Mr. Greenbaum the reason as I see it, all these post get back to racial disharmony is there is truth and some people don’t like the truth. Another item. Any political obserervation concerning any non white group are conceded top secret/classified. I.e. crimes committed in the schools by those thugs that are not to be spoken about. They will defend it to their determent out of fear of being labeled a racist. They would rather put millions into a failing school system then risk telling those that destroy that school system they need to change their approach to becoming educated.

‘We will not allow comments that use hateful expressions such as the “n word.”’ (Kurt Greenbaum)

Appropriate stance…yet that would be a wonderful topic for a blog topic.

Why is the ‘N-word’ appropriate for use by blacks - and blacks only? Why is it acceptable at all?

As a (caucasian) boy growing up in University City in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s, I heard that word virtually every day on the playground - and it ALWAYS came out of the mouths of blacks. I NEVER heard it come out of the mouths of white folks. That mystified me as a 12-year-old; it continues to mystify me as a 48-year-old.

The rationale I’ve heard for years is that if its use is concentrated only within black America, the ’sting’ is taken out of it.

From my perspective, the ’sting’ is taken out of it - but by defending its usage, ‘ignorance’ has stepped in and taken the place of the ’sting.’

I remember the freewheeling discussion on ‘The View’ last year over this issue. Elizabeth Hasselback was desperately trying to understand why that word is even in use (in rap music/comedy) and, while in tears, talking about having to explain that word to her children (who ultimately hear it pop music) - while Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd were each defending its usage - but, of course, only by African-Americans. Ms. Goldberg used the word profusely during the broadcast (bleeped each time).

I found the irony amazing.

Here’s Ms. Hasselback, a conservative white woman, desperately trying to shield her children from that word, desiring to truly be ‘judged by the content of her character’ by never using that awful term, while Ms. Shepherd and Ms. Goldberg, two liberal black women, cheerfully defending its use; Ms. Goldberg using the word as though there wasn’t even an issue.

I will go to my grave trying to understand modern-day liberalism.

MLK would be rotating in his grave if he saw pop culture today…

John C raises an important question, and (to give him credit) it is one that Sylvester Brown attempted to raise in this space. Is it possible for Blacks to be racists? And, as long as there are double standards for things like the “n” word, then this rift will never close.

“gov” raises another important question: what IS the truth here? And who can tell it? MLK was a strong proponent of speaking truth to power, was he not? Who is speaking truth to power today? And, does the black leadership in this country need to start telling the truth amongst themselves? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one to go totally towards ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’ philosophy, but until we get past blaming we can’t get to problem-solving. History is useful right up until it starts blaming…then it is useless.

By the way, PD staff: what happened to the listing of how many comments were under each post on the index page?

racism is not a thing of the past. one of the biggest stumbling blocks in the discussion of race is the unwillingness of white people to listen. white america deserves much of the blame for minorities struglles both past and present. we need to listen to the grievances of people of color. they are real. to not listen, and to dismiss them as if they are playing “the blame game” says that we know your reality better than you do. And the whole “n” word use is a non-issue. Its a fall back arguement used to avoid the real issues facing black people. lets talk about the bias in housing, education, employment, and the legal system. and mlk did speak the truth. he also spoke of paying reparations to black people, spoke how capitalism is counter-productive to democracy, and that the US is the largest purveyor of violence in the world. We should also look at these mlk ideas, not just the sanitized version that we are offered today.

@hs: Re: your comments, “what happened to the listing of how many comments were under each post on the index page?”

We were wondering the same thing. I asked our tech guys about that awhile ago.

clyde: when a white person gets hung out to dry for using the N word, looses a job, etc., while people of color use it indiscriminately amongst themselves and in public, it is NOT a side issue. I hold myself to a high moral standard of language and how I treat people. Do you?

I agree with you to a point. The grievances ARE real, the pain IS real. I’m convinced, however, that it’s not about needing more programs. Racism will end when any two people can sit across a table from each other, share a meal and a laugh together, talk about their children and their hopes and their dreams together. In other words, racism will end when you and I (clyde, I’m assuming you’re a person of color…forgive me if I err) can look each other in the eye and see another person.

The choice of a biracial couple was no accident. I am tired of being force-fed images of white women with black men. It reeks of indoctrination.

Let give you a incident that happen to me a few years ago.

I, being a white person was talking to another person him being Black.
The Black man was very educated more then I He had a degree in whatever.
We were discussing education in the city and that I thought the black kids were not fullfiling their part of the social contract. He said why are you being judgmental? I quoted Dr. King. Paraphrase “judge me not by my skin color but the content of my character” they in my opinion showed lack of character. He looked at me and said “You have no right to quote Dr.King” My jaw drop to my knees, and I thought I heard everything.

This people is systemic to the problems in our country where we have educated black people and lots of white people that take a position of your not allowed to graze in their field, it’s for the black cows only.

hs

actually, i am white. no need to ask forgiveness. i thought about what you said, and how racism will end when any two people can share a meal and talk together and just see two people, to paraphrase. While you show an end, how do we get to that end? it is not so simple. I saw a study where people (black and white people) were shown images for 1/30th of a second. when images were shown, certain areas of the brain were increasingly active. when shown an image of a black man, peoples “fear” zone of the brain showed an increase in activity. why is there this inherent fear of black people? is it because of the “liberal” media that constantly shows us images of shirtless black men being arrested by police? the “liberal” media that says obama transcended race? when did a white politician EVER have to transcend race. Just because civil rights laws were passed does not mean that 400+ years wanting to supress a group of people has magically disappeared. instead of jim crow, the government now uses the war on drugs to keep black people in check. that is why mlk’s idea of reparations interests me. i think that would be an ideal starting point to heal the racial divide. if you are interested, i will expand on that. if not, i understand.

Clyde, I remember seeing a movie a couple years ago, I don’t remember the title. It starred Samuel L Jackson and Juliette Binoche and chronicled the breaking of apartheid in South Africa. The key point was the ‘truth and reconciliation’ hearings. Where people of both races were encouraged (forced in some cases) to tell the truth about what had happened, what their part had been, and to ask for forgiveness and reconciliation.

I have a major problem with reparations at the public level. My reasoning is that “I” have not, at least not consciously and deliberately, done anything that was racially motivated. My ancestors didn’t come to this country until after the civil war. My parents were very involved in the civil rights push of the early-mid 60’s, and I was taught that racism was out and out wrong. And so on. What reparations do “I” owe?

I guess I’m saying that I prefer to see myself as part of the solution, not part of the problem. Publicly funded reparations would fundamentally state that I’m part of the problem.

Now, I also agree with some members of the black community that many of the social programs have been more destructive than helpful. By creating a system where the prevailing attitude among some whites is “you can’t make it without us”, the problems have accelerated, not resolved. Now, what a better system might look like is beyond me. The answer, I believe, is not so much about spending more money or creating new incentives, but it actually figuring out how to deal with these issues one person at a time. To do that requires a lot of work, a lot of brick walls, and a lot of heartache. And a lot of willingness by those on the receiving end to set aside THEIR grievances and attitudes.