Okay, now Bush is just flat out lying

[Drake Tungsten]

Or:

1. Stay white.

2. Walk through Harlem.

3. Note amount of ass whipping received.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Damn Drake, I was just going to say that .

Blacks can be just as racist as whites (though I find Indians [which includes Pakistanis] to be the most racist... though I have heard Oriental people are the most racist), and for some reason the slur 'cracker' is seen as ok.

[Drake Tungsten]

though I have heard Oriental people are the most racist

True dat. It's a weird kind of racism though.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
for some reason the slur 'cracker' is seen as ok.

It's ok because it refers to whites, and whites don't have the right to be offended by racial slurs because they are paying penance for all the racial slurs their evil, evil ancestors expressed. The same goes for "gringos".

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

though I have heard Oriental people are the most racist

True dat. It's a weird kind of racism though.

What kind of racism is it exactly?

[uh Clem]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Or:

1. Stay white.

2. Walk through Harlem.

3. Note amount of ass whipping received.

Maybe yes, maybe no. Ever tried it? Nobody's ever bothered me in a black neighborhood.

But will you receive the same amount of POLICE attention as you would as, say, a black person in Bel-Air? Who's likelier to get arrested? It's not a question racists like to ask.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Who's likelier to get beat up in predominantly minority neighborhoods?

[Drake Tungsten]

What kind of racism is it exactly?

It's really hard to describe or even to understand if you aren't Asian. Hell, I don't think that I really get it; I've just noticed it through my interactions with Asians and study of Asian culture.

Most of the time, it just seems like a bunch of naive misconceptions about other races. Asians tend to have very insular societies, so they aren't very informed about different cultures, even other Asian ones.

For races that have no real historical connection with Asia, like Arabs or Africans, it rarely seems to go beyond this naive belief in widespread stereotypes (ie. blacks are all rappers, Arabs ride camels, etc.). The Asians think that they are superior to these other cultures, but there's no real hatred involved.

In regards to other Asians, however, there is often a historical enmity that completely changes the mix. You can still lightheartedly talk about general Asian stereotypes, but if a historical dispute comes up, you'd better watch out. Asians tend to mask their true emotions and viewpoints, so it is a bit of a shock when a Korean explodes for being mistaken for Japanese or vice versa. The sense of the superiority of one's own culture is still there, but it is mixed with a dislike for the old enemy of your people that is completely bizarre to a Westerner. Old grudges won't die in Asia, it seems, and it boggles the mind sometimes.

Then of course, you have the phenomenon of Asians (Japanese in particular) having great respect for whites. Who knows what that's all about.

I hope that made some sense. It's really hard to put into words; it's something you have to experience to understand, if only partially.

[uh Clem]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Who's likelier to get beat up in predominantly minority neighborhoods?

Wrong comparison. I said Bel-Air, meaning in this instance middle & upper income neighborhoods, where it's not likely anybody will be beaten up.

A white person driving through a middle-class neighborhood that's predominantly black is probably far less likely to be stopped, questioned, and arrested than a black person driving through the equivalent white neighborhood.

Even Caligastia hasn't gotten around to whining about "Driving While White."

[Wernazuma III]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Damn Drake, I was just going to say that .

Blacks can be just as racist as whites

Of course they can be racist too, no one is painting the "bon sauvage" (good savage) on the walls here!
That doesn't render the "Driving while black" wrong. Personally I consider Eminem's racism more understandable (he comes from a sh*t social class, received low attention, education etc. - racism in such an environment is not better but hardly to evade, that goes for all races, but even more when you're confronted with being treated racistically yourself the chance of getting racist oneself augments drastically like e.g. Eminem in a predominantly black environment). Yet, what the detention and racist treatment by media and officials/police is different, within the very structure that should prevent it! That's the bad thing about it.
Not the quality of racism by blacks or racism by whites is different, but the racism that effects society more at its heart is the racism by whites.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Or:

1. Stay white.

2. Walk through Harlem.

3. Note amount of ass whipping received.

You don't know what you're talking about. I've walked through Harlem many times, sometimes at night. I've yet to have an ass-whipping. Most of it is not an unreasonably unsafe area. Can we leave stereotypes out of this?

[Capt Dizle]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov


You don't know what you're talking about. I've walked through Harlem many times, sometimes at night. I've yet to have an ass-whipping. Most of it is not an unreasonably unsafe area. Can we leave stereotypes out of this?

Sauce for the goose. If you take the silly position that every black person in a white neighborhood is scrutinized because of their race then you can't argue against the equally false example.

Most of the animosity directed towards blacks from whites in these times is because of things like affirmative action.

Dropping it will be a step towards putting race in its proper place...out of our minds.

[cavebear]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

If the Republicans argued in favor of things for the real reason they favored those things

They do, and they are still around.

Would you be happy if I said the Democrats simply talk about their policies in centrist terms with 'tax cuts for the middle class' when they actually want to raise taxes? If the Dems acknowledged their true intentions they'd be eliminated from politics entirely .

Sorry, but there happen to be a lot of people who happen to be rightists and they like the Republicans much more than the Democrats.

Being rightist and liking the Republicans is irrelevent. I'm not refering to political opinions here.

Look, Bush has a tactic of speaking in centrist terms in favor of rightist goals.

Please give us some examples. Calling this program a quota isn't talking in centrist terms in favor of rightist goals, it is pretty much the truth.

What I mean is that Republicans (much moreso than Democrats) tend to use arguments that are not the *real* reasons for the things they support because the *real* reasons would not atract a majority of voters. I mean when they argue for a tax cut that will benefit all, when 90% of the benefits go to the top 10% of people. I mean when Bush argues against affirmative action because it is "reverse racism" when he knows that without it college-availability will be limited to mostly rich white kids because the minority students are coming through poorly-supported inner city schools and will not do as well on SAT tests.

I mean when they use code-phrases like "states-rights" when what they really mean is maintaining "white power". I mean that when Republicans push "faith-based charities" by emphasizing the soup kitchens that only some churches maintain and which are a miniscule percent of their expenditures, when they really want government money for evangelical activities.

Well, you did ask for examples...

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Guynemer
Again, people, I acknowledge that AA is flawed on a philosophical level. I used to write the exact same things that some of you are writing. But sometimes, you have to look beyond philosophic purity and confront reality.

You do realize that there is already a process in place that will allow you to get rid of that silly equal protection clause.

[cavebear]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten Then of course, you have the phenomenon of Asians (Japanese in particular) having great respect for whites. Who knows what that's all about.

Being soundly defeated in WWII maybe? I'm not being flip about that. Losing WWII had a profound psychological impact on the Japanese, individually and culturally.

There is also the economic boom the Japanese had in the 70's/80's that convinced them (and a lot of other people too) that Japan was going to become the single economic superpower for decades to come. The collapse/stagnation of their economy, coupled with the recovery of the US economic position has had a significant effect on them as well.

They evidently have more pain to come in that direction. They can't seem to escape the economically lethal combination of external merchantilism and internal managed-loyalty business habits. They keep trying to export their way out of their difficulties and they keep seeing the US succeeding where they fail.

It is understandable that they have feelings of national self-doubt. Being such a homogenous (I don't think that's the exact word I want, but I can't think of the correct one) society, they see these things as racial/cultural failures.