Then that makes you intolerant as well.

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Pioneers are walking all around singing songs about Lenin and they should be shot for it.

Handlebars

"If you are looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror"- V

It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.
H. L. Mencken

come on you know you wanna play football..

Beagán agus a rá go maith.

Economic Left/Right: 3.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.87

Tolerance is just a word that liberals made up to feel better about themselves. As Viola said, she won't tolerate it if it's untolerable. Does that make any sense? If we all used that logic (most of us do) then there would be zero tolerance. So what point does it serve? As far as I can tell, the definition of untolerable is subjective.

I'd like to know Viola, what kinds of things should I tolerate? What about minorities? I hear that word alot when it comes to race relations. So someone please tell me, what should I tolerate when it comes to blacks, Asians, gays, etc etc etc? This isn't a rhetorical question, I'd really like to know, what about these groups and others should I tolerate?

Dealing with racism, laws are already in place, and should be enforced. I don't think we need any more laws, but we do need better enforcement.
Education is also a key. We need to let our children know that we judge, punish, reward, etc people based on their actions and nothing else.
And this "celebrate diversity" crap (how do we celebrate diversity anyway??). How about instead we celebrate being Americans? We should teach kids what it means to be an American. Our values, what we believe in, etc. Being an American has nothing to do with skin color, race, anything like that. People don't come to the US to become African-Ameircans, Asian Americans, European-Americans, etc, they come here to be Americans. We can teach other cultures, and how they influence our values, but let's stop putting so much goddamn emphesis on our differences. Instead let's celebrate what makes us the same. When kids are young, and you teach about all this diversity crap, what do kids do? They want to belong, so they pick the group that best describes them. What happens if they pick the "wrong" group? They get called "Uncle Tom" or "white N***er" or whatever. Acknowledge diversity, or understand diversity maybe, but definitely not celebrate diversity.

Instead of telling kids they're special because of their skin color, ethnicity, religion, etc, we should tell kids they're special because they're kids! They haven't grown up to be stupid adults yet, and they still have a chance to be good people.

We also have a problem with a "victim" or "guilty" mentality in our country. I'm no more guilty of slavery than anyone here is a victim of it. Sure, our ancestors maybe, but none of us had anything to do with it. I know alot of people don't like that idea, but teaching children these mentalities I believe only adds fuel to the fire. As an American, it pisses me off that we allowed slavery in our country. I would like an apology for all the evil our govenment did to my fellow Americans. We should teach the truth about our history, but we should emphasize the strides, sacrifices, etc that our country has made to make America better for all Americans. I can live with an apology for slavery, but I think it should be made to all Americans, not just African Americans. The government could make a formal apology, in the name of our past governments, apologizing for our past evils. Each new Congress should also make a promise that we won't repeat our past evils. What are promises worth? About as much as apologizing for someone else, it's symbolic, but I think it would help.
All Americans should be pissed off and want an apology.
Some people really won't like hearing this, but I think we need to rethink some of our social programs. A lot of people feel left out, which again adds fuel to the fire. Affirmative action for instance. Should we even need AA?? No, not in America. It's embarassing that we should need this kind of program. Need should be THE ONLY requirement when it comes to government aid, nothing else should matter. Again, people feel left out.

Some people will say because I'm white I have no business discussing this and my opinion doesn't count. I'll prempt that by saying that if you want equality, then you have to include everyone in the discussion.

I'm tired and will stop now, (hopefully I've been able to make sense in my current state)but will end by saying that the biggest problem with racism is how do we change people who already have their minds made up? How do we overcome what they are teaching their children? I think some of my ideas, after years and years of practice, would eventually stop the racism cycle.
I have a bunch of other ideas, but will add more later.

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24 Empty Missile Tubes, A Giant Mushroom Cloud...IT's MILLER TIME!

Another thing some people have a problem with is Black History Month. I'm not going to talk about the common complaint that we shouldn't have a month dedicated to one race. We've been there, done that.
But what I will say is this.... Why is it that people demand that when we teach history, we must include everything, including the bad stuff that whites have done, but when it comes to black history month, we only teach the positive contributions that blacks have made?? We'd be called racists or hate mongers, whatever, if we even mentioned any of the negative stuff that some African-Americans have done in our history. We teach our kids, rightly so, about Jackie Robinson, but will we talk about Barry Bonds, who more than likely cheated his way to success?? Probably not. Of course you can't compare steroids to slavery, but you get the point. There are other examples, but since I wasn't taugh negative black history in school, I can't name them. If you want to teach Black history and teach us about African Americans, then teach us all the history. I think demanding that we teach the negative stuff when it comes to "white" history, but only teaching the positive stuff when it comes to "black" history is hipocritical and does nothing to promote the end of racism in the US.
Hell, not counting Presidents or our founding fathers, I probably know more black history than any other history.

