I’ve long believed there’s no such thing as racism. Don’t get me wrong. “Race” exists. Culture exists. Ethnicity exists. But, are we focusing so much on racism that we’re forgetting about addressing its causes? I think racism is really just a symptom of something else — not having enough to do, not having enough to [...]
I’ve long believed there’s no such thing as racism.
Don’t get me wrong. “Race” exists. Culture exists. Ethnicity exists.
But, are we focusing so much on racism that we’re forgetting about addressing its causes?
I think racism is really just a symptom of something else — not having enough to do, not having enough to think about, not having big enough ideas, not believing we can have what we want, fearing losing what we’ve already got, not having enough creative passions, seeking escape from our own responsibilities …
In short, we often have no idea about our deeper purpose. Why are we here?
What president-elect Obama offers all of us is the chance to recapture this ground and achieve a higher sense of self.
Not only did we “overcome” racism, but we also found out it doesn’t really exist to the extent that Republicans and Democrats and activists and the news media and a dwindling number of actual racists wanted us to believe all of this time up until now.
When something is around for a long time, many people stand to gain by its continuation or the perception of its continuation, both those against it as well as those for it, in a kind of co-dependency dance.
But no more.
With all due respect, this election wasn’t about merely a “change.” Sorry.
A “change” is when you rearrange the furniture.
But a SHIFT is when you build a new home somewhere else.
After a SHIFT, nothing is ever the same again.
This election was a shift.
(I do understand that “A Shift We Can Believe In” wouldn’t have worked too well!)
In case you haven’t noticed … we have a new home. Look around. Do you like it? Many people feel like they finally have a home for the first time in their lives. That’s the power of a shift.
Racism will never be the same. The co-dependency of racism will never be the same.
Race exists. Culture exists. Ethnicity exists. Diversity exists.
Racism? Does not exist.
Only smallness.
Compassion for smallness means helping our fellow citizens to think bigger.
It means using every moment to help one another make history now.
While that sounds good on paper, I have a hard time making the broad statement that racism does not exist.
Sure we’ve grown and people have seen beyond race in many aspects of their lives. Sure, the lines of racism, the teams if you will, and its battlefields have been blurred, much like race and culture in the country today. However, racism does exist. I agree that racism is smallness and fueled primarily by ignorance, meaning that some people simple don’t know enough to make an informed opinion about another person or group of persons. We saw racism (ignorance and smallness) in the Palin crowds, we’ve seen it here in Louisiana, just this week, as the KKK attempts to resurge.
http://ap.google.com/article
/ALeqM5gTN4X0wjHOqwUq80wkQpbe8qVXlgD94DKU880
It is wonderful that we have come to a point that a cross-section of people have put the First Black President in office, but let’s not fool ourselves into believing that “We have overcome”. We still have many battles ahead of us.
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Claude, indulge me for one last comment. While I understand your point, I must add the following comment:
Racism is like a Cancer. Sometimes it’s terminal, there is not cure and must simply die a painful death. That terminal cancer present, but is aging in America and slowly dying a natural death. It is the death of ignorance, but like cancer it can metastasize, or spread to other parts of the body, if we are not aware that it’s there and treat it accordingly. If we deny its existence, then we or our children may be naive casualties of this potentially fatal disease. However, if we acknowledge it and address the causes, treat it accordingly, through hope, education and appeal to the greater nature that is in all of us, then, yes, we can make this world a better place. Obama’s campaign appealed to this possibility and to that nature, “the audacity to hope”.
The importance of our regard for racism was never made more evident then by the shock expressed by younger daughter, with the racial prejudices that were suddenly, openly expressed by her white peers and counterparts. Until, now, she never understood the concept of racism because it’s, like Jazz, “if you can’t feel it, then my words can’t explain it”, and likewise, I have been unable to teach her. While she is not fearful or intimidated by the racism expressed, she now has a heightened awareness, respect, and appreciation for the fact that it still exist in her world. That lesson coming out of this election is invaluable, because it has been so well camouflaged, that it is very easy for us to forget.
