Attitudes Causing Racist Abuse.

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I have noticed something among the black people I know. There are very few black people and I know more of them then most due to connections with my faith as they moved into this area to share their faith.
Now one if them has been the victim of the odd racial attacks but the others have not and while I can say that no onw should be attacked, I can see why. He comes across as confrontational in his character, but he keeps agitating the race issue and he keeps going back blaming the whites for slavery.
I asked him once about his ancestors when he started mentioning slavery. I asked him if his ancestors came into the UK as slaves. No. His Dad was invited into the UK in the 1950's with the promise of a job with better pay and conditions then they would have had back where they came from, so his Dad took it, like thousands of others had.
So I asked him if there was slavery amongst his ancestors. He said not that I know of BUT (And then he went on to go back to talking about slavery).
This really made no sense to me. He is not a slave. His family line had o slavery. Why then does he have such a hang up about the whites? His family are not only better off, but he has a lovely white wife who is kind and ever so patient with him and yes, he dearly loves her too. They are a great couple!
It came to me that because he keeps raizing the race issue, is why he gets the occasional person retaliate, and those that do are not retaliating because he is black, but rhey retaliate because he starts bringing up the race issue and by doing this, the whites who have no self control retaliate and things can potentially get out of hand.

The reason why I state why the British started getting involved in the slave trade was to stop their own people being enslaved by the African pirates, and deals were done in which the British paid a very high price in these deals to stop their own people from being taken from the British shores, where there was an estimated 10 white people snatched from the shores of Europe foe every black person that the British bought as a slave during the years the British were involved. Now the reason why I state this is not ro be anti black but to say that whites had slavery too. Just because the tables were turned at one point in time, does not mean that one has to keep going back to the past. We live here now today and you are not slaves. You are free.

Often people refer to their upbringing as to why they don't have education and prosperity. Well. It is exactly the same for white people. Look where I lice and have grown up, where I have been classed as a second class citizen because I refuse to give in and join the local mafia group because I refuse to get involved in their crimes. So I end up with not getting the same opportunities as they get. But if I wanted to, I could move and get really good prospects and the same goes for everyone else.

Look. If racism is a big deal in America and in Britain it will not be a thing if one is black and one lives in a country where the majority of people are black, and also, one would be thought of in very high regards by some. I am not saying one should do this, but what I am saying is you are not a slave. You are free to do that if you want to. The past is the past. Let it go. Get into the mindset that you can prosper if you set your mind to it, and your prosperity has nothing to do with your skin colour, but it is to do with sheer hard work, a positive mindset and never giving up when things get tough.

Look. What is the difference between those that made it to the top and those who did not? You may say it is because they are white. But is this really the difference? Look at Elon Musk. Yes he is white but he was bullied through school like crazy. Do you think if he gave up he would be where he is now? Look at Richard Branson. He may have grown up in a privelidged background but he was stone broke and without hope at one point in his life. He picked himself up, saw an opportunity and he went for it, and had many ups and downs in his career, but he made it. Why? He was persistent.
You have the same potential. Now not everyone needs to set their standards so high, and yes, there is a lot of competition out there. But what I am saying is that you are free to start off and sow into your future hopes ad dreams just like everyone else. Do not look at your skin colour as a negative. A white person can also do that. Look at your potential.
And a thought. Whites who thrive. Is it really because of their skin colour or is it that their race tends to stick it out through all the flack and adversity more the others do?
And let me finish with one last example of someone who made it to the top despite all the flack he had through trying, and like him or not, you have got to give him credit for having the sheer guts to push through the barriers set against him. He risked his entire fortunes to do it. Take a look at Donald Trump. Yes. He is white, but look at what he risked and the amount of criticism he had when he said he wanted to go for president. He refused to back down to the flak and he went forth and made it.
Now YOU have that potential. If you are as dedicated and as willing to put your hand to the plough and not look back, you will succeed.
Think of an unploughed field. The first time the field will be ploughed will ALWAYS be the toughest. One will be hitring stones and heavy hard soil. But 30 years of ploughing later and look how easy the ground is!
So remember that in your life.
Have goals. Have ambition, and take your hand to the plough and don't look back. And do not base it on your skin colour as you will start comparing with others and be swayed off target, but base it on being YOU! YOU can make it! Start small and develop your business or career or whatever you want to do and go for it.
Andwhat is the very worst that could happen. You don't make it? But even if that happens, you will be far better off trying then not trying at all, and put it this way. It is like a man or woman who has a dollar or a dime and does nothing with it and complains that they are not rich. Yet they have in their very hands the seeds of opportunity!

If one hangs out with enough black people, one realizes there's as much variation in character amongst black people as amongst non-black people.

I used to have a racist mindset as a child. Then I started actually hanging out with black people. I soon realized that I felt many commonalities with them----because they are people, and because they faced discrimination. I am a person, and I have faced discrimination.

You have black folks who use their "race" as an excuse. Absolutely! Then you have those who have been genuinely the victim of discrimination. I've known both types.

You also have poor folks in general (of all races) who come up with excuses all the time as to why they are in their condition. Then you have poor folks who are poor because of circumstances beyond their control. I've known both types.

It's wrong to generalize on the basis of race. Emphasize the individual in judging individuals.

And.....there are many black folks who would say the same thing: screw the past, move forward!

1. As everywhere - when you show confrontational attitude, you get into fights. That's universal.
2. I deeply doubt your sources of historical data.
3. When in doubt - be nice

The European slave trade of Africans had nothing to do with the enslavement of Europeans by the Barbary pirates. The Barbary pirates were north African; the people the British enslaved were from sub-Saharan Africa.
According to Wikipedia the Barbary pirates enslaved up to 1.2 million people, while Europeans enslaved 12-12.8 million Africans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_slave_trade
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_slave_trade

And even if what you said was correct it wouldn't have justified the enslavement of innocent people. Almost anyone will be confrontational if you try to excuse their enslavement.

I believe we should extract two separate topics from the OP:
1. Atlantic slave trade and New World slavery were really a massive crime against humanity with lasting impact and it shouldn't be ever denied or downplayed, especially when talking to people somehow affected by it;
2. Most African Europeans and Africans, unlike African Americans, aren't direct descendants of survivors of this crime (though they can be survivors of many other crimes). Failing to understand this can result in various faulty generalisations.

I don't know about Britain, I have an American perspective but I think it should still mostly apply. I think it is totally understandable for black people to bring up racial issues, even in antagonistic ways, because they have as a community experienced some heinous abuse, and still experience discrimination today. The research shows that pretty clearly. And even if his family was never enslaved, I'd say he has a right to be upset that people who look like him were ensalved en-masse, that entire industries were built on it, and that racist ideologies were built to justify it. And trying to compare the two by saying "Whites were enslaved too!" really doesn't help. Especially because the Barbary slave trade, while terrible, really was not on the same level as the Transatlantic trade.

I'm sure black people, in general, have ambition, and see their own potential and all that. They don't need a benevolent white man to come down and tell them to hold their heads up high. You can't tell an entire racial group to believe in themselves without sounding horribly condescending. I'm sure you didn't mean to come across that way, but that's how it sounds. Telling people to have a "can-do" attitude is a pretty weak response when they complain about facing poorer job prospects, longer prison sentences, etc.