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[TroglodyteScholar]

This message was self-deleted by its author (TroglodyteScholar) on Tue May 13, 2014, 10:56 PM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[PeteSelman]

1. I just trash all those dopey threads.

And go about my business. It's not worth arguing over.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

4. Same here

Let them have fun in their echo chamber.

[840high]

78. .....

[Spider Jerusalem]

2. This is not what's being said

what's being said is "there's no such thing as white privilege", "white privilege doesn't exist because some white people are poor", and much else of a similar nature. I have yet to actually see anyone saying "white people can't discuss racism".

[Capt. Obvious]

6. Hey

Once there are no more poor white people we can deal with this issue.

[TroglodyteScholar]

9. Have you ever posted something that didn't end with a sarcasm tag?

Have you ever not made wicked assumptions about someone you don't know?

[Capt. Obvious]

10. Trick question

[TroglodyteScholar]

13. Okay, so that tag is in your sig line.

Funny you didn't address the other question about those wicked assumptions....

[Capt. Obvious]

19. I didn't?

[TroglodyteScholar]

21. Full of one-liners if not one-worders.

You're an intellectual giant. One whose contributions cannot be understated.

[Capt. Obvious]

22. I know

[Squinch]

62. .

[NuclearDem]

15. Oh stop!

[TroglodyteScholar]

8. Maybe you've already ignored some obnoxious members

I'm a sympathetic ear on the topic. I acknowledge the glaringly obvious existence of white privilege, and I wish it wasn't a reality.

But there are a number of posters just hurling thinly-veiled racist invective, then backpeddling with the whole "you know what I meant" line of bullshit.

Yea. I know what you meant. You meant you hate white people so much that you're perfectly happy to alienate us with blanket statements on how arrogant and condescending we are, and in the same breath claim that I've misinterpreted what you said or somehow been overly sensitive.

That's actually a pretty old racist trick, that bait-and-switch...and I know because white folks perfected it first.

Fuck that.

[Spider Jerusalem]

26. I hardly have anyone on my ignore list.

But if you perceive comments about the existence of white privilege in American society from people of colour as "thinly-veiled racist invective"? And as "hating white people"? I submit that you're probably a racist. Because, you know, I've read most of the threads on this issue, and I haven't seen this behaviour you're describing. That perception probably says quite a bit about you and your attitudes toward the subject.

[TroglodyteScholar]

30. You're not replying to me (someone who fully acknowledges white privilege at every chance)

You're replying to some perceived "whitey." I would submit that this makes you racist.

I'm not going to tolerate it or further acknowledge it. Sorry.

[Spider Jerusalem]

31. Nope, I'm replying to you.

(And I'm white. Of Anglo-Celtic ancestry.)

[Spider Jerusalem]

37. Actually...

I'd have to say that your initial assumption that I must be black, and that my comments represented some sort of "hate whitey" rant? Again, that perception says quite a lot more about you than it does about me.

[TroglodyteScholar]

40. Are you fucking kidding me? I didn't say anything about what race you might be.

I deduced that you were racist because you made all kinds of assumptions about me and responded to those assumptions rather than to me. You'll find no mention of what race I think you are. Only that you perceived me as a "whitey," which clearly you did.

Says plenty about you, I think.

[Capt. Obvious]

43. You're an intellectual giant.

One whose contributions cannot be understated.

[kwassa]

57. LOL!

Well done.

[Spider Jerusalem]

52. Sure you did.

"Some perceived 'whitey'". That implies that you imagined I myself would be a person of colour, not white. That's pretty much inherent in the whole "whitey" thing. (It's also pretty much inherent in "this makes you racist", which again implies that you imagined I wasn't white.)

I don't really need to make any assumptions about you, you're pretty much laying it all out there.

[nomorenomore08]

82. Ironically, those who piss and moan about "hating whitey" usually don't think much of *other* races.

You may be an exception, but that sort of defensive rhetoric doesn't look good on anyone.

[nomorenomore08]

85. Why would anyone ever "hate" (or even suspect the motives of) white people? I can't imagine...

[1StrongBlackMan]

90. Please link to one racist invective ...

Thinly veiled or otherwise. I must have missed them.

