his point was that america didn't exist 400 years ago, liblib.
Does that mean that the areas that eventually became America had no bearing on culture? Again, irrelevant to the discussion
maybe i don't understand what the discussion is about (or 11 different people are having eight different discussions).
in my opinion, the central discussion of the day is dancing around the idea of reparations, or some other remedy or corrective for the impact of slavery/institutional racism. mir stated in responses to various posters that he doesn't think descendants of people that developed/supported or upheld those institutions are personally responsible for any remedy and also that he doesn't think "white people" as a group are responsible. i agree with both of those statements.
that pretty much only leaves political entities as possible responsible parties it is nonsensical to hold a political entity responsible for actions that occurred when it didn't exist, hence any discussion of federal responsibility for institutions that perpetuated institutional racism prior to the existence of the us is irrelevant. if you want to discuss the potential responsibility of england or of virginia, it might be an interesting discussion.
That's not entirely true. Someone did ask who is responsible for fixing this, and he did pose the question something like "are the victims the one's responsible for the fix?" So if I Venn diagram this stuff out, MIR is either saying that white people today are responsible for the fix, or he's inferring that he believes something he doesn't actually believe.
I just wish he would actually say what he thinks should happen. Then his ideas could be confronted and considered for merit.
But, he won't do that, I'm not entirely sure why and I could speculate but nah that's not productive either.
What the eff dude, do you want me to make something up? I've said twice that I don't know what the answer is. I never said or inferred that it's a simple solution. What I do know is doing nothing and not acknowledging that there have been institutional ills, which is exactly why we're having this conversation, the dissenting opinion being since slavery everything has been peachy, is unacceptable and far from a solution.
And yes when we're talking about how to fix racial issues in this country white people need to fix it. The power structure is responsible for this and the power structure has to buy in for the solution is to work; that power structure clearly lies with the majority.
I'm okay with brainstorming.
"We" are NOT "doing nothing." There has been plenty of legislation passed and enacted, among other things. You know that and ignore it.
There have been institutional ills, if people are denying that than I have missed it. Those ills led to the above referenced legislations. And those ills are not specific to or exclusive to blacks.
I personally believe the best thing we "white people" can do is to raise our children to respect and treat everyone else fairly. I also believe that making public policy more fair or slanted or whatever to favor any race over another is wrong, against the idea of the this country, and probably illegal anyway. I'll make a promise to you, some dude I've never met, that I will hold my children to a high standard in that regard.
