<p>does anyone else think that today people find it ok to discriminate against white males? in fact that is the only group it is morally ok to deride. i think its for a few reasons. one,most women, blacks, hispanics, asians, the french (yes, the french too) seem to think that every white male is racist and sexist and that it is "our turn" to face the discrimination.</p>
<p>well i have a lot of things to say to that. i never discriminated against any of you groups. i know a lot of people will probably call this thread racist and sexist, but please, tell me your reasons for this and i might change my mind. because its possible that you're right and i am racist but am scared to admit it (thats sarcastic by the way, you'll never find that combination of traits anywhere). i did not bar you from voting, keep you as a slave, put you in an internment camp during WWII, or any of that. also, it is most likely that you were never involved in any of those things either. its ... to say you feel the pain of your ancestors still. </p>
<p>heres the thing. you all wanted equality. i think thats the right thing, too. except you're definition of equality seems to be "having more advantages over white males." this, if you havent noticed, is not equal. affirmative action and all these special programs and scholarships for women and minorities (yeah, a lot of times it will seem there are hardly any restrictions for a program until you realize that what they want is anything but white males) are not fair, they are not equal. i invite anybody to tell me how they are, keeping in mind i never oppressed you nor have i ever received special treatment or advantages for being a white male.</p>
<p>if you agree, don't be afraid to speak up for being called racist. the innocent have nothing to fear. this is just common sense, people. this so-called evening the playing field seems to me to only involve lowering the part of the field on which white males stand.</p>
<p>EDIT: i just realized that the world's view today has even poisoned me, who feels so strongly about this. i called the title reverse racism and sexism implying that it is always white males who are racist and sexist. but thats only a myth, i hear more black people using the word cracker than white people using the n word and more women defaming men.</p>
<p>I'm an African American male and I think you do have a good point. I'm not about to shut you up. I does seem as if white males have to be careful with everything they do. I think that because of things that happened in the past, white males are often stereotyped and more vulnerable to criticism. My white friends always apologize to me whenever they say any random not necessarily offensive thing about black people. And I just wonder why they need to apoplogize. I'm not one whose mad sensitive to any random comment regarding black people but probably other black people are, which is why I think they apologize in my opinion, for no reason.</p>
<p>I think that racism/sexism against white males is not ok. That doesn't make it not funny, for all the pain and suffering Europeans have done to Native Americans, Africans in America, blah blah:)</p>
<p>I understand where you are coming from and that,yes, white males are discriminated against too, butI have a few problems with what you wrote.</p>
<p>For one, the word "cracker" ,originating from slavery in the United States, was a term to describe one who cracks the whip. It wasn't intentionally created as an adjective for a white person. Addionally, I hear many whites use that term. In fact, there have been times when it is used to describe a black person( this is either when their fair-skinned,biracial, or supposedly "act white").</p>
<p>On another note, I constantly here the "n-word" vocalized by blacks,hispanics,whites, and asians. In fact, I here it used by other ethnic groups than I do blacks. For instance, when I was at Cornell, I heard that word more than ever. This is one issue that strikes me the most.</p>
<p>On the Affirmative Action issue, I agree that it does disfavor average, middle-income white males. This is unfortunate, and sholud be revised. But you must realize that white males do receive advantages in our society though they are not as evident as Affrimative Action or other similar programs.</p>
<p>its ******* to say you feel the pain of your ancestors still. *</p>
<p>It's nice that you come from a background where the kids of color you know aren't (consciously) discriminated against. Perhaps, if you're a student at a private or competitive public school (which I suspect you are, since you're on CC and i believe i saw in another thread that you're a yale applicant) they're actually pretty wealthy, pretty privileged. Fair enough.</p>
<p>But let's be clear.</p>
<p>That's not the norm.</p>
<p>Many many African Americans, Latinos, and other disproportionately poor minority groups "feel the pain" of their ancestors in a very real way. Because those ancestors were both brutally poor and the subjects of horrendous discrimination, their descendants are still struggling to catch up and recover from it (not to mention racial discrimination is a major problem today still). Programs like affirmative action don't give these groups some special "boost" so much as they allow people to have a fair chance who are basically starting ten steps behind the starting line because of their circumstances. I'm not saying there aren't wealthy minorities. But even any boost given to these people is useful to the minority and the public as a whole, since it provides a concrete standard of success. </p>
