[Apollo_Creed]

Just to chime in, I've alwaysd found it rather ignorant to refer to black people as african american.. Is that to say that every single person from africa is black? Or that every black person in america is of african decent? So it would be ludicris to assume perhaps there are other countries from which black people originate? I don't know why, but this has always really bothered me...

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Thanx Jenay and yes you are correct!! I'm BLACK!! I'm not African American because I was born HERE in the US!! I've NEVER seen Africa a day in my life!!

[reniena]

I've never understood racism. My mother's family was mostly native American and my father's family is Irish. This last election, I asked my 8 year old daughter who she would vote for and why. She said she would vote for Obama because he's black. Then came the weird discussion about how you shouldn't vote for someone based on their skin color... I'm happy that it was like that rather than the other way around though. I can't tolerate racism.

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[dlgus]

Thanx Jenay and yes you are correct!! I'm BLACK!! I'm not African American because I was born HERE in the US!! I've NEVER seen Africa a day in my life!!

You know, black people are the only race I've ever seen fight SO hard to distance themselves from their point of origin, and do it with the kind of vehemence and pride with which other nationalities acknowledge their point of origin. You will never hear an Irishman, or an Italian say "I'm not Irish or Italian, I've never even BEEN to those countries"

We as a people have been made to feel SO ashamed of the fact that we come (even if its generations ago) from Africa that we will do anything to negate it.

Now, the fact is that many of us don't know exactly WHERE on the African continent we came from, but think about it--if our ancestors didn't come from Africa, then exactly WHO were all those people being crammed into the hulls of ships like so much cordwood?

I am sure that not EVERY black person is from Africa, but to even ask the question is to get into the whole "how black are you" debate, and having lived through that once or twice, I am quite content to have someone look at me and consider me black or <gasp>African American. I am old enough to have been considered and called far worse as a black person in this country.

[dlgus]

I view people as people and judge them on their actions. As long as individuals perpetuate falsehoods of their self identified group as being better than others, racism, sexism, religiousism, will continue.

As for african americans who voted for Obama simply because of the color of his skin, I think in this instance it actually trancends race. Certainly there are some who given the choice to vote for the a black person over a white person would do so every time and vice-versa. However, it was not until Obama demonstrated that he could get white people to vote for him in winning the Iowa caucus that the black vote began to trend in his direction. Until then Hillary was polling the lions share of the black vote. Thus, I think that seeing that Obama had a legitimate chance to win the Presidency, many african americans viewed this as their first real opertunity to elect a black person as president.

I would also note in Obama circumstance, that he self identifies as being black, since his mother was white. He is truly an african american

Ok, so here's the thing with him "identifying" as Black......in a country that still SEES color (no matter how much we deny it), it would be seen as "wrong"(for lack of a better way to put it)for him to NOT identify as black--anyone looking at the man can see that he is, in skin color anyway, black.

I think that Obama probably learned early in politics to use ALL parts of his various ethnicities to appeal to people. I found it very politcally savvy and sort of amusing when I'd listen to a speech and hear about another part of his genetic makeup....it always let me know who he was trying to pull in that day.

[BBlala]

me n my friends all diff races but most ov us are wogs but all out cultures mix in wit each othaa we pik up each othas languages lern bout theyr beliefs n erythinn && bout the election i dnt think people voted for barack obama jst koz they wna see someone the same race as em in the whitehouse...barack obama won koz he gna do good for americaa ( you think tht wen it comes to the best for a country ppl wuld drop the racial barrier & look at eryone equaly even tho they might hav a diff skin colour )

[syb0rg]

I don't see color of skin, i see character of heart, i see the person beneath the skin. I work in a Auto Parts store that specializes in Import auto parts, I see alot of Germans, Russians, Africans, Asians, Latinos and everyone else. And I've really grown to love alot of their character traits. Everyone is different, God made us that way. PERIOD.

but i will say that i am white - male - in the midwest so i do see alot of the "Dixie pride" and i see alot of the "black panther pride" types of attitude and that is what bothers me. I go into a local grocery store and i see people get neglected because they are white by people who are white. I see people who get neglected because they are black by people that are not black. the cycle is 100% two folds.

