Racism against black people, still significant, or not significant anymore?

[CreekDog]

Read the questions and please select the one that is closer to your opinion.

19 votes, 3 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Racism against black people IS NOT significant and they DO NOT experience different treatment by police, government, employers and have the same income/wealth as whites with similar levels of education/skills
	0 (0%)
	Racism against black people is still significant and they DO experience different treatment by police, government, employers and DON'T have the same income/wealth as whites with similar levels of education/skills
	19 (100%)
	3 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[HipChick]

1. If you have to ask...

[CreekDog]

4. I shouldn't have to ask, but this is a reminder to a handful of people here that racism is with us

racism specifically against black people.

[MrScorpio]

2. Isn't it all just a matter of perspective, though?

Trust me, those that don't want to see the truth, won't.

[Skidmore]

3. The reason I won't respond on your poll is a simple one.

Racism exists. Period. It has never gone away. And it not only directed toward black people but all peoples of color. This is why it is important to enlist as many people of all races into the fight against it. Right now big money has found that it is beneficial to them to allow it to bubble to the surface and to countenance its expression in our public institutions. This is what all of us need to be fighting, regardless of our race or gender. When one of us falls, we all are in danger of falling. The most basic right we have is to exist regardless of the color of our skin. I am. You are. We are. As long as we all stand for ourselves and for each other, the nation and the world stand a chance.

[CreekDog]

5. I agree 100% that racism exists, period. The reason for the wording is:

1) more than a handful here are arguing that there wasn't racism against Trayvon Martin because Zimmerman has mixed ancestry and/or is Hispanic. i disagree that this precludes racism, so i wanted to confront the issue of whether black people are victims of racism still, period. can someone agree or not agree with that simple fact? we'll see.

2) some of the more odious posters are arguing or think that racism exists, that racism's effects on white people are just as bad as they are for people of color. yes, on DU.

[handmade34]

6. uh, is this a trick question??

I could go on and on...

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5401a1.htm
http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/27/news/economy/wealth-whites-blacks/index.html
http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet
http://thoughtcatalog.com/2013/a-definitive-guide-to-white-privilege/
http://grist.org/cities/climate-change-is-making-private-heat-islands-for-people-of-color/


a real problem...

[CreekDog]

7. No, absolutely not a trick question. It is straightforward and intended to be.

Also, I voted in the poll myself to show that there is nothing tricky about it.

[handmade34]

8. tongue-in-cheek

sorry... I guess it is naive to think that everyone on DU is enlightened, or even somewhat aware... though... Wow... I can't even imagine how anyone could even think racism is a non-issue

[Robb]

9. White folks' breathless predictions of post-verdict idiotic behavior on the part of black people

...should answer the question for you.

But no, they're not racist. They're just asking a question.

[CreekDog]

15. oh yes, *that* one

did you notice the poster named after the gun told me that he was more liberal than me?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1172&pid=128515

Eleanors38 (4,113 posts) Response to CreekDog (Reply #41)

72. Again, I think I am more liberal than you.

[Robb]

16. But not racist. No, sir.

I'm however heartened this was hidden 6-0: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1172&pid=127580

[CreekDog]

17. the only discrimination that one cares about is one that harms a gun's right to exist anywhere

then there's this, from your thread, from another poster:

gejohnston (13,197 posts)
42. The FBI found no evidence of racism last year

"fucking punk" is not racist, since he was not sure of the race. and unlike most of DU I actually watched the trial and read writings of real lawyers instead of pundits. So, not valid point. I actually do read the rest of DU. I just don't happen to post often.
I saw everything the jury saw. I actually saw more than the jury, nice thing about live streaming and self employment office.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1172&pid=128451

[CreekDog]

33. he's doubling-down that Chicago gun laws are based on Jim Crow :facepalm:

and getting quite arrogant when asked for proof of such a bold and inflammatory assertion:

Eleanors38 (4,121 posts)

75. There is Ample evidence of Chicago's gun

Laws being based on Southern racist laws. I do not support these laws, and I hope to see ALL of them overturned. Clearly, some here disagree with that.

I know I am more liberal than you. A lot more. Now, please quit the disrespectful chanting.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1172&pid=128539

[MADem]

68. Well, there was some idiotic behavior, but wasn't it by those 'black bloc' punks that

managed to disrupt all the "Occupy" kum-bay-yah demos? From what I saw of those guys, they looked pretty white to me. They did have black hoodies, though! No guns!