<p>I'm frankly frustrated by attitudes like yours. Sure, white americans, and especially white males, need to be sensitive about the things they say. but this seems a small price to pay for the privileges you (and i) have. and frankly, any kind of so called "discrimination" you face is NOTHING compared to what minorities/women/others experienced in the past and continue to experience today. Racism and sexism are deeply entrenched and institutionalized into American society, whether you see it or not. And becoming colorblind or gender blind simply will not solve those problems.</p>
<p>I could go on and on about this, but i suspect you didn't really start this thread to open any kind of constructive dialogue. in fact, i bet you're already thinking of five or ten ways that i'm wrong. fine. but i couldn't let your comments go unchallenged. </p>
<p>I don't think you should punish us for things our ancestors did. Many people alive today in the U.S. have not gone through segregation, and certainly none have gone through slavery. The newer generations of minorities have not experienced these hardships, their ancestors have. It's got society today so twisted that racism against whites is not seen as wrong, and that people today are trying to make up for what minority ancestors went through.</p>
<p>^^great book btw. (The Great Gatsby that is)</p>
<p>seniorsrule i kinda see where you're coming from. and in response to notredamebrother, what difference does it make that the term cracker wasnt intentionally used to describe a white person. its irrelavant, the fact is that today it is used to unsult a white person, and that's all that matters.</p>
<p>im tired of seeing all this ancestrial crap used as an excuse for this and that. it doesnt affect them. they're just using it for leverage. im tempted to say that they're the ones causing the discrimination or at least making it worse by being overly sensitive and everything in thier minds always leads to racial discrimination in some way. more often then not there was no discrimintation at all.</p>
<p>Overly senstive.........until you live the same role in society as African-Americans don't judge. First and foremost 1/3 of the African-American population is below the poverty and when integration occured many if not most were thrown into what we call "ghettoes" today and pretty much forgotten. Most African-Americans leaders were either murdered, died or have sold out (Jesse Jackosn comes to mind). No one is telling Jewish people to just get over the Holocaust.........Israel slogan is "Never Again".......so why should black people just magically get over the past? Let's talk about second class education for so many, let's talk about covert forms of discrimination as major voting booths, let's talk about housing discrimination (The owner of the LA Clippers is a great example....read up), let's talk about the BS "War on Drugs" that has done nothing but put more black men in jail...........I wondered why no one cared when the crack epidemic was occuring in the city under Reagan but when it started to hit the suburbanites..........it's a state of emergency. How about statistics proving that white men are more likely to be caught with drugs in their car than black males by near 3x yet black men are twice as likely to be pulled over. Some of black america's problems are self-inflicted and I don't advocate handouts, but understand that discrimination is much alive. Being white is a priveledge in this country and don't think just because a few jokes are now taboo that black people have it easier.</p>
<p>I should say that racism in US is not as big as it should've been with all that cultural variety. As if, of course, racism can't dissappear just because some guys said that but it's kept very low here. Good job :)</p>
<p>I very much agree with you, Seniorsrule. It almost seems that to make up for what happened in the past, other races think that it is OK to completely disregard that most whites wish to be equal, not give themselves another upper hand. FYI, I'm Asian, so I have seen racism up close.</p>
<p>To address another section, I think that feminism has gone too far. I am a female, and, so far, yes, some men are pigs, but that doesn't mean they all are. God forbid someone disagrees with a feminist, or else they'll immediately accuse you of spouting anti-feminist dogma. So we don't disagree. The slightest move to tell a feminist that, say, millions of girls don't die of anorexia every year, may brand you as a misogynist.</p>
<p>You can call me a racist or a misogynist, but you would be lying. When will people realize that the only way to rid the world of racism is to ignore race?</p>
<p>.-_-.</p>
<p>EDIT: You may say that I am not ignoring race, because I stated that I was Asian. That was merely for a frame of reference, so you don't assume I know nothing about racism personally.</p>
