In the poll, 26 percent of whites say they have been victims of discrimination. Twenty-seven percent say too much has been made of the problems facing black people. Twenty-four percent say the country isn't ready to elect a black president. Five percent of white voters acknowledge that they, personally, would not vote for a black candidate.
This is 2008, right? We, as a country, should have moved beyond this. It's been 40 years since Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and discrimination is still experienced by 25% of the white population and an almost equal number (the same people?) think that too much has been made of the plight of black people? Who are these 1/4 of the white population?
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10 comments:
I have been discriminated against for being white. I was denied college funding because of my skin color, and believe me, my family was dirt poor. In a more specific and more recent event, I was made to wait at a car rental agency in a black neighborhood until all black customers had been served. Ended up waiting about three hours as more and more people kept coming in.
It's interesting, Marie, to hear your instances of what amounts to what many people see as reverse racism. Is there a chance that anywhere in the near future that we, as a country, can stop profiling, discriminating and seeing everything as a color issue?
But when you consider that de-segregation is only a few generations old, I think that as a country we have come a long way. My grandparents would have never even entertained the thought of a black man running for president. Not that they are racist - it just wasn't heard of back then.
I guess when it's put that way, it makes more sense to me. Forty years seems like forever to me but I've grown up knowing nothing but equality and surrounded by the majority of my peers be receptive to other races. Although stepping back to my hometown and even the city I live in now, I sense somethin akin to full on hatred and loathing of any race but those of European descent.
We as human beings tend to generalize many groups by many ways; race, wealth, intelligence, male, female...the list goes on.
So, how do we stop doing that?
This is certainly a hot button topic.
I still believe there is racism in the world. But...I do think the word is thrown around way too easily these days.
I won't vote for Barack O'Bama...but that doesn't make me racist. I won't vote for him because I don't agree with his views....not due to his skin color.
It never ceases to amaze to see the depths of some people's hate. (Try living in the small town where we moved three years ago...it's like the 1950's here!)
All I can do is teach my children to judge people based on their actions...not the color of their skin.
Oh...AND what would you call my oh-SO-pasty-white 5 year old who keeps telling everyone he wishes he had brown skin! :)
also has something to do with our current election...
I'm with memarie lane. I received no college funding, even coming from a single parent family with very low income (and having great grades to boot), while a lot of my black friends in college received aide. I'll be in debt forever because I'm white.
I'm in the same boat as you MJ (sans the single parent household). We were beyond poor, I was an honor roll student but I paid my own way. It wasn't easy and the hours and work to do so were long but here I am earning a mediocre living that barely pays the bills. The biggest grudge I have is against my white peers in college who received financial aid, pissed away their time in college, lived on their parents' money, didn't hold a job and barely (if ever) graduated but landed a cushy job because daddy knew the right people. Actually, that scenario sounds an awful lot like our current president. Maybe my grudge or bias is a class issue or maybe it has something to do with earning your keep in society.
I live in a town which has traditionally been highly Caucasian. A portion of the town has accepted diversity with halfway open minds, but some have embraced hating anyone that doesn't look or sound like them. Working with some of my patients, I have heard just evil things said. One patient told the doctor I trust my kids' lives with to f*** off, and if the doctor even touched them, the patient would rape his daughters. Racism might not be an every day occurence, but it does happen and even once, from one person is too much.
I don't really have a problem with the financial aid system, but I do think it is flawed. So many people need aid, but the system just isn't big enough to cover the need. Big picture, looking at statistics, minorities may need an extra push to attend and complete college, even if their financial situation mirrors the majority population. In any case, aid should be seen as a gift from the government and there's not too much left in that wallet. I attended 2 free years of junior college instead of completing my last two years of high school, then my employer paid for the second year of my two year nursing degree. However, for the first year of my nursing associate's degree and the next two years of my bachelor's degree, I received no aid. I come from a family that grew up on welfare- 6 kids and a homemaker mom. My dad worked as hard as he could, but was a self employed farm mechanic and it's hard to get rich off farmers who have trouble paying their bills. I got married at 19 and that changed the financial aid picture completely, even though my finances didn't. College students just need to savvy about costs. My children won't have a college fund. Putting the same money in a retirement account- started at age 14, can produce exponentially more benefit.
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