[nomorenomore08]

115. The voices in his head must all be Nation of Islam members...

[FrodosPet]

28. Understanding white privilege is easy if people try

Personally, I recognized decades ago that being white is easier than being of another race. Being white does not mean I am NEVER discriminated because of my race. It does not mean that if I walk in certain neighborhoods I won't be in danger, or harassed by the police. It doesn't mean I will get any job I want.

But it does mean that negative crap won't hit me AS OFTEN as it does for others. For that, I am grateful! And in that gratitude, I do my best to overcome any negative feelings the culture has implanted me with. I do my best to offer positive words and assistance to everybody I can.

That's not asking too much of people, is it? It's not like they cannot or should not seek the most comfortable lives, the highest pay, the most prestigious jobs available. It just means don't climb on someone's back to get them.

[dionysus]

50. that's only a relatively small handful of clowns though. but it's enough clowns to make epic flame

wars.

I can't tell if it's naiveté or douchebaggery.

[Squinch]

66. It really is. When I stopped and counted them up, I was both a little relieved that there were so

few of them and amazed that they have spread their ignorance so loudly and widely.

[boston bean]

3. No I don't think it is racist for white people to voice their views on issues of race.

However, when they are trying to diminish what minorities are telling them or denying the effect of race and their experiences, well then I think it's fair game to think whatever the hell I want to think about those views and the person spouting them.

Clear enough for you?

[pscot]

71. We can all think whatever we want

although some would have it otherwise. The problem, for me at least, arises when I agree with what you're saying but continue to get hit over the head with it again and again, because my agreement isn't couched in the right terms or my intent is somehow suspect. Then I get sore because I feel like I'm being backed into a corner and will be abused no matter where I come down. When someone's trying to agree with you, it's bad form to roll your eyes and say, "Oh sure, we've heard that one", even if it's true.

I don't want to fight with you, or anyone else on this board about race. It's too dangerous; too explosive a topic. The argument that's been going on here is like playing catch with live hand grenades. I understand Black folks have every reason to be wary around whites. But most white folks are as ghettoized as inner city blacks. The number of black families in my county is vanishingly small. Where I grew up, I never encountered an actual black person until I was a sophomore in high school. In the context of where I live, it's hard to see myself as privileged, since I'm working class and have always been near the low end of the economic spectrum. At the same time, as Americans we're all privileged vis a vis most of the rest of the world.

I'm dismayed at the bickering and fussing we've been doing. Everyone seems to feel they have to have the last word and closure is not an option. Each new post starts the argument anew and moves us farther from an amicable resolution. There are plenty of unreconstructed folks around here, on both sides, who seem eager to keep the pot boiling. But we're all here because we have a common purpose. Supposedly we're all on the same side. Trust is the key. We need to quit judging one another and parsing one another's words; make allowances; assume the best rather than the worst. And learn to trust. If people will let go of some of their anger and hurt, hold the blow, I believe it's possible for us all to just get along with one another.

[Capt. Obvious]

5. Fail

[fishwax]

7. I haven't seen posts saying that

[TroglodyteScholar]

18. I'd give you three examples, but that would be a call-out

I'm not here to target anyone specific. I'm commenting on attitudes that have clearly gone unexamined and/or unquestioned for too long.

And, no, I don't feel like a "poor, oppressed white man," although some would gladly sling that dismissive line at me...a further symptom of the invisible problem.

I say physician, heal thyself. You want less hatred from the world? A good first step would be to direct less hatred into it, especially when it comes to people who are on your "team," per se.

If this bleeding-heart liberal (me) is offended to the point of saying something, imagine how persuasive these lines of "reasoning" are on the minds we're all trying to change?

[JustAnotherGen]

11. What are your feelings/thoughts

On Colorism?
On why that exists?
What's the social vacuum and history that created this divide? These contrasts and experiences?
Is the tragic mulatto a construct of the dominant culture?
How did you experience the book/movie The Help?
What was your first experience feeling the sting of a bigot? I was 4 - almost five - 1978. Rochester NY. Yep - not the South but the home of the Northern Star - about a mile from the church that Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas both used to attend. White woman wouldn't reach her hand into a candy bowl after "that child" had.

^that is the black American experience^ Please feel free to kvetch and share.

You are now invited to discuss.

[TroglodyteScholar]

14. "You are now invited to discuss." Let me finish that for you.

..."and then be dismissed outright by virtue of what you are."

Sound like a familiar experience?