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Interesting point, I think one could say hate does exist, just substitute hate for race. I read some articles here in the Northwest leading up to the election. One guy said he had a “problem with black people” and won’t be voting for Obama. Now substitute race with hate, or stupidity, or close mindness, we probably have the same thing. It might be just semantics, I’m not sure. I do think racism definitely exists, and it’s cloaked in hate and ignorance.
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Claude..I agree with you totally. Racism, when it does exist, pits bad selfish self serving people to impose damage in many forms to those they try to control without taking a good look at what equality really means. Look….this paradigm started when the first cave man conked his brother on the head with a dinosaur bone. ……tosh
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Why narrow it to racism when ageism and sexism were also evident in the election and remain evident in our society. McCain, at 70 (his age when accepting the presidential nomination), was the oldest presidential condidate. The blantant remarks about his ‘old’ age were rampant throughout the long campaign. Palin, although she suffered from a myriad of personal attacks, was on the receiving end of gender discrimination. On Long Island this week, seven white high school seniors prowling the streets of Patchoque were on a mission to kill a Hispanic/Latino person. Unfortunately they were successful (http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=145848).
The title of your post, No Such Thing as Racism is hard to digest when crimes like the above are happening every day throughout our great country. Groups like the KKK and neo-natzi skinheads are still proselytizing and pamphleteering to our youth. The question is whether or not this is racism or, as you claim, smallness. The haves vs. the have-nots. Those who fall into the ‘have-not’ category have to pin the blame on others. Of course, it isn’t their fault. Of course it isn’t their lack of drive or amibition or inner strength that keeps them down. It is the African Americans who are being given ‘their’ jobs and ‘their’ spots in universities through affirmative action, it is the Jews who have financial control of industries, it is the immigrants who are taking jobs from from them for less pay. The list is of excuses is endless. So, maybe it isn’t racism after all. Maybe racism, as a term, is an excuse for inability, ineptitude, ignorance, and smallness.
As always, Claude, thanks for your post and making many of us do a little soul searching.
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Hello Claude,
Unfortunately, I think racism still exists even if people are thinking with open broad minds. And yes it is hard to believe that we have broad mindedness if we can allow ourselves to fall into racist symptoms.
Why did you bring it up in the first place if you don’t think it exsists?
I don’t think you are right about Obama either. I don’t think he is going to “SHIFT” much. I have heard him talk about his education plan and alot more…same ole same ole. There will be some shifts here and there but mostly, nothing controversial….I hope I am wrong and Obama surprises me!
John Finn
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Claude,
The title “No Such Thing As Racism” is an unfortunate one. While it is very important to determne what the root causes of racsim (or any other -ism) are, it is a leap to deny racsim exists. I agree with you that too often people focus on racism, that ironically is an all too misunderstood result of racism itself.
The Obama election will issue in a new order that will focus less on racism. We saw it with Hillary. The media is no longer focused on her hair. Caveat – sexism raised its ugly head again in so many ways with Palin, who was clearly unqualified for national office.
I digress. Thanks for your thought-provoking article.
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Lets all not get so comfortable. We still need to focus and take care of our business, personal responsiblity. And never forget , you cannot trust white people.
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As a white.working class man who was born in the 60′s in England, I think there’s a decent argument that racism doesn’t exist…for which I am taking the appropriate defender-as-a-victim-of-an-offensive-foul stance.
All my take from here is; I grew up in a world where immigrants have always been part of our literal daily life. We lived in poor areas, they were poor, that’s where they ended up. For me, it is what makes our little country healthy – basically, the middle classes playing ‘not in our back yard’ and letting us get on with it – but I also learnt that it created a sensible dose of prejudice. Essentially, everybody was, and still is, just that little bit suspicious of each other. OK, some nasty shit sprang from that but essentially, we circled each other, did our little raised feather war dances, then just got on.
