The condescending attitude towards blacks in America

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I seriously doubt many will agree with me here, considering the past conversations had on here about similar topics. But I'd like to ask, at least consider the things I've written honestly, and if you want to respond by attacking me, just don't. I don't want to fight, I want to have a conversation.

That being said, I want to talk about what I think is an attitude of condescension and low expectations towards black people. I've encountered this many times, both on the internet and elsewhere (including this forum, and in my life generally). I wouldn't call it an extremely common attitude except among the very socially liberal ("liberal"), but it is common enough that people generally don't bat an eye.

At its most extreme, the idea is that it is the responsibility of white people to take care of black people, under the assumption that every bad thing that happens to black people, or any bad thing they do themselves, is simply because they are black, and according to many people in America, being black automatically makes life way harder. We are taught this at a very young age, and as a result we become very sensitive about how we act around, or in regards to, black people. To sum this mindset up: being black makes life harder, even much harder; white people should be particularly accepting of and helpful to black people to balance this out, sometimes by giving them more or treating them more sensitively, lowering standards (affirmative action) etc.

So I want ask: is this not judging entirely by skin color? Is it not treating an entire race of people in a way that demeans them, by implying they are all more vulnerable than us "privileged" whites, by nature of them being black?

To me, this attitude seems very condescending, and I wouldn't be shocked if many black people found it insulting. It sometimes comes across in seemingly innocuous phrases like, "I think blacks are people," or, "I don't see you as black, I'm colorblind." Things like that. I imagine that most black people don't like hearing those sorts of things, and would probably find it annoying if not downright demeaning. If someone said to me, "I think you are a person, too," I would immediately dislike the person, for their implication that I might not be. It's a backhanded compliment. Things like this are just participation trophies whites give to blacks; not for the benefit of black people, but to make the trophy-givers feel good about themselves. "I helped out that poor black guy by letting him know that I accept his humanity, despite his black skin." I know that's likely not the actual thought going through such a person's head, but that's how it sounds to me. People say out loud that they believe blacks are people, as if to convince themselves. I find it odd, and a little disturbing, considering how common this is.

A more extreme example of this attitude is seen with some people's reaction to the Milwaukee riots. To summarize what happened, an armed black man was shot by a black police officer, and somehow this was twisted to be the murder of yet another "innocent" black man by a supposedly racist cop. Over 200 black people responded to this by gathering, initially to protest, but quickly turned to looting, rioting, burning businesses and police vehicles, and assaulting police officers, as well as any white citizen who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. All because a black police officer shot a dangerous criminal.

If this was any other group of people doing such a thing, nobody would even think to defend them. In particular, a group of whites would likely have many people calling for their deaths, if they were attacking black motorists and chanting "White power!". Either way, what this small group of blacks did (which in no way represents all blacks, or is evidence of some struggle that all blacks face) was completely stupid and wrong; it was dangerous, criminal behavior motivated by hatred. There was no justification for it. Even if this was a true case of a racist cop killing an innocent black man in cold blood, this behavior would not at all be justified or acceptable. The fact that it was a black cop shooting an armed criminal makes it that much more ridiculous that this happened.

Yet, I see many people who immediately want to say it's understandable, or say they disagree in principle but they can see why they did it. Yes, because you can see that they are black, right? They simply have life so hard, they are forced to steal boxes of Cheez Its and liters of soda from a BP gas station, and subsequently burn it down while chanting, "Black power, Black power!"

If you believe that this is understandable based on the fact that they are black, I can only assume that you have a very low expectation of blacks and their behavior. Regardless of how hard their life might be, this is not in any way acceptable or understandable behavior, and it certainly should not be dismissed on the basis of race.

And by the way, I'm sure plenty of black people are completely pissed at these morons. Not only are their actions deplorable, but white people immediately assume that they did it because they're black and oppressed, like they think all blacks are oppressed, and by doing so they group in all blacks, including the most upstanding citizens, with these scum, as if they are the same just because they're black. It doesn't matter if you think they did it because you think black people are violent inherently, or because you think all black people suffer from some form of racism which makes them violent. You still think black people are more violent, or that violence is more acceptable when it's coming from a black person. It's not ok.

At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if some black people started openly calling for the deaths of, or even actually murdering, innocent people, and still had people defending them and minimizing their actions... oh, yeah, that's already happened. How depressing.

You start reasonable but then descend into nonsense... no one ever defended murder, the point of defeating racism isn't to have the reverse, but equality... it may be idealistic, but it clearly won't be achieved by simply blaming one group or another.

