Quote from mjw73:
You are really a fool. You mentioned the supposed "ease of being a slave" as a response to those that still hold the belief that black enslavement still has after effects today.
Say that to an african american who holds that view.
To try to diminish the impact of slavery, and the act of slavery is WARPED.
Listen to yourself... "Slavery was bad, BUT"
Say what to an African American? What's the point? Let's face it and just accept the truth that different races are separated by different attributes. We aren't all equal -- there, I said it. There are many ways that different races are different from other races, and it is only the FOOLS that suggest that everyone is equal and that it's ok not to stereotype.
That's just bullshit because we all stereotype on the most basic levels -- what separates the men from the boys is the ability to recognize your predisposition and biases and then learn to control them.
I'm not trying to suggest that slavery was ever a good thing. Sometimes society goes in the wrong direction -- just look at Adolf Hitler, the entire Nazi party during the third-reich and the causes of how Hitler came into power.
Black people aren't the only victims of slavery. You can easily find examples of hispanic slaves, anglo-saxon slaves, etc. However, slavery at it existed 100 years ago doesn't exist in the same form today -- but there are aspects of social-economic slavery throughout our society.
Perhaps in a few hundred years, people will look back at our own U.S. society and see an extreme form of social ugliness. Here we are the richest country in the world and we have millions -- that's right -- MILLIONS of kids and homeless people starving each day.
So naturally I get a little pissed off when African Americans start throwing shit fits about things that happened years ago and how we owe them "continuously" until the end of time.
Why not a WEP channel (White Entertainment Channel)
Why not a NAAPP (National Assoc. Adv. of Puerto-Rican People)
If I go apply for a job at the NAACP and get turned down, can I sue them for reverse discrimination?
What about the women who still get paid 72 cents to the dollar compared to men?
My point is that that everyone has something to bitch about except the creme-de-la-creme of society. What makes the black plight any more or less significant than the billions of chinese locked in a rice-shack while suffering from a communist dictator?
So in conclusion:
I made an grammatical error that, if you take 8 words out of an entire post, might make it seem that I somehow support slavery -- nothing could be further from the truth.
If my daughter brought home a black man to dinner, I'd be surprised. Does that make me a racist? Of course not -- but I can't help my initial reaction of, "What will the neighbor's think, does she really love him, etc" However, I'd temper those reactions with a realization of, "This is just something I'm not used to and it is my responsibility to accept the situation and understand it."
What if the tables were turned around and a black girl brought a white guy to dinner? You don't see many black girls with white guys, but you sure do see plenty of black guys with white guys -- why is that?
Am I dumb? Hardly -- but if you're going to press my buttons by directing attacks at me, I'm not going to pussy-foot the situation.
Some made the best of it, some risked death for freedom.
What exactly is your point? Remember, you claimed that since it wasn't that bad of a life, that many chose to stay. So slavery somehow wasn't bad, or as bad as we made it out to be?
Again, I jumped on you when you tried to diminish slavery AND it's after effects.
My original argument was that not all slaves were treated "poorly." Does this justify slavery? No it does not, but let's get all the facts about slavery before we begin making reparations towards a lot of African-Americans who are demanding it. Why should I pay something to the great-great-grandson of a slave just because my great-great-grandfather may have been a slave owner? This is the same reason why we currently have so much hatred in the world to begin with. Young Israel children are brought up being taught to hate muslims and vice-versa -- but what would a 5 year old have against another 5 year old except the shit adults are feeding them?
Then you go into some self-righteous rant about capitalism, poverty, etc.
What's your fucking point? Because bad stuff happens around the world, that african americans have no right to complain about discrimination/slavery?
Because, if you really want to come full circle, every time you put on a pair of Abercrombie and Finch socks or put on a hat that shows your favorite baseball or basketball team, you are, in a roundabout way, supporting child-labor in some fashion.
The very basis of pure-capitalism is basically turning over society to pure social-darwinism and setting aside protections for those less fortunate or unable to find employment even though they may be able to work.
Pure capitalism is ugly -- Pure socialism is ugly. You need balance, that's my rant really. How does this pertain to slavery? Well, what do slaves do? They're basically the result of capitalism gone haywire.
The jews are still getting reparations from ww2, do you disagree with that as well? Where WOULD you draw the line for paying those back for suffering, from the coffers of those who benefited?
Are you wearing Nike's now? I'll bet 90% of your clothes come from sweatshops.
Am I supposed to go out naked? There isn't too much I can buy that can't be traced back to something that would make most people cringe. That's the sad fact about life -- its like the hamburger you eat from Checkers or Mcdonalds. We want the taste of a good burger but does anyone really want to think about the big machine that drops a live cow into a gigantic meat-grinder and just grinds the thing to death so you can enjoy your #2 meal?
I even attempted to give you a fucking clue, by pointing out that extreme racial oppression, ala slavery days, has been going on since the 1960's. (Jim Crow)
So blacks have been getting blatantly publicly fucked as recently as 40 years ago. Does that deserve your belittling of their past strife?
My whole beef with you was your attempt to diminish the terrible live that slaves were FORCED to live.
Racism is still present today. So is sexism -- in fact, it has probably shifted the course of our nation's politics. Women are still getting the shit end of the stick in the corporate world. The black kids still sit with other black kids at the cafeteria in high-schools and colleges. If they choose to sit with other black kids and I choose to sit with white kids, does that make us racists? Where do you draw the line? Maybe I have more in common with white people than I do black people -- is that racism?
Slavery is horrible, but let's not pretend it doesn't exist today. Why aren't we invading China to free sweat shops? Why aren't we running to all the third-world nations to help out the people who are forced into slavery each day against their will?
Exactly how much do I have to pay other black people? Shouldn't I be paying women, too -- since they've been discriminated against? Why don't we just put everyone in a big long line and ask them who's shit on them and ask them how much they'd like in return?
I'm sorry, but I just don't agree that all slaves were tortured or that African Americans should be entitled to any sort of easier ride today based solely on things that happened before many of us were born.
As far as Jews continuing to get reparations from World War II, I only hope that it isn't coming from other hard working people who had nothing to do with that ugly time period in history.