And there WAS a reported theft of a few bicycles from Walmart....perhaps it's time to send in the militia????

[Apophis]

10. I'm a black man stuck in a small town for the summer.

Anyone who tries telling me racism is dead will be (metaphorically) backhanded.

[DCBob]

11. It more subtle now... but is still there for sure.

[NightWatcher]

12. I love when white people tell black people that racism is in the past

I'm not pointing fingers at anyone here. I just think its funny when people of privilege say that everything is equal.

[JustAnotherGen]

13. Me too nightwatcher me too

Then they tell us to 'move on', get over it, and they had a black or Thai or Brazilian friend - once.

[NightWatcher]

18. "I have a black friend" or "I'm not racist but"

Both of those statements mean the speaker is about to spew some racist shit.

If you refer to your friend as your black friend, guess what you're racist.

[FloridaJudy]

28. I often wonder

What sort of black person wants to hang out with bigots? When these folks claim "I have a black friend...", I fantasize that it's the same Black Guy. They hire him for show at parties.

[NightWatcher]

30. Half the time the "friend" is some guy down the street

or a kid who sat next to them in middle school a hundred years ago. It's probably not an actual friend that they hang out with or speak to.

[LisaLynne]

24. Yeah, isn't that just the most helpful thing ever? nt

[kestrel91316]

14. It's much less institutionalized and much more personal and individual. But it is

still very real.

[MrScorpio]

19. Everyone say "Hi" to our member of DU, "Bolinder"

Welcome!

Tell us all about yourself!

[bunnies]

21. "Tell us all about yourself"

I think he/she already did.

[LeftyMom]

25. Fun fact: Bolinder has 0 posts and has served on 1 jury.

[MrScorpio]

26. He likes sunsets and long walks in the park

And he's looking for the girl next door.

[LeftyMom]

27. Seriously though, that explains a lot if zero post lurkers can get on juries.

[MrScorpio]

29. I never knew that they could until just now

We DO learn something new every day

[Dr. Strange]

31. I know that jury!

She was juror B37.

[Gormy Cuss]

34. ...

Beat me too it, damn you.

[Dr. Strange]

37. Gotta get up early in the morning to be faster than me!

Or something.

[CreekDog]

39. !

[Starry Messenger]

20. Any casual glance at the rates of unemployment, low wages and poverty in the US

should tell anyone that this is a deeply racist society. http://www.nwlc.org/resource/fair-pay-women-requires-increasing-minimum-wage-and-tipped-minimum-wage

"Women of color are disproportionately represented among female minimum wage workers. Black women were just under 13 percent and Hispanic women were just under 14 percent of all employed women in 2012,[3] but more than 15 percent of women who made minimum wage were black and more than 18 percent were Hispanic.[4]"

http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/

"The poverty rate for all persons masks considerable variation between racial/ethnic subgroups. Poverty rates for blacks and Hispanics greatly exceed the national average. In 2010, 27.4 percent of blacks and 26.6 percent of Hispanics were poor, compared to 9.9 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 12.1 percent of Asians.

Poverty rates are highest for families headed by single women, particularly if they are black or Hispanic. In 2010, 31.6 percent of households headed by single women were poor, while 15.8 percent of households headed by single men and 6.2 percent of married-couple households lived in poverty."

That's why calling race and gender issues mere "wedge" issues gets on my nerve.

[hrmjustin]

22. I find it interesting someone voted that it is not significant.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=302330

[CreekDog]

44. looks like they don't have the guts to stick with that vote

they removed it.

[hrmjustin]

45. Most likely a cave or a freeper troll just using the username to see more than the lurkers can see.

[CreekDog]

46. voted on a jury

but i'm sure they voted in the best interests of the DU community.

[hrmjustin]

47. WOW! Not even one post and this poster has been on a jury. I did not even see that.

Mirt can't do anything until he/she posts something.

