Race in today's America?

Question

Hey, I've been thinking and I am just wondering what the Y!A people think. Best Answer will not be for the person who agrees with me or offers the most politically correct answer, but for the person who offers the most complete answer without targeting or attacking other users, or going off on political rants.

I'm 17, and live in the rural midwest. Like about 90% of people in my area (Shocker!) I'm white. So maybe I don't have the "right" to comment on this, maybe I just don't know what it FEELS like. Maybe I'll have to move to an African country where Caucasians are treated violently and survive there for a few years to have any semblance of a right to voice my opinion on this matter, I don't know. 

Everyone talks about race, how we've come so far, how some people are blantantly racist, how we still need to get better. I'm for equality- But I honestly don't see the inequality. Maybe it's just where I live. Maybe I'm just some spoiled rotten self-centered kid. But I don't see it, and I've never known any friends of a racial minority (African American, Hispanic, Asian, whatever) to witness it either. So when I watch the news and see some 60-something ranting on about EQUALITY and RIGHTS FOR THE MINORITIES I just feel like they're creating their own problems. I feel like that, by whining about something like that which may or may not be nearly as bad as you think, you bring it to the forefront again. Various heads of organizations for various minorities demand equality, but by doing so when it isn't really needed aren't you just enforcing that your group is different? If the idea is for everyone to be the same, to be equal, constantly going on shows and complaining about how, 30 years ago, you weren't just seems like you're saying "Yes, we're different, and we're proud and demand you give us our rights!", which seems to me redundant if you're fighting the idea that various races AREN'T the same. 
Of course, overall I feel like this is an old issue- It's mostly the over 30 set I see arguing about it, and, at least for the majority of our school, minorities aren't really targeted- And our school is somewhere you'd expect to see it. Small town, rural, 1800 students and about 15 are African American- And that's the largest "minority" group. But there isn't prejudice against any of the "minority" groups - This includes the few Gay/Lesbians, not just racial minorities- and it really isn't a factor. So I kinda feel like, at least for me, the race "issue" isn't really there.

What do you guys think?

Good Answers · Accepted Answer

Being for equality is nothing short of socialism.  I am for equal opportunity for all.  If that equates to equality, it will do so if all work equally hard.  Some will have more because they sacrificed more, invested in education and took risk.  Others will not have as much because they did less with their opportunities.  Of course their life styles should NOT be equal.  Work hard = get more.  

I do not personally know anyone who was a former slave, or their parent, or their parent's parent.  People born in the last 40 years started life with the same rights and opportunities as you and I.  The variable in the equation iw what was done with that opportunity.

Problems arise when people try to get special privileges based on their race, gender or sexual preference.  Bottom line, they should not.  Affirmative action is one such failure.  Give the job to the most qualified candidate, color gender or preference not withstanding and end the nonsense.

hossgal · Answer

As members of the dominant culture, you and I are not in a position to say that there's no racism, no discrimination, no inequality. That's like men saying that women are not oppressed or discriminated against. 

Have you asked any of the 15 African-American kids at your school about their opinion on this subject? Do you and any of them know each other well enough to have a high degree of trust, that they could feel secure in answering your questions honestly?

I don't think you're spoiled in the usual sense, or self-centered in a bad way. I know that my identity is not built around the fact that my skin is pale - except that it IS. In the broader culture, if it wasn't pale, my life and identity in the world would definitely be different than it is today. I had the eye-opening, mind-blowing experience of moving from my small, all-white towns in rural Pennsylvania to a school campus whose racial/cultural breakdown was about 85% inner-city black youths, 5% rural black, 7% Latino, and 3% white *and other*. There were about 600-800 kids living there at any time, and I lived there just about a year. No one was overtly mean to me (any more than any other teenage school situation), but I definitely learned first hand what it means to be in the minority. I believe the majority there enjoyed the new balance of power, but I didn't feel that they abused it.

As long as you live in your white world, you probably will continue to not see the inequality - but that doesn't mean it isn't there!

Equality of opportunity, equal treatment under the law and within society, does not mean sameness. There are lots of differences and that's a good thing. The only thing that shouldn't be different is basic civil and human rights, but they are. Education and employment opportunities, police and judicial treatment, access to health care, all these vital aspects of life are very different according to your skin color, gender, sexual orientation, place of birth, native language, etc etc.

This is a huge issue, and it's going to be huge for many generations to come. The best we can do is try to understand our neighbors both near and far, and work toward justice for everyone everywhere.

You've raised lots of important questions, and this forum isn't sufficient for answering them fully. The article and video linked below express the basic foundations of both privilege and lack thereof, and everything that is built upon those foundations.

Thanks for asking!

Anonymous · Answer

no man or woman race/subculture motives the most crime. we are all people after all. the folk who reason the most crime are the ignorant, racist, selfish and stupid. regrettably its in mankind's nature to be all of those issues.

Race in today's America?

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