Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 6 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 25 years, 12 months ago by
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Why is it that when crimes such as the school shootings in Littleton, Co., and other white suburban areas occur, the first thing white people say is: “How could this happen here? This is a nice area, things like this do not happen in places like this.”
I think these shootings are not only a wake-up call to the white population of the United States, but a downfall as well – simply because I feel white people are always putting their children on pedestals. It appears that the majority of white parents think their moral rights come from working 120 hours a week so that they can buy their children BMWs by the time they’re in tbe 11th grade. When will they realize money and material items are not the answer?
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Name : DW, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States,While I think the Columbine shootings are tragic and am adamantly against guns, I do think the media exposure and the way people are reacting to it has shed some light on the inherently racist views of mainstream America. When the perpetrators are white middle-class suburban kids, people ask and headlines read, “Where did we go wrong?” as if to say these boys aren’t black and living in the ghetto so they logically shouldn’t be killing people. Hello? Wake up call. Nobody should be killing people. Maybe we should stop ignoring these inner-city shootings, stop being desensitized to them and start thinking of solutions to them as well as to suburban shootings. Placing the white suburban child on a pedestal is not going to solve anything.
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Name : Jade-T, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian/Caucasian, Religion : Unitarian, Age : 20, City : Tampa, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : College student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Certainly there is a problem in this country with the way we view these incidents. We always think it is going to happen in the cities, not the suburbs, because people left the cities for the suburbs to get away from the crime (or so they believed). But that is a false sense of security for everyone involved. Suburbs tend to be more isolating, so outsiders feel even more alone. So that is part of the problem. I am not going to comment on your theory that the majority of white parents work to buy their children expensive cars. That is absurd. However, we do treat our children very oddly, as a whole. We constantly tell our children that they are not the center of the universe, but do we act that way? Listen to any politician, watch any news story, read any environmental article. Everything we do comes down to ‘the children’. So we tell them one thing, and the talking heads tell them the exact opposite. One last thing: the shootings are not just a problem for the white population, as you would like to think. Plenty of nonwhite children are killed everyday. The only difference is that it happens in the areas where such violence is ‘expected’. It is news when a suburban school gets shot up by a couple nutcases, because it does not happen everyday. It is not news when nonwhites are shot or killed in South Central LA or the Bronx, because everyone knows that it happens and therefore is not sensational enough.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,The Littleton or Columbine area (which is not really in Littleton) has one of the lowest crime rates in the Western United States, and murder is unheard of.
You do bring up an interesting point about parents “putting their children on pedestals.” Most households in the area are two-income households, but that is normal throughout the United States. The real tragedy is the neglect these children receive, not the expensive toys their parents buy them. On top of that, however, is this extremely competitive attitude that parents force on their kids. Parents in this upper-middle class area generally care more about “keeping up with the Joneses” than about raising their children correctly. This social consciousness may be the problem. Kids are pushed by their parents to beat the neighbor’s kid in all aspects of life, because by doing so, the parents receive bragging rights.
If we drop this attitude, perhaps fewer kids will be pushed over the edge by the football players, who were trained to be a–holes by their parents.
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Name : JT21136, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 22, City : Littleton, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Wow, thanks for notifying me – can I go collect on that BMW now? I think a great deal of assumption lies in your question. Are you sure you’re interested in an answer? First, there are millions of white people in this country, and most are not rich. While I won’t deny the definite trends of highly conspicuous consumption and ambitions to earn as much money as possible, I wouldn’t confine it to whites – nor would I apply it to all whites.
I graduated not too long ago from what might be described as an idyllic, suburban high school. Some students were spoiled by their parents; some were not. I can tell you how things were for me; I’m not going to attempt to speak on behalf of every white person in this country, particularly the residents of Littleton. The only financial lesson my parents gave me was to save as much as possible. They gave me a reasonable allowance and an old car when I turned 18. My grandfather lived meagerly in order to pay college tuition and living expenses for me and my siblings. I’ve ridden in a BMW once, and it belonged to a self-made, 34-year-old woman.
Some parents forfeit time with their children in order to make more money and try to make up for it with expensive gifts. Some kids have serious mental problems. From what I’ve seen, those are cross-cultural things and cannot be pinned solely on the white race. I would suggest you forge some relationships with white people rather than rely on a few snap judgments.
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Name : SR28482, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 21, City : Austin, State : TX, Country : United States,People say “things like this don’t happen in a place like this” because such things haven’t happened where they live before. People build up a sense of false security – their own little world, if you will. A place where all the yards are nice, the neighbors are friendly and it’s safe everywhere. You say that it’s always white people who say these things. May I remind you of the Oklahoma City bombing: There were no ethnic barriers on the people saying “Why here, why us?”
I believe white suburbanites see the black neighborhoods as battle zones, a place where all the gang-bangers are creepin’ in their cars and tote’n a 9. And since this is everyday life, all black people are used to it. People expect this to happen in the hood over drugs or gang warfare. Some of this is spurred on by the media. I know better. I believe that the truth of the matter is that people don’t communicate with thier kids so they don’t know wether something like that could happen in a place like that or not. It’s not a white thing, It’s a shock thing. It would shock me no matter where it happened.
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Name : Phil R., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 32, City : Denver, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : Senior Technician (Electronics), Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I think the problem is that a lot of uneducated women have gone to work because EEO supported their getting the job, fit or otherwise. They want money to buy toys. So out of guilt about their neglected kids, they buy them toys, too. In a few years, whites will be the at the low end of society if they keep this up, which I am sure they will.
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Name : Vaku, City : Littleton, State : CO, Country : United States,
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