Ain’t saying its perfect, but it kind of works for us.
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Hey John, thanks and you are right and we agree on that. I say don’t worry so much about the details, just as we wouldn’t jump for joy just because Bush appointed a black Secretary of State. It’s the underlying premise, the root, the intention, the direction … that matter most. Sit back and allow. :-)
Meanwhile, Anthony …
“And never forget , you cannot trust white people.”
I’m going to assume you aren’t joking and take you seriously … but then, I couldn’t disagree more. That view will do nothing but limit your own self. Realize that if you have or do something you love, and you are true to it and to yourself, then the more true you are to yourself in that the more you will be able to trust yourself, and then the more you will recognize truth when you see it, and the more you will be able to trust others. Trust and truth are colorblind. Start by finding something you love to do. Start with that.
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Yes Claude,
You and I see Eye to eye about comming from enlightenment. I think that is where Obama is comming from.
It is the people around him and abroad. They are still thinking small. He is ushering in alot of Clinton administration people and that means more of the same: big gov’t.
THere is alot more to it… I am just to pressed for time to write.
Bottom line is I am cancerned that the enlightened way of Obama will start getting overshadowed by bailouts and tax hikes and basic physical world stuff versus metaphysical where you and I are comming from.
That is why it is imperative that we help Obama in this “Higher” cause because you and I see it!
John
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Sharon, I usually refrain from commenting on others statements, but I have major issues with several of your statements that seem to propagate the very same small thinking that Claude describes as the source of racism.
It is true that a small percentage of people want to control the masses. As a result we do have distinction between, “The haves vs. the have-nots.”
Your statement however, “Those who fall into the ‘have-not’ category have to PIN THE BLAME ON OTHERS” Are you kidding me?
Your conclusion or suggestion that the reason they have not ” isn’t racism after all”, but “is an excuse for inability, ineptitude, ignorance, and smallness”.
You can’t be serious!
While there are certainly those that do not try to overcome the circumstances of their birth, education- level, income level, should they be part of the have-nots, there are countless stories of those that have achieved the education, have done the same as their white counterparts, and still have do not achieve the same level of success as their white peers. The playing field is not level and just as women do not receive equal pay for equal work, the same is true for persons of color in equal positions.
This venue is inappropriate to attempt to “school” you on the inequalities of opportunity that exist on all education and income levels among people of color, black, brown, yellow, and various religions. Case and point, the issue of Obama being a Muslim. So what if he was. It implied a bias due to his religion even in a country “founded” on the principles of freedom of religion.
Your statement, “racism is an excuse for inability, etc” is the Great American cop out, this is the small thinking designed to justify the prejudice and biases. This kind of small thinking only serves to camouflage racism.
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Wow…look what I miss when I don’t check the blog. Seems to me Claude you touched a nerve.
In order to discuss this issue, one has to define “racism.” If we’re talking the Jim Crow laws, then no racism does not exist….if we’re talking the day to day grind of being a minority…then yes it still does. Racism is still about power, control, access to resources…etc. Even though we were all witness to a historical event, it will not immediately erase the effects of racism or discrimination. What it has done is given us a vehicle to talk about it (which is exactly what you have managed to do w/ this particular blog) that hopefully enlightens us to the polarizing effects of this topic.
You want to know how racism still exists…take a moment to think about the expectations of African Americans (basically, what does it mean to be black?) I’m fairly confident that there will be some consistency in those expectations, even if you asked different ethnicities. Next, do the same thing w/ white folks…not only will that list look different, but I’m fairly sure you won’t find an accepted definition of what it means to be “white.” It’s in those different expectations that racism is alive and well.
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Hey Roy, thanks for chiming in and welcome back!
