Quote from hapaboy:
Are most of the black people I have known in my life "pricks"? No. Some of the finest people I have known in my life are black, and some of the worst have also been black.
But, I can tell you that the number of asshole blacks compared to non-asshole blacks that I have encountered in my lifetime is around the 40% figure that Pabst has mentioned.
Does this make me racist?
hap, I always welcome your comments and in just these few lines I sense a difference between your outlook and that of Pabst. The difference seems to be your understanding that even though 40% of blacks you have met are assholes ( a figure which I can't relate to, since my experience has been so different), your next meeting with a black guy will be informed by what you see and feel off of him as an individual, not him as a 'black guy'. That's why I included the bit about 'if the next black guy you run into is wearing a baseball cap sideways and calling you a cracker...'
I too have had negative experiences with black people, including violent ones. I have also developed the impression that blacks as a group run their businesses in a different manner than other cultures.
I want to turn this around and ask you - what would you tell your kids? If you tell them that 40% of black people are assholes and not to be trusted and likely to want to do you harm... is that the right thing to do?
And again, this figure of 40%... isn't it possible that you are not running into enough of the black people with whom a face-to-face experience would tend to pull that ratio the other way? I mean, it sounds like you guys are really saying that 60% of black people are 'pricks' or 'assholes', and it seems to me that you are saying that because of the highly visible punk ghetto-acting types that you encounter or see. But are we talking about 40% of blacks
worldwide?? Doesn't that strike you as a huge number? Eastern European blacks? Africans (the absurd comments about SA blacks being 'daughter-rapers' aside)? Canadian blacks (quite a big population here in Toronto)? What about South America where huge segments of the population have varying degrees of black blood running through their veins? All of the Caribbean? Are you guys talking about American blacks? We already had someone who thinks similarly weigh in from OZ/NZ. What did you think of those comments - the idea that 'my friend told me that SA blacks are daughter-rapers'? I mean, that is just a ridiculous generalization, isn't it?
I can tell you one thing - more like 80% of the black punks I see hanging around downtown and doing nothing but terrorizing other kids and posing for their bros and planning their next mugging are pricks. But what about all the suburban blacks, who live their lives just like any other middle class family?
It is stupid to say that we can't or shouldn't use our knowledge, gained by experience, to make our way through the world. In a sense, to me, it doesn't matter if 40% of black people are pricks (an idea I reject). I will still strive to treat every black person I meet with respect until they show me that I should do otherwise. And no, I won't 'wait until the knife is at my throat' to make the call. I know goddamn well which punk is a danger to me and I judge him without him saying a word to me and I take appropriate measures to defend my life and my property.
And a last question is this... why is it that so many young white men are compelled to imitate their black peers? And I am not even talking about urban men - I went to a small town in Ontario recently and I saw a group of young punks hanging out on a corner with their hats on sideways and their pants on backwards doing the 'yo yo' thing... and they were white!! There wasn't a black kid in sight! A weird phenomenon, isn't it? Maybe this is what upsets a lot of people.
Last is the suggestion that there are 2.5 times as many black assholes as white assholes.. what do you make of that?
You showed me your character in the way you handled that other situation. I have yet to see Pabst post anything that would indicate that he is capable of the same degree of reflection. If I am shown to be wrong, I will apologize. However, others have pointed out that he is a well-known racist here, something of which I was unaware until this thread started.