[kwassa]

59. Nope. Doesn't sound familiar to me at all.

My views on race get dismissed by a couple of idiots on this site, and all of us are white.

[Jenoch]

47. When I was about four years old

I was with my mom at the YMCA. It was winter and we were there to pick up my older brother from swimming lessons. This was in rural Minnesota in the 1960s, about as white as it got. I saw another little boy about my age with his mother. (I heard this story from my mother.) I asked her why that boy has a black head. He was wearing a coat and mittens. I had never before seen a black person. Like I said, I don't remember saying this, but I do remember that kid from swim lessons a couple years later. We became swim buddies and school friends. He lived on the other side of the lake from me. He moved away with his family after the 8th grade.

[Starry Messenger]

12. *facepalm*

[NuclearDem]

16. No, but I think it's racist to post racist articles from racist websites.

[gollygee]

17. +1

[TroglodyteScholar]

20. That it is.

Guess I missed all those racist links I posted. Could you show me to them?

[NuclearDem]

23. Not you.

[TroglodyteScholar]

25. Odd... because there's so much filth being slung at "white guys," "white dudes," etc.

I thought we all did it, and maybe I just missed the night we voted on it.

[boston bean]

36. No words about how wrong it is to do that? I see you take it personally

in an attempt to deflect from the point that it actually happened.

How about in all of your understanding you ask, and learn and try to understand instead of going to the, who me? how dare you!?!?

[etherealtruth]

29. I do, too

Unfortunately some juries and some folk find it A-OK

[uponit7771]

106. +1

[Gravitycollapse]

24. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The problem is systematized.

Systemic racism is perpetuated by a social, political, economic and legal schema which both advantages racial and ethnic majorities while disadvantaging racial and ethnic minorities. It runs regardless of the will of any individual (it is a machine). It is not subject to the evil of a few powerful men but instead can only be altered through systemic change. And that can only happen when we recognize and confront our own systematized advantage just as those who are oppressed must recognize and confront their own systematized disadvantage.

There are only two times in which this racism is anthropomorphized rather than mechanized. The first is when a person commits overt acts of racism. The second, recursively, is when a person perpetuates racism by denying systemic advantage.

Part of the denial process is denying the fact that the racially oppressed possess a more authoritative voice on the subject of racism in general. Undoubtedly, like the victims of all injustices, the victims of racism have further insight than those who are part of the oppressive class. Members of the oppressive class can learn and empathize. But they cannot experience it in the same capacity.

Equality and liberation movements must be lead by members of the class which is struggling for equality or liberation. That is an unavoidable consequence of the privilege from which the oppressor class benefits. Does that seem unfair? If you don't understand the irony of such a thought, you are part of the problem.

[TroglodyteScholar]

27. You've responded to something I never said

Your whole post rests on the assumption that I don't think victims of systemic racism have a more authoritative voice on the subject.

OF FUCKING COURSE they do.

What they don't have, though, is the only voice on the subject. And this is what's developing here on DU. You're white? Keep your fucking mouth shut about race. Could you write me a four paragraph post on that phenomenon, and how not-racist it is?

[boston bean]

33. Maybe it's just me, but many persons don't want to hear

and read a white persons denial of racism or privilege or the experience of people of color.

You want to take that to mean that all views put forth by white persons are unwelcome. Well, I guess you can do that.

But that is creating a strawman. And people who continually create those types of strawmen also deserve push back. Because in essence it is nothing but a derailment of something they say they agree with. But with a lot of protestations of why it aint so, and why you discriminating against me bullshit. Believe it or not, people actually read what is written and form opinions. Take that to heart and maybe this discussion can move into a more fruitful direction.

[Gravitycollapse]

38. Let me put it this way. In racial liberation movements, white persons are an auxiliary presence.

What does that mean? It means that we recognize our necessarily subordinate role and, rather than whining, step to the side or sit down and listen. That is our major function in such a movement. It isn't to grand stand and it isn't to enact yet another white dominant power structure. The only role in which we might take as leadership is in educating the white auxiliary as supplementary to the insight of the oppressed group's authority.


The history of white racism is chiefly an expression of incredible arrogance. We are not the most important persons in the room. We never have been. It's time to submit to that reality and show some humility. If an oppressed person tells you it's time to stop talking and time to listen, you shut your mouth and listen.

