Barbarian observes:
Hmm... we need better data than how we feel about it...
Racism is not based on facts ... but on feelings/ perceptions.
But how people are changing is based on facts, not on our perceptions of it.
Barbarian observes:
I don't think that there's any doubt his election energized racists, in the same way that integrating public schools in the south energized racists. Fear and hatred flared up at what was perceived as an attack on a particular way of life that put whites at the top, and blacks on the bottom.
I taught school through the integration of the schools in the south. I can speak from living it. I don't think you know everything about it.
Nevertheless, you won't see a re-play of Little Rock, or Bull Connor again. Because some brave people went ahead with what was right, in spite of the warning that it would "stir up trouble."
The surprise is that one of the most encouraging signs of racial progress in our nation’s history, the election of an African-American president, now seems to be deepening our divisions rather than diminishing them. But perhaps that shouldn’t be so shocking either.
I think many people were ready for a black American to be president. It is just ashamed that he turned out to be an political activist, a socialist / and or a communist.
It would be perhaps the first socialist who made his fortune by advising capitalists on how to invest their money. If he's a socialist, he's a rather free-market socialist.
From the link:
What the Newsweek poll reveals—and what a review of recent history reiterates—is that Obama didn’t create the misunderstandings and resentments that complicate a controversy like Trayvon Martin’s death. He’s just the spark that sets them off. In other words, it’s not him. It’s us. Despite the powerful symbolism of Obama’s election, blacks and whites are still living in two different worlds.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newswee...over-race.html
He should have kept his mouth shut and let the courts deal with the issue. He is a foolish blabber mouth ... and what he says without thinking is what is in his heart.
His was an entirely human sentiment. "If I had a son, that could have happened to him." That's a plus in my book.
Barbarian asks:
Is the solution to keep segregation, because people will cause trouble if you do?
No, I'm glad blacks have made progress in our society.
But, as you see, many aren't. I can see you dislike Obama for his politics. But as you might have noticed, there are many in this country who cannot accept that a black man became president.
You go forward in spite of the fact. Because a half-century later, you don't see white housewives in Little Rock spitting and screaming obscenities at black kids going to school. That battle is over. Now another one is over. But yes, it "stirred up trouble" as Bull Connor used to say.
You have a problem with southerners and your prejudice is showing.
These are facts. And they no longer happen because of some very brave people were willing to face danger and even death put an end to it. I think that it's true most southerners didn't approve of the things that happened to blacks, but were afraid to speak out. I also notice that in many places, like Dallas, desegregation ended with little or no violence. But still someone had do to what they had to do to put an end to institutionalized racism. We all owe them a great debt.
I've in the south all my life, there are many people here who are really nice and are ready to move on.
Agreed. And there were some ugly scenes of racism in Boston, and other cities in the North. And that, too, had to be faced and overcome.
After all every area of the country has its share of stupid jerks. I'll bet a southerner could find a few if he ever visited your area.
I live in Texas. For a few years I lived in East Texas. The racism there was likely no less than in the deep south.
The election of a black president is just another step to burying racism. Yes, it did stir up the racists, and cause more hard feelings. So did allowing black people to attend regular schools and to vote. That's how it works.