[hrmjustin]

49. Should this be mentioned to Skinner?

[hrmjustin]

51. I will mention it in ATA.

[hrmjustin]

53. Ok I will link to my first response here in this link.

[hrmjustin]

56. It is done.

[CreekDog]

57. Hope for the best

[BainsBane]

63. Or the person who called me racist

for daring to comment on racism.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1172&pid=128580

[anomiep]

23. This is an interesting question

Where I grew up, I don't think it was an issue, at least not in my perception at the time. It's entirely possible that's just a case of, I never held a racist attitude, but I was naive enough to not notice it in others. It's entirely possible that it was never actually a real issue where I grew up, at least not at the time I grew up there. I'm uncertain about that now.

I now live somewhere else, and one of the guys I know locally has been stopped and had his car searched because the cop "smelled marijuana". He doesn't smoke marijuana, but he is black.

Another black guy I know told me that he gets stopped constantly - he's always asked what he's doing around there ... and he lives in that neighborhood.

*Nobody* should have to deal with crap like that, and I think that some specific locales are better than others as far as how much of an issue racism is.

It shouldn't be an issue anywhere, but that's not reality.

[burnodo]

32. Kind of a meaningless poll

Anyone paying attention knows that blacks are not treated or viewed as equals in this country.

[CreekDog]

35. i don't think it's meaningless to tell the trolls that their games don't mean sh*t to us

no matter how hard they try.

and for that matter, almost none of them have voted in the poll even though it is a very simple thing to agree with.

[uppityperson]

36. I noticed

one who voted "no". Profile, fwiw. Interesting, eh?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=302330

[CreekDog]

38. yup, also they recommended this post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023268793

[Dr. Strange]

41. Transparency...

[CreekDog]

42. well, they now removed their vote from this poll and removed their recommendation from the hidden OP

see:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=302330

[Dr. Strange]

43. Too late. People saw.

Transparency wins the day.

[hrmjustin]

40. Yes I noticed that as well.

[CreekDog]

67. 2 of the "can't decide" are worth nothing

H. Crowell has 13 posts in 6 years here.

cgrrguyto has 5 posts in 8 years here.

[madokie]

48. No doubt in my mind

and its fucking high time that this shit stop. The color of ones skin has nothing to do with the kind of person that person is. Oh yeah, sure, by being treated like shit does have an effect on some and that is the cause, not who they are. I'd be one bad ass mo'fo' if I was on the blacks side of the fence. You can bet on that. I dont hold anything a black person might do against them because of the racism they experience day in and day out. For way too fucking long now. Its time we whites get over ourselves and quit being dicks. IMHO

[HipChick]

54. For the most part, black and white people may only meet socially at work

and that's in larger urban metro areas, otherwise they live culturally apart..

There is racism on both sides, but racism on black far outweighs anything else..

[TheKentuckian]

55. What indicates that it isn't significant?

The question seems like a "no...duh" to me and I feel pretty strongly that economic disenfranchisement and poverty are the greater issue.

This is a country with Jim Crow in easy living memory, millions of black folks in prison, and more poverty than you can shake a stick at.

[CreekDog]

58. it is a "no duh" to most here

though there is a contingent of trolls that don't think so, and even a contingent of regular members (small thankfully) who think that "reverse racism" is the bigger problem.

to them, a poll like this is a way for this community to tell them that we recognize racism as a significant problem and none of their efforts to the contrary are making any difference.

[oberliner]

59. What is the purpose of the survey?

Everyone is voting for the same option.

Seems sort of fruitless.

[CreekDog]

60. you don't think it's useful for DU to state unequivocally that racism remains a problem?

especially when we are being trolled hard by a handful who say it isn't?

[oberliner]

61. Trolls will be trolls

I think it is clear from the vast majority of posts about the verdict where the vast majority of DUers stand.

I just thought it was weird to do a survey that isn't really a survey. I think of surveys more as having multiple options with various people voting for each of the choices.

But that is just my opinion - I was just wondering.

[BainsBane]

62. Someone in the gungeon called me racist for observing that

African Americans don't enjoy a presumption of innocence in the judicial system. Apparently observing and commenting on racism is unfair to white people.

[CreekDog]

64. gejohnston?

or the banned "excop" troll?

probably the list to choose from in that group is too large, but

[BainsBane]

66. No

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1172&pid=128580

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1172&pid=128544

[Lizzie Poppet]

65. Still significant, of course...but there HAS been progress.

One peek in the window of the Oval Office should make that clear.