Skye
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Reply 16 of 93 (Originally posted on: 07-08-06 12:39:33 AM)
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Quoted from vissario: Affirmative action, welfare, food stamps, subsidized housing, what other freebies do you feel black people need to join the middle class?
Affirmative action isn't a fucking freebie. Viewing it as a freebie automatically assumes that black people aren't qualified to get higher-paying jobs and jobs requiring more education, and that's not the case. The problem with lack of representation in high-profile jobs dealt more with the factor of race being a determinant for what jobs blacks were eligible. If that system never existed, affirmative action would not be needed because more blacks would be represented in the government and elsewhere. But that's not the case, and not necessarily because black people were poor.
Welfare does not only go to black people. In fact, associating welfare with black women is one of the largest propaganda pushes by fiscal conservatives to draw attention away from the fact that more white women are on welfare, the welfare program is an entitlement program like disability and other programs, and the welfare program is actually inadequate for raising children because of all the regulations and income requirements involved. Food stamps and subsidized housing fall under this category as well.
Quoted from vissario: Seriously, I grow so tired of having to take the "Black man's burden" becuase they are unable to move out of the lower economic spectrum.
This is the flawed logic that results from American dream rhetoric that seems to ignore the existence of Jim Crow and codified racial discrimination up until only a few decades ago. The black man does have a burden because there's no way to navigate through American culture with a positive history of being black. And it's mainly because of all these myths about what black people are incapable of being reinforced in the white mainstream culture. It trickles down.
Quoted from vissario: Great, point them out so we can eliminate them. Or, are you going to pull an Al Sharpton and say that they are too invisible to be seen by the normal eye?
Honestly, if you want to give us conspiracy theories, at least provide something to make it look plausible.
I've already given examples. The affirmative action system actually does more harm than good because since white men cannot benefit directly from it, it's automatically stigmatized as a giveaway to white women and minorities, groups of people who have never had the opportunities to advance that white men have institutionally had for centuries. However, there aren't many ways to figure out an alternative because without the system, the trends of society will just default to the status quo.
Another example of vestiges of institutionalized racism occurs in the housing market. There are not very many integrated housing communities because of a rather constant phenomenon of whites migrating out of urban areas as more minorities move in, which isolates and separates whites from minorities even more, and also drives down the property value because the areas are viewed as undesirable because the base of long-term ownership is diminishing. And the only group of people who have successfully maintained long-term home ownership are whites. Very few minorities can lay claim to that sort of constancy.
Another example of institutionalized racism stems from entertainment and its lack of integration, especially on the major media markets. Quite frankly, it reinforces the piss-poor minority stereotype unless it portrays a successful minority that has no ties to the positive contributions of its culture, rather that minority individual is often thoroughly assimilated in white culture.
And trust me, sir, there are plenty more if you open your eyes to see them and research them.
Quoted from vissario: And what is the symbolism?
The point of the ad is to contrast the differences of the old Black PSP and the new White PSP. In it, it is implied that the Black PSP is inferior to the new one in terms of technology, that is all.
Once again, if you think historically of race relations, especially in America, the symbolism is not that simplified. If anything, your description raises more problems. The fact that race is one of the highlights of the "differences" brings back a lot of oppressive history stemming from racial "differences." The implications of the statement that the "Black PSP is inferior to the [White] PSP in terms of technology" carries over to old racial stigmatizations and stereotypes that the black person is inherently inferior to the white person in terms of intellectual capabilities, in terms of physical prowess, in terms of humanity -- basically, in terms of one's human "technology," if you will. And that's problematic. You can't have a debate like this if you ignore historical context because it's relevant in understanding present issues.
Quoted from vissario: The so-called "symbolism" which you refer is not inherent to the ad, but, is the product of your imagination applying racial complexes. Once again, if you did not consider yourself inferior to white people, you would not be offended by this ad even if others say it should.
You're making a faulty assumption. I don't consider myself inferior to white people. However, since I'm not white, I don't have the luxury of being blind to race relations. I am constantly conscious of being black and of the history of black people in this country. Whites can easily blank it out because it doesn't have daily significance for them. Plus, I think it is very significant that the predominant ad that is running for this campaign is the white woman subordinating the black woman, and not the other way around. The other way around doesn't even make sense for the ad campaign if the technology of the white PSP is better. After all, as I said before, white-dominant/black-subordinate is an easily recognized association from the past because white people have remained in power.
http://forums.interestingnonetheless.net/display.php?tid=4368
Doesn't the manatee kind of look like a guest on the Ricki Lake show? "Uh, Ricki, I'm here because I'm endangered." Then one of those mean people in the audience would offer up the advice, "Yeah, I want to say something to the sea pig!" "That's sea cow." "Whatever. Sea pig, you gotta get yourself an education and a job!" "Uh, I live in the ocean." "It just so happens you live in the ocean 'cuz you ain't got no job!" "I don't know what you're -" "You gotta get in Weight Watchers, some kinda program!" "I have a layer of blubber to keep my body warm in the water..." "Whatever, talk to the hand." "I dont have a hand!"
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