The Glade 4.0

This began, and was subsequently solidly established, more than 150 years ago.

Take that up with the Census Bureau, because the math still holds true according to their data.

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There's no need, Khross, as 98% of the Black Population of WI does not live within commuting distance of Chicago, unless you consider 4+ hours "commuting".

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

So, after reading that article fully and getting past the initial "OMG racist kids!", I can't help but wonder if there isn't more to that story.
The kid that got expelled, for example...he said the Somalian kid swung at him first and then he was expelled for using a racial slur while the Somalian kid received no punishment whatsoever for the physical confrontation.
I'm not saying that what the kid did is right, but what I AM saying is that when we are dealing with cultural differences (and most notably black/white issues) we tend to be a little *too* politically correct.
If the Somalian children smell bad, ask their parents to bathe them or something. Sitting in class with other students whose odors are offensive does not give you the right to make fun of them, but something should be done about it. By the same token, why are all the Somalian students allowed to take "prayer breaks" when our students aren't even allowed to say "one nation under God" in the pledge of allegiance?
When you are dealing with children, (and adults too for that matter), consistency is key, especially when forcing two different cultures to blend. What is fair for one should be fair for the other....if you are inconsistent with your treatment, and are overly accomodating to one culture over the other so as not to be considered racist, you are going to wind up in a situation where the other culture will retaliate. Especially if it is children that we are talking about.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Minnesota was a weird experience. It was this completely homogeneous place; Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon stories are only barely a caricature. It's like the biggest cultural difference is whether you're Norwegian or German, or Catholic or Lutheran (and to me those weren't particularly notable distinctions at all). I stuck out like a sore thumb there

I sort of wonder if the dominant culture doesn't just sort of err on the side of over-accommodating (at least on the part of the adults) because there's this sort of implicit acknowledgement that integration isn't very likely. Like, okay, your kids are almost certainly not going to be playing on the hockey team with my kids. In fact, your kid has probably never worn a skate in his life. We're not going to see you at Mass. We're completely alien to each other, there's not a whole lot here that you can identify with. So you want to duck out for a few minutes on Friday as a group? Hey, knock yourselves out.

And yeah, all the while there's no way we're going to extend that latitude to anyone in the majority. But kids don't see that, they just see difference. And let's face it, adolescent kids aren't the most good-natured bunch, as a whole. And you're right, stuff that reinforces that difference only aggravates the issue.

True story, semi-related: My first year in Minnesota there was this one kid who just constantly ragged on me for my drawl (I definitely sounded like I was from Tennessee). I just snapped one day at recess after I'd had enough of it, and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and slung him into a brick wall. I don't know what came over me, I was still tiny in 7th grade and the kid was like almost a foot taller than me. But he never ragged on me again, in fact his tone changed altogether. And he was the one who got in trouble over it. I remembered that experience immediately reading that article.

I will freely admit I am somewhat racist. Growing up there was only one black family in the entire city at the time. (I later found out that my hometown had once been a major kkk center in Ohio) I didn't know much about race no one really talked about it in my family. I became friends with the one black kid in school, we even went into business together and cut lawns during the summer. It never seemed odd and I never even really looked at him as black.

Fast forward.

Since that time I have lived in the south, I have lived in the north in a predominately black neighborhood. I grew to dislike African Americans. They hated me from day one even though they didn't know me. When I saw them fighting their dogs and called the police on them they hated me. When the gang bangers would make shooting gestures at me (and I would point back with a real gun) they hated me. When they would walk in the middle of the road and dare me to hit them and I would almost clip them they hated me. Throwing their old 40 ouncers in my yard and a myriad of other things many things that Kate listed in her post.

Thankfully we became successful and was able to move away from that area. It has stuck with me and I hate it, I hate that whenever I see them walking in the mall I get suspicious at what they will do or walking down the street I get my guard up ready to act in case something happens just because of their color. I never felt that way around them before but the experience I have had with them makes me think that way.

I have known many that were good honorable men and women and I accept them as such I don't hold them accountable for their entire race just as I would hope they don't hold me accountable for my whole race. But it does affect how I see the majority of them and it makes me sad that I do feel that way.

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I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil

Again that's more about jerks and a culture than it is about skin color.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Its so cute when racists try to pretend they're not racist.

