Originally posted by Method Ham:
Originally posted by rzrbk7777:
Originally posted by Method Ham:
I studied sociology and anthropology in college and spent a good deal of my time researching race relations in the south. It's still a topic I have a big interest in, and I read a few books a year to dig deeper. Institutional racism is a real thing. There's a difference between calling someone a derogatory name and setting up a socioeconomic system in which only a privileged few can get ahead in life. Yes, we have made great strides as a society, but still have a long way to go. japierce gets it, as do a few others in this thread.
Charles Barkley said it best on TNT the other night. To paraphrase slightly, he said the guys with the pointy hats on their heads who call people names are just idiots, but guys with money and power and the ability to give or withhold economic benefits are racists. Sterling is a racist. I don't care if the man has a black head coach. The man is a racist and if he worked for my company he would be fired just the same.
And above all, what I've learned in this thread is that despite Memphishogs claims that Memphis is the bees knees - it sucks as bad or worse than I originally thought.
Well gosh, I didn't do any college research on the subject. I just have life experience to go by and surely that doesn't count.
Did any of your research include poor white people in America? There are millions and millions of them you know. You think the guys with money and power do anything to help those people? You think poor white folks have any kind of leg up on getting out of poverty b/c they are white? Only difference between them and poor blacks is they don't have laws in place to protect them, no fears of discrimination claims against them, no EEOC laws to see that they get good jobs in the blue collar world. Matter of fact, when special rules are made for minorities to get to the front of the line, it is the poor white folks they are getting in front of.
Sterling is a racist. So is Nolan. So is David Duke. So is Obama. So is Larry Johnson. Racism comes in all forms from all walks of life regardless of color or financial status. The current PC trend of magnifying on one side and ignoring it on the other aint making it any better.
Yes, actually I studied poor whites too. My family was a part of the original migration of poor whites out of Arkansas and Oklahoma into California in the years preceding the dust bowl, so migratory labor was another special interest of mine. Thank God they eventually came home or I wouldn't be a Razorback.
Socioeconomics are a
, that's for sure. But there is no denying a long history of racism towards people of color. The laws aren't perfect, but when they were created there was a huge need for protection. In theory those laws protect me and you, too. Employers are not supposed to discriminate based on age, color, race, ethcnicity, religion - no matter what it looks like. Does it always work like that? No, I'm not naive enough to think a white man under 40 could potentially be passed over for a job in favor of a minority female over 40. But the playing field is as even as it ever has been in our world's history. Eventually - maybe - we will get to a future where race does not matter. But it does matter in the here and now.
Obama is a racist? Jeez.