[Darryl S.]

Why do most whites (and some blacks) deny that racism exists today? This is very curious because in local and national news I read about discrimination suits being won by blacks (Texaco, Dennys, Coke, just to name a few), housing discrimination, biases in court cases, etc. Is this just a classic case of denial to avoid the ugly truth?

User Detail :  

Name : Darryl S., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 34, City : South Bend, State : IN Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[RhondaOutlaw]

Whites are selfish people who don't want Blacks to succeed. They claim to 'fear' us, Darryl, but what they really fear are educated, ambitious Blacks who are successful, or who have the potential to be successful. These are the Blacks who can and do compete with them. Competition from qualified Blacks scares Whites because they're forced to share a huge slice the pie we call The American Dream. As for some Blacks, many have been pacified by a few pieces of designer clothing, a car, house and checking account, into thinking that racism no longer exists, which is pretty pathetic to me. They are a disgrace to every Black person, dead or alive, who fought for future generations to have the opportunities other Americans have.

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Name : RhondaOutlaw, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Lutheran, Age : 41, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Account Representative, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Matt22040]

How in the WORLD do you get the idea that MOST whites believe that racism doesn't exist today? Do all of your white friends come from the one place on the planet that doesn't raise children from age 5 to 25 on the idea that racism is RAMPANT? Many white people have even fallen to the other extreme, where any result of a black person failing is the result of racism...where any disagreement between a white person and a black person is racism on the white's part, and where the color of a person's skin directly dictates his past hardships, challenges, and merits. Racism exists, for sure, but it is in every walk of life, not just among white men. If you can't see the obvious numbers of racist occurrences against white people as well as black people, especially those that are accepted by society, I say YOU are in the dark about racism. (Of course, I trust that this is not the case.) Most white people DO believe racism exists today. Those who do not are in a minority. The ideologies we should be concerned with are the inaccurate pictures of racism that develop as a result of brainwashing people to believe any opinion or observation, even if that observation is true. We should allow kids to grow up, look around, and decide for themselves about racism. I feel those who are observant will acknowledge that it exists, and see it for what it is.

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Name : Matt22040, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 23, City : Somewhere, State : TN Country : United States, Occupation : Programming student week/ theatre musician weekend, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Christina32059]

We don't deny it, we just really don't know what African-Americans have to go through. I'm sure you go through a lot, but I have no clue about it.

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Name : Christina32059, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Long Beach, State : CA Country : United States, 

[Dayna-Barnes]

Keeping in mind I am only speaking from my own experience, I think your only misjudgment is in thinking that 'most whites' deny that racism exists. It is probably true that many of the most vocal whites do. More of us acknowledge that it happens, and in both directions. It also happens WITHIN each race. Racism is an ugly but unavoidable element of humanity, evidence of our tendency to compartmentalize and categorize people with words like 'all' and 'most.'

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Name : Dayna-Barnes, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 34, City : Alpharetta, State : GA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Rachel]

Darryl, in my opinion, racism is such a bad thing that people don't want to talk about it. I also see that it is a valuable tool in keeping the general power structure of this country within a certain demographic, like sexism, and other ways of discrimination. Lastly, I fear there may be some people who truly believe that racism was 'solved' in the 60's.

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Name : Rachel, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Unitarian, Age : 35, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Christina]

I think that whites try to pretend that racism doesn't exist for two reasons. First of all they don't experience it and they think that because there are one or two minorites in their work place then everything must be okay. Second, admitting that it exists means taking on responsibility and since they are [generally] in a more respected position they don't feel the need to. Blacks who deny that racism exist tend to do so because they have reached a good point in their life and they want to somehow forget that they are not on the same level as the whites they see around them. Also admitting that it exists puts them in a position where they either do something about it or they 'turn their back on their people.'

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Name : Christina, Gender : F, Race : Spanish/Black, Age : 21, City : Washington, State : DC Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Ivana21247]

As a white person, and as a person who knows other white people, on the whole, we still know that racism exists. I think racism is as strong as ever right now.

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Name : Ivana21247, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Lancaster, State : PA Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[Harry]

Having grown up in the Detroit area and working in the city for 25 years, I have become prejudiced. I was not prejudiced when I was a kid, but changed gradually due to what I saw on a daily basis. The majority of the blacks that I have known are the poor ones that live in rundown neighborhoods and have low paying jobs (janitorial). They have been generally reluctant to work hard unless they are closely supervised. Part of that problem is that they belong to the UAW and are protected by the union. The union is one of the worst things to happen to good hard working people of all races. Because it is human nature to take advantage of any opportunity, not only blacks are guilty of that fault.

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Name : Harry, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Lutheran, Age : 45, City : Detroit, State : MI Country : United States, Occupation : Auto Company White Collar, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[J-Fleming21267]

One rarely reads about how Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Push organization extorted a quarter of a million dollars from NASCAR merely by setting up a press conference claiming the sport is racist simply for lack of black interest. It never became a lawsuit because NASCAR, which PUSH sports director Charles Farrell described as 'a good ole' boy's Southern cracker sport', donated the money based on Jackson's speech about using it to bring more blacks into the game. Meanwhile, in the words of Reggie White who's been working to do just what Jackson clams, 'It's really disappointing to me that Jesse and his organization would take a quarter of a million dollars from Nascar and not do anything with it to try to get black drivers into the sport'. With Coke, a lawsuit PUSH won, the spoils were distributed as patronage with Jackson's half-brother, Noah Robinson, later convicted of racketeering, drug trafficking and murder-by-hire, getting a large piece. I don't see how extortion by public relations and litigation evidences institutional white racism.

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Name : J-Fleming21267, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[CR]

I dont feel people deny racism exists, but important aspects to remember about Americans today 1) most people don't pay attention to anything going on beyond 20 miles from where they live 2) if something isn't affecting their everyday life directly, it on the 'back burner' of their thought pattern 3) most racism in the USA is not overt, it is covert. If there are no direct race riots or marches in the streets, 'out of sight is out of mind' 4) most people these days are not willing to accept other people 'playing the race card' as the excuse for their own personal failure. This goes for all races 5) because of inner focus, I feel most WASP males just dont want to discus it anymore after being beat down on race and gender issues by 30 years of PC police.

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Name : CR, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 35, City : Pontiac, State : MI Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[april]

I believe that racism exists today, however the fact that is it is not as prevelant as it was lets say when my parents were growing up. The culture today is so different from even 10 years ago, that it amazes me that it is still such an issue with people. I don't think anyone is trying to deny anything, but I do believe that people use racism as a cop out.I find it very annoying when people use their race as an excuse for anything. Yes racism is alive and kicking , but things have improved and are continuing to do so every day ,

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Name : april, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Episcopalian, Age : 28, City : fowlerville, State : MI Country : United States, Occupation : nurse, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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