__________________
24 Empty Missile Tubes, A Giant Mushroom Cloud...IT's MILLER TIME!

People act like the U.S. is the only country with "racism". If we didn't have racism, we'd have castes, or some other social segmentation. Even among white people you have the "white trash, rednecks, and hoosiers", among other names one group of white people call each other. Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Laotian, and Taiwanese all consider themselves different. And if you go to Japan, they have a type of caste system even among themselves.
We aren't gonna ever make all people feel that we are all "equal". It's just not in us. The most we can hope for is just as Oregon said, to tolerate each other.
I don't expect all people to like me, and some might not just because I happen to be black, but what I CAN do is not make anything I "do" contribute to that. Black people have stereotypes, and I am just as aware of them as everyone else is. I'm not a criminal, I only have one child, I am married to my "baby momma', I have great credit, and my house is new. So why do you hate me now?

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I'm very politically correct, handsome, intelligent and modest.

I know all about those cultures you mention. I've seen it first hand.
I don't think perfection is the goal, but getting better should always be.
I still don't agree with the tolerate part. What about you do I need to tolerate? I'd really like to know. What kinds of things do you do that you would think I should tolerate?? Do you get where I'm going with this??
Keeping this in respect to race, if you practice tolerance, what kinds of
things, actions, etc, do you tolerate about other races? I'm not trying to bait you here, I'm just curious. I guess there are things about people that I tolerate. My neighbors dog craps on my yard. My wife snores. My daughter talks on the phone too damn much. These have nothing to do with race though. So again, with respect to race what kinds of things should I, you, everyone else tolerate?

I hope the "why do you hate me now" wasn't directed at me. I don't hate anyone brother. I'm pretty sure it wasn't directed at me, but if it was, then should I tolerate it even though it was wrong?

__________________
24 Empty Missile Tubes, A Giant Mushroom Cloud...IT's MILLER TIME!

No, my "why do you hate me now" was a rhetorical statement addressed to racists. I really don't know "why" a person would hate me for my skin color. But it ain't for the reasons that I listed.

But my "tolerate" isn't necessarily for tolerating my race. If I expect a person to overcome their own feelings and hear me out and get to know me as a person and not as the stereotypical Black man, I should be also be able to listen to "why" a person might be prejudiced instead of instantly labeling them a racist. They might have a great reason for being racist. A Black guy killed his momma or some crap like that. Our history demonstrates why racism exists. In both directions. White people hate black and blacks hate whites. For good reason IMHO with that slavery situation and all. Stuff like that breeds a bit of animosity.

"Race" is but one reason that a person can hate me. So I'm really not concerned about all people liking me. The best I can do is the best I can do.

But as a nation, as you said perfection is not gonna work. It doesn't exist. The best we can do is try and convince people to get to know everyone individually...until that person justifies the stereotype.

Because we all know that stereotypes exist for a reason. White men can't jump, except for the ones that can. And all tall Black guys play basketball, except for those that don't.

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I'm very politically correct, handsome, intelligent and modest.

And have you felt in this Forum.. some of us ignore what you say?

__________________
Pioneers are walking all around singing songs about Lenin and they should be shot for it.

Handlebars

"If you are looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror"- V

It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.
H. L. Mencken

come on you know you wanna play football..

Beagán agus a rá go maith.

Economic Left/Right: 3.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.87

I actually assume many people have me on ignore. Not necessarily for what I have said here, but other threads. I don't concern myself with it.

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I'm very politically correct, handsome, intelligent and modest.

[quote=AmericanDreamer;94234]"Talking is the first step to finding answers Relearning race Dollars and sense Leveling the playing field Studying race".

What can be done to curb the racism that occurs in this country? How can we, as a people, become more tolerant of others individualty? Here is some reading and some links that may help us overcome this evil, or at least provide the tools necessary in order to make this country a little less racist.

First, a bit of the history of racism in the United States:


Now some information on how to combat racism in this country:


Racism is all about a particular race feeling superiority over another. Plain and simple.
It's a phenomenon evident on this very board.
Instead of taking an "open-minded" approach, folks tend to gravitate toward their "cookie cutter" stereotypes of how others "are".
Folks don't know what you know, where you've been, who you know, or what you've done.
How many times have I, personally, been dismissed, reduced, maligned, distorted, and "punk'd"? I'm not whining, I just telling my truth.
And there are no apologies that have ever been forthcoming. Folks say anything that comes to their mind. But why? What would be the motivation for that? It's their own issues, be it insecurity, or jealousy, or something that they're lacking.
And you know what a dog does when it's backed into a corner...it "turns", and lashes out. It's a natural response to badgering.
My suggestion is for folks to suspend their beliefs (hard as that may be to do) and walk a mile in someone else's shoes ( which may or may not fit).

Being intolerant is a choice that a person makes, not part of who they are.

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"Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states...Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds."



~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.