<p>a lot of you are proving my point exactly. pugfug90, it's funny that whites are discriminated against. ha ha ha. just don't laugh at any other group unless you want to be called a racist, even though both of those things are racism. besides, i haven't discriminated against native americans or blacks in america, so your point really has no relevance.</p>
<p>vegangirl, what i understand is that constructive dialogue involves learning on both sides. you however are arrogant and assume you're right by saying that i'll probably just point out things that were wrong with your post. well, that would be wrong wouldn't it, because it's not like you did that to me. let me point something out. when it comes to affirmative action, blacks will say that a lot of african americans live in poverty or crime-affected areas and so it's only fair to give them a better chance. yet if this is said at any other time it is insulting and racist. to reference another book, this is "doublethink." </p>
<p>dima1109 does not represent all whites' views, not even most whites' views. unless he is not white and he means it offensively. either way its a stupid thing to say.</p>
<p>notredamebrother, i still hold that ihave never had an advantage over any minority. please tell me of any you have had, or whtie males that you know have had. please, i'd really like to know.</p>
<p>snoopyiscool, YOURE EXACTLY RIGHT. I never knew how to put it in words, but racism will never disappear until race doesn't matter. And that means not mattering in insulting ways or favorable ways.</p>
<p>I definately agree with the OP. I don't see how it's fair that OUR generation of white people is being punished for things our "ancestors" did, even if our ancestors didn't even live here during that time. I basically think everyone just needs to get over the whole slavery/segregation thing. Ok ok, we understand all the pain you've gone through, it's been stressed out enough, we've all read about it in school. Everyone has apologized and it's over now; end of story. I'm 1/4 Armenian, and my Ancestors went through the Armenian genocide, in which millions were tortued and killed by the Turks, and I'm not getting a Gold Medal Star on my shoulder and going around getting special advantages, and neither are Jews or the countless number of other races which have been in some way shape or form discriminated against.</p>
<p>I do understand that many blacks and other minorities are born into bad living conditions. However, does mean that they can't try in school? If their school is not that good, why can't they just do the best they can, and write a letter to colleges explaining the situation? It does not mean that they cannot be involved in outside of school activities. Affirmative action is just the dumbest thing. It IS reverse racism. How is it fair that whites have to work harder to get into the same college as a black/hispanic/etc. person. It's just stupid.</p>
<p>Quite a fair bit of discrimination still exists today (not as much as in the past however), which allows stereotypes to still exist. I dont like stereotypes in general. I hate it when people when treat me and some of my black friends like idiots because we're black. And I also think it is unfair when some of my white friends are criticized for doing any random act, leading them to be called racist (kind of like Kanye West saying George Bush doesn't like black people regarding Hurricane Katrina. This probably could have been said in a different way). The world runs on stereotypes.</p>
<p>AA makes me so angry. If black people need it so badly because they live in poverty yadda yadda, why don't we just make AA based on finances ? There are poor white people too you know, and they don't benefit from AA but rich black people do, just because they're black? Please. They obviously haven't been discriminated against enough to affect how much money they're making, plus they have just as many opportunities for tutoring and all that as any white person, so why should they benefit ?</p>
<p>Another thing. I'm not Jewish but I know they're still discriminated against in many areas (including mine), not to mention the HOLOCAUST, but still they've done very well for themselves. It wasn't too long ago that a lot of colleges weren't accepting Jews. But still they overcame that with a lot of hard work. Maybe a certain race could learn a thing or two from them.</p>
<p>Everybody and every race has problems. It's utterly nonsensical to whine "it wasn't me", because there are only a few people who can actually say that they brought on discrimination onto themselves. How many blacks chose to be poor? how many native Americans wanted to born on a reservation? Everyone gets ripped on for something that wasn't really their fault. Thats the way of the world, deal with it. You're lucky that the extent of your discrmination has to do with what jokes you can or cannot say and the lack of "boost" you get on your college application.(which, of course, is still much better than how the Asians have it)</p>
<p>Make peace with it. Or if you cannot, then join a movement. Inspire others to make the world a better place. I would not begrudge you for the former and would even applaud you for the latter. But don't do this. Watching a member of the race who has it the "best" whine isn't going to have solve any racial tensions, but rather enflame them.</p>