Stereotyping and worry for my grandsons

[Bad Barlow]

Fox Mike; The BEST PFC I had in my 36th Arty bde Hq commo unit on Osan AFB in Korea was a black kid, when asked I HIGHLY recommended him for promotion to E-4; The WORST Pfc was another black who couldn't even be sent across the parking lot for a pot of coffee from the mess hall ; The 1st Sgt (another black) set him straight on WHY he was never recommended for promotion.

Me, 4th Grade, Millington Tenn; Mom what do those signs mean? Both those fountains look WHITE to me; My Mom taught me to never be prejudiced from the time I was tiny.

Racism is learned.
The people who excuse it by stereotyping perpetuate the teaching of it.

 

[Dave P.]

You are very wrong.

Well overall I might be, but speaking for myself I judge a person by how they act, speak and the types of people they have in their lives. I believe most of the people that I associate with on a regular basis ( customers, friends, etc ) seem about the same. Will grant you that people tend surround them selves with like minded individuals so maybe I've got no clue.

 

[Bad Barlow]

Well overall I might be, but speaking for myself I judge a person by how they act, speak and the types of people they have in their lives. I believe most of the people that I associate with on a regular basis ( customers, friends, etc ) seem about the same. Will grant you that people tend surround them selves with like minded individuals so maybe I've got no clue.

I was actually referring to the small minded person that posted the " nobody cares" meme, directly above my reply.
People with a heart obviously do care about racism,as shown by many of the responses in this thread.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

The Black community is responsible for the greater amount of prejudice that continues because they refuse to step up and take responsibility for the violence they cause!(IMHO) FBI data has shown for decades that 87% of all violent crime is committed by blacks (12.5% pop.), yet, Not one community leader ever voices their disdain for this violence. Your children will need to stand above the stereotypes and reality, and do what needs to be done to disassociate themselves from this epidemic in the Black community. I can think of very few people I know who would give Condoleezza Rice or Colin Powell a hard time if they were their neighbors. It is all about what you choose to do with your life and how you do it. They can be very successful if they leave the "black" baggage and excuses behind, and decide to make their lives a positive example for others. It takes work everyday, but frankly, it takes work for everyone else too. (IMHO) I wish them good luck, and with your help they will do fine.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

That is the problem, people need to care about these issues.


Thank you for saying this. I couldn’t agree more.

I know it’s anecdotal but when we lived in NJ for 2 years, I was never, not once hassled by the police while driving. We had good friends from Puerto Rico, he got stopped several times a month. He was well dressed, business attire, drove a Lexus, and couldn’t have been that bad of a driver. Chance? Bad luck? Stereotyping? Who can really say.

There are enough stories like this, I just tend to believe them.

I was never followed or harassed by the police when I was young. Age doesn’t have much to do with it.

I was stopped many times in NJ, PA and NY. SO, I disagree (politely) with your assessment.

 

[eveled]

Racism is learned.
The people who excuse it by stereotyping perpetuate the teaching of it.

It is also taught by people who assume they are being discriminated against even if they are not. Or even worse using it as a tool to get treated better.

My kids were raised to be color blind. Skin color means nothing to them.

My oldest was maybe ten playing organized basketball. There were 2 black twins that everytime they got called for a foul by the referee would loadly protest saying “it’s because Im black!”

These are ten year old kids. I had to explain to my kids why the black kids thought they were different than us. Even though they were the same and being treated the same.

It took other black kids to step up and tell them to shut up and clean up their game.

It also made me wonder what the twins were being taught at home.

My point is black people sometimes can be their own worst enemy.

Like I said before my family is color blind.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Racism is learned.
The people who excuse it by stereotyping perpetuate the teaching of it.

I agree it can be learned, it can also be accurate. When in Marine OCS Blacks played the race card daily to get out of work, the Instructors did not want to deal with it so they just picked to whites guys to do the job. FACT. Those blacks earned every bit or prejudice and racism that came their way.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

It is also taught by people who assume they are being discriminated against even if they are not.

My kids were raised to be color blind. Skin color means nothing to them.

My oldest was maybe ten playing organized basketball. There were 2 black twins that everytime they got called for a foul by the referee would loadly protest saying “it’s because Im black!”

These are ten year old kids. I had to explain to my kids why the black kids thought they were different than us. Even though they were the same and being treated the same.

It took other black kids to step up and tell them to shut up and clean up their game.

It also made me wonder what the twins were being taught at home.

My point is black people sometimes can be their own worst enemy.

Like I said before my family is color blind.

Blacks are their own worse enemy. Too many years living on excuses for failure. Time to stop complaining and to step up and take responsibility for themselves.(IMHO)

 

[eveled]

Vito. You did right by your son. You gave him a home you gave him love you raised him right. You gave him a roll model and set him up to be a great dad.

