Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 63 replies, 63 voices, and was last updated 19 years, 2 months ago by
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I am a white female. I had a customer call me racist because I couldn’t give him change for a $20. He even hired a lawyer and tried to sue me. Was this guy crazy, or do blacks really feel that we hate them because of their skin color?
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Name : Rachel B., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 25, City : Flint, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : Cashier, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Some black people are crazy & some white people do hate blacks… though to reduce the ‘hatred’ to a simple issue of skin color is naiveté at best.
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Name : Julie, Gender : F, Race : Black, Age : 33, City : Woodbridge, State : VA, Country : United States, Occupation : Gov't Contracting, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Yes, racism is still prevalent in America. However, many whites would have you beleive otherwise, because they are unwilling to face up to the fact that racism is still exists, usually because they are not discriminated against the way blacks are, so they don’t think about it. Many whites practice racism without even knowing it. The media has a lot to do with the prevalence of racism in America, because of the portrayal of blacks in the news, on t.v. shows and in the movies. Institutionalized racism is also a major factor, i.e., job discrimination. Discrimination in housing, barrowing and leading and education all indicate that racism is still quite prevalent in America. Law enforcement, e.i., police behavior toward blacks also supports racism, as does the justice system. The way blacks are portrayed and treated in all these areas gives rise to ideas, attitudes and beliefs in whites, who either consciously or unconsciously think that blacks in general are less likely to measure up to their standards, are more likely to be violent, poor, homeless, undereducated, drug users, criminals and of low moral character them they are, inspite of the fact that most blacks do not fit this steriotype. It follows that since whites harbor such ideas, attitudes and beliefs they tend to treat and behave differently toward blacks,i.e., disriminate against them, especially those they don’t know, because of the color of thier skin. So you see racism is still prevalent.
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Name : Ross,R, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, City : Houston, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : retired educator, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Racism is still very prevalent. I was recently watching a show that did a test to see if typically African American names on job applications would get a phone call just as often as typically Caucasian names. The test showed that the African American names got way less returned calls. I think that black people think that this is always going to be true in life and that is why we can be defensive.
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Name : Dena25821, City : Fairfax, State : VA, Country : United States,I am a black woman. I feel that your situation was just rude and ignorant on the mans behalf. Although I do think there are more prejudice whites than there are blacks. Also some things should be overlooked and not taken to heart but that’s just the way things are. I am not prejudice, I love all people. I have been in prejudice situations that could have cost me my education but I approached it and withdrew myself from the surrounding. I didn’t judge other white people because of it. I think that is what you just did.
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Name : Rhonda, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 28, City : Moorhead, State : MS, Country : United States, Occupation : Floor Secretary, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Upper middle class,White people have done horrible, horrific things to black people in this country. That kind of hate doesn’t just disappear, it is passed from generation to generation. The difference between today’s whites and the whites of yesteryear are the laws that were passed to protect us. Whites may not be lynching black men and keeping their penises as mementos like they used to, but the hate is still there. May I suggest you rent Eye on the Prize, an award winning documentary on the Civil Rights struggle. Also rent a copy of Mississippi Burning, and the movie about the murder of Medgar Evers (Whoopie Goldberg played Merlie Evers, Medgar’s wife). There is also a website you might be interested in…shows pics of all the black men who were lynched…the ones who were photographed. Check out the large crowds of whites gathered to see the event. Go to your library and look up all the companies involved in discrimination suits against Blacks…remember Dennys refusing to serve blacks? All the murder, rapes, cross burnings, home invasions, church/home bombings, lynchings, mutilations…all done because white folks hate Blacks.
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Name : Rhonda-P-Outlaw30023, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Lutheran, Age : 42, City : Laurelton, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : Account Rep, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Even though the majority of the Civil Rights legislation has been on the books for at tleast a decade, that does not mean that it is written in the hearts of the people. Blatant discrimination is not as prevalent as it has been in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. But that does not mean that it has been eliminated. One does not have to travel to far to be reminded that race still makes a major difference in how a person is treated. The issue of racial profiling and police brutality to people of color is a constant reminder that we are not severed from our dark past. The quick answer to our question is that black people are still treated differently, on a regualr basis by sales clerks, cashiers, police officers, bank tellers, teachers, etc. It may be subtle but it is still observable to those who are not afraid to see.