What I’m suggesting is that whenever we see that “thing” we call racism, what we’re really seeing is not actually racism but rather smallness of thinking, lack of ideas, fear, etc. I’m not saying that the “thing” doesn’t exist. I’m just suggesting it’s not what we think it is.
Differences in expectations have nothing to do with skin color other than statistically. In other words, if you take any group of people of whatever skin color, separate them from their family and land and culture and birthplace, export them to a strange place, enslave them, selectively murder them, fight a civil war over them, free them, discriminate against them, persecute and terrorize and oppress them, selectively murder them again, enact laws against them, dehumanize them … then do the same thing to all of their offspring and descendants for 400 years … then compare them to some other group of people of whatever other color that didn’t go through that … then, YES, they will have different expectations. But I think we would agree that those differences won’t be inherently due to skin color. Otherwise we would be agreeing that one people genetically really ARE inferior or superior to another. I’m not a scientist but I think they always concern themselves with having a control experiment, which is obviously impossible but we need not have one to understand the point, in this case.
So if we focus on racism then we validate it as having a basis in truth. I say it’s not true that there is anything other than a superficial (and experiential) difference between peoples of different colors. In other words, there is very little difference between any two humans other than some superficial aspects. What makes humans so vastly different from one another is our non-physical attributes: dreams, ideas, thoughts, memories, energy, passion, spirit, emotions, purpose, intention, etc.
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Being a Christian, I’d say there’s no such thing as racism…or lust, or murder even, ha. They are symptoms of our ultimate brokenness, but they do not exist as independent entities as often as we think they do. We all know people who have quit one bad habit, only immediately to take on another one. So maybe some white people realize they can’t be racist against black people any more…they then shift to discriminating against another race, or making fun of the disabled, or fat people, etc. I think, quite honestly, we’re seeing some of that in our society with the rise in anger towards certain groups.
When minorities see racism as an entity rather than a general symptom of the evil in man’s heart that must be overcome, I think it discourages them and holds them down. When I’m among people of my culture and faith, I may not get mocked for my culture or faith anymore…but I’ll get mocked for my looks or social habits instead, ha. Does that make sense? People who hate will always find something to object to, even if some of the more blatant racism has gone underground now.
Finally, let’s not forget the roots of racism. One is environment, of course–kids raised by racists tend to become racists. But let’s not forget the impact of experiences in your youth and who you’re competing with. For example, growing up the black kids tended to have different skills than me, so we got along well. There was nothing to fight over. But a certain ethnic group that will remain unnamed was always competing with me…and, you guessed it, that was where I struggled with racism. That also explains some of the backlash against new immigrant groups–it’s a competition thing too, don’t forget.
Hmm, each paragraph is becoming more unintelligible, so I cease and desist, ha.
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it is what it is what people of the world have in there minds and hearts will change, our children will help to change the thought process for this problem , god bless our new president elect who has change my thought process of our country-claude thanks for making us keep on keeping on..
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Sharon,
Thanks for the clarification on your statement. The interpretation changes dramatically depending on the use of the phrase, ‘have-not’.
“Those who fall into the ‘have-not’ category have to pin the blame on others. Of course, it isn’t their fault. Of course it isn’t their lack of drive or amibition or inner strength that keeps them down.”
More often than not, the ‘have-nots’ are those discriminated against and have not because they are not the class of privilege. Although those distinctions are not nearly as concrete today.
So, indeed I misread your statement, for I was certain that you would have to had misspoke to make that statement under the context in which it was read.
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Hello good people! Claude, I love to see you posting topics that strike up meaningful conversation. The critical thought process has become quite the lost art.
I understand your point and it is indeed a good one. Some of these social constructs must be dismantled to promote change…or shifts. At times, we become so comfortable with these socially engrained ideas that we can’t begin to fathom a world (or a country) that believes otherwise. We all know some people that thrive in controversy or drama. Well, there are those that are comfortable with the idea of racism and race to the point that they would be lost if they did not have that crutch. It becomes an issue where some refuse to look in the mirror and take on responsiblity…the nihilism is almost paralyzing. With Obama in office and the ascendance of minorities in our culture, not just blacks, people have to take some, better yet all, of the responsibility for the direction of their lives. Bypass the small thinking and ideed make history (I got that from this blog I read).
