over Obama for something his Pastor said which is partially understandable, but give Hannity a pass for his friend cursing and threatening two Senators, a split occurs. When we get serious, we will stop rewarding people for being devisive.
People try to talk about race, but what happens is that people do not want to hear what the other person has to say. All I can tell anyone is what it has been like being an African American. It is impossible for blacks to seperate ourselves from our heritage. It seems that is what whites want us to do in order to be acceptable. My parents and grandparents went through some hard times just because they were black. Even in my lifetime, I have experienced racism. So, often times, we look at things from that perspective. Blacks have that in common with each other. Whites have different heritages that can be totally different from one another. I also think that if you never have experienced something, you really do not know what it is like. White America really does not know what it is like to have had only 2 elected Governors and 5 US Senators of their race. We like to think that we are past certain things, but whenever we are tested, we fail. Blacks hear everythings is ok, put see something different when we get pull over by the police. We see something different when we try to move into certain neighborhoods. We see something different when our children want to date outside of their race. There are things that happen on a regular basis that remind us we are black. From my experience, I do not know blacks that just hate white people. They had experiences that made them very upset that tend to stay with them.
Even when we are not being prejudice or racist toward one another, we support people that are. Both sides do it and it has to stop. We laugh at jokes we should not. We listen to and support people we should not. Maybe blacks hold on to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton because whites love Rush Limbaugh. Instead of looking the other way, we should call people on their attempts to keep people divided racially. People will never agree, but it does not have to be racially.
I will tell you alot of the attraction for blacks is beyond political. There is a pride in seeing someone like you get to a point none has before him. Political opposition is fair, but blacks are going to naturally question whether the opposition is political or racial. I personally follow politics and I question people's motives when they are not consistent. Sean Hannity has probably pushed the Jeremiah Wright story more than anyone else. The story needed attention. But is he consistent based on the following, "Sean Hannity aired video footage of musician and right-wing activist Ted Nugent at an August 21 concert calling Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) a "piece of *&^%" and referring to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) as a "worthless *&^%$." In the video clip, Nugent holds up what appear to be two assault rifles and says he told Obama "to suck on my machine gun" and says he told Clinton "you might want to ride one of these into the sunset." After airing the clip, Hannity referred to Nugent as a "friend and frequent guest on the program..." How can Sean Hannity support a man and these type of statements yet act so outraged about Wright? So, when people see that conservatives will jump all over Obama for something his Pastor said which is partially understandable, but give Hannity a pass for his friend cursing and threatening two Senators, a split occurs. When we get serious, we will stop rewarding people for being devisive.
Unfortunately, when we talk about race, we aren't talking Biblically. According to the Bible, there is only one race.
The Human race. Period.
Let us gaze upon the face of God to understand His creation from His perspective. God loves us. He loves us more than we can imagine. He desires that we love Him. Not as an add-on to that love for Him, but as an inter-twined command we are to love one another.
Check today's report on Ken Ham and his comments about racism and Darwinism at Onenewsnow.com:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=72857
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