The Secret Haters

I do find it interesting, if Sen. Obama want's us to look past race, why he would belong to a church that, in their words,

"We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian... Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.'

Now, subsitute 'white' for 'black' and let me know how the discussion on race would go..?

We are all racists because the MEDIA tells us we are all racists! How many times has anecdotal evidance been applied with broad strokes when it comes to divisive issues: Whites are all this, All Blacks are treated this, Christians are this...

I found it very interesting a few years ago when a Black author wrote a book on the history of the black culture post Civil War. He found that there was wide spread racism against many blacks by BLACKS, based upon money and society. Of course, the author was labeled an Uncle Tom by many who shared his skin color, though none disputed the facts of his book.

It is also very interesting to note that many Black Activists claimed that Obama was 'not Black enough' when he first started his campaign. And even Oprah has addressed the racism in the Black commumity between 'light' and 'dark' skinned individuals. Racism is not just a cross-cultural issue, but an inner-cultural one.

But let us all be REALISTIC. Is it possible to NOT notice the color of a person's skin? NO! Whenever we first see someone, we notice their sex, their height, what they are wearing, their build, hair color, etc. and the COLOR of their skin. Humans OBSERVE things. That is not racism, you politically correct nuts!

And let's face it we ALL discriminate in some form or fashion. Ladies, would you rather date a George Clooney type or a Louie Anderson-built man? If you are a Black person in a position to hire at your company, are you going to 'keep the faith' and give a 'brother' a hand up, or hirer a Hispanic or Asian who might be better qualified? How about voting for Obama or Hillary BECAUSE they are Black or Female (or against them for the same reason)?

And let's not forget those individuals who USE stereo-types: The youths who dress like 'gangstas' because they want people to fear them on site, or the woman who gets a mullet and wears flannel and workboots in order to attract her 'lipstick' counter-part, or even that flamboyant gentalman with the 'funny' accent who loves to decorate and go 'antique-ing'. They all use common 'isms' to their advantage in order to be quickly categorized.

The racial biases and tensions, understandably, run both ways; there's also a sense of condescension among whites that they identify as "compassion" for the underclass; blacks harbor significant suspicion re: the intentions of whites when the latter become intentionally involved in the culture of the former. My husband and I are white; our four adopted children are biracial or African-American. We found, within the last six years, that in the South there was enormous hostility toward us from the time our younger two children were placed with us as foster children, up to and through the adoptive process, that nearly sabotaged the processed. Last Labor Day weekend, as I traveled with my little ones through the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport security, an African-American man working there pulled me aside to tell me I wasn't using enough lotion on their skin. Just a friendly word of advice, he said; I asked him how many other parents he had stopped in order to give advice; I asked him how many black mothers with black children he had stopped, or how many white mothers with white children needed his advice. He had no answer for that. After twenty-eight years as part of a multi-racial family, we've all become somewhat oblivious to reactions of others of any race when they meet us; it's startling when we confront a sort of universal wariness when what we experience as "normal" family life evokes hostility in others, of any race.

We often hear a lot about racism; but why is it that people rarely ever discuss the conscious (or unconscious) conduct of misogynists? I think this article listed gender once? (I'm quite sure it was barely mentioned!) It's sad when we still have people in this country yelling out to a presidential candidate, "Iron my shirts." Yes, racism is wrong, as is discrimination based on age and sexuality; however, sadly it seems we are a very, very long way from addressing the misogyny which continues to exist, but is never addressed. Too sad!

Thik of it this way folks... your brain is like a big Google search engine. Everything we see, touch, taste, hear or smell is run through a search. What does it search? ALL of our life experiences. Some of our expereinces are weighted as being more important or relavant... this all goes into the results we get from our brain. We are the sum total of everything we have experienced.

Let's say that you turn the corner while walking downtown where you live. Suddenly you see a man pointing a gun at you. Your brain is now doing that big Google search trying to figure out what if this is important to you or not. If the person turns out to be, say your brother and the gun is a toy... no big deal you act accordingly by calling him a dork. But your brain had to process all of that to determine what you were experiencing. Your brain says, what do we have here? A human, a male, a familiar man, my brother, holding a gun, a toy gun, he is a dork. This is of course a way over- simplified version of the galactic sized search that your brain did of all your life experiences but you get the point hopefully.

I think that we can re-order and prioritize some of our schema but I think that the ones we posess that are related to fear and saftey are harder to changs. From a self preservation standpoint this is probably not a bad idea but it does tend to make some interpersonal realtions more difficult.

