Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences 
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Hi Donald. I have more often heard the death penalty refered to as classcist rather than racist, since it’s often true that if you don’t have money, you get the sort of defense that the state sees fit to provide. This defense, not to downgrade the efforts of the many hard-working D.A.’s out there, is often inadequate at best and a travesty at worst. Since many black defendants fall under the realm of the indigent, they may be found to suffer disproportionately from this lack of quality representation. Further, statistics show that black defendants are convicted and sentenced to death at a much higher rate than their white counterparts charged and convicted for the same crimes. Check with the BCA for the cite. Add to this the recent spate of death row inmates who, upon examination of new DNA evidence, or evidence that is not new but which the defendants and their supporters had to fight to make admissible to the Court of Appeals, were found to be not guilty, and you get a very legitimate question as to the equity of the justice system and its implements. ________________________
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Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I’m grateful for whatever insight I was able to lend. ____________________
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Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,It’s important for white people who don’t already understand to know that black people are not a monolithic entity. We don’t all share the same opinions, convictions and thoughts. We are as diverse as white people would like to have us believe they are. I, for one, didn’t celebrate when O.J. was found guilty. I, for one, think he’s guilty as sin. However, I’m cautious about saying that around white people, because I’m more irritated by the level of indignation I’ve seen among some of them than I am about the fact that he was found not guilty. People, especially those with money, have been getting away with murder long before this O.J. travesty, but I’ve never seen the level of indignation among whites that I’ve seen when the perpetrator was a black man and the victims white. I feel equal disgust for those blacks I saw on television jumping up and down like idiots as I do for the white people I’ve met who expect me to speak for monolithic blackness to explain them. I feel equal disgust for black people who don’t realize that O.J. hasn’t been interested in us since he made his first million, fled the inner city and never looked back, as I do for white people who never would’ve gotten so heated up over this had both victims been black, or O.J. white.
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Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Before I give my opinion on your question, I feel compelled to qualify my answer in two ways. First, the number of black people engaging in relationships with people outside of their own ethnic background is about 5 percent. Therefore, 95 percent of black men and women prefer each other over people of other ethnic backgrounds. It may seem otherwise, but that’s just because we all tend to notice more readily those things that are unusual. Second, we can’t and shouldn’t assume that black men who are involved with non-black women are doing so for status reasons. People fall in love with each other for lots of reasons, and none of them are apparent upon sight.
Given those disclaimers, I’ll give you my theories on your question.
Black men, culturally, tend to be a bit more forgiving about body size. In fact, I know quite a few black men who prefer women who are very large indeed. I don’t know why, exactly, but I’ve seen this all my life. This could be a vestigal culture trait of our African ancestry, because as my sister, who has lived in Africa for four years, tells me, larger women are very much preferred over their thin counterparts there. Add to that the stereotype that some black men have that white women, whatever their shape, are easier to get along with than black women. Many black women, from lower socioeconomic backgrounds especially, have been used to ‘taking care of business’ alone, and therefore can be extremely exacting on the men in their lives, making it more apparent than is sometimes comfortable, that they don’t really need the man there, and that the only reason he IS there is that they want him to be. I think all men want to feel needed. Also, from this perception of black women comes the opinion that we won’t stand for a lot of behavior that white women will.
Also, I wouldn’t be so quick to assume that the type of black man you see with an ‘unattractive’ white woman is someone we black women would miss. Perhaps he’s with her because none of us will have him. They might be made for each other. That’s why, when I see a couple like that together, I think to myself, ‘God Bless,’ aside from the fact that interracial dating is not for the faint of heart. ___________________________
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Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I think that because most of us don’t have any idea where we come from in Africa, we piece together that which we do know with creativity. We sometimes choose names that are unique, exotic and/or of our own creation. Also, our roots in this country are in the South, and Southerners are known for choosing very interesting names, white or black. ______________________
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Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,First, I’d like to say I’m sorry for your friend’s misfortune. Maybe he’s guilty of the crime for which he’s been convicted, but the prospect of prison is not something I’d wish on anyone. I’ve read some abstracts about how to survive in prison in the course of my human rights work. From what I’ve read, it seems that it depends on what kind of prison your friend is going to -Minimum, Medium or Maximum. The first two might indicate less-crowded conditions, and less stress among the population, so less potential for violence. In a less violent population, it’s possible that your friend might have more of an opportunity to ‘do his own time’ and be left alone, as long as he doesn’t bother anyone else. No matter what level of security the prison happens to be, however, it’s possible that your friend will have to defend himself, anyway. In terms of his ethnicity, some will maintain that the only way to be safe is to split along ethnic lines, that you don’t have a choice. Most white prisoners align themselves with the Aryan Brotherhood. This is in exchange for protection from others not of the Brotherhood. The blacks sometimes split among the gang affiliations to which they belonged on the streets, but if something happens between a white and a black, chances are that there will be a moratorium on gang separations. Hispanics also have a gang. If your friend prefers not to join with anyone, and even if he does, he may, indeed, have to fight. Even if he loses, it will show that he’s not willing to simply let others take advantage of him – and people will be testing him right away. It can be something as minor as trying to take his food, or something as major as trying to make him a ‘punk,’ i.e. a surrogate woman. I can’t offer more specific advice unless I know what he’s going in for or how long he’ll be there or what kind of prison he’s going to. Some prisoners, i.e., pedophiles and child-murderers, are hated by everyone, and likely won’t be helped by any other group, no matter what their ethnicity. I’ll pray for your friend, and I hope he’ll be OK.