Do not be mistaken, this is not an equal power relationship. As members of the advantaged class, we do not suffer the same rhetorical annihilation by silencing ourselves in situations where we are necessarily less informed or less powerful. Being told to shut up as a white person on matters of race is not the same as being told to shut up as a black person on matters of race.

[Bonx]

42. Wow

I disagree with most of that. Strongly.

[Gravitycollapse]

46. What part do you disagree with the most?

[1StrongBlackMan]

94. Funny ...

I agree with all of that ... strongly.

[dionysus]

48. are you by chance currently a college student? i have always wondered.

[Gravitycollapse]

60. I will only answer that if you explain how it's relevant to the discussion.

[dionysus]

67. because your posts, to me, sounds like you're in the middle of taking college courses and

studying these types of topics, from the way you write.

not trying to offend you.

[Gravitycollapse]

70. I'm in between undergrad and post-grad.

[dionysus]

81. i knew it!

my vocabulary isn't what it was when I was in college many years ago

[TroglodyteScholar]

49. So... you don't want to write four paragraphs about why it's not racist to treat me badly based on

my skin color?

Weird. I guess such a defense would be kind of racist, wouldn't it.

You're not telling me anything new in these longish posts that divert to other subjects. I'm on the same page with you. But I see a lot of thoughts and attitudes being attributed to "white people" as justification for telling us to keep our mouths shut. And, well... why wouldn't I be offended if these things being attributed to "white people" are repugnant to me?

I don't make statements about "black people." Know why? Not the right-winger reason (fear of backlash). No, but because black people are not a monolith. They have a vast, wonderful variety of views and experiences. Guess what other race has that? EVERY other race. So why is it somehow OK to talk about white people in generalities? I guess I'm just dense.

[Gravitycollapse]

58. Has anyone on this board treated you badly because you're white?

[kwassa]

63. excellent post.

[scarletwoman]

74. Excellent post! Well said!

Especially this:

Do not be mistaken, this is not an equal power relationship. As members of the advantaged class, we do not suffer the same rhetorical annihilation by silencing ourselves in situations where we are necessarily less informed or less powerful. Being told to shut up as a white person on matters of race is not the same as being told to shut up as a black person on matters of race.

[AgingAmerican]

34. "Hating whitey" is the new fried ice cream

nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

95. But of course, the only ones saying or hearing ...

"Hate whitey" are white folks claiming to know about white privilege ... While denying it's existence ... and claiming to know about racism, while denying that the racial status quo, I.e., white privilege, is a part of/manifestation of racism ... and claim to want a voice on the topic, while attempting to limit the voice of PoC by dictating how we can/should talk about it.

But other than that ... yeah, I agree.

[AgingAmerican]

102. I'm talking...

...about those who go on and on and on and on and on and on and on about it.

It's what's for dinner!!

[1StrongBlackMan]

104. So tell me ...

When should I/we stop?

[AgingAmerican]

105. Stop what?

Going on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about it?

It's the new soup du jour!!

[Gravitycollapse]

107. Are you white?

[AgingAmerican]

109. Yes

nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

110. Yeah ...

When should I/we stop going on and on and on and on and on and on and on about it?

I wonder if that has been said about the 1% or the NSA, or the 3rd-way?

[AgingAmerican]

111. This OP is pure race baiting

That is my point. If you wish to engage in race baiting, it is your privilege, as long as the juries allow it.

[bravenak]

112. We can't stop until we get fair treatment.

Get used to hearing the oppressed complain about things you don't have to experience.

I hear crazy stuff i don't want to hear everyday from WP. And they go on and on and on......
Can you believe that they have kept up this racist system for 400 years??
All that time talking about how much better they were. And we had to hear it, and hear it, and hear it, and hear it. It still hasn't ended.

You can imagine my frustration.

[Skip Intro]

35. "White people...are the problem" - ?! Maybe you have some ideas for a solution?

[Throd]

39. Nah, those type of threads help separate the "good white people" from the bad ones.

Around here, it is apparently VERY important.

[Puzzledtraveller]

41. kindling, kindling

DU is going to burn down before it's all over.

[Skip Intro]

44. Race-baiting bullshit like the OP used to be hidden by mods, users ejected. n/t

[1StrongBlackMan]

96. Now, the people that object to such threads get hidden.

[dionysus]

45. clever trolls have been working up well meaning DUers into a lather on a host of issues lately.