But i will say that it's not my turn OR place to judge people for the color of their skin 1) it was given to them by a higher being 2) they didn't choose it for themselves 3) i know i dont want to judge for the color of my skin.

[RainyDayWoman]

Something about this post rubs me the wrong way. With that being said, I think this is a little nieve...

By saying we shouldnt recognize that we come from different races and cultures, you are giving racism power. You are saying that acknowledging race is taboo and whenever something is considered taboo, people use it for their hatred. They get mad at the world and they wanna blame someone and bring them down with them. And because race is such a powerful topic, it seems like a pretty easy target. On the flip side, by making the topic seem like a non-issue, it cant be used in a negative light. Who is going to use something against you that they know doesnt bother you. For example, I'm fat, but no one has ever ever called me fat as a form of insult. Why? Because I've made it clear that being fat is not a negative issue to me. I'm proud. And being proud and open about it has taken the power from the insult. You will never change the way people think. If they hate, they are gonna hate. But we can sure take the power from their words.

You are essentially confirming that it is somehow bad that we are of different races. That we should ignore it and overlook it. But its not bad. It's great. Each race and culture has contributed something to our society through their heritage, or through their experiences and that diversity in us has created quite an eclectic world of people. That's fantastic! I for one would rather send the message that yes, we are different and that different is frickin spectacular.

[RainyDayWoman]

You know, black people are the only race I've ever seen fight SO hard to distance themselves from their point of origin, and do it with the kind of vehemence and pride with which other nationalities acknowledge their point of origin. You will never hear an Irishman, or an Italian say "I'm not Irish or Italian, I've never even BEEN to those countries"

We as a people have been made to feel SO ashamed of the fact that we come (even if its generations ago) from Africa that we will do anything to negate it.

Now, the fact is that many of us don't know exactly WHERE on the African continent we came from, but think about it--if our ancestors didn't come from Africa, then exactly WHO were all those people being crammed into the hulls of ships like so much cordwood?

I am sure that not EVERY black person is from Africa, but to even ask the question is to get into the whole "how black are you" debate, and having lived through that once or twice, I am quite content to have someone look at me and consider me black or <gasp>African American. I am old enough to have been considered and called far worse as a black person in this country.

I'm sorry, but I gotta agree with others. I don't think black people should be referred to as African Americans. Nor do I feel people whose family came from anywhere decades ago should consider themselves from that country. If you were born here, then your nationality is American. Youre heritigage is a different story. The only way you should be "other country"-American is if you were born in another country and then got american citizen ship. My father was born in Canada and is now a citizen here. He is Canadian-American. However, I was born here, and though I have Canadian Heritage, I am simply an American.

And incase anyone forgot, There have been people in this country for years mixing and mingling. Heck, slave owners were constantly making babies with their slaves. So at this point in time, I'm pretty sure any one of us of any color could link back to a bunch of different origins. How do you know that just as many white people as black people arent the decendant of a slave from Africa.

[blue_and_bold]

Something about this post rubs me the wrong way. With that being said, I think this is a little nieve...

Definately naive

[RainyDayWoman]

Definately naive

That too... lol

[Radius]

I just hate everyone equally, I really don't care what color or shape you are. I never met a person I couldn't hold a grudge against or just outright despise.

[username0022]

Definately naive

Definitely

[KillYouWithMyMind]

I just hate everyone equally, I really don't care what color or shape you are. I never met a person I couldn't hold a grudge against or just outright despise.

FULLY agree with that. I don't care what color your skin is, I hate you.

[Mavis Fesselmeyer]

I hate all races.

I always lose.

I'm not fast enough

[12MaNy]

Yep! I hate all human equally too. The more people I meet, the more I wish I wasn't human.

[username0022]

Yep! I hate all human equally too. The more people I meet, the more I wish I wasn't human.

