UN Report: US Owes Black People Reparations for a History of "Racial Terrorism"

[donquixote99]

Originally Posted by JCricket

The bolded part is my issue. I am not certain the blanket statement of "our treatment of blacks" is one I agree with. Some people treat blacks racially. Some blacks still foster hate too. Some folks do not. The problem probably started in slavery. I think it is far more complex than that now. Poverty traps, hate from some of the people on both sides, ignorance from folks on both sides, and so on.

BTW - I use the term minorities simply because saying "blacks" feels like I am being racist. I think referring to any group of people and labeling it with their skin color is racist, at least breeds racism. This is quite possibly one of the roots of the problem.

I can't say I feel much better about using the term minority either though.

The meme that blacks are niggers has been passed down, from generation to generation. You learned it in your childhood, perhaps first in 'nigger jokes.' It passes from older kids to younger kids, even if parents would not explicitly teach such a thing, or even teach against it.

Now you grew up to be a decent person, and you'd never use the word, probably not even as I just have, to talk about how things work. Still, the identity is back there, in your mind. If you explicitly think 'What are blacks?' that word is one of the answers.

And sometimes when events or circumstances put blacks and whites in conflict, perhaps in the workplace, perhaps in the school, perhaps at a demonstration, certainly when policing the streets, and in the courts, and in the jails--that word, and all it implies, are ready and waiting. Maybe you keep it closed up. Others let it sneak about in their minds, and some glory in it.

That's the legacy we're dealing with.