Just my opinion.

The more I think about this article, the more I have to come down on the side of it being more sinister than silly. Here are Wray Herbert and some researchers at Harvard and in Sydney to tell us that they have discerned our innermost thoughts and can know us better than we do ourselves through brain scans, response times, and image-word association games.

Did you draw back when that disheveled person demanded money of you? Hate. Did you hesitate when the unfamiliar face knocked on your door in the middle of the day? Hate. Did you pause before stepping off of the plane into a foreign country for the first time? Hate. Did you weary of people you know who drink excessively make the same mistakes over and over again despite your attempts to help them? Hate.

What godlike power Wray and these researchers have claimed for themselves, to know that the motives people profess are really so much self-deception and dissembling, that the judgments people make are in actuality expressions of latent bigotry! I can't help but wonder, however, whether this applies only to moral judgments that are at odds with Wray's and the researchers' own.

Duh, tell us something we don't already know. It's all about schema formation, prejudical behavior is shaped by our experiences and environment. Evolving beyond prejudicial behavior is impossible, humans will always be prejudiced about some things. We can add more information and experience to our schema which will give us a more flexible set of choices but those prejudices will always remain.

I think this article just tries to introduce race into the election again. No one has brought up racism and equated it to drug abuse and past racism as this article does. This is just another smear tactic by the Clinton supporters. Bill tried it in South Carolina by equating Obama's win to failed Jesse Jackson runs in 1984 and 1988. Can Hillary not stand on her own. Does she really need Bill, Chelsea, and anyone she can find in the press to win this election. I liked Bill and the things he did for the nation, but this is getting rediculous that the Clintons now resort to divisiveness just to win an election campaign. We need a unifying President, not someone who would try to bring up race just to win. I am at a point that if Hillary should gain the nomination, that I would support McCain. I am a long time democrat, but I feel Hillary has resorted to low tactics in order to win. And I think the Clintons would also resort to back room tactics and promises at the convention just to rob the nomination from Obama, even if he has overwealming support from the delegates and the population. Why are there no articles being written about how Americans feel about women in positions of authority? In the beginning, I supported her, because I wanted to see the Republicans defeated and end the years of Bush. But I now find her tactics to be deplorable. Quit writing articles that perpetuate racism.

I grew up on a variety of military bases or military housing projects, and people of all races were living all around me. It never occurred to me that they might be any different from me than my brother was - he had blond hair and blue eyes, while I had brown hair and brown eyes. I didn't learn about prejudice (never even heard of racism til I was in the 8th grade) against anybody. Today, at 65, I DO have prejudices, but they are mostly gleaned from the way other groups have behaved since I became old enough to care about such things. Since my family didn't come to the US until the late 1880s, my family never owned slaves and weren't involved in even the Civil War. My prejudices have come mostly from news reports about how people behave. "Blacks like to kill, Whites like to rape, Hispanics like to steal, and Asians like to better themselves. " All this from the news media over the last 50 years...

Without access to the research referenced by the author of this article it is difficult to know how to interpret the claims made. I would like to know how the researchers distinguished mere recognition of difference from some evidence of animus. It is the animus that is destructive, not the recognition of difference. Indeed, respected members of every group in America, whether that group be objectively visible or self-identified, vocally demand recognition for and acceptance of their distinctions and differences one from the other.

There is no question that interpersonal animus based on religion, race, gender or any other characteristic or trait is destructive of both the social fabric as a whole and the moral fiber of the individual holding the animus. Yet, the suggestion that mere possession of such an animus, without action, ought to be subject to legal sanction crosses the line into thought regulation. I am a 56 year old grey-haired white male and any member of this society is absolutely entitled under the Constitution to hate me for any of those reasons or none at all. What has been, and always should be, prohibitted is action intended to offer me real harm, regardless of the reason.

Am I a racist because I note the fact you are black, Hispanic, Asian? Am I sexist because I note that you are female? Am I ageist because I note that you are guilty of the unforgiveable but ultimately correctable sin of being young?

The point is you are entitled to dislike me, or I you, for good cause, bad cause or no cause we can even find words for. If I just don't strike you as the person you could warm up to, that is alright. We need to worry about far more important issues that who likes whom. Shouldn't the 'content of his character' be the important consideration we take of all persons? Do you honestly care whether I like you if I conduct myself toward you with dignity and respect? Surely the nurses who seek a change in duty because they dislike dsealing with addicts are, to quote another comment, "owning their prejudice" and taking reasonable steps to protect those against whom they harbor such prejudice by removing themselves from the nearer occasions of bad behavior. They are rather to be commended than condemned.

