The racial divide. Is it real? Is it a myth? Is it as bad as some think? Are racial relations worse than they were 8 years ago?

 

I watched this clip of Tucker Carlson and Monique Pressley and something that Monique Pressley said struck a chord with me. Tucker Carlson is saying that things are bad now and seem to be getting worse. Monique Pressley then asked him how things are bad from what point and when did we ever truly come together?

 

When I heard her say that I was struck because what she said made sense.

 

1965 wasn't that long ago. Aren't things better than they were in 1965? Aren't things better than they were in 1992?

 

I see people all of the time talking about how we are headed for another civil war and how we are divided racially and politically. Monique Pressley said that things aren't better or worse but that people have a bigger opportunity to vocalize their thoughts and as a result people from both sides have more opportunities to be offended by something that has been said.

 

I have to agree with her. I've had my share of frustrating discussions along with some of my unpopular opinions but I also know that we aren't anywhere close to another civil war. In fact, I think we may be getting closer to getting to middle ground than ever before because I know one thing is for sure, social media has vocalized opinions on both sides but none of us seem scared to go outside and socialize with people from opposite races or political beliefs.

 

Here is the clip of Tucker Carlson and Monique Pressley for anyone interested in it and wanted to form their own opinion from the encounter.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciGiJiVbVBM#action=share

I think we are on a road for things to improve. There is greater knowledge and sensitivity to other cultures than 50 years ago and even 25 years ago. Some might say..."well what about the (so-called) Muslim ban"....there is a lot of fallacy to that, but what would have happened 50 years ago if a band of religious zealots declared war on the US? However, there are some issues of concern:

 

I grew up in a middle-class area of South Memphis. My school was 60% or greater black. We never really thought about it. We probably had no more problems than any other schools and maybe less, because none of us had the money to throw around and drugs were not prevalent. I don't remember a single racially motivated incident either way from all of those years, and it sounds cliché, but at least two of my best friends were black, and I learned a lot from them. I drove through the area last year, and it is a war zone dominated by a gang. No one of sound mind would walk down any of the streets maybe even in the day time. That is definitely not an improvement, but there are latino gangs and white gangs as well.

 

IDK, if I were the leader of a country or entity that generally opposes the US, and I had some intelligence background, I would quickly figure out the way to attack the US is not from outside, it is from within: fund gangs, fund protestors, fund drug dealers, fund racial unrest, etc. People are naïve if they don't think this is happening.

I feel like the fact that most of the attention of my generation (I'm 27 so I'm a member of the much maligned millennials) has shifted toward microagressions rather than outright racism has to indicate at least a step in the right direction. For example I wouldn't think twice about seeing a mixed race married couple together, but I did get called out for the so called microaggression of expressing surprise that a black friend of mine was a big country music fan. In hindsight, I can look at that and see it was a form of racism that led me to make that seemingly innocuous assumption, but the fact that the little things can even be brought up now must mean that the proverbial "bigger fish to fry" have already been fried.

I think we are on a road for things to improve. There is greater knowledge and sensitivity to other cultures than 50 years ago and even 25 years ago. Some might say..."well what about the (so-called) Muslim ban"....there is a lot of fallacy to that, but what would have happened 50 years ago if a band of religious zealots declared war on the US? However, there are some issues of concern:

 

I grew up in a middle-class area of South Memphis. My school was 60% or greater black. We never really thought about it. We probably had no more problems than any other schools and maybe less, because none of us had the money to throw around and drugs were not prevalent. I don't remember a single racially motivated incident either way from all of those years, and it sounds cliché, but at least two of my best friends were black, and I learned a lot from them. I drove through the area last year, and it is a war zone dominated by a gang. No one of sound mind would walk down any of the streets maybe even in the day time. That is definitely not an improvement, but there are latino gangs and white gangs as well.

 

IDK, if I were the leader of a country or entity that generally opposes the US, and I had some intelligence background, I would quickly figure out the way to attack the US is not from outside, it is from within: fund gangs, fund protestors, fund drug dealers, fund racial unrest, etc. People are naïve if they don't think this is happening.

 

I think that has been happening for decades.

This thread should be good...

I think that has been happening for decades.

 

True.

I am white, but have been around the block a time or two. I think race relations overall aren't great, but they never have been. I do think, that in my lifetime things have gotten better. We just have a long way to go.

 

I have noticed the following in my lifetime:

 

1. As a kid, I don't remember ever seeing a professional black person. No doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. I am not saying there weren't any, but not many. Today, it is commonplace, as it should be.

 

2. There were very few black actors and actresses. When you saw a black character on TV, he was likely a hired hand or drug dealer. Certainly not today.

 

3. I remember a general belief was that, if a black person moved into the neighborhood, house prices dropped and "the great white flight" began. When I was a kid, a pro baseball player who was black tried to buy a house in my city. I don't know exactly what happened, but he didn't buy because of the attitude of white people in the area. We are still a pretty white city, I must admit, but I think the attitude has changed.

 

4. I have worked for many years in a very racially diverse environment. I can remember in the early days when race played a big factor in work relations. I know that I personally had very negative things said and done to me by black co workers. No doubt they have similar stories. This has not been true for many years. I can honestly say I work in a great environment. We actually can laugh about our differences.