Now, I’ll have to respectfully disagree with you on your point that racism does not exist. I take a little different stance. I believe that race does not exist. Race is the FALSE link between phenotype and behavioral characteristics. In other words, what you look like determines how you act. Obviously that is nonsense, ignorance, small thinking, whatever you want to call it. Racism is the action that takes place based on race. Be it prejudice, exclusionary acts, cross burning or whatever may be.
I don’t think Obama is going to make a big dent in these ideologies because it is so engrained in our society but his mere presence sets the landscape for a shift in our mindsets; black people and otherwise. Believe, grow and achieve!
Thanks for the thought provoking subject matter. Much love!
O’Real
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Claude,
I once had a graduate school professor say to our class, (about racism) “Is it possible to have a ractional discussion about an irractional sibject?” She also challenged us to find a society in the world where the “darkest skinned woman is not the most oppressed person in that society.” These are two statements that have stayed with me since 1990. To me they are points to make in terms of your question about race. A cautionary note, as a historian please make sure you get your facts correct about the cause of African enslavement. 13 million Africans wre not warring against each other or alredy held in bondage. The notion that slavery is slavery is a unjust analogy that has releived the western world of its responsibility for the holocasut inflicted on Africa.
In my opinion, what Obama represents is a shift in the impact of White world supremacy that has conditioned the minds of the world for 400 years. It has casued the truth to be hidden and misrepresented in order to maintain control. It has eroded humanity for the sake of classist riches. We are now at the treshold of changing the conditioning of the world’s mind’s but Obama is just a start, not the end, nor the solution.
I deal with race everyday in my career. The very fact that some people are afraid to abmit that racism contiunes to make people comfortable. If you are an Americasn you have racist thoughts and sometimes actions. I admitted this to myself a long timeago and have been working to instill an innate since of humanity and world unity that is as naturally to my being that breathing or blinking an eye is.
The dynamics of race and racism are deep into our subconscious and penetrate every aspect of society. It is true that some parts of it are eroding. But Obama offers us (America) a chance to take another step towards eradicating this evil from our lives. He is the emobodiment of a racis free society.
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[...] « My View: No Such Thing As Racism 18 11 2008 [...]
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Marcia, this isn’t an attempt to “fool ourselves into believing we have overcome.” The thing we need to overcome most, is smallness. That’s why the Obama campaign was all about reintroducing idealism. And why his campaign didn’t focus on “ending racism” but rather on ending smallness (in a manner of speaking). There is indeed much we need to overcome, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that racism is anything but a symptom. If we do, then all we’re doing is reinforcing something we don’t want.
I understand the definition of racism, but just as blowing one’s nose doesn’t end a cold, fighting racism doesn’t will never end it because it as only a symptom. I agree that all bigotry is symptomatic. Wherever you find racism, you find people who fear, people who think small.
Our mission is to shift beyond that. Using the cold analogy, after so much nose-blowing we begin to ask ourselves after a while, why are we catching colds? Then we address the real issues.
Notice that that’s precisely what the Obama campaign did.
On the flip side, there are many people who are stuck in a certain comfort zone with racism, and would rather just focus on spending all their time talking about fighting it, and pointing out examples of how much racism there is, because they are afraid of facing the bigger and more enlightened challenges that cause racism in the first place.
What I’m suggesting too is that it’s not enough to say, merely, “racism exists big time.” In a certain way, with all due respect, that’s a 20th century position.
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Hey Marcia, thanks for your comment. The title of my post is meant not so much as a denial of its existence but rather as a denial of its existence as a primary problem. I guess I want us to not be so distracted with racism that we forget about the causes of it.
