How does the current discrimination/racism/bigotry situation in your area today differ from when

helenbacque said:
you were growing up? Or does it?
Click to expand...

Tell me if I'm mistaken, but it seems you're referring to time-frame?

My personal experiences, though, have nothing to do with time-frame- it's all about locations.

When I was a high school kid- around 16 yrs old- I had a pen-pal who lived in a different state; we talked about school, etc., topics that interest teenagers, but when I happened to mention one of my friends (a white girl) had a boyfriend who was Black, I was stunned with total disgust over her response. However- that's the only experience I ever had with racism, bigotry, etc., til around 18 years ago when I spent some time in the South, and have seen much much worse since I came to my current location. I thought the South was bad enough, but the Midwest is much worse.

So, I was not prepared for this at all- and was not able to prepare my kids to deal with it. Less than two decades ago, I really believed 'all that stuff' was in the distant past, because it never affected the areas where I'd lived.
 
IMO it is worse today than it was when I was growing up.

I don't hold out much hope for significant improvement as long as we insist on slicing and dicing everything in this country along racial, gender, sexual orientation, religious, political, lines. Every day we are bombarded by statistics and charts that slice and dice every issue into various groups and I honestly believe that it is causing some people in our society to think in terms of those divisions and start casting blame, hatred, etc... because of them. We need to start looking at things in terms of what's good for Americans and not worry about all of these subcategories.
 

Today where I live it's directed at a different group.

When I grew up during World War II the Japanese were moved inland from the coast and they moved into my area.

There wasn't even a thought of discrimination. They became friends and taught us all kinds of stuff we never knew before.

Our school sure was a mix of just about every country in the world. We had plenty of immigration.

If you say something today, it immediately becomes racism, so there is no honest dialogue.
 
I grew up ina little town in the Midwest with a population of less than 2,000 and active KKK members (didn't find this out until about 10 years ago). Moved to Seattle, think we're pretty culturally diverse here and I love it.
 
It's better in some ways and worse in others. Where I live people are now more opened minded about inter racial marriages. When I was growing up this was a huge taboo. People are also more open minded about homosexuality and transsexuals. Equality for women became more of a reality also.
 
chic said:
It's better in some ways and worse in others. Where I live people are now more opened minded about inter racial marriages. When I was growing up this was a huge taboo. People are also more open minded about homosexuality and transsexuals. Equality for women became more of a reality also.
Click to expand...

I see it as a mixed bag too. Growing up in Sydney in the 40s and 50s I rarely encountered anyone who wasn't of Anglo Saxon descent. The exceptions were the few Chinese who ran restaurants. Racism was there but had few targets so it didn't often show its ugly face. I did hear derogatory comments about Jewesses who owned dress shops - they were deemed to be "very pushy". Mixed marriages of all kinds could provoke hostility whether it was interracial of catholic/protestant. Aboriginal Australians were discriminated against perfectly lawfully.

Over the decades, as post war migration programs brought waves of people from all corners of the globe - first from Italy and Eastern Europe, then Vietnam, China, Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East, India and the South Pacific and now various countries in Africa - we gradually became accustomed to different skin colours and customs. The older generations found this harder to adjust to but the young ones grew up in a multicultural, multiracial environment in the schools and in the bigger cities there is widespread acceptance of difference. In the regions, where the population is more homogeneous, racism and xenophobia still exist.
 
I think the South should be allowed to keep the monuments of its Civil War leaders.

There were two countries then...the United States of America, and the Confederete States of America, and each had its leaders and monuments.

They were all Americans, and 600,000 died in the conflict....far more than in WW2.

I'm glad the Union was preserved though.

HiDesertHal
 
Last edited:
helenbacque said:
How does the current discrimination/racism/bigotry situation in your area today differ from when
you were growing up? Or does it?
Click to expand...

I don't know how to answer, strictly speaking. I see racism and bigotry(along with discrimination) as ingrained human traits, the manifestation of which rises and falls, according to society's notion of what's permissible, and what is frowned upon.

Up until recently, I thought racism and bigotry to be in decline. But now, there are signs that racism and bigotry never really died, but was just waiting for the signal to re-emerge.
 
I have not been in the area where I grew up in over 45 years, I can't compare it to where I am now. I have heard it has changed a great deal.
I don't envision ever going back there even as a visitor.
 
tnthomas said:
I don't know how to answer, strictly speaking. I see racism and bigotry(along with discrimination) as ingrained human traits, the manifestation of which rises and falls, according to society's notion of what's permissible, and what is frowned upon.

Up until recently, I thought racism and bigotry to be in decline. But now, there are signs that racism and bigotry never really died, but was just waiting for the signal to re-emerge.
Click to expand...


I agree...the divisions are stark. I also agree that much of our bias comes from our instincts regarding physical and cultural differences. I usually try to explain that I'm prejudiced by my experiences but my head will not allow me to be racist. Our society really needs a very clear and honest dialogue regarding this topic...before it destroys us.
 
helenbacque said:
you were growing up? Or does it?
Click to expand...
I'm a white male. Grew up east of Los Angeles in a Hispanic majority neighborhood. Racism was alive then as it is today. Has it changed? Yea, it's getting worse. But as someone else stated, you can't have dialogue in the current atmosphere. People are polarized. Still live in California and the street I live on is very diverse, but we all get along great. I'm 62, and still in touch with a friend I've known since grade school. He is Mexican, yesterday his mother passed away. We still live close, so we do see each other a lot. The passing of his mother hurt. She was like a second mom to me.