That's A LOT of hate...

[12MaNy]

That's A LOT of hate...

Yeah, but it's not directed at any one culture. It's spread evenly among all you human scum!

[pixel8rberry]

me n my friends all diff races but most ov us are wogs but all out cultures mix in wit each othaa we pik up each othas languages lern bout theyr beliefs n erythinn && bout the election i dnt think people voted for barack obama jst koz they wna see someone the same race as em in the whitehouse...barack obama won koz he gna do good for americaa ( you think tht wen it comes to the best for a country ppl wuld drop the racial barrier & look at eryone equaly even tho they might hav a diff skin colour )

I had to ask a friend to translate this to me. Do you absolutely have to type this way?

Moving on... Do you guys realize that discrimination against people with darker skin exists on a global scale? And its not just against blacks of african origin. In india, darker-skinned individuals are considered to be low on a social ladder. Skin-bleaching cosmetics are a multi-billion dollar industry. In Russia, my birth country, Moscow to be exact, anyone who is not white is discriminated against. Sometimes it is in your face, most of the time behind your back. Basically, anything and everything dark was always considered to be a spawn of the devil. In Europe dark-skinned people are heavily discriminated, except its not as publicized or criminalized as it is here. Basically, you should be glad you are here, because here you have more rights, but in any other country no one will listen to you. Just look at the heavy skinheads activity in Moscow, they are friends of russian orthodox church and are heavily connected within organized crime. The roots of racism might be different here, but the issue is global.

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[Archangel00195]

I had to ask a friend to translate this to me. Do you absolutely have to type this way?

Moving on... Do you guys realize that discrimination against people with darker skin exists on a global scale? And its not just against blacks of african origin. In india, darker-skinned individuals are considered to be low on a social ladder. Skin-bleaching cosmetics are a multi-billion dollar industry. In Russia, my birth country, Moscow to be exact, anyone who is not white is discriminated against. Sometimes it is in your face, most of the time behind your back. Basically, anything and everything dark was always considered to be a spawn of the devil. In Europe dark-skinned people are heavily discriminated, except its not as publicized or criminalized as it is here. Basically, you should be glad you are here, because here you have more rights, but in any other country no one will listen to you. Just look at the heavy skinheads activity in Moscow, they are friends of russian orthodox church and are heavily connected within organized crime. The roots of racism might be different here, but the issue is global.

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This is the USA. It's better to pretend like it doesn't happen here because it's not full blown and kept under the rug. Yeah it's better here than some places...but that doesn't make it ok. Also it's better to call BS when it does so that it seems like it's gone away.

There are two kinds of racism. That that can't be changed and that, that can I acknowldge my friends are white, black, hispanic what ever. I joke with them all the thing. I'll admit...I have racist thoughts at times but I don't let it run my life. That's the kind that can change. But to let it run your life...well..that's something else.

I swore I wouldn't rage over race relations today so I'm done.

P.S if you honestly can't read her post either english isn't your first language or you didn't try.

[pixel8rberry]

P.S if you honestly can't read her post either english isn't your first language or you didn't try.

You're right, english isn't my first language, I had to learn it. I was making a joke of someone who butchers their own language on purpose. But that would be a whole another discussion, so forget it...

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[12MaNy]

You're right, english isn't my first language, I had to learn it. I was making a joke of someone who butchers their own language on purpose. But that would be a whole another discussion, so forget it...

Actually, your post looks like you're trying to pick apart someone's culture. Hmmmm....isn't that one of the ingredients for hate?

[popo7108]

I see only two colors in this world, Blue (worn by my brothers and sisters), and all others. That being said, all others are treated with equal respect, compassion and courtesy, until such time that THEY determine it is time to be treated differently.

[Rapid Dr3am]

I have no none white friends, I have no non white neighbours and can go for days without seeing a non white.

This is just due the part of the world I live in.

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[Branta]

Hijacking and Political thread drift removed.

[Radius]

Can't we all just band together and hate on albino's or something? There's not many of them so they can't really fight back.