It’s going to take amazing vision and perception to do that, of the kind demonstrated already by Senator Barack Obama, but as equally demonstrated in most cases very consciously by the people that voted for him.
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Yo say there is no such thing as racism and then you state that it is a sympton. That is a bit confusing to me. If it does not exist, how can it be a sympton. A sympton does exist. Are you telling me that slavery in America was not based on race, that all the slaves just happened to have been Black?Are you telling me that Amaerica did not have a sgregated military during WWII? are you telling me that when the NBA began it did not stand for No Black Allowed? Are you telling me that when Jackie Robinson went into the white leagues that race was not a factor? Are you telling me that the laws that existed to keep Blacks from marrying whites never existed in America.? No such thing as racism? After 71 years of living as a Black man in America, you are now telling me that their is no such thing as racism? I wish you had convinced white Americans of that three hundred years ago. You would have save a lot of pain suffered by us Black folk. Louis A. DeFretias, Sr.
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“Are you telling me that slavery in America was not based on race, that all the slaves just happened to have been Black?”
Yes, I am. Because many of those slaves were available only because they were already enslaved by fellow Africans. Slavery is ancient, and existed among all peoples regardless of color.
What happened post-Slavery in this country was a question of control. Jim Crow was instituted to control power and wealth. The bias you listed was for that reason. Obviously blacks were kept out of baseball not because they weren’t good enough but because whites would lose jobs. The argument was made that it was about intelligence, etc. but we’ve always known that wasn’t it.
The title of this post is meant to take our focus off of racism and begin focusing on its causes.
Americans, even our founding fathers, have always known that in reality there was and is no difference between us other than a few aspects that are superficial compared to the number of similarities. But for economic power reasons, it always made sense for those in power to restrict as many people as possible and color of skin was an easy target and justification that many people over time just bought into.
But surely you don’t believe those theories!
“I wish you had convinced white Americans of that three hundred years ago. You would have save a lot of pain suffered by us Black folk.”
They were already convinced. They knew it was bogus. But they simply just chose to push their own power agendas. Think about it. With all due respect. We can’t buy into 300 year old thinking. Right?
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That’s right Sharon. Thank you. I’m saying we cannot accept that it’s racism if there’s no true basis for racism.
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Hey John, the shift has already happened. Talk to people and you’ll see. But it’s not only because he’s black. It’s because he’s appealing to something different then ever before. It’s not even about Obama. It’s about where humanity wants to go anyway, toward a more enlightened way. As I mentioned above, we cannot accept that it’s racism if there’s no true basis for racism.
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Anthony, it is statements like yours that are the root cause of hatred and where the term ‘racism’ comes from. I guess as a white person my response should be, ‘and never forget, you cannot trust black people.’ Thank goodness I don’t clump all black people together into one box and label ‘them’. I have friends, black and white, who I trust unconditionally. Trust is earned. Your statement proves Claude right that racism is nothing but small mindedness.
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Claude…I do believe what you are saying, up to a point. Racism isn’t just about skin color, it’s about power…who has it and who doesn’t. And how those w/ power generally don’t know they have it. The debate has gone back and forth around the benefits of being white. Taking this back to sports, recently there have been articles about the lack of African-American coaches in college football, that is racism. Any time broadcasters describe a white player as “intelligent” and an black player “athletic” that is racism. It reinforces a belief system begun 400 years ago. It is small minded, but is still there. I do believe we are heading towards a difference…but it will take considerable energy to erase the effects of 400 plus years of unequal access to resources.
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Marcia, thanks for your reply to my post. It is apparent we disagree and both of us can ‘school’ the other. We can pick apart one another’s posts and the phrases we choose to use. What I believe Claude attempted to get us to comment on in this blog entitled No Such Thing as Racism is whether or not racisim is a cop out for something else that underscores it. Do people dislike blacks, browns, women, Muslims because they are black, brown, women, Muslim or is there a deeper seated reason why people develop hate? You claim my view is the Great American cop out, but maybe it’s not.
