DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Is Buchanan right.... or Racist?

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You can say and think whatever you want about me, but you'd be wise to leave my kids out of this discussion.

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Or? You'll what? Type really hard on your keys?

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LOL

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So what is better? A work force of limited minorities or a work force that is representative of the population?

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Exactly. Without Affirmitive Action, minorities wouldn't get the same opportunites as white males do, therefore you are excluding many who may just be more qualified.

It's wishful thinking to think that companies wouldn't discriminate against minorities because it still happens. Hence why affirmitive action is necessary.

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I have a question for you and Navy. Do you consider diversity important, or is it irrelevant?

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Like I said earlier.....400 years is a long time.....lets keep to stuff we have lived.

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Hope you don't mind if I jump in on this one, if I may.

If I keep this post to that which I've lived, it will encompass the better part of alomst 50 years. (I'm 51, but my memory only goes back to around 4 or 5, yknow? )

To keep it truly honst, I'll not even talk about national issues.... I'll only talk about MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. That outta keep it fair enough, don'tcha think?

Here goes:

I'm Black... but
I'm White, too.

I'm a product of a biracial union who came into this world in 1956. I was given up for adoption at birth, presumably because of the race issue. What little I know about my birth mother's family suggests that they had the means to support both their daughter and her newborn, but such did not turn out to be the case. I know nothing of my birth father's situation.

I was adopted by a wonderful man and woman who were the only parents I ever knew, wanted or needed- until their deaths in 1979, and 1994, respectively. These people gave me a good home, a solid upbringing, a moral center and a sense of purpose. In short- they were probably better parents than the sperm donor and incubator who spawned me could have ever been.

So here I was... a tan-assed baby being raised by two light-skinned, straight-haired Blacks in a town full of backwards Black and White people with an aggregate IQ of a soap dish. I could read before I attended kindegarten, was tested in 4th grade at a 139 I.Q. and was assessed as a musical prodigy after 2 years of learning an instrument.

and yet, in my life:

1. I was spat upon on my way home from school in the first grade.

2. Had to find out from a tearful Mother the definition of ["N-Bomb]" that same year.

3. Had to have it explained to me why I was allowed to drink from some
public water fountains, but not all public fountains. Had to get the explanation why some folks could eat INSIDE the restaraunt, but we had to get take-out only.

4. Segregated into the back of the classroom with other Black children (and the Special Ed students) in 4th grade.

5. Initially denied the opportunity to begin my musical education that same year, because my classroom teacher flatly stated thet "Classical music is NOT for Coloreds." (My Mom eventually straightened her sorry ass out, and I got my cello.... hehe)

5. Was accosted in 5th grade after an honors concert by an angry parent, who stated that "No "[n-bomb']" should ever be allowed to play a solo in front of good, deserving White children."

6. Ostracised by other Blacks when the late-60's Civil Rights movement picked up steam... because I wasn't "Black enough to be trusted." Still mistrusted by many Whites, because my background wasn't "pure enough."

7. Despite a 3.5 GPA and numerous awards and citiations for acedemic excellence, I was "guided" towards the Vocational Education curriculum upon entering 10th grade. This time, My Father straightened out the "Guidance Councellor."

8. Used my cello (inside a hard-shelled case) as a sheild/weapon to escape my High School during a full-scale race riot in 10th grade. School was shut down for an entire week.

9. Upon returning to school, I immediately found myself in the Truancy Officer/Dean of Discipline's office, defending myself against false allegations that I was a primary instigator in the riots a week before. Turns out that even though I remained in my seat until officially released, my homeroom teacher simply wrote down the name of every Black child in her class, and submitted their names as "missing/AWOL" for the date in question. Only 2 were actually guilty. The other 24 of us had to run the same administrative gauntlet as did I.

9. Went to a 3-week summer music camp that year. Came home to find that my part-time job had been given to someone else in my absence by a new store manager. When questioned, he told me, "I just thought the place needed to be 'lightened up a bit.'"