I always judged the person, not the race. There are people of all races that I both love and am disgusted with. While those of you that were raised in a white majority area have witnessed racism, I'll tell you the sword cuts both ways. Racism, is not a one sided issue. All races have to own up to their part in it, and until that day comes it will continue.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk
 
This:
"Racism, is not a one sided issue. All races have to own up to their part in it, and until that day comes it will continue"
 
My children (all closing in on middle age) are all much more open minded and more politically correct than the people were who I grew up around. None of them are racist. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. My children live in southern California and Europe.
 
I never had any direct experience with other races until I went to Parris Island in 1972. My grandmother was what I call an institutional racist. She lived in Norfolk and used all the vernacular referring to other races that was popular at the time.
I never did see her actually practice racism. She and her "Colored Ladies" would all gather at her house for Bible Study and coffee. There were no eyebrows raised or comments made when her brothers black girlfriend moved in with him. She was upset that they were living in sin,but not that they were mixing race. This was in the late '60's or early '70's.
 
As long as people use words of color like "black" everyday and night, discrimination will never go away. Like a new TV show called "Blackish" and like the last Academy Awards when Viola Davis won Best Actress, and I sat there begging silently "Please oh please don't say anything about being a black woman again. You won because you did a good job acting, period". But, do you know the first sentence out of her mouth was about being a black woman?!

The first black woman to win an Academy Award was Hattie McDaniel in "Gone With The Wind". Then in 2002 Halle Berry won an Academy Award for Best Actress for Monster's Ball and her speech was long and tearful and all about being the first black woman to win an Academy Award. Okay, that's fine. But then Viola Davis had to play the "black woman" card too? Again? That's what I mean. I looked at Viola Davis as one of my favorite actresses. Now I have to look at her as one of my favorite black actresses. When can I just give them credit for who they are...void of color recognition?

And the movie that won the Academy Award for "Best Movie" had all black actors in it, no white...so what...but the media had to go and say, "hey, why no white people" in the movie. When the rhetoric stops, maybe racism will stop. How can we forget about color when we hear the color word everyday?
 
I grew up - graduated high school 1951 - in a small southern town that was fully segregated .... schools, restaurants, hotels, water fountains, bathrooms, whatever. No one spoke of it as being good or bad .... it just WAS. Although not as divided or as abusive as the movies such as "The Help" depicted, it was there. Now segregation itself is gone but the racism and bigotry remains and racial tension is high in much of the city.

I agree with Lara. Identifying as being black appears to be uppermost in the minds of many well-known and out-spoken women. I would say to them .... yes, have pride in your race but more important, take pride in being an accomplished woman ... or in your nationality .... or in your intelligence .... or your craft ... or in your skill. Let history remember you as an outstanding American (or English, or French) woman who just happened to be black.
 
Aunt Bea said:
IMO it is worse today than it was when I was growing up.

I don't hold out much hope for significant improvement as long as we insist on slicing and dicing everything in this country along racial, gender, sexual orientation, religious, political, lines. Every day we are bombarded by statistics and charts that slice and dice every issue into various groups and I honestly believe that it is causing some people in our society to think in terms of those divisions and start casting blame, hatred, etc... because of them. We need to start looking at things in terms of what's good for Americans and not worry about all of these subcategories.
Click to expand...

I absolutely could not agree more!!!
 
I grew up in New Jersey, a relatively liberal location. But even there, in my childhood there was plenty of overt discrimination. And even if it wasn't exactly that, our city was divided into neighborhoods where the different ethnic groups lived. You could almost tell what group someone belonged to by where they lived.

Now I am in a Maryland suburb of D.C. Maryland is basically a southern state (they had slaves, although Maryland did not join the Confederacy). I think the attitudes one is exposed to depends on the group of friends you hang out with. The private seniors community I live in is largely populated by northerners, so attitudes are quite liberal.
 
I feel like my parents shielded us to some extent, from the ugliness of racism of that time (born in '47). Other than my father using the N-word, it was just never discussed around us. I didn't hate or fear people based on race or ethnic group alone, as far as I'm aware, but who knows? I had much to learn about civil rights back then, much to learn about race and ethnic origin. I am white/Anglo and a Texan. When Civil Rights came to the forefront, it was shocking to me. Thank goodness things changed back then. Now...it's shameful that racism is being encouraged. Our nation is becoming a pariah. The city nearest me is still pretty good on racism. Out in the country, not as good.
 
I never knew a Black person until I joined the military. There was one Black boy in my Denver high school...with about 2000 students...he was almost a celebrity. My opinions were formed as I grew older, and observed the actions of people. I've come to the conclusion that there is a percentage of real Scumbags in virtually All the races, and that their actions are generally a reflection of the environment they grew up in, and the foundation they received early in their lives. I think a child really needs a solid family foundation..with responsible parents...both Mother And Father...to get started in the right direction. Presently, statistics indicate that almost 70% of today's young Black children are being born to unwed mothers...and many of those kids may never know who their father really is. That has to have some psychological impact.

I think the Blacks damage their own ability to assimilate by insisting on being referred to as African Americans...instead of just Americans. Most of them are more "American" than half the Whites....having several generations of family history in this nation. I don't know anyone who is an Irish American, or Italian American, etc., etc.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top