 

5. In Lil Sebastian's post, he touched on interracial couples. Very commonplace now, but when I was young, it was considered trashy and low class. Those couples faced a whole lot of backlash from both the black and white communities.

 

 

I have watched the BLM movement with interest. Admittedly, I initially thought that it was overblown, and believe that some have taken it too far. However, with the advent of cell phone videos, and police videos, I must admit that it has opened my eyes enough to respect the basic premise of BLM.

I'm not going to get on my high horse and preach as I normally do. I can tell you that I worked in the service industry in the residential field for over 18 years. I've been in probably 32,000 homes over my career in many ethnic groups and economic scales. My wife ( Black ) refuses to live in a predominately black community due to when we lived in South St. Pete our cars were broke into many times, things stolen off our porch ( plants, bikes ) weekly shootings, not to mention that the riots that burned a good portion of our neighborhood and had her scared to leave her own house for a week. We now live in a mostly white neighborhood and never have any issues. In saying that the black neighborhoods have a much higher crime rate, not picking, truth. I've met plenty of black folk who have the economic means to get out of the hood for lack of a better term, but instead they would rather install metal bars and security doors. why? They would rather live around their own people. No matter how much we try you will have a segment of whites who hate blacks and blacks who hate whites. I've lived in the hood plenty so I'm not judging from the outside in. I've been in plenty of houses that someone would ask me to do extra things that they had not paid for or I did not have the time allotted and would try to be as nice as possible but let them know I could not oblige them. My wife's nephew (black) who I hired would tell me that on numerous occasions when I told black person no, when I was out of ear shot they would often make comments like " I hate white people". Just because i said no? My nephew would laugh and tell them that's my uncle and just because you can't have your way doesn't make him racist. He'd tell me later and we would just laugh. What I'm saying all this for is that if Black people don't want to heal or be inclusive then it don't matter how accommodating white people are. It takes two to tango and I've received my fair share of black people who say things and make judgments about white people. White people have a sorted past with racial relations I'll give you that. I've also heard white people who didn't know about my home life say racist things. I have never been that guy but have received my fair share of white hate. That boat rocks both ways. The outreach has to come from both sides. Pointing the fingers and screaming infuriates me because I've seen and heard it. Neither side is bending over-backwards to get along. Wish it was different but this is my experience and my reality. Racism exists from both sides, No excuses for that.

Edited May 13, 20179 yr by True blue (and gold)
Rule 8

There will always be race problems. That's not going to change. It's just either a matter of degree or a matter of how well it's hidden by some.

 

We also have to remember that we're different and that's a good thing. I laugh when I hear "hey we're all human." While scientifically correct it's 100% a falsehood. Different scares some/many.

 

Both sides should demand more from their own in order to help the cause.

There will always be race problems. That's not going to change. It's just either a matter of degree or a matter of how well it's hidden by some.

 

We also have to remember that we're different and that's a good thing. I laugh when I hear "hey we're all human." While scientifically correct it's 100% a falsehood. Different scares some/many.

 

Both sides should demand more from their own in order to help the cause.

 

I love different, love civil people. Can't tolerate the idiots. Color is just your glow, how you treat others is your soul. Glow with a beautiful soul!

One major thing each side can do to help things:

 

White people: Stop telling black people racism doesn't exist; or any variation of it's black peoples fault racism still exists.

 

Black people: Stop making everything about race, because while there are times it is about race, it's definitely not always. That doesn't mean not to speak up when you feel injustice,

but some people literally make EVERYTHING a race issue.

One major thing each side can do to help things:

 

White people: Stop telling black people racism doesn't exist; or any variation of it's black peoples fault racism still exists.

 

Black people: Stop making everything about race, because while there are times it is about race, it's definitely not always. That doesn't mean not to speak up when you feel injustice,

but some people literally make EVERYTHING a race issue.

 

Deuce racism definitely still exists. I have the as some of you the ability to sit on the fence and watch. It's quite surprising to see some of those things go down. I've surrounded my self with quality people of both races. I love my circle and life. Good thing is the idiots are loud but there are good people out there. Your points are spot on!

Also, any attempt by white people to downplay racism, either in the past or in today's society is also going to be an issue for most minorities. The "I don't see this in my community" or the "My black friend said this" when discussing racism with black people might as well be said as "I don't believe you" or "It's not that bad, get over it."

Also, any attempt by white people to downplay racism, either in the past or in today's society is also going to be an issue for most minorities. The "I don't see this in my community" or the "My black friend said this" when discussions racism with black people might as well be said as "I don't believe you" or "It's not that bad, get over it."

 

I've got stories of what I've seen my friends go through, I've left two jobs because of it. Not in my temperature to work around that crap. One was a pretty prominent company. All I could say is wow and plan my exit.

I feel like race relations have improved in my 32 years on this planet and I think they will continue to improve.

 

Social media, as wonderful as it may be causes a huge strain on our efforts IMO. Idiots of all races used to hang out with other idiots of their race and spread hate in groups. Social media has given these people a platform to spread hate to anyone who is willing to listen. We as a society chose to get outraged over the comments and actions that offend us rather than appreciate the strides we've made. This site is a great example of this.