[QUOTE=Stryfe]
True, I’m not saying it’s not an issue, simply that it is not as case of me being privileged, but of you being discriminated against. Different issue, plus of course it’s not just white people that discriminate. I’ve met asians that are racist to black people and vice versa.
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Well, as **Miller ** pointed out, that sounds like two ways of saying the same thing. That being said, whatever language you use, it doesn’t make me feel any better, y’know? 
And you’re absolutely correct–it’s not just white people who discriminate or who are racist (and I’ve never claimed as much). I will say, however, that white people (as a group, mind you, not *you * as an individual) have held the lion’s share of power in much of the world for so long that it’s been…um, easier for them to enforce their particular prejudices.
As for Asians? I believe that I’ve written previously on these boards about some of the Asian students on my campus–particularly the foreign students–who look terrified whenever they encounter black people. Granted, my university is located in Harlem (the administraion tells the parents of the fresh-faced frosh that it’s Morningside Heights, but…oh, well), and I’m sure these students have seen some of the thornier side of the neighborhood, but that, to my mind, doesn’t justify their fear of me. I was raised by survivors of the Jim Crow South, and if my family can come out of that experience without hating all whites (or without teaching me to hate all whites), then I think it’s reasonable to expect similar results from others who most certainly haven’t suffered similarly. And no, fellow Dopers, I’m not saying that all Asians feel this way, so let’s not take it there, okay?
[QUOTE=Stryfe]
Things are better now than they’ve ever been, yes there is still room for improvement, but there always will be, we don’t live in an ideal world. Plus in my cynical way I think some form of prejudice is inherent in the human condition, probably a side effect of our collective tribal past where anyone outside “the tribe” was a potential competitor and therefore fair game.
[/QUOTE]
I agree that things are better now, and are always getting better. I realize that I don’t have to deal with the same kind of racism that my parents and grandparents (may they rest in peace) had to deal with, but, of course, that doesn’t mean that racism no longer exists. And your claim of atavistic tribalism interests me. Are you saying that you believe that we’re genetically encoded to be prejudiced against someone who’s different from us? If so, I’m sorry, but I don’t buy it. I mean, if I can endeavor to treat other people the way that I’d like to be treated, why should other people have an excuse to do otherwise that boils down to genetics? I don’t get it.
[QUOTE=Stryfe]
I’ve looked and can’t find any at present, if I recall the examples I have seen they were usually for community based roles for local authorities supporting the needs of a particular community. Now while it is highly unlikely that someone from outside that community would get the job restrictions were placed on who could apply.
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Well, there ya go. It makes sense that a position in a community-based authority would be filled by someone who’s a member of that particular community, whatever the make-up of the community might be. (I live in a section of Jersey City, New Jersey, that’s populated by Indians, Hispanics, blacks, and whites–on the side of Journal Square that’s headed towards The Heights, for any Dopers who might be familiar with the area–so a person from any one of these groups would be eligible, for the most part, to fill a position in a community-based organization.) Really, the fact that such a position would be restricted to a member of said community doesn’t support your claim that, for instance, white folks are generally locked out of positions solely because they’re white.
[QUOTE=Stryfe]
I’d just like to say that I was offended by the OP, which is possibly something you have to contend with every day.
[/QUOTE]
Well, its not as if I imainge that there are legions of non-blacks in my everyday travels who have visions of pitchforks, bonfires, and “black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze” dancing around in their heads, but to some extent or other, I’m reminded on a fairly regular basis that “life…ain’t…no crystal stair,” especially if you’re black in America. But, hey, you persevere b/c if you don’t, you don’t survive.
