Category: Life

So a friend of mine posted an article called The subjectivity of slacktivism. I saw a photo of Trayvon Martin’s parents and clicked on it out of curiosity. The article itself didn’t do much for me, but a debate I came across in the comments section was actually a pleasant surprise and a pretty good read. I have pasted the discussion below. Who do you think presented the better argument?

You can find the link for the article below:  http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/04/201244114223946160.html

David Berg 3 days ago

The so called major media coverage of this tragic situation changes daily.  First NBC admits to doctoring the “original 911 transcript” and now CNN also acknowledges that “perhaps” their audio w similarly “dited inadvertently”.  The race industry uses the deaths of young African  Americans like stobe lights to advertise itself in a disgusting and repugnant manner.  The media accounts and the hysterical race baiters portray the shooter, the son of a Peruvian immigrant as a “white Hispanic”.  This then qualifies president Obama as a white African American.

The most disgusting and contemptible  thing happening here is the absolute hypocricyand  the phony and selective moral outrage over the young mans death, the real circumstances of which have not yet been determined.  I and a lot of my African American friends will be waiting breathlessly when another of the literally thousands of young black men to die violently is murdered, to see the arrival of the point men of the race industry in America.  Jackson, Sharpton and the always objective Farrankan will no doubt be there to “investigate” the next murder, even if its likely to be committed by another young black man.

After all, they’re only interested in “justice, right?  Of course they are and I have a very nice beach in the Mohave to sell anyone who believes that!

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TheoryPractice 3 days ago in reply to David Berg

Why are you so afraid to talk about race? Do you deny that there is a race problem in the US?

The issue isn’t that Zimmerman is white, or that too many whites are killing blacks. Not at all. Zimmerman could just as well have been a black Uncle Tom, and Arab, an African from the continent, and Indian, a Chinese, or, as you keep saying, someone from the same demographics as Trayvon.

The issue is that too many blacks are being killed for reasons very much related to the color of their skin. It is because the Trayvons are black that they are seen as “troublemakers” by the Zimmermans, whatever color their skin may be.

Now if we dig deeper, we realize that the reason why so many blacks are being murdered (including by other blacks) is that blacks are disproportionately represented in the lower class in the US. It is a common trend that people who suffer from poverty are exposed to violence, justified or not, both from their fellows and others.

Why are blacks disproportionately represented in the lower class? It is because of economic injustice. This is undeniable. The socio-economic system of the US makes it almost impossible for the MASSES of the poor, a big proportion of whom are black, to move up. It’s hard for anyone to move up the ladder in the US, but it is exponentially harder the poorer you are. Then, there is a broken education system which fails most students and trains others to maintain the unjust system.

If you’re still reading, hopefully you realize by now that the issue here is economic injustice and it is inseparable from racial injustice. The solution is to fix the economic system or supplant it with a more just one. But, of course, many people think the system is the best in the world, so we’ll have to wait for it to collapse instead.

Good day.

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Micheel 3 days ago in reply to TheoryPractice

If you want to explore racism and cause and effect-go into the local school in any poor area and look at the number of kids by color/demographic who are taking AP classes.

Then go look at the case of the teenager who robbed, sodomized and killed (maybe not in that order) two British  tourists who had the misfortune to be white as they wandered into a “black area” in Orlando–of course this case does not merit Al Sharpton or Obama’s comment is it is not “on message” with their racism agenda.

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TheoryPractice 2 days ago in reply to Micheel

Micheel, I’m sorry, but please try to think, discard your white guilt, and re-read what I said.
1. You are implying that blacks are not taking AP classes. The fact is that poor kids are not taking AP classes. And blacks are disproportionately represented in that group. Why? Study some history…after you have discarded your white guilt. No one is blaming you. I promise.

2. How do you know, from behind your keyboard, whether or not Obama or Sharpton has made a comment regarding the incident in Orlando? You suffer from white guilt.

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Micheel 2 days ago in reply to TheoryPractice

As an immigrant-citizen, I have no idea what white guilt is…..your point 1 is ‘cultural’–poor people behave poor and then blame others for being poor; the difference is those that take advantage of opportunities, value education and become Supreme Court justices. Point 2–Google.