On Twitter literally everything happens... so, yes, it may be from both sides, but hopefully only a minority of extremists, although social media makes it look like they got lots of supporters...

Ultimately, of course, it's not that but government that can enable change even if tension is present... surely that won't dissolve away with the Republicans around. They may not all be extremist, but they happen to have a nominee who is...

"Road to urban despair paved by Democrats"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/colu ... olumn.html

"We've created government systems that maintain human beings in poverty and ignorance so that politicians can count on their votes. And that is a crime against morality.... Blame is assessed and pressed like hot iron into the flanks of the rich, or of 'corporations,' and others with means, a moronic and frightening misunderstanding of how jobs are created. It is as if 'The Big Rock Candy Mountain' has become economic policy. And by such logic all we must do is lower the rich into a giant cauldron, add salt and bay leaves and boil them down for soup to soothe the neighborhoods on fire... What isn't discussed enough when riots happen and neighborhoods burn is the one thing most common to all these decaying urban tinderboxes. They're run by Democrats. Baltimore is a Democratic city, Milwaukee is a Democratic city, Chicago, Detroit, and on and on. This is a most inconvenient truth. This is what binds them."

Lyndon Johnson is the father of most of this poverty and chaos.

There is a problem, but so is the issue that many people seemingly think it's not a police problem either when clearly they kill far more people than anywhere else...

And Darmok, I assume you think "Head Start, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), TRIO, and Job Corps"... are part of the problem? How was the so-called War on Poverty wrong when it did decrease it, even if it recently increased?

Trust me....if a black person thought I was condescending, he/she wouldn't be my friend.

People in New York are blunt that way.

Evils and whose to blame
1. Wealth gap -- Racist whites
2. Education gap -- Racist whites
3. Home ownership gap -- Racist whites
4. Employment gap -- Racist whites
5. Poverty gap - Racist whites
6. Gentrification -- Racist whites
7. Poor drinking water in Flint --Racist whites
8. Over-representation of minorities incarcerated -- Systemic White Racism
9. Harsh laws -- Systemic White Racism

Just search google.

As far as left-leaning CNN is concerned, "black" is the same as "felon":



Race bigotry, class bigotry, and gender bigotry are the lifeblood of the left.

I do think white privilege is a thing. It is easier to be white in most countries (Zimbabwe being an obvious exception), due to a combination of average "starting point" and prejudice, and we have to be aware of that. I think it's a much greater obstacle than any condescending attitude.

I haven't been following Milwaukee, but from the little I've seen it doesn't seem like the riots are at all justified. But I think we've still got to look at them in context, which is that police systematically over-target black people, this leads to too many black people being killed, and so people are particularly sensitive to black people being killed (even when the case is, in isolation, a justifiable homicide).

All Americans have a responsibility to do their part to tackle social issues in America. To a lesser extent, all people have a responsibility to tackle social issues around the world. Sometimes our solutions are terrible - for example, affirmative action has probably harmed African-American incomes. Right now, African-Americans generally feel less safe around police than white Americans do, and even if that's completely irrational, it's becoming a major social issue.

Three potential solutions come to mind. First, reduce the role of law enforcement in people's lives. End the war on drugs, encourage institutions like schools to solve problems without calling the police, focus less on traffic stops and other minor infractions, and remove financial incentives for "fighting crime" - by which I mean things like private prisons putting pressure on lower rungs to send more their way, or police departments using tickets as a major revenue source. Secondly, make sure police are aware of and sensitive to the frustrations of individuals who are frequently stopped. Thirdly, tackle the causes of crime - systemic poverty, poor schools, boredom, a lack of alternatives, and a lack of role models. These all apply to the black community to a greater extent, but they are not "black-exclusive" problems. There's also a big extent to which they relate - destroying the Prison-Industrial complex and taking drugs out of the hands of gangs will increase the number of role models and community leaders in black communities.

Bonus solution: make schools financially dependable on parental approval, and compete with each other. I do not know whether a voucher system is viable, or how you'd deal with logistical challenges, but teaching standards need to be high across the board.

Darmok, I'm amazed you can twist the context in such a way even with a screenshot... you're the one who's making the connection in your mind, and what a surprise that the first ten or so results in a quick search are all fascist... and you don't even respond to anything? What's the point of posting here if that is all you do?

If you want to avoid condescending to black people, then you might start by calling them black people instead of just "blacks". Racist people tend to use "blacks" instead of black people, and you wouldn't want to lump yourself in with racists by using the same language as them, would you?