What is not racism?

BEFORE YOU READ THINS YOU SHOULD TAKE A LOOK AT THAT ARTICLE AND THE COMMENTS IT PROVOKED.

Very interesting article.
Instead of trying to solve the race problem, maybe we should try to learn how to reduce it.
I think the next step to this movement is for everyone to start informing eachother.

What is racism? (looking for comments here)

If you can ask yourself what is racism, you can ask yourself, WHAT IS NOT RACISM?

People seem to be looking for racism and perhaps they are finding it because that it is what they are looking for.

The article said people are looking for racism and waiting to pull out their race card, so it makes me wonder... How many people are looking for racism on a day-to-day basis? My gut tells me this would have a profound increase on the very thing we are trying to eliminate.

With complex issue like racism, let us do what mathematicians do... Eliminate what it is not.

What do I think racism is not?.....
I don't think calling people that like trucks and guns "rednecks" is racist. They are just a group of kids that like guns and trucks... B.F.D... they are a group of friends with similar interests. Instead of taking offense, let us be careful about how we say things, but more importantly, let us be careful on how we interpret things. It does not mean that all people from a small town are "rednecks," or anything else. I just mean the person who wrote that comment noticed some people were potentially being racist. This comes back to what I was talking about with the symbols. What a symbol means to me may not mean the same thing to others, so we need to be aware of both sides of interpretations. Eliminating as much confusion/misunderstanding as possible will benefit us greatly.


I think that understanding what racism is not will reduce it as a whole. Not only that, but it will make this complex problem a little simpler. Once we can understand what racism is not, then we will all have a better idea on what it really is.

In other words, my approach is to minimize the definition of racism to the best of our ability. By doing this we will reduce it as a whole, increase our understanding and perhaps find a more practicle approach to eliminating racism once and for all. Maybe not in our life times, but maybe in our children's...

Does anyone know what I am talking about, or am I just crazy?
I would really appreciate your feedback.

What is racism?
What is not?
Is this a good idea or a bad one?

Please help!

Excellent Article on the Discussion of Race

Here is a really thought provoking op-ed piece by Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald on why we as a society are lousy at discussing race in a meaningful way. Check it out and leave your thoughts. I'm going to chime in later with my thoughts.

Cartoon

I was watching the news last night and they showed the protesters that were protesting the cartoon that ran in the New York Post. It showed a police officer that had shot a chimp and another one said that they would have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill. The protesters were calling it racist and chanted shut down the Post. They said that the dead chimp was suppose to be the President. First of all, I did not tie the dead chimp to the President. It was obvious that the cartoon was portraying the chimp that attacked a person in Conn. earlier this week. I didn't see any of these protesters protesting when President Bush was made to be a monkey or bashed him. Where were they for that? It seems to me that they are saying that it is okay to bash white Presidents, but not other race Presidents. Who's the real racist here? It appears to me that people like the protesters are just looking for things to get pissed about and chant stupid stuff. The President is going to be bashed by cartoons no matter who they are. It comes with the job title. I say to the protesters get a life and go to work. If you don't have a job, then try looking for one. You apparently have the time.

I was watching the news the other night (on President's Day) and I saw something pretty interesting. There was a man, who was supposed to be Abraham Lincoln, giving a speech that Lincoln had given while in his presidency. The speech he was giving was drowned out by the loud voices of activists shouting out for Native American's lives and yelling about how they were disrespected and completely ruined during Lincoln's presidency. I am not sure what to think about this. I do not think that the people speaking against the speech were wrong in what they were doing, but it almost seemed disrespectful to the man giving the speech. He was just there to talk. He wasn't actually Abraham Lincoln. And he couldn't even speak because the noise around him was drowning him completely out. I understand that these people had a right and a reason to do what they did. But, I was a little taken back at the way they did it. Like I said, I don't think that it was wrong of them. But, they were punishing a man who was just reading off a piece of paper and happened to grow a beard to do it, he wasn't actually Abraham Lincoln.

Reparations

I have been asked the question of whether or not I believe the United States should give African Americans reparations for their enslavement a couple centuries ago, and for the laws that kept their race segregated and initially inferior for the color of their skin. I have been asked this many times, and I feel that it is hard to answer this question with a correct answer. So I will attempt to give a profound opinion other than yes or no.
With the knowledge I have accumulated over my lifespan of 20 years, I do not today believe we should give reparations to all Black people living in the United States today because I do not think money and or tangible things are the type of currency that should be used in order to aid past and present racism and pay back for the cruelty our ancestors bestowed upon Black people. Inevitably in our world, these reparations will get old, and racism I believe will still prevail. What I have seen today are programs out there to help minorites of all different colors to better themselves, no matter the hinderance of their past. Welfare is one system, however the problem with welfare is that it rewards people for not working. What I think is intersting is looking back to the 1600's, people living in West Africa had the same values, education, family dynamics as we have today, however slavery in America has today created this idea of how a Black person should be, act, wear their clothing, speak. So how has throwing money at a problem ( like the US has done for everything-for example reparations for Native Americans) made a difference or created equality in human beings living in the US? I believe the problem is innate, and for African Americans to finally be seen as just human beings, and not people who had ancestors long ago that were slaves of white people, it is going to take a change of family values in their homes, and the ability to see that they are human beings, and have every right and ability to suceed in this country and the world as any other race or person. That is why I do not believe we should give reparations any longer, because it is just throwing money at a problem that will never be fixed unless the people who wish to better themselves stand up and say that they will no longer go down the same path expecting different results.

The Power of Symbols

Symbols are everywhere and are used to understand everything. In all reality, it makes no diffrence if a symbol is appealing based on appearence. The only thing that matters is the symbolism. For example, I am not Jewish. I would admit that the two over lapping triangles to make the Star of David looks rather cool. However, I know that it represents a certain belief in faith and it is used to shrink down the complexities of Judaism to a simple symbol. That being said, I would never represent this cool looking sign because of my personal beliefs.

Same principle with the cross and how it represents the coming of the son of "God" and that he died for our sins. The list can go on forever.

What is the difference between a non-believer representing faith signs and "non-racists" representing the Confederate flag? It makes no difference if in one's own mind, different meanings are created. What do certain signs mean to the majority of the population? Where do signs originate from and what is its purpose? This is what people have to be accountable for and before any symbols are represented, people have to understand what interpretations are going to be made by the people observing.

Something Real

The media may have something to do with that, but why not focus of what is real. Back in the day, N.W.A rapped about how it is hard to be black in America and the real shit going on in their lives. Now days all I feel I am hearing is fake bull shit. Instead of embracing the stereotypes to make a little money, why not talk about the reality of things and use that voice to create a movement? That is the only way things will change for the better.

It is as if some of todays rappers portray that the gang life is the only way to get ahead anymore. It is thought of as lucky if some of these gang members live to thirty. I'm sorry, but how the hell is that getting ahead? What good is money when you are dead?

I am only saying, the greatest and most powerful black speakers of all times never said do whatever it takes to make money, he said something along the lines of holding hands and keep walking.