I'm so glad I'm off work tonight (space to absorb the impact of the tragedy in S.C.)

[malthaussen]

5. That's pretty much what bothers me, too.

I am constantly irritated when people talk about how terrible this or that outrage against "blacks" is, because to me the outrage is simply that American citizens can be subject to such treatment. But of course the treatment is because of the citizen's race, and the refusal of one group of citizens to admit the other into the club. I find this so deeply offensive I can hardly find words for it.

That an individual (and by extension, a group) should be subject to discrimination solely on the basis of something that is completely beyond his control is just a profound absurdity to me. Again, the concept offends me at such a deep core I can hardly find a rational and appropriate way to express it. It's invidious, too, as the OP hints, because after a certain amount of shaming and hatred, an oppressed person will pick up the vibe that there is something wrong with him, rather than with the person/group/culture that is doing the oppressing. This inevitably leads to all sorts of conflict and troubles, and that it initially flows from the obssessive need of some to denigrate, despise, and descriminate against others for no reason at all makes me doubt the "humanity" of the supposed "human" race. If this universal hated and fear of "the other" (and let's face it, it is universal) is somehow genetically "pro-survival," then maybe the human race should not survive.

-- Mal