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TheoryPractice 1 day ago in reply to Micheel

White guilt is where people like you feel threatened whenever the issue of race is brought up. To dismiss this feeling, you accuse others of playing the race card.

I’m sure Google knows everything that Obama and Sharpton have said. The truth is that you have ABSOLUTELY NOT IDEA whether or not either of them has made a comment, publicly or privately, about the British victims.

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Dan Bernard 2 days ago in reply to TheoryPractice

Micheel is not suffering from white guilt.  Tag you´re it.

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TheoryPractice 1 day ago in reply to Dan Bernard

Ha. You’re almost funny. Almost.

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David Berg 2 days ago in reply to TheoryPractice

There is no nation of place on the planet without racism.  The issue is and always has been is it accepted or viewed as a problem to be solved.  The US has its eacism, as do all nations.  Most Americans deplore racism iin any form, by any ethnic group.

Your comments are odd indeed. Because there are more African American males in the lower quintile of income earners, they are consequently driven to murdering others, regardless of race?  B.S. That, quite truthfully may rank as one of the most racist statements I’ve ever read.  That means, by your twisted logic that the millions of black, brown and yellow immigrants who now call America home are committing a grossly disproportionate number of murders against themselves.  Sorry pal, its NOT HAPPENING!  Race isn’t the issue, choices are the issue.  And despite the race-baiting industry, every American has choices, but acknowledging that fact would require recognition that each individual has at some level of responsibility for their situation.  And these sick oppotunists can’t let that happen.

Every major peer reviewed analysis of  US income/wealth disparity concludes the same thing and it applies to all racial groups, white black or brown.  If you choose to drop out of school; If you have children out of wedlock, you are 6 to 7 times more likely to wind up in poverty.

These are not societys fault.  Black teen unemployment is a definite problem, everyone recognizes that as fact.  I’ve had black young men (never a yoiung woman by the way) show up for a job interview looking like a bad stereotype from the black comedy channel.  Is that young person going to be hired by any employer of any race.  Not likely!  Right or wrong, most things in life are based on perception.  What you represent yourself as, regardless of race, is what all people see.

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TheoryPractice 1 day ago in reply to David Berg

Like I said, there is no hope but to wait for the system to collapse, given the total lack of empathy (as displayed in your comments).

Where have I excused or justified crimes or bad decisions? Listen carefully.

Let’s talk about the US for the sake of focus. The poor in this country do not have many choices, especially given the conditions that they grow up in. By the time they are old enough to make responsible decisions, they continue to be unprepared because very few people who grow up in certain conditions will have come across the information you may have come across to make you the responsible adult that you claim to be. I’m talking about the child born five minutes ago to a drug-addict mother in a neighborhood in one of the Midwest states, with no father to serve as a role model. The odds are stacked up against this kid. He will be seen as a threat wherever he walks, especially if he has a hooded sweatshirt on. This kid can be black, white, or any other color. But if he is black, it’s even worse for him. This is fact.

Now, I can understand your lack of empathy for the kid’s mother and father for making the wrong choices in life, but what has the kid done wrong? It’s easy and self-righteous to blame the kid for his predicament, but there’s not an ounce of empathy in that.

The solution, as I said, and if you’re still reading, is the fix the economic system of the country, which disproportionately favors the rich and terribly harms the poor. Until it is fixed, violence will continue to haunt all the citizens, rich or poor, black or white.

It’s called EMPATHY, people. Try it sometime.

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mudplanet 2 days ago in reply to David Berg

“There is no nation of place on the planet without racism” But there ARE nations that don’t codify racism in their charter or constitution (a Jewish homeland) and formalize it in their laws and government policies.

“Race isn’t the issue, choices are the issue.” In Bergland, children and young adults who are subjected daily to messages of inferiority, who are sent to substandard schools, who don’t have the option of high education because their parents are stuck in minimum wage employment, they have the same choices as the children of attorneys, trust fund babies and the children of Yale graduates. It just makes sense in Bergland.