Its families like yours that are going to eventually stop racism.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Vito. You did right by your son. You gave him a home you gave him love you raised him right. You gave him a roll model and set him up to be a great dad.

Its families like yours that are going to eventually stop racism.

Nothing works better than parents & family! By being there for them you give them the very best opportunity and chance for success that anyone can have.

 

[blume357]

I hate to say it but the solution or best choice for your grandsons is for them to just assume they are being profiled and over compensate for it... in other words tone everything down and don't react negatively or especially aggressive to anything they see as derogatory....

Here is why we see what we see... Example: Bloomberg as mayor of NYC decided to stop and search 'only' young black men for guns and low and behold what did they find? Some of them were carrying guns.... So the obvious statistical proof is that young. black men are dangerous and carrying gun and this just justifies the searches and continuing them. Kind of like doing research on auto accidents where the car went out of control when it is raining or had just rained and discovering that most of this is because the cars had slick tires and the people driving were of a 'poorer class''. thus poor people wreck more often and drive poorly.....

 

[dweis]

I think that the OP’s concerns are justified at a minimum in some, not all, social circles. Deep rooted prejudices die hard. The evidence provided by the extremists of different races is proof enough. As a young man I thought that education and religious beliefs would gradually change that. Now, 60 years later I see too little progress to be optimistic.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

There sure isn’t an easy answer to this. They will have to work twice as hard to prove themselves. There are just too many instances of passive discrimination. There are a lot of “Karen’s” in the world that are going to pass judgement before your son and grandsons say or do anything. I think you are right to worry.

There are also just as many people who have had poor or bad experiences with Blacks through no fault of their own. stop making excuse for them.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

I think that the OP’s concerns are justified at a minimum in some, not all, social circles. Deep rooted prejudices die hard. The evidence provided by the extremists of different races is proof enough. As a young man I thought that education and religious beliefs would gradually change that. Now, 60 years later I see too little progress to be optimistic.

I do not consider decades of proven vetted dat compiled by the FBI to be extremist.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

I hate to say it but the solution or best choice for your grandsons is for them to just assume they are being profiled and over compensate for it... in other words tone everything down and don't react negatively or especially aggressive to anything they see as derogatory....

Here is why we see what we see... Example: Bloomberg as mayor of NYC decided to stop and search 'only' young black men for guns and low and behold what did they find? Some of them were carrying guns.... So the obvious statistical proof is that young. black men are dangerous and carrying gun and this just justifies the searches and continuing them. Kind of like doing research on auto accidents where the car went out of control when it is raining or had just rained and discovering that most of this is because the cars had slick tires and the people driving were of a 'poorer class''. thus poor people wreck more often and drive poorly.....

using your logic, Yes, poor people drive worse because they use vehicles that are unsafe. No excuse for that. Poor people have more wrecks. See # 1. If you can't afford to have a safe vehicle then do not drive. You do not endanger everyone else.

 

[Kevin]

There are also just as many people who have had poor or bad experiences with Blacks through no fault of their own. stop making excuse for them.

The simple fact that there are more white people in the USA leads me to believe African Americans are more often on the receiving end of these stereotypical biases.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

The simple fact that there are more white people in the USA leads me to believe African Americans are more often on the receiving end of these stereotypical biases.

The fact that 12.5% of the population commit 87% of all violent crime(FBI data) leads me to the opposite conclusion.

 

[dweis]

I do not either. Poor communication on my part. I should have written demonstrated by extremists rather than provided by.

 

[hittman]

Oh there’s no shortage of stereotypes applied to all types of people …. All sexes, races, religions, nationalities, etc. No “group“ is immune from stereotype, no group is without blame.

 

[vito]

I hate to say it but the solution or best choice for your grandsons is for them to just assume they are being profiled and over compensate for it... in other words tone everything down and don't react negatively or especially aggressive to anything they see as derogatory....

Here is why we see what we see... Example: Bloomberg as mayor of NYC decided to stop and search 'only' young black men for guns and low and behold what did they find? Some of them were carrying guns.... So the obvious statistical proof is that young. black men are dangerous and carrying gun and this just justifies the searches and continuing them. Kind of like doing research on auto accidents where the car went out of control when it is raining or had just rained and discovering that most of this is because the cars had slick tires and the people driving were of a 'poorer class''. thus poor people wreck more often and drive poorly.....

I doubt that Mayor Bloomberg told the police to focus their "stop and frisk" actions on Black youth. More likely they were told to use their skills and experience to spot potential violent criminals and to stop and frisk them. Since the overwhelming majority of violent crime in our society is committed by young Black men, the police disproportionately stopping such individuals would not be racist, but a reasonable judgment. However, that does nothing for the majority of young Black men, and women, who are not criminals.