Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences
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I am not young, but I wear a suit and tie for work and get admiring looks from black women who don’t know me, and dress ‘sloppy’ and very unfashionably when away from work, when I get ignored by black women who don’t know me. Would you recognize me as the same person? Would you even look? Give young black men a break. Unless you are involved in their lives, you won’t see them when they dress smartly. We are already judged for one aspect of our appearance: our skin color. So many of the people who have oppressed us and ripped us off have worn suits and ties, whose game are we playing? When will we be judged on the content of our character?
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Name : David Williams, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black Caribbean/British, Religion : Christian, Age : 44, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : trainer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Thank you for respecting Tracy’s dignity. It says something good about you.
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Name : David Williams, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black Caribbean/British, Religion : Christian, Age : 44, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : trainer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,I cannot speak on behalf of the dead or their families. It is tragic that the existing defense system of the United States was not able to prevent the killing and destruction on Sept. 11. Your reply was obviously heartfelt, but it made it seem as if you see the U.S. military action as a revenge attack on an impoverished country, not a fight for justice and security. However, our Western military strategies have relied on the willingness of thousands of service people to die, and on the willingness of voters to allow many thousands to be killed. I respect the nobility and self-sacrifice of military people. But the decisions about the scale and nature of our fighting forces are made by chiefs, including politicians and bureaucrats. It is notable that recent strategies have changed once it was realized that Americans wanted their troops to live. It may be that the only way to get the chiefs to improve their diplomacy and reduce the impact of military efforts on innocents is to force them to realize that such nobility and self-sacrifice cannot be taken for granted, and should be called upon as a last resort. Our democratic freedoms should allow people like Eric and Laura to voice their doubts; otherwise the chiefs will never be forced to rethink their ways, and ordinary working people will once again be reduced to serfs, willing to fight to preserve the dominance of their Barons.
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Name : David Williams, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black Caribbean/British, Religion : Christian, Age : 44, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : trainer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,I realize that emergency service workers see things the rest of us do not. But the next time someone looks down on you because of your income/education/whatever, check out your own behavior. You might find that you don’t behave as well as you might. Stretch that out across a lifetime and you will probably find that there will be things you are not proud of. Ignorance can be educated, hygiene can be taught. Self-worth is something we get from family, friends and from how strangers treat us. I wonder how many others have looked at this woman with a look that says ‘trash.’ I wonder when she gave up trying to prove otherwise.
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Name : David Williams, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black Caribbean/British, Religion : Christian, Age : 44, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : trainer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,As a short-legged, long-trunked black man, I have to ask if it is easier to believe that this is inherited on a vast scale than that some people use their option to adjust their seats to, well, adjust their seats. This makes them more noticeable than the ones who don’t.
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Name : David Williams, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black Caribbean/British, Religion : Christian, Age : 44, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : trainer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,I have seen references various studies about Alcohol and non-whites. However I notice variations in alcohol tolerance amongst my white acquaintances here in the UK. It does seem that people who drink too much like to blame genetics, mixing drinks, food, hunger, ANYTHING rather than take personal responsibility. In the same way, the effort that goes into making alcohol available to poor, disenfranchised people (like many Native Australians) is not matched in by the efforts to give them rights and access. But it can be easier for more comfortable people to believe that ‘their’ alcohol problems lie in their genes.
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Name : David Williams, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black Caribbean/British, Religion : Christian, Age : 44, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : trainer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,They were similar in that they were human, with all the rich variety that brings. The main,tragic, difference appears to be that enough white people were not prepared to believe this to allow discrimination, including genocide, on a large scale
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Name : David Williams, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black Caribbean/British, Religion : Christian, Age : 44, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : trainer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,How ironic that you should be so offended by a generalisation about the racism of white people, but finish with a generalisation about two groups of black people. My Jamaican relatives in America do not ‘detest’ African Americans, at least, not the ones they married, go to church with, have employed, are employed by etc. Is it significant that you have not been able to answer a question about white racism without stereotyping black people? I would call that racist behaviour, even if it is not typical for you. It is also a shame that your strong offence was not matched by an inquiry as to why the questioner might have made any such assumption. Part of the legacy of British colonialism in the Caribbean is a form of racism which does manifest itself in people of similar shade of skin sticking together. This can be seen in the behaviour of many white natives of the islands. Much of the news I see about the US suggests that many white and black Americans ARE polarised in their views and experience, e.g. on the O.J. Simpson trial; portrayal in the media, films, etc. You, like me, might not fit comfortably with the behaviour of many who share a similar skin colour, but by recognising the extent to which some of these things can occur, I have found it easier to separate out other issues of skin colour from issues of, for example, economics and envy which can exist between some members of settled groups and newer immigrants, including the black groups you mentioned.
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Name : David Williams, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black Caribbean/British, Religion : Christian, Age : 44, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : trainer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,I have heard about studies carried out in Canada which have indicated this. The samples seem much too small – just over 100 or so – and from a select group – to draw a conclusion for millions of people. ‘Science’ is not as objective as it sounds – just look at the research carried out by cigarette companies and ask yourself if how unbiased it is. Adolf Hitler believed that black people were physically inferior to whites, to the point that in the 1936 Olympics he left the stadium rather than acknowledge black medal winners. He claimed to have ‘scientific’ proof. But just look at how big Africa really is, and the many different black people who come from there. Try to test a representative sample for everyone from Bill Cosby, to Colin Powell, to Michael Jordan. I see so many different black people and white people, that I wonder why the question is asked. Why would someone want to prove that we must be so different? It is a silly question. Don’t play the game. It IS racist.
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Name : David Williams, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black Caribbean/British, Religion : Christian, Age : 44, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : trainer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,If the truth be told, if a 6′ even, 180 pound woman turned up, would she be welcomed with open arms, or with suspicion for being ‘unfeminine’? shorter, weaker people wuold be unsuitable for some tasks, but even the technology of warfare demands a range of qualities and skills. If our military leaders want the very best, they must make it possible to get the best, not just the best of the tall men.
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Name : David Williams, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black Caribbean/British, Religion : Christian, Age : 44, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : trainer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,I think it’s a male thing and something that we men learn. A female friend and I conducted an experiment where she would open the door for me every time instead of the other way round. What we found is that an uncomplicated act of courtesy involved adjustments in posture and pacing for both of us. For example, I had to learn to stop speeding up and reaching forward every time we approached a door. She in turn had to learn to stop holding back in the expectation that I would hold the door open for her. She also had to learn to say ‘No, I insist’ when I forgot and paused to let her through first. Prior to this we would both have insisted that we had ‘no problem’ when it came to women showing ment the courtesies which usually work the other way round. We men get used to the idea that we should behave as if we are better. I am also made aware by white friends that some of the treatment I am used to getting from others, even behaviour I consider polite, they never receive, or would be offended by it. Interestingly, they have also noticed that I am sometimes accused of being patronising by others, and I have been told that some white people find it hard to take that a black person would be polite and helpful when they don’t have to.
User Detail :
Name : David Williams, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black Caribbean/British, Religion : Christian, Age : 44, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : trainer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,