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Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,First, I’d like to posit that black people who are incarcerated on drug charges are not going because they were smoking pot. That is, unless they’re selling large quantities, or growing, which is the same reason whites are incarcerated with regard to weed. As far as usage, most blacks who smoke blunts, whether out on the stoop or not, are part of the rap/hip-hop subculture. These folks tend to have kind of a low-grade defiance underpinning whatever they choose to do. I guess the attitude might be, “Well, I have to fear the law anyway, and I just ain’t gonna let ’em scare me all the time.” Kind of a ‘bring it on’ type thing. Resignation, maybe.
In terms of smoking in front of young children, in my ganja days, I noticed that white people also didn’t bother to hide the fact that they were smoking in front of them. They just did it in the house, or in a crowd of people large enough that it would be more trouble than it was worth for any police presence to figure out where ‘that smell’ was coming from. _____________________
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Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Mike, I’m glad that more than one person brought up the fact that African Americans are indeed not the only ones who have been stripped of language, culture, religion, etc. We black people really need to check ourselves on this issue, at least with regard to the indigenous people of this country. To everyone: I don’t know whether or not when black people ‘complain’ that it has only to do with slavery. When I have a hard time, it’s because I get the sense that I don’t really belong anywhere. I’m not an African, and although I might visit Africa some day, I would much rather live here than in many places there. At the same time, I don’t feel fully American, either. My ancestors have likely been here longer than many of the ancestors of white Americans, and despite the fact that every immigrant group has had to suffer greatly to fit into the fabric, they have steadily passed us by. Why? When you’re white, and from Italy, for example, you can learn English with a flawless accent, change your name and blend in. But with dark skin, there is no way to do so. One of the first ways to scrape off your ‘otherness’ as an immigrant was to find someone else to be ‘other’ after you. That was always us. You might be Irish/Italian/Slavic, but at least you weren’t a nigger. Something else i’d like some white people to understand is that ‘keeping black people down’ extends *way* beyond slavery. Please stop reducing all of our feelings down to that. Please stop saying, ‘Slavery ended 200 years ago!’ without understanding that after a brief period, it was simply replaced with sharecropping and Jim Crow, which didn’t end until 1965, not to mention all the small ways we’ve been consistently fucked over almost every time we’ve tried to attain something for ourselves. I think white people have the right to say, ‘Don’t try to make me feel guilty for something I had no part in’, but please learn to tell the difference between someone expecting you to feel guilty and needing to understand that it’s your history, too. No one needs your guilt. I just want people to aknowledge the truth of history. Screw all those who say you’re evil just because you’re white. Don’t fall for that shit. But for goddsake, you can’t tell us to get over it when it’s not over. You can’t tell us to try to change our circumstances instead of complaining, and then accuse us of complaining when we agitate! ______________________
User Detail :
Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,WORD!! (As in, ‘In the beginning was the Word . . .’, i.e., an uncontrivable truth.) Just anticipating. Hee hee! ___________________
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Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,The profile of the average serial killer, according to the FBI, is a white male between the ages of 25 and 45, of above average intelligence.
User Detail :
Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I like peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches! I’m pretty familiar with foods that are considered ‘white’ by some, since I live in Minnesota. I was even raised here, so I guess I’ve grown up eating some of those very foods. Some I haven’t eaten, and have no desire to eat, are more ethnicly associated than generally white, like Lutefisk. For those who don’t know what Lutefisk is, it’s whitefish (I think), prepared in a process that unaccountably includes LYE. You know, that stuff they used to put in our hair relaxers that burned like hell when applied to the scalp. The stuff they used to throw on bodies in mass graves to hasten decomposition. The result is a gelatinous cake of foul-smelling stuff, and it’s a traditional Norwegian dish. When I was in college in Wisconsin, another very white place, I noticed that a lot of people put MACARONI in chili! Is that a white thing? I’ve never seen anyone else do it. Also, some white people I know consider anything seasoned with more than salt and pepper to be spicy.
User Detail :
Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I hate to sound prejudiced, but I’ve always wondered about this, too. Many white people seem oblivious to the people around them, whether they stand in your way and ignore you as you say ‘excuse me,’ forcing you to shove your way between or around them, or whether they are doing the shoving, without saying a word. ___________________
User Detail :
Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I’m sort of ambivalent about it. I have no idea what it was like to live in the past, but from what I’ve been told, it would not have been a difficult decision to make if one were able to get away with it. The contrast in quality of life and opportunity must have been stark. I wonder, however, about the cognitive dissonance such a decision must invite. I recently read a book called The Sweeter The Juice by Shirley Taylor-Haslip that deals with this subject. You might be interested in reading it. It’s a very compelling story. ________________
User Detail :
Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,White people have been adopting the accoutrements of perceived black cool since time immemorial. Usually, this adoption centers on music, because it’s one of the few places that white people seem to feel free to be in contact with black culture. For example, the white youth of the early part of this century accepted the spirit and content of Ragtime. The white youth of the ’20s and the Beats of the ’50s took on the lingo, dress and demeanor of black Jazz musicians. In the ’60s and ’70s, much of the lingo, dress and dance styles came directly from the innovations of black music and communities. Why should this generation be any different? I would only hope that these kids don’t assume that they can gain any enduring understanding of blackness simply by mimicking the way that some blacks speak. Sometimes I think that white kids, and white people in general, embrace our music and dress in lieu of meeting or dealing with any actual black people. But perhaps a white child speaks this way because he was raised in a community where everyone did, and it comes to him/her naturally, like the rap star Emminem, who grew up in the ghetto in Detroit.
User Detail :
Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Maybe this is a regional thing, because I don’t know what you’re talking about.
User Detail :
Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