I think that these type of biases need to be considered from all perspectives. I recently read a BBC day in pictures in which gave various voter perspectives. There were some people who were voting a particular way - not because of a candidate's qualifications or considerations of what they honestly believed would be best for our country - but because they felt that the candidate would better their social group (this being true of women and African-American voters). Here's an excerpt from bbc: "I don't think a woman should be the head of no country because it's too much power for a woman." and can be found at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/americas_maryland_voters0_views/html/8.stm. This statement was made by an African American man. I personally know a white man who holds the same belief. Then there are the people who see this as a "historic" event and care little again about qualifications, but more about whether we will have the "oldest" candidate, a woman, or an African-American and seem to care about little else.

I recognize that the above article discusses more hidden forms of racism, sexism, et cetera, but I think it should also be recognized that there still exist and will likely always exist those who are racist, sexist, sexual orientation biased, et cetera. Frankly, it is those people who absolutely terrify me and it is the reporters who try to make a buck off of discussing whether this race is about one of these areas that upset me - they do need to show that this type of decision making is occurring during voting, but they need to focus on why it's wrong and on the QUALIFICATIONS of the candidates who are running. If the news networks stopped talking about first this or first that, maybe more people would be able to make a better and less biased decision.

'Racism' is universal. I lived in the SF Bay area for 35 years, and lived in a well integrated upper class neighborhood with excellent excellent schools. The Chinese did not like the Persians, the Vietnamese, or the blacks. The blacks did not like the Asians as they were very successful and raised the school standards so that it was hard for their children to compete. I could go on and on, but my point is, when you talk about
'Racism' it is the nature of the beast (man), and I felt that my caucasion neighbors and colleagues were the least 'Racist' in general.

I personally think that the media just needs to stop sensationalizing!!! Yes, this country has some wounds. That isn't news. But all wounds heal given time and with each generation I have seen greater acceptance and understanding of other cultures, sexuality races and religion. But if the media insists on pouring salt into the wounds they will continue to hurt. Just shut the hell up already and given time and faith, we will heal as a country.

'Racism' is universal. I lived in the SF Bay area for 35 years, and lived in a well integrated upper class neighborhood with excellent excellent schools. The Chinese did not like the Persians, the Vietnamese, or the blacks. The blacks did not like the Asians as they were very successful and raised the school standards so that it was hard for their children to compete. I could go on and on, but my point is, when you talk about

RRacism'Racism'

Well everyone knows that prejudice and racism still exist, but I do not think it is main stream at all. The election is the perfect example. Obama is popular because white people like him and feel they can relate to him. Black voters are NOT putting him where he is, but the media is putting that to the forefront and trying to keep those old thoughts and feelings going. I am a black person saying this. I mean he has lots of blacks supporting him that is true, but there are lots and lots of whites and hispancis and asians who just see him as a great candidate and not as the black guy running for president. Same with Hillary. There are millions of Americans supporting her and they are not even thinking consciously that she is a woman. They like her, and they have known many women in their lives who have been powerful and confident and capable. I think a lot of people would argue that women run their lives. (moms, wives, daughters) I have been very proud of the American people. Not just during this election where we can come together and vote as Americans more then pulling apart and voting as women, minorities, elderly, straight or gay, but all the time, everywhere. I honestly hardly ever see prejudice or discrimination or racism. I do not think people are trying to be politically correct around me either. I just think in today's society, most people have other things to think about and worry about then someone's race or gender or sexual preference.
I think most prejudice and racism comes from unsubstantiated fear and ignorance. As our society has become more educated and less fearful of the unknown or of those who are different, things have gotten better. Plus, we have too many substantiated fears like the economy going bad, and terrorism and global warming to put our energy into worrying about things that are unfounded and unsubstantiated. This test to me sounds like it studied people who are ignorant and fearful of the unknown. It said there are hidden biases against IV drug users and people who are different. That is because they are basing their prejudice on unsubstantiated fears. Once people become educated about a group of people and get to understand that we all have more in common then not, I think the prejudices desipate and dissolve. We definately have some work to do in many ways, but people of all races, genders and from all countries have come a very, long way in my opinion, and I believe as long as we are willing to continue to make progress and continue to keep those lines of communication open and we are willing to continue to get to know each other and give each other a chance, I think that one day our society and the rest of the world, can be completely free of prejudice and racism and then maybe, just maybe, we will get to experience the world that God intended for us to inhabit!