Why even bring race into it?

i agree with donjohnson whole heartedly...and i am black. i never watch BET, read Ebony or any of that other *beep* that is dreamed up by people for the "benefit of the black community". funny thing is, it's usually a bunch of suburbanite white kids who get on people for calling a spade a spade (pardon the expression). in any event, someone needs to create White Entertainment Televison...i think it would be hilarious....endless epidodes of Full House and Matlock.

The problem is most of us who are in our twenties or younger don't really understand what its like for black people to be in an inferior position in society. I have no peers that are racist, and throughout my life black culture has been the epitome of cool.
Now when things that Don Johnson 2 mention like seperate tv stations, pageants (which are discriminitave) appear, it doesn't really seem to be 'fair' by what we understand as racism. For example, if someones screen name here was WhitePower, I would be sure that they were an ignorant grotesque hillbilly idiot. If it was BlackPower I would imagine some chilled out Q-Tip type who was educated and knew everything about black african history. In a word, I would respect them.
But why? Because we are all looking at this from our own experiences. I have never witnessed a black person be discriminated against, I have never felt that my whiteness has helped me get jobs (even if this may be the case), but we need to look at our society as a whole from its inception rather than ours. Black people, like Native American Indians, Jews and many other ethnic groups have been persecuted in our recent history. So recently that I can still go and talk to people who have had family members lynched, killed by the KKK and so on. How can people like this not want to champion their race now that they have a position of power within society?
Don johnson and those that share his views should stop moaning and wonder what its like to grow up in a country where you grandparents and parents lived as second class citizens, and where the government, police, hell the whole country's institituons is made up of people of a different race. A country built by your ancestors, who lived as slaves(!). I can't imagine that, but I think if I could I would go and see Idlewild a few times, even if it was rubbish.

For the same reasons nobody on the planet refers to themself as ""human beings"" when speaking about their ancestry, history, culture, rituals, languages, and who they chose to date, sleep with, procreate with, love, and marry.

Why adopt a national identity like ""American"" to distinguish ourselves from ""Britians"" or ""Mexicans"" or ""Italians"" and so forth nationally and geographically when we all know that we visually, mentally, and culturally don't relate to each other in that way in our daily lives.

Why is another ""Caucasian"" refering to him or herself as ""white"" although they may be ""Italian-American"" or ""Irish-American"" or ""Polish-American"" or ""Portugese-American"" or ""German American"" and so on? Why do some ""Jewish-Americans"" get pissed when they are referred to as being ""white""?

The answer is -- because ""White"" is an all encompassing visual multicultural metonym that different Caucasian ethnic groups, each culturally diverse, use to monolithically describe that which they share in common -- LIGHT SKIN COMPLEXION ... compared to DARK SKIN COMPLEXION ... where ""Blacks"" is the other extreme of the racial/ethnic visual/ideological spectrum.

Race relations in American are fundamentally shaped by two how close or far away our SKIN-COMPLEXION is to White and Black and all of the uglyness we attribute to those Badges of Privilege and Non-Privilege.

There isn't one adult human being in America who isn't RACE-CULTURAL-CONSCIOUS -- none! Now how we translate that consciousness into racism/discrimination (as individuals, groups, and institutions) will depend on two major things: 1) How many members are in each group ... such as 200 milion or 40 million! 2) What societal resources each group collectively owns and controls that everyone in the society needs -- are dependent on?

Which is going to impact you as an individual or group more adversely: A majority of 200 million persons potentially calling you a racial epithet and denying you access to the resources you need to survive and exce? Or 40 milion persons potentially calling you self-defense and internalized racial epithets but having none or little ownership or control over being able to deny you access to the societal resources you need?

Which group are you most likely going to be apprehensive about in terms of committing hate-crimes against you? A group having 200 milion members and a documented, verifiable, history of doing such up to this day? Or a group having 40 million who members, no document, verifiable, history of such, but in the present day might scape-goat you racially, self-defense wise and/or because they've internalized the racist ideology of the 200 million member majority?

If any group is to be feared and defended against, is it the larger group of 200 million or the small group of 40 million, perhaps the larger group that owns and controls almost all of America's societal resources -- please read your Forbes Magazine as to who owns/controls most of America's Corporations and Small Businesses, checkout a picture of the visual racial/ethnic identity of ALL America's Presidents todate, and the racial/ethnic identity of most elected officials in all of America's local, state, county, an federal governments:) What will be the racial/ethnic identity of most of the persons reading your job application, making the decision whether to hire you, promote you, who will being selling you most of the goods and services in America, deciding whether you can get a credit card or business loan, deciding whether you get admitted into any college, and who you visually see the most if you cross all parts of America?

Analogy wise, do you fear the potential racist terrorist group with the most members or the least members, the potential terrorist group with ownership and control of the most resources (power) or another potential terrorist group with an insignificant number of members and little ownership and control of any societal resources (power)?

Anybody in America who thinks all groups are equally racist/discriminatory and committing hate-crimes is clueless about what it means to be racist in America. There is only one diverse racial/ethnic group in America that can be racist/discriminatory in any significantly adverse way, compared to all other groups in American, and that group is all of the Caucasian ethnicities that collectively and visually refer to, think of themself as being, and act WHITE! 40 million Black Americans, nor any of the lesser statistical population groups (Hispanic, Asian, Native American, etc) have the POWER to dictate, shape, and determine the daily reality of everyone in America -- and signficantly influence the world. Every Black American could disappear from this Nation. But still America would still continue to be racist -- whites would still be identified by all the remaining racial groups as the main/most powerful culprit racist group in America! If anything, the other non black/non-white groups should be grateful that BLACKS are still America's scapegoats for everything -- racism included!

This is my last dissertation on American Racism. If you don't got a factual clue what racism means in America and who is the most bigoted/discriminatory (as individuals and a group and why they have the power to be such) then you for sure aren't BLACK and you for sure haven't studied the historical and present-day discriminatory practices of America! You're In-Color-Blind Denial!

There are volumes of books on race relations, racism, and discrimination -- past and present. Read them! One of my favorites is: ""Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, and Unequal"" by Andrew Hacker -- a white male and statistical guru for when the book was written! Use it as a primer ... then read the other thousands upon thousands of others and then go earn your doctorates (Ph.D) in Ethnic Studies ... and then come back to DDHG and tell us whether you still think or believe Blacks are racist or the most racist:) Knowledge is Power! And when I read some of these posts/opinions in here from non-blacks I realize just how clueless, just how little or no knowledge you have, about the Black American Experience or America's racist history and present-day practices -- no clue! This cluelessness, this lack of knowledge, is what fundamentally perpetuates America's present-day discriminatory practices and why so many Blacks continue to express their indignation. Your IGNORANCE is what continues to fuel/validate that indignation!


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To every action there's an equal and oposing reaction that's a fact of life so the only way to cancel out misconception of race and culture is to respect everybody as a whole and these ideas of supremacy will soon die cuz in a world of respect there's no room for these malconceived notions. stay informed and enjoy this movie as what it is: simply a movie and judge it accordingly.