[LadyHawkAZ]

51. +1

[TroglodyteScholar]

53. Would you mind clarifying your point? n/t

[dionysus]

69. i don't know who is fanning the flames, but DU has been inundated with porn wars, gender wars, now

race\privilege wars. it's a liberal board so I feel like someone is instigating shit (not saying you)

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

87. Well, I'm saying that the OP is instigating shit! I believe it wholeheartedly!

And his/her post is full of shit, too!

[dionysus]

88. i can't disagree with you on that.

[Spider Jerusalem]

56. "Clever trolls", eh?

It's interesting that a number of people perceive the discussion of issues of race and gender as "disruptive" and people who bring up such issues as "trolls". (Because those are clearly things that have no place on a progressive message board, I suppose?)

[dionysus]

80. no, i'm not saying that, perhaps i wasn't clear. i do think people are egging on these arguments

though, fools, trolls, whatever, and people like that are out of place on DU.

here is a story about how I learned first hand about white privilege, and it was when the tables were turned and I got a small taste of what racism is like. please read the whole story so you don't misunderstand me.

freshman year in college I played a lot of basketball. I was from a small, lilly white town with basically no minorities. now I'm in a big college with lots of diversity. it was awesome a buch of the kids I hooped with were black. we got along great, they even nicknamed me "Bird" (I really liked that, it was a sign of respect). we were just kids playing basketball. one of me b-ball buddies was this kid Ronnie.

flash forward 3 years. I had long ago traded hoops for guitar, playing in a band and stonerism, and I lost touch with those guys.

it was the year end bash in the apartment complex, and the whole place was one big party. I was standing outside my front door smoking a cig.. suddenly I hear a voice... "Bird, is that you?" It was my old pal Ronnie! we chat for a bit, and he's like "dude i'm looking for rolling papers, I can't find any anywhere, do you have any?". I happened to have a fresh pack of EZ Widers, he's like come on back with me and we'll smoke.

I go back with Ronnie to his rowhouse and walk through the front door... into the unofficial black fraternity house. there's 15 people in the living room, I'm the only white guy. the "leader" of the place, known for not being a nice guy, looks at me, looks at Ronnie, back to me, and says "aw HELL NO.". everyone else is dead silent. I turn and look at Ronnie, he was embarrassed as shit, he's like "Bird, I'm sorry, I didn't.. I didn't think.."

I just handed him the papers and said "hey, no big deal man, keep the pack", and left.

that opened my eyes to how hurtful racism is. in that instant, my white privilege vanished. now, I wasn't dealing with a cop out to arrest me, I wasn't in physical danger, but it was very hurtful. it opened my eyes because that was only a tiny little taste of what minorities face every day in many parts of this country. and they're not being insulted at a party, they're being arrested, denied jobs, and worse things.

if being dissed at a party is enough to hurt, imagine what going through real discrimination is like, I thought.

so that little instance of the tables being turned was very enlightening about how evil the shit is. and obviously, white people are very rarely ever subjected to it.

I hope you understand my point. I am in no way trying to say race discussions are "disruptive". for a liberalboard I don't know why this subject is being argued about so vehemently. privilege is an issue that should be glaringly obvious to everyone here.

maybe if the people denying such privileges exist experienced a taste of what discrimination is like, they'd change their minds real quick.

[kwassa]

64. Not a lot of clever here.

[Shankapotomus]

54. Post all you want

I saw that exchange between you and Boston Bean and you were flat out wrong.

For you to equate the use of "white dudes" as "part of the problem" was taking tremendous liberty.

I am white and I totally understood Boston Bean.

The problem was your conflating his words into a federal offense.

I took it to mean a lot of times when white people like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Mark Levin and Sean Hannity talk about solving racial issues they talk right through the African American community as if their input on the matter is irrelevant.

There's a right way for members of the oppressing culture to speak about healing the offenses to the oppressed community without sounding too arrogant and re-offending that community.

Tim Wise is obviously one who knows how to do it. You don't speak at them like a teacher. You speak with them.

[Raine1967]

55. OP's like this are very informative.

I truly get to see who gets it and who doesn't. White chick here, btw, and I see a lot of white guys not getting it.


TroglodyteScholar, I mean this: Keep reading, I think you are going to understand that this is about a lot more than it appears. We can learn a lot about these discussions once we separate the people that aren't here for real discussion from those that truly want discussion.

