Anti-racists keep the black man down

[ptmusic]

You may be very "liberal" on most social issues, but it sure ain't because you've listened to or read Larry Elder. Yes, he is african american, but he's made a career out of bucking the trend of african american thinking. In other words, he despises all things liberal.

I actually liked him a lot a few years ago when his show was really more of a libertarian discussion instead of the Republican party infomercial it has become. Even though I'm not a libertarian I could agree with him much of the time. Now he's turned his back on much of what he believed just to cater to the popularity of right-wing radio.

-ptmusic

[sam h]

The position that black people can only make it as athletes or rappers in today's America is obviously ludicrous. The rise of the black middle class and upper middle class in the last fifty years in America is one of the more underappreciated facets of social change in that time period.

However, this does not mean that there are not systematic biases against blacks in many areas of the economy. The truth of the matter is that it is very hard to tell. As in many, many complex social matters, both sides present their evidence and claim opposing findings, but the basic tools of analysis are simply not good enough to reach an overall assessment that is really valid. This of course doesn't stop people from proclaiming "the truth" about the matter.

[Gamblor]

As someone who never gave much thought to this sort of thing before, the fact that my thoughts are 20 years out of date is somewhat comforting.

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This would seem like a good counter-point if it wasn't for the success of Asians.

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Yeah, but Asians don't have quite the same history of slavery/racism as African Americans. There wasn't quite as much legislation (to my knowledge) keeping them separate from equal conditions.

And people (not all, but it happens) most definitely look at skin color when hiring. Me, as a white person, saw this first hand when my mother resigned from her job when her boss demanded that whenever there was a black applicant she write a circled 'B' in the top right hand corner of the application. Who knows how often this happens? Spending 8 years in Georgia (high school and college) I found out just how badly racism is still alive.

African Americans had basically no decent education or opportunites up until around 40 years ago. Then affirmative action. Someone made the claim that the black middle class is exploding. Maybe there's a connection?

[ACPlayer]

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Even more disturbing is the demand for legislation to ensure black representation in executive positions.

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First I have heard of this. Can I have a link for this?

I think you mean "haven't" heard of this. I haven't either. Please post a link.

[Autocratic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This would seem like a good counter-point if it wasn't for the success of Asians.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, but Asians don't have quite the same history of slavery/racism as African Americans. There wasn't quite as much legislation (to my knowledge) keeping them separate from equal conditions.

And people (not all, but it happens) most definitely look at skin color when hiring. Me, as a white person, saw this first hand when my mother resigned from her job when her boss demanded that whenever there was a black applicant she write a circled 'B' in the top right hand corner of the application. Who knows how often this happens? Spending 8 years in Georgia (high school and college) I found out just how badly racism is still alive.

African Americans had basically no decent education or opportunites up until around 40 years ago. Then affirmative action. Someone made the claim that the black middle class is exploding. Maybe there's a connection?

[/ QUOTE ]

40 years ago is probably giving it too much credit. That's really when institutionalized racism eased up (think COINTELPRO). Blacks had already been left in inner cities by a rapidly evacuating white middle class, and, being poor and crowded in cities, the cycles of poverty and violence have perpetuated, certainly not helped by black pop culture.

Nice post. Kudos for pointing out COINTELPRO. I can't believe I just used 'kudos'

[BreakfastBurrito]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, but Asians don't have quite the same history of slavery/racism as African Americans. There wasn't quite as much legislation (to my knowledge) keeping them separate from equal conditions.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this is the general assumption of a lot of people, and I think that is a definitively false assumption. My history on the subject is not as good as it should be, but I found an article below that summarizes some of the experiences of Chinese and Japanese immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It's written with a pretty strong point of view, but I believe it is mostly historically accurate.

History of Discrimination against Asians in America

[Autocratic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, but Asians don't have quite the same history of slavery/racism as African Americans. There wasn't quite as much legislation (to my knowledge) keeping them separate from equal conditions.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this is the general assumption of a lot of people, and I think that is a definitively false assumption. My history on the subject is not as good as it should be, but I found an article below that summarizes some of the experiences of Chinese and Japanese immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It's written with a pretty strong point of view, but I believe it is mostly historically accurate.

History of Discrimination against Asians in America

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of groups had a tough time in a American to begin with (perhaps all groups aside from the English, really). Nevertheless, it was never so institutionalized as with blacks, and this institutionalized racial tension only ended fairly recently from a historical perspective. Asian-Americans were not stranded in the inner city after years of being pushed to the sidelines in America.