10. Freshman year at college: I'm taken aside by a Black grad assistant, who old me to "Watch your back... you're playing too well and doing too well in the classroom. You have enemies on the faculty who'll do anything to see you fail... or at least become marginalized. Be careful, and choose your friends and confidants wisely. Some of your classmates aren't "friends," either. Watch them carefully, and clean house at the earliest oppotunity."

11. Got a job as an adjuct professor at Heidelberg College. Day freakkin' One, I'm 3 blocks from my house on my way to the new job. Sitting at the stop light, thinking about this new chapter in my life, when a HS school bus pulls up beside me. A window slides down, and another human being's phlegm splatters across my driver's side window, followed by the [N-Bomb].

30 years later- I'm still being spat upon and called names... even though I'm one of those Blacks who has seemingly "made it."

_________________________________________________________

The messages of the 60's aren't outdated just yet. Perhaps in terms of national policy, they lack the immediate personal relevance that they once had to ALL Blacks, but I can tell you this-

When some High Schooler spits on a Black man who's old enough to be his father, he's learning it from somewhere. Until "the younger generation" is void of these motivations, the message is still relevant- on a fundamental level.

I'm a nice guy. I was raised by a woman of incredible depth of character and a father who started with nothing... and raised himself to become the second-highest ranking officer in our local Police force at the time of his passing. His funeral was attended by the chiefs of police from Philidelphia, Chicago, Boston, Cleveland, Columbus, and L.A. There were even representatives from Washington DC, and reps from Quantico, VA (FBI) who came to pay tribute, and to tell me how much they respected and admired my Pops. Moms and Pops raised me to respect everyone, treat all people fairly and honstly, do my best in all things, and to look for the good in people.

At the same time, they also taught me one something else I remember well from their many years of lessons: "Bobby- in this world, you have to be twice as smart, twice as talented and twice as hard-working to be considered half as good. Because that's how people are."

A parent's primary job is to provide their children with the necessary survival tools to make it in this world. Blacks still to this day must provide their kids with more survival tools than Whites or Asians in America. I know what I'm talking about, because my "friends rolodex" reads like a roster of the United Nations... and I'm not hearing personal survival stories like this from virtually anyone who isn't of African descent. A couple of folks who trace their heritage back to India or Pakistan have mentioned similar instances, but most of my friends are shocked when they hear how different my life has been from theirs.

So here I am- a tan-assed Middle-Ager who logs onto a football fan's chatboard, and reads the same stuff that I've lived for a half-century... and I realize that as much as I want to beileve that progress has been made, we've still to turn the corner. Maybe it is as you say... that change happens slowly, but I can tell you this: it's coming about slowly enough that Black parents should still equip their children with the same survival tips that mine gave me. It's only common sense to do so. With my looks, I was "halfway there" from Day One.... and that still wasn't enough.

I truly do love My America, and am thankful that it is my home by birth. At the same time, I'm also keenly aware that My America is substantially different from Your America- in some of the most fundamental human ways.

I'm hoping to live long enough to see some of that gap close even further. On a personal level.


.02,
Clemdawg

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They have a right to vote for whoever they want for whatever reason they want.

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It's wishful thinking to think that companies wouldn't discriminate against minorities because it still happens. Hence why affirmitive action is necessary.

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They have a right to vote for whoever they want for whatever reason they want.

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Indeed they do. Doesn't make them any less racist. Those in WV who stated that they wouldn't vote for Obama simply because he is black have every right to do so.

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What am I supposed to do? That's puzzling at times...

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be criticizing one side, and excusing the other.

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No other people in America have been treated as poorly as Black Men & Women. As a white person, no white person knows what it's like to deal with how many black people are treated in this country today, and none of us know what it was like as a black person in the 60's and prior.

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That is not to say that breaches of ethics don't still occur, or that the best player always wins... but almost all orchestras follow the same protocol... and orchestras nowadays are better by leaps and bounds than they were just 30 years ago. And the "screening process" came about as a result of a civil-rights lawsuit back in the '60's.

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In essence, it is the purest form of "Affirmative Action" this country has ever seen... and it appears to be working. It's been working for almost 50 years... and most of America isn't even aware that it exists.

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