It's not always about hate, sometimes it is about discussing the nuances of our society. Anger does not mean hate in every situation.

[Skip Intro]

61. Pure hypocritical, racist, race-baiting bullshit. n/t

[scarletwoman]

65. Oh, my goodness gracious! Are you feeling oppressed?

Pity the poor oppressed nice white people! Who only want to explain to the non-white people how the nice white people really care about them, without actually wanting to listen to what the non-white people have to say.

[MrScorpio]

68. Just what the hell are you talking about?

That made no sense at all.

[rrneck]

72. Of course white privilage exists.

The whole discussion about white privilege isn't about finding a solution for the problem. It's about capitalizing on the divisions between people.

Forget it Jake, it's the internet.

[Gravitycollapse]

75. Maybe it's about saying what is true rather than coddling the easily disturbed.

[rrneck]

97. Maybe, but I doubt it.

It depends on what one's evaluation of "easily disturbed" is. There is a boatload of software and a pack of volunteers to keep the "easily disturbed" out of here. I just got a pm from "Name Removed".

From what I've seen disagreement equals censorship, but maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

[1StrongBlackMan]

98. Or, it could be about what the PoC ...

And others have been actually saying ... racism is a societal problem that only white people can solve ... and that journey starts with recognizing that the racial status quo is a manifestation of racism.

[rrneck]

100. It will take all of us to solve any problem in any meaningful way.

And as time goes on the need for a larger consensus will increase. It may already be too late.

[1StrongBlackMan]

103. Tell me ...

How can PoC end racism? How do woman end sexism?

[rrneck]

108. There is no easy answer.

Those problems are as old as the species.

I've seen my share of racism. I'm from the south. Of course I haven't seen it from the point of view of a person of color, that would be impossible. But I don't have to see it from that perspective to know it's wrong and counter productive for a civilized society.

It does seem to me that politics has become a growth industry and the people who are doing the most damage are those who seek to profit from human misery.

[1StrongBlackMan]

114. Racism is bigotry + institutional power ...

So tell me about the racism you experienced.

[bravenak]

116. Absolutely none.

Thats why he knows more about it than you. More objective from not having experienced it first hand. Better just accept his narrative or else you will be a reverse something or other.

[rrneck]

117. I didn't say I experienced it. I said I saw it. nt

[nomorenomore08]

73. SHUT UP. JUST SHUT UP. THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOUR PRECIOUS HURT FEELINGS.

While you piss and whine about (relatively) trivial bullshit, another young black man gets murdered by cops, while the not-so-nice white folks gloat over them "taking out the trash." And shitbag sociopaths on Internet comment threads openly "joke" about reducing the welfare rolls through mass murder of "ghetto thugs."

So forgive me if I, even as a white person, do not give one high-flying fuck about your whine du jour.

[Squinch]

76. ^^^This.

[nomorenomore08]

77. I think I'd better bow out of this thread before I have an aneurysm or something...

[Maedhros]

86. A bit direct, but effective. [n/t]

[nomorenomore08]

91. I guess after thread upon thread of this whiney, narcissistic bullshit, I finally blew my top...

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

89. Indeed!! I want to kiss you right about now!!

[nomorenomore08]

92. A hug will do fine.

[bravenak]

113. That's what i'm saying too.

Like wow.

[RedCappedBandit]

79. Link to some of these posts?

[1StrongBlackMan]

83. No ...

You have that exactly backwards. It is the white (privilege denying) people saying that white people are the problem. The PoC and those that seem to understand privilege, and racism, in general, have been saying that racism can ONLY be solved by white people ... and that journey starts by recognizing the many manifestations of racism.

It's really not so hard a concept to grasp; but, it requires listening rather than talking.

[cheapdate]

84. I'm with you one-hundred percent on this.

[nomorenomore08]

93. So you care more about one person's unwarranted persecution complex than the devastating

effects of racism on another person's life and livelihood? Weird sense of priorities, I must say...

[1StrongBlackMan]

99. But ...

The effects of racism on another person's life and livelihood has no effect on him, nor does it change his/her station in this system so who cares?

[nomorenomore08]

101. It's always down to self-centeredness. Always. That's what I've finally realized.

People who truly do not give a good goddamn about anyone but themselves, and/or those who look like them.