I am, not surprised; but, somewhat dismayed with ...

[JDPriestly]

61. The basis of slavery was the difference in technological and economic

development between Europe and Africa at the time the slaves were introduced into the US. Europeans had the military, maritime and organizational ability to go to Africa, capture people and enslave them. If you read the history of Europe, for example, of the British Isles, you find the pattern of a developed, warring nation enslaving people in a conquered country. It is repeated over and over. It is not unique to Europeans.

It is not a question of the nature of white or black people to make slaves of "the other," people who are different from themselves. It is the nature of people.

You say this:

What? I think that this narrative plays, large, in the white narrative ... "If 'they' were ever on top, we'd better look out because they would do to us, what we did/do to them."

It is in the nature of human beings to identify with a specific group -- the family, the tribe, the nation, the race, the club, the economic group, the religious group, etc. and discriminate against those perceived not to be part of the group. This is a human tendency that we must strive constantly to recognize and overcome, regardless what race, religion, ethnicity, etc. we identify with.

When you speak of the "white narrative" and, as I understand what you are saying, differentiate it from the "human narrative," in my view, you are embracing a reverse racism. You are saying that black people are inherently unlikely, perhaps incapable of the kind of horrible racist behavior that whites have shown to black people.

I ask: Are we disagreeing on the following issues?

Are you claiming that white people are inherently more prone to racism than black people?

If so, are you claiming that white people are more prone to racism because that's the way white people are?

Or are you claiming that white people are at least viewed as more racist and perhaps are more racist?

(I don't have an opinion on whether whites are more racist than blacks inherently. I only see that people and because we are dominant culturally and economically, white people in many places in the US (and not so much in California where white people have the most economic power but are not really in the majority) are free to demonstrate racism that other races dare not demonstrate.

I hope that I am wrong, but I read in your posts that you feel that white people by virtue of being white, are more born more prone to racism than black people. I gather that you do not see racism as something that is learned and that can be learned by anyone. I see it as a learned response to a particular characteristic in another person or in another group of people perceived as different from oneself for any of a number of reasons.

I believe that a numerically and culturally dominant group is more likely to discriminate against a numerically and culturally less dominant group.

Black people in the US are numerically and culturally less dominant at this time. That is why they are discriminated against. When the Irish first began to come to the US, they were discriminated against. Jewish people look no different from Europeans, but they were discriminated against in a horrible way in Europe over many centuries.

Time may change the numerical advantage of white people in the US. But as for the cultural dominance of white people, it is based on the economic power of certain groups of white people, and the assumption about the economic power of a white person as opposed to a person of color. That assumption is deeply ingrained in the psyche of Americans. It certainly does not apply in every case but is statistically pretty well supported. White people as a rule are most probably wealthier than black people. There are exceptions, important exceptions on both sides. Poor white people benefit from this assumption in some situations. But it can cost them dearly as a poor white person can starve just as quickly as a poor black person.

Black culture does not divide white people from black people as much as it did at one time, but there is still a big divide especially among older people.

In conclusion: I read from what you say that you assume that white people are inherently more prone to racism than black people. I strongly disagree. It is the result of history that the reality is that white people have the upper hand today. It is not an inherent tendency in white people to discriminate based on race.

I'm interested in your response. Thanks.