Riov, do you have anything real to contribute to the conversation or just more wanna-be-witty pointless commentary?

Everyone is racist, it's only a matter of degree. Anyone who insists they react to people of a different race exactly the same as they react to people of the same race is a **** liar.

It's so cute when self-important liberals think they know what racism is ...

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Wow, when LK tells you to STFU, you know there isn't much lower to go...



I guess that shouldn't surprise me when their definition of racism is so different from reality.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Heh. I'm glad I wasn't the only one to think that. I believe we also addressed that particular complaint again in the 50s and 60s.

That's not true, she can be petty sometimes.

Perhaps, but it's kind of a Pyrrhic victory when one's winning argument is, "Technically, I'm not racist; I'm just prejudiced."

See, RD, that's the point.
Everybody is prejudicial; every human stereotypes. Those are well-documented methods of how the human brain processes information. People take what they have experienced and use that to prepare themselves for the next experience. People are hard-wired to think: "Because such and such happened previously, there's a good chance it'll happen that way again". It's the way our learning processes function as well as a method of attempting to understand that which is ourselves versus that which is not.
What we are not is hard-wired to believe one "race" or another is superior or inferior based on genetics and biology.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Hey, for the record I've got no guilt on the subject. I KNOW what I am. I know I have a tendency to prejudge people based on a number of characteristics, not the least of which is race, but also including religious beliefs, weight, cleanliness, accent, glasses, hairstyle, dress. Like all humans I recognize patterns. The DIFFERENCE is that I make an effort to set that aside and judge individuals based on their own merits and flaws. Some of these stereotypes are deeply flawed and you perpetuate them by repeating them. AND I understand that I don't try to make blanket statements that include all members of a sub group.

When you say "Black people are loud" how is that any different than saying "Black people are stupid" or any other pejorative term. Its the same as saying "White people are bigoted." or any other group and yes you can make racist statements against any group including your own.

Here is the real crux of the matter: Any time you are willing to make blanket, unamended statements about an entire class of people based on something that isn't a defining characteristic of those people, be it whites, blacks, Christians, Jews, Muslims, geeks, the obese, or anything else you're exhibiting prejudice.
(in other words unless you're using the tautological type of statement such as "Jews believe in Judaism" you're making a generalization that will not hold to scrutiny.) OR if you're making statements of fact based on demographic evidence, such as "African Americans are generally fatter than Whites" (http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v11/n ... 0320a.html) then at least you're making a factual statement.

Even qualifying the statement "Its been my observation that Blacks tend to be louder in public settings than whites" is factual and not racist. As soon as you generalize it to an entire ethnicity with no actual data you're making a racist statement.


As for GUILT-- I have none. But I'm not the one trying to redefine racist so I am not one. Defensive much?

Once again, you are conflating multiple things in an attempt to sound like you know what you're talking about.

It isn't working.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Ahhh...like..."It is my observation that libs tend to throw out the racist argument any chance they can even though they really have no clue." Something like that?

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

Shhhh. Its ok Nitefox. We know you for what you are. You can stop hiding. Just put on the hood and stand proud.

Vindi, go ahead and refute me then. What specifically did I say that you disagree with?

Ha, no need to hide anything stalkerboy. I've got an understanding of the whole race issue. You have shown here that you clearly do not.

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

You're screaming at the top of your lungs that you're not a racist or exhibiting racism --sure if you ONLY use the first definition of the word racism. Sorry kiddies, you don't get to do this. You're exhibiting racial prejudice. AKA RACISM.

You're trying to narrow the definition of racism so you're not a racist. This is just like Khross trying to redefine science to only mean Hard Science. You don't get to do that. The words have defined meaning and even by your own arguments you're fitting the second definition.

Nice try. You still fail at the English language.

NF, c'mon man. Yes, we understand he's tap-dancing and reinventing the meanings of words to better suit what he feels they should mean, and ascribing all the negative connotations of the true meanings of those words to his feelings. Yes no matter how misguided he may be, the board really doesn't need you to reinvent your adversarial relationship with a former poster who shall remain nameless.

Don't make me feel like I'm re-watching Inventing the Abbotts. The movie was bad enough the first time I saw it.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20