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Do people dislike blacks, browns, women, Muslims because they are black, brown, women, Muslim or is there a deeper seated reason why people develop hate
Some do. However, racism is a learned behavior based out of lack of knowledge.
I submit that for some racism is an excuse, but that does not mean that it is not a real experience for many.
In fact, it’s ludicrious to say that racism does not exist. The question was improperly posed in the first place. It exist. The question is why it exist and how are you, me and anyone else going to choose to deal with it. I experience racism, bias, prejudice in my life as a black professional on a regular basis. However, it has never been the excuse for not succeeding. On the contrary, it has been the challenge that I gladly accept for achieving and achieving at a level that is beyond repute. It what I was taught as a child, not to use it as an excuse, and it is what I have taught my children. Some people are biased, and so what. The sky is blue and the winter is cold. The question is what are you gonna do. Suck your thumb or deal with it. Racism today is much more subtle (most times) that’s why people were shocked to see it so freely exhibited at the Palin rallies.
Until you live it.. black in America. I’m not sure you can truly understand it. Heck, my own children have had been enlightened by the extent of racism shown during this election. So there experience has now become real to them. I’m sure that I don’t understand racism to the degree that my parents and grandparents did because I can’t walk in their shoes.
Back to the question at hand. Does racism exist simply because of the color of the skin. Of course not. However, it is the one thing that stands out and can be used as a tool to discriminate and to control. That’s why blacks were taught to hate even amongst themselves. The house N***ers and the Field N***ers. In New Orleans, the 7th Ward, French Quarter mistresses/ families, true Creoles, separated themselves and didn’t marry people outside of their class. (You may have heard of the The brown paper bag test). I could go on and on. My challenge with your statement was that it is so often used to say that black lack the ability to achieve. That blacks would not be at the Ivy Leaque schools etc. if it weren’t for quotas. Those statements suggest that persons like myself aren’t really qualified to get a PhD. we must be a “special case”. Last story/situation: I’ll never forget when my older brother went to Duke (Biomedical Engineer/ Electrical Engineering in 1975). When people heard Duke University, the first assumption was that he played basketball. They never even asked him what his major was. They nothing more than that he was black and at Duke University. To them that meant either he was a “special case” or he was an athlete. That my dear is racism based on the color of one’s skin. A two minute conversation with my brother would tell anyone that he was just as qualified as any white candidate. Again… I could go on and on.
I’ll just assume that perhaps you misspoke.
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Let me close with this:
That my comments aren’t person. And I have nothing left to say, although I have no problem with anything you may like to add to the dialog. I salute your thoughts and I leave further discussion to others.
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Please don’t assume that I misspoke. Oh, and thank you kindly for having no problem with anything I may like to add to the dialog. Quite gracious of you. “My dear” is an inappropriate way to refer to me when writing or speaking. It is condescending, as was the tone of your post. My statement was NOT, “your statement was that it is so often used to say that black lack the ability to achieve.” I do not believe that and never have. You read my post and read into it what you wanted and got rather hot under the collar. I said that affirmative action is used as an excuse by OTHERS, not by blacks. I did not state that blacks would not be in the Ivy League schools if not for quotas – that was your statement and it did not come from any of my postings. It is apparent you misread my original post.
I do agree that hatred/racism is often (not always) a learned behavior based on, as I stated in my original post, ignorance and smallness – as you state, ‘lack of knowledge.’ We agree on this score and I believe we agree on other points as well, if you had not misread my posts. Although I will not be as blunt as to state, “I have nothing left to say,” I do believe our verbal sparring of ideas was thought provoking and has run its course.
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Marcia, I am glad we are both on the same page. I have been reading Claude’s blog for a while and this is the first time I jumped in and submitted a post. It was disconcerting to think that my first post appeared argumentative.
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