What the actual fuck
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Anyone ever wonder why our first black president never mentioned this "holiday" a single time during his 8 years of infesting the office of the President? Ever wonder why Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson have never mentioned this "holday" a single time in the 5 or 6 decades they've been running their mouths? Ever wonder why in 30+ years not one single rap artist has ever mentioned this "holiday" a single time in any of their songs?
I'll tell you why - until about 3 weeks ago, 98% of the black people in this country had never heard the term outside of one town in Texas.
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As someone who grew up listening to “gansta rap” and has a good amount of sympathy for challenges the black community in the U.S. face - all this one-dimensional thought-policing is super offputting.
Outside of the true believers - it’s really pissing off.
Can’t end well.
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@Larry said in What the actual fuck:
The biggest challenge the black community faces, and has faced for the last 40+ years is themselves.
You're technically right. (But I'd say there's plenty of black folk who do spectacularly well - just like other races)
The infrastructure exists in this country for people to not have to be in poverty. Immigrant success stories are a testament to that.
The problem is - I'm a firm believer that your potential in life is set very early. Then you unleash that potential against whatever circumstances you're in.
Some guy in a crap country with "high potential" and a good upbringing might just make it past the point of subsistence, while he has the chance of being a multimillionaire in the U.S.
Kids in neighborhoods in a bad cycle (broken homes, poor/absent parenting, etc.) - are just screwed. They don't know what else they could be doing. They didn't get the development they needed to make it. Hard problem to solve - but not solved by blaming it on whitey.
EDIT: many non-black communities likely face this dynamic as well.
If you're born with all your faculties intact - the biggest privilege you can have is your parents (and I'm not talking about their money)
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Agree with Xenon. When you're born into a culture that, whether it is disadvantaged or not, is perceived to be disadvantaged by a lot of people (black and white), you need an extra helping of situational awareness in all aspects of your life -- and enough self reliance and moxie to act on what you discover. Hard enough for most people regardless of race, but especially so for black people, fair or not.
Not picking on Xenon particularly, but maybe we can start by ceasing to refer to them as "black folk". Whenever I hear that phrase, I flinch, picturing a group of people clog dancing to "Shortnin' Bread".
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@Catseye3 said in What the actual fuck:
Agree with Xenon. When you're born into a culture that, whether it is disadvantaged or not, is perceived to be disadvantaged by a lot of people (black and white), you need an extra helping of situational awareness in all aspects of your life -- and enough self reliance and moxie to act on what you discover. Hard enough for most people regardless of race, but especially so for black people, fair or not.
Not picking on Xenon particularly, but maybe we can start by ceasing to refer to them as "black folk". Whenever I hear that phrase, I flinch, picturing a group of people clog dancing to "Shortnin' Bread".
I referred to a group of 3 C-level people for a multi-billion $ company as "you folk" to their face a couple of weeks ago- and got ribbed for it by my team after.
I just call everyone folk - it's not a black person thing.
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@Catseye3 said in What the actual fuck:
Not picking on Xenon particularly, but maybe we can start by ceasing to refer to them as "black folk".
More dancing around words and language is not what we need. "Black folk" is fine.
Education is extremely important.
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@Catseye3 said in What the actual fuck:
@Horace said in What the actual fuck:
More dancing around words and language is not what we need. "Black folk" is fine.
Eh . . . it's a cultural colloquialism, you know? And it's a small thing, wouldn't take much to fix.
I think taking a common word out of acceptable usage because one person thinks it sounds funny is pretty drastic. In fact it would be a completely absurd idea except for the drastic implication that the word is racist. A google search turns up no indication that anybody but you thinks ill of the term.
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@Catseye3 said in What the actual fuck:
Agree with Xenon. When you're born into a culture that, whether it is disadvantaged or not, is perceived to be disadvantaged by a lot of people (black and white), you need an extra helping of situational awareness in all aspects of your life -- and enough self reliance and moxie to act on what you discover. Hard enough for most people regardless of race, but especially so for black people, fair or not.
Not picking on Xenon particularly, but maybe we can start by ceasing to refer to them as "black folk". Whenever I hear that phrase, I flinch, picturing a group of people clog dancing to "Shortnin' Bread".
If that's what you see in your mind's eye when you hear the words "black folk" then you're the one with racial issues, not the term. What do you see when you hear black people say "white folk"? How about when you hear "Indians"? I'm not ashamed of being Indian, nor am I ashamed of being white. Black people are not and should not be ashamed of being black. So if someone wants to address an issue that exclusively pertains to black folk, how would you prefer we make that distinction?
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@Larry said in What the actual fuck:
So if someone wants to address an issue that exclusively pertains to black folk, how would you prefer we make that distinction?
I don't have any idea how to answer this extreme misinterpretation of what I wrote.
If I'm wrong, if it turns out it is not considered pejorative,, then fine. I take it back.
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@Larry Jesus, calm down. I made mention of the clog dancing thing to illustrate that I feared blacks would themselves consider they were being thought of that way whenever the phrase was directed at them, i.e., as deprecating. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong -- and I'm glad of it.
