Holy Crap!!!
Why in the world do you feel he speaks for YOU, b/c he is black?! The man seemed to be talking for himself.
I have been with my (past) black boyfriend in some neighborhood's around Atlanta and he WOULD NOT let go of my hand, and we quickly went from car to house, w/o stopping. If I ever showed up after classes and he was in this other neighborhood, his cousins wouldn't let me go alone, and would go with me to see him. There were also plenty of all black neighborhoods that were perfectly safe, but my friends were scared to death to come with me. I'm not saying the WHOLE city is that way, I walk around the French Quarter in NO, with no problem. You just have to be aware of your surroundings. BUT, there are places around the 9th ward that I would NEVER even think about going too. Same thing with Compton, even though I have walked through LA. So, the whole city isn't bad persay, but there are places. They exist, and I know from experience that they do. 
I hate it when other white people assume that you are as ignorant as they are. 
What I try to explain to my aunts is that just b/c that is the norm in LA, and in the South in general, it is NOT the norm in other parts of the country. I try to explain to them that it does NOT mean that black people are nasty and distructive. It has to do with being poor and uneducated. You can NOT ignore the fact that LA is an extremely poor state and that most black people who live there are in poverty and when you go to poverty stricken places, they are generally gross. It's the same way in North Ga. with white people. In Dahlonega, the wal-mart is nice and clean, in Cornelia, it's DISGUSTING, I wouldn't even pee there, but it was all WHITE people. The difference??? Cornelia is in a poorer county, the people there live in poverty and don't put a lot of importance on education. I have NO IDEA why these things contribute to dirty stores and crappy service, but to ignore the FACT that it is true, just b/c it isn't PC, is goofy. It was the same way in Hawaii, most native Hawaiians live in poverty, and areas like Waianae, where its predominantly native Hawaiian, were pretty gross. And it was COMMON KNOWLEDGE, as in, during our military inprocessing briefings, we were told that it wasn't a good idea to go there. White military men (Haoles) were frequently accosted by people there, so we stayed away.... this was not a figment of white people's imagination. But it also doesn't mean that ALL Hawaiians are mean and violent. We knew many hawaiians from our church, who explained to us why some of them don't like not only white people, but all people who were interfering with their traditional way of life. It all depends on where you live and what life is like there. Here on the outskirts of DC, I don't think twice about going to predominently black areas, as a matter of fact, I LOVE living here, b/c it is so diverse and you don't even notice the color of someone's skin. There are decent people and places, of all races, and there are crappy places and people, of all races. I know what I am, and what I believe in, and what I have seen and experienced, and the fact that you would call ME racist and ignorant, just shows how incredibly pointless it is to debate such things on here, b/c you can't see past the end of your nose. You belong to the group of people that thinks anyone, well, any white person anyway, who mentions or notices anything negative about any group of people is a racist. But yet, it's ok for any other race to say things about white people, or rednecks, or hillbillies. Which btw, having lived with rednecks for 10 years, I can always tell where they live and the places they frequent b/c they are usually gross too. Does that make me racist too? Ugh....ok, now I really am done with this thread........
Maybe I shouldn't have included Harlem, b/c I have never been there, but it has just always been some form of "common knowledge". But, I have been to LA, and I have LIVED in New Orleans, and there ARE places where white people just don't go.
Anyways, I think I should stay out of this one, b/c I don't even watch the guys show.
When I was in high school I lived in the North Ga mountains, ie, redneck country. In the back of the bus one morning there were these idiots talking about Tupac dying and saying, "another one bites the dust", saying the N word, just being incredibly racist, so I jumped up and said something about beating them with my baton (I was majorette that year) and after I sat down, I heard one whisper to the other, "Is she black?" (I have always been VERY pale)
Anyways, I'm leaving this one alone, have, fun, I guess......
I noticed you live in PA. My husbands whole family lives in PA. I have been to many places there, including Philly. I can tell you from extensive experience, that there is not one place in PA that is like New Orleans in terms of what I was talking about.
You cannot just take what you have experienced and think the whole world is like that, or even everywhere in this country. Have you been to New Orleans. I'm not talking about vacation, in a hotel. I'm talking about lived there. Go to the Wal-Marts in the predominantly black neighborhoods there, and THEN go to the one's across the Ponchatrain and TELL ME you don't see a difference, and that if you had a choice, you wouldn't touch the former with a ten foot pole.
What I try to explain to my aunts is that just b/c that is the norm in LA, and in the South in general, it is NOT the norm in other parts of the country. I try to explain to them that it does NOT mean that black people are nasty and distructive. It has to do with being poor and uneducated. You can NOT ignore the fact that LA is an extremely poor state and that most black people who live there are in poverty and when you go to poverty stricken places, they are generally gross.
It's the same way in North Ga. with white people. In Dahlonega, the wal-mart is nice and clean, in Cornelia, it's DISGUSTING, I wouldn't even pee there, but it was all WHITE people. The difference??? Cornelia is in a poorer county, the people there live in poverty and don't put a lot of importance on education. I have NO IDEA why these things contribute to dirty stores and crappy service, but to ignore the FACT that it is true, just b/c it isn't PC, is goofy. It was the same way in Hawaii, most native Hawaiians live in poverty, and areas like Waianae, where its predominantly native Hawaiian, were pretty gross.
And it was COMMON KNOWLEDGE, as in, during our military inprocessing briefings, we were told that it wasn't a good idea to go there. White military men (Haoles) were frequently accosted by people there, so we stayed away.... this was not a figment of white people's imagination. But it also doesn't mean that ALL Hawaiians are mean and violent. We knew many hawaiians from our church, who explained to us why some of them don't like not only white people, but all people who were interfering with their traditional way of life.
It all depends on where you live and what life is like there. Here on the outskirts of DC, I don't think twice about going to predominently black areas, as a matter of fact, I LOVE living here, b/c it is so diverse and you don't even notice the color of someone's skin. There are decent people and places, of all races, and there are crappy places and people, of all races.
I know what I am, and what I believe in, and what I have seen and experienced, and the fact that you would call ME racist and ignorant, just shows how incredibly pointless it is to debate such things on here, b/c you can't see past the end of your nose. You belong to the group of people that thinks anyone, well, any white person anyway, who mentions or notices anything negative about any group of people is a racist. But yet, it's ok for any other race to say things about white people, or rednecks, or hillbillies. Which btw, having lived with rednecks for 10 years, I can always tell where they live and the places they frequent b/c they are usually gross too. Does that make me racist too? Ugh....ok, now I really am done with this thread........
Who do you think "accepts" racism from Sharpton but won't accept it from others? DIS posters? Do you think any of the go beyond "accepting" and actually think racism from Sharpton is a good thing?
What makes you think the board is "too PC" to admit it? WHo here do you think won'tl admit that there is a problem with gang/drug violence in today's black youth culture. There is also a problem with gang/drug violence in today's white youth culture. Not to mention black and white adult culture. You really think people won't admit it?
