Scare yourself

[xoxoxoBruce]

No matter who you are, what color, race or creed, somebody isn't going to like you. Simple fact. If they don't like you, they'll probably not go out of their way to be polite. The best you can hope for is them not going out of their way to be impolite. The key here is "out of their way"

And I know plenty of "brothas" who would tell those "crackas" to go fuck themselves and fight their own war.

What is the %age of the military that is black?

[DanaC]

I think a more interesting question would be what percentage of Blacks are in the military?

I'd also be interested to know what percentage of the white population are in the military

[Undertoad]

25% (answering Bruce)

[lumberjim]

and isn't the national pop like 10 or 11% black?

[DanaC]

Perhaps a higher percentage of the Black population has to resort to the military in order to achieve an education or training in skills

[lookout123]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Perhaps a higher percentage of the Black population has to resort to the military in order to achieve an education or training in skills

how is that a negative? people from all different backgrounds go in the military to earn college money and gain skills. most of the people who stick around until retirement went in for those very reasons andfound an environment in which they could flourish.

it doesn't matter what % of black,white, purple individuals are in the military. if you want to look at %'s - see if the military has the same percentages of ethnic groups as our population as a whole. i think that you will find that it does not match up. you would have to break it down into percentage of each ethnic group who doesn't have the money to send their kids to school, then i believe the numbers would correspond very closely.

most of the people go in the military for greater access to opportunity... that means that most of the military comes from a middle class or lower class background. but so what? they are taking advantage of a way to move up in life and kudos to all who choose to do so.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Perhaps a higher percentage of the Black population has to resort to the military in order to achieve an education or training in skills

I don't give a shit why they joined. They're in the military and I doubt like hell they're going to tell anyone, even "crackas" to go fuck themselves and fight their own war.

[lookout123]

you're right bruce, they won't. to be fair i think she was referring to those not in the military. the military is not perfect and occasionally there are instances of racial intolerance but on the whole - everyone is there voluntarily, they know everyone else is there for the same purpose and treat eachother with professionalism.

[jaguar]

hm i'm feeling the need to chime in. While in the US it might be a little different there are members of most minorities that like using that as an excuse to be antisocial and like playing up race issues. I've met maybe one or two people white people my age who hold any kind of racial grudge and went to a very multicultural high school where race was either a nonissue or a few harmless jokes that went in every direction. On more than one occasion here I've heard and been given lectures by young black guys wearing stupidly expensive clothing(which is all about race itself, FUBU and the like) about how 'the man' was keeping their people down and all this crap. Get the fuck over yourself, it's Switzerland, stop pretending you have some kind of excuse to break the law and act like an utter fucking wanker, noone gives a damn until you step out of line, then you can expect the same treatment as everyone else.

[lookout123]

it is generally the same way here jag. there is some very unfortunate racism that still exists, but what i find more common is people that are hunting for a racist agenda where none exists. there will always be a small minority (made up of all ethnicities) that is always looking for the person holding them back, rather than looking for a goal to strive for.

*zips up flame retardent suit*

[jaguar]

*zips up flame retardent suit*

Let me join you on that one. I understand the roots of modern black angst on these things and in some areas it still is a real problem but it's now a mainstream cultural anchorpoint for so many kids that's being exported via MTV around the world and helping create racial divides rather than break them down.

[slang]

We are in complete agreement.

Should I play the lottery today with such an unlikely event as this happening?

[russotto]

Originally Posted by ladysycamore

*laughing* Ah yes...the olive branch which turns into the knife in the back when the dust settles. Yeah..sounds like a GREAT plan.

Then you aren't interested in anything but treating white people as the enemy. And by doing so, you've provided ample justification for white people to reciprocate. Indeed, you make white people who do otherwise look like chumps. The ball's in your (collective) court.

[ladysycamore]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Lookout, your first point I agree with. People have a natural tendency to seek likeness and fear difference and to use that as a basis for factionalism...

Your second point I take issue with. The problem isnt that people refuse to let go the wrongs and resentments of the past. the problem is that the wrongs and resentments are not a problem of the past they are a problem of the present. The point is that racism *does* exist(for whatever reason) and as such demands a response. To hold ones hand up and say "That's it I will no longer bear a grudge against those who enslaved my great great grandparents " is all very well if the people who enslaved your great great grandparents werent still treating you as persona non grata and discriminating against you in a myriad different ways, some against the law and some not. If you had equal power in this new relationship that may allow you to let bygones be bygones but if you havent equal power within this modern relationship it quickly becomes apparent that the bygones havent in fact gone

Thank you Dana. Various people, black and white, have said this in many ways over time, but people refuse to listen or at least, take it under account. It's so easy for some to say "just get over it" when it's not happening to them, directly or even indirectly. I just will not use up what's left of my mental and emotional energy trying to convince people of anything anymore regarding racial/cultural issues.

Someone very clever once said:
**Don't tell people to get over the past when it's still haunting their
present. "Jeff"

[wolf]

Pardon me for not being ashamed of who I am, where I am from, where my parents and the generations before them were from. If such feeling is now considered racist, so be it, I'm a racist. Also please pardon me for determining which people are assholes and which are not on an individual interactional basis rather than based on membership of a certain group or class. I even mean that about liberals.