Originally posted by TheGreatOne:
I did some work at a church in Harlem a while back. I met the janitor there, he let me in locked up rooms & such. One day these kids were walking down the street while he was outside, they called some white guy a cracker or something. I was walking out the door when he grabbed one of them and said, "boy do you even know what that word means?" They all replied no and so he explained it means "whip cracker." And so if you think about it, it's far form derogatory to white people. He smacked a few of them in the head and told them to get out of there. He turns to me and says "these kids nowadays, they got it better than we ever have and they act like fools - they're throwing it all away." I wound up talking to the guy for almost an hour. He was one of the kindest, most polite,well spoken and smartest people i've ever met. And he's lived through it all, IIRC he was pushing 80 at the time. He had no hatred, no ill feelings towards me or any other white people. I find it funny how people directly affected by slavery/segregation and the utter racism that was once prevalent in this country let it go faster than those who have never experienced it.



That was a wise old man. I would love to have talked to him for a while. He's been there, done that. His perspective would have been invaluable!

Now as far as the current generation not feeling racism, I'm not buying it. True they don't feel it to anywhere near the degree that the old man had seen it, but it is there. I think it has more to do with social perceptions than racial bigotry in most cases. Although, I admit the two can be difficult to distinguish at times.

Like the old man, I quite frankly think the black community is squandering the great strides made in the 60s & 70s. For a while, there was a great deal of value in education, bettering your situation as best you can, taking pride in a job well done, & taking the high road & not being so reactionary. Directly responsible for this was Dr. King, a fabulous leader, a visionary that was making all the difference. He was guiding the people of this nation, blank & white, to a better world. For the life of me I cannot imagine why somebody has not picked up the torch that this man ignited and carried it to the promised land. The key to prosperity is to become part of the nation not shun it. That's what the defeat of segregation was all about. Yet there is a pervasive & false idea that you're "selling out" if you make good in school, or have ambition. The battle was won, but nobody put up the flag and too few settled the newly won territory.

I can imagine why there are those who would prefer to keep the status quo, but their goals are for personal gain and are NOT in the best interest of the people they supposedly represent, or the nation in which they live. Bill Cosby tried to "gently" point these facts out and look what happened to him.


Must be that jumbly-wumbly thing happening again.