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Name : Ray J., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Non-denominational, Age : 57, City : Houston, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Loan Officer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Yes, racism is still prevalent. As long as there are people with some kind of difference in this imperfect world(race, religion, economic class), there will be conflict. We will never solve it, but at least lessen the conflict. As far as that guy goes: he seriously over-reacted (if you’re willing to spend money on a lawyer because you didn’t change for a $20, that’s overreacting). Or this man has self-esteem so low that he assumes that all white people hate him. Or, maybe he’s just an opportunist filing a bogus discrimination lawsuit in hopes of getting a monetary settlement. I hate phony-lawsuit filers because they makes it harder for folks with legitimate claims to get their voices heard.
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Name : KA26926, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 20s, City : VA Beach, State : VA, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,By appearance but not by life experience, (immigrant parents, English-educated, professional father), I am black. As such, I have had unique access into the life of the diverse American black person at least of the eastern seaboard of this country. Yes, racism is still very much alive but if you are NOT black (or some racial minority), it is very possible to believe that there is no racism! But if you were able to ‘morph’ or if you have a close friend that is a minority with whom you feel comfortable enough to ask (and also believe), you’d be quite amazed to know of how their daily life experience is. If there is nothing else that minority groups have in common they will STILL have the experience of racism in common. Personally I find this to be an unforgivable shame while others I know feel that it’s ‘natural’.
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Name : Bert, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 51, City : West Palm Beach, State : FL, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Well, I think trying to sue you over this incident is rather extreme. Seems they would have something else to do with their time & money. Most of us (I think) no longer believe all Whites hate us just because of our skin color. That said, we know that many still do. And we know that more just think we are inferior just because of our skin color. While I think this fellow may have jumped to a conclusion or could have been trying to be opportunistic, he probably has experienced alot of rude behavior by businesses (I’m assuming this happened at a store register or something) because of his skin color. I certainly have.
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Name : Wayne24413, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 44, City : Parsippany, State : NJ, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,Yeah, I feel your pain. Try working in Detroit. I said ‘Hey girl, what’s up’ to a black women, she just about killed me. She said she felt that me calling her ‘girl’ was racist. Maybe next time I’ll just call her bitch. I think it’s reverse discrimination. SOME black people (of course, not all) think they should be treated better and get more respect just because of what their great great great great great grandpa that they didn’t even know went through. I’m sorry, but no matter who you are or what race you are, you don’t just get respect, you earn it. Yes, some blacks do have it hard because there are still those racist, narrow minded whites… but for heavens sake, get over it-for both sides. Obviously African Americans aren’t going to go away, and whites aren’t either, so just get along.
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Name : Victoria, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 21, City : Novi, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : Federal Agent, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,While this person was clearly wrong in assuming your denial of giving him change was because of race, it does show that racial tensions still run high in this country. Yes, many blacks do still think that white people hate or dislike them because of their skin color. This persists partly because we have still had experiences with racism in this day and age and it is quite common. Most of the friends that I know have at least one experience that was clearly racially motivated. Another reason why this persists is that we tend to remember experiences that confirm our beliefs. A lot of younger blacks have been indoctrinated by family members to have, if not a healthy dislike, at least a slight suspicion of white people. Therefore, when we experience racism we remember those experience more so than the hundreds of benign encounters with those of other races.
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Name : Harriett-P, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Cumming, State : GA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Is racism still prevalent? What kind of question is that? I emplore you to go out and any you black male that question and 9 out of 10 times you will get a resounding yes. The situation you were in was just absurd. But, believe it or not, people still discriminate of race, creed, and/or color in 2004. You still have people who wallow in ignorance and therefore still have prejudice because of said ignorance. Miss Rachel B. racism is alive a will in ’04.
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Name : Tep, Gender : M, Race : Black/African American, Age : 24, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Racism is undoubtedly still existant in the US today (and around the world). I used to live near the area you are from and have seen several unnecessary acts of discrimination take place against minorities in very similar situations to the one you described. If such a situation had occurred for that man before, he was probably very sensitive to it happening again. If there was a reason you could not give change for the $20, such as a company policy on not handling money exchanges without a purchase, you should have explained this policy to him and made it clear that it operated regardless of race distinctions.
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Name : A-S-Wolfe, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 21, City : Bloomington, State : IN, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, laboratory worker, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Rachel, Racism and America are almost synonymous. It seems that we want to belive that racism no longer exists, but that’s just fooling ourselves. It might not be as overt as it was prior to the 1980’s, but the effects are still felt in our society. The American agenda seems to promote the economic and social depravity of black people through neglect. While there might not be many physical lynchings anymore, black people are economically and socially lynched every day. The man’s response may have been a cumulative effect of injustices perpetrated over his lifetime. Sometimes the demons just need to come out.
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Name : Charles C., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 30, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : Financial Services, Education level : 4 Years of College,
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