Obama's speech to students today

[CRedskinsRule]

i qualified my earlier remarks, I know many older Americans still have the racism background in their lives. If you want personal stories... My 2 best friends in Jr/Sr High, 1 black and one a Jew. My dad wouldn't let my black friend come to my house, and had a conniption when I brought my jewish friend(even he wasn't practicing - found out a lot later he was gay glad my dad didn't know that part) with the family on a trip to Colorado. He has mellowed alot with age, but you know it's still there. But I'm not. None of my siblings are in any way that I could ever tell, and my kids wouldn't even consider it, as i said. Far more often, in my opinion, racism is claimed when arguments are actually political based or as an excuse for an action which otherwise would be untenable.
As long as a disagreement or poor behavior can be claimed as rascism, rather than just declaring it civiil or uncivil, legal or illegal, both sides prolong the racial undercurrent that should die an ignominious death.
more of my 2cents

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

i qualified my earlier remarks, I know many older Americans still have the racism background in their lives. If you want personal stories... My 2 best friends in Jr/Sr High, 1 black and one a Jew. My dad wouldn't let my black friend come to my house, and had a conniption when I brought my jewish friend(even he wasn't practicing - found out a lot later he was gay glad my dad didn't know that part) with the family on a trip to Colorado. He has mellowed alot with age, but you know it's still there. But I'm not. None of my siblings are in any way that I could ever tell, and my kids wouldn't even consider it, as i said. Far more often, in my opinion, racism is claimed when arguments are actually political based or as an excuse for an action which otherwise would be untenable.
As long as a disagreement or poor behavior can be claimed as rascism, rather than just declaring it civiil or uncivil, legal or illegal, both sides prolong the racial undercurrent that should die an ignominious death.
more of my 2cents

Just to be clear, I didn't tell that story because I thought it applied to you. It was simply a response to the, "hey stop playing the race card," comment. Your post was good -- judge a man based on his character, not his race.

You're right, it's frustrating when people can't disagree without being called racist. However, we all know that disagreement alone is not racist if the reasons are valid and not racial.

By the same token, people should not be criticized when they, "play the race card." Sometimes they're right, and sometimes they're wrong. Either way, it does us more good to bring these issues to the forefront, rather than brush them aside. I'm not saying you're advocating that -- just trying to clarify.

As long as we ignore race, the people with hidden racism remain ignored. Someday, when racism is truly abolished, then we can ignore race. As it is now, most people think racism is already abolished -- with the exception of a few extremists. This is not the case. Most racists do not even know they are racist -- like my dad. Of course, there are degrees of racism. On one hand, there's the guy who tells racist jokes, and on the other there's the skinhead.

Now, I don't want to bash my dad. I love him very much, and like I said earlier he's a reasonable and intelligent guy for the most part. I hope that I got through to him on some level, and he's now seen the error of his ways.

[GMScud]

The other night I was sitting at a bar having a beer, and there was an African American gentlemen sitting next to me. It was right after the whole thing happened with the Oregon RB punching the Boise St guy and getting suspended. It was all over the TV's, and thinking out loud, right after a replay of it, I said, "man, what a moron." The guy chimed in and said, "yeah, he shouldn't have done that." We started talking about the situation, and we both agreed that the Boise St guy should have kept his mouth shut, but LeGarette Blount was dead wrong for punching him. We talked for a bit more, and turns out he is an attorney for a DC firm, and a seemingly smart guy. Okay.

So shortly after my buddy who I was waiting for shows up, right around the same this dude's female friend arrives. So I overhear him a few minutes later emphatically talking to his female friend, "did you see that boy knock the shit out that sorry ass white boy last night??"

I was stunned. I had to leave. I was inches away from confronting this guy, but I decided to let it be. But man. What a fake jerk.

I'm white, but I grew up in Washington, DC. In my experience, racism is just as prevalent on both sides. A close friend of mine a while back was hesitant to invite me over because his parents are "weary of white folks."

It's sad, but it is what it is, from both sides of the coin.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by GMScud

The other night I was sitting at a bar having a beer, and there was an African American gentlemen sitting next to me. It was right after the whole thing happened with the Oregon RB punching the Boise St guy and getting suspended. It was all over the TV's, and thinking out loud, right after a replay of it, I said, "man, what a moron." The guy chimed in and said, "yeah, he shouldn't have done that." We started talking about the situation, and we both agreed that the Boise St guy should have kept his mouth shut, but LeGarette Blount was dead wrong for punching him. We talked for a bit more, and turns out he is an attorney for a DC firm, and a seemingly smart guy. Okay.

So shortly after my buddy who I was waiting for shows up, right around the same this dude's female friend arrives. So I overhear him a few minutes later emphatically talking to his female friend, "did you see that boy knock the shit out that sorry ass white boy last night??"

I was stunned. I had to leave. I was inches away from confronting this guy, but I decided to let it be. But man. What a fake jerk.

I'm white, but I grew up in Washington, DC. In my experience, racism is just as prevalent on both sides. A close friend of mine a while back was hesitant to invite me over because his parents are "weary of white folks."

It's sad, but it is what it is, from both sides of the coin.

Wow, that's a racist bitch move.

As for the incident itself I'm fine with the punch especially if the guy taps on your shoulder then on your head and then says "how you like that ass whupping?" Human nature is such that it's susceptible to visceral reactions and action. The real problem I have is with his actions afterward and total lack of control rather than momentary lack of control. He inexplicably embarrassed the Oregon program and as such he should be kicked off the team indefinitely.

[dmek25]

Originally Posted by saden1

Wow, that's a racist bitch move.

As for the incident itself I'm fine with the punch especially if the guy taps on your shoulder then on your head and then says "how you like that ass whupping?" Human nature is such that it's susceptible to visceral reactions and action. The real problem I have is with his actions afterward and total lack of control rather than momentary lack of control. He inexplicably embarrassed the Oregon program and as such he should be kicked off the team indefinitely.

saden, you and i are almost always in agreement on alot of the issues. but this statement is a bunch of bullshit. where i come from, this was nothing more then a sucker punch. reaction? come on. if you saw the entire game, it was Blount in the pre game doing the majority of the woofing. if he would have hit me like that, i would have his sorry ass arrested

[saden1]

Originally Posted by dmek25

saden, you and i are almost always in agreement on alot of the issues. but this statement is a bunch of bullshit. where i come from, this was nothing more then a sucker punch. reaction? come on. if you saw the entire game, it was Blount in the pre game doing the majority of the woofing. if he would have hit me like that, i would have his sorry ass arrested

I'm not condoning his action or saying there shouldn't be consequence for it but if he punched him he punched. Regardless of whether there was barking by Blount you don't touch a player of the opposing team after a loss. Touching is an absolute no-no. There's consequence for touching too.

You know, this whole thing reminds me of that Zinedine Zidane headbutt in the world cup. He headbutted the Italian player, got ejected from the game, left the game in a cool and calm manner, France lost the game and he retired with a stain on his otherwise immaculate career. If you're going to do something of that nature it is best to do it as best as you can.

[dmek25]

Originally Posted by saden1

I'm not condoning his action or saying there shouldn't be consequence for it but if he punched him he punched. Regardless of whether there was barking by Blount you don't touch a player of the opposing team after a loss. Touching is an absolute no-no. There's consequence for touching too.

You know, this whole thing reminds me of that Zinedine Zidane headbutt in the world cup. He headbutted the Italian player, got ejected from the game, left the game in a cool and calm manner, France lost the game and he retired with a stain on his otherwise immaculate career. If you're going to do something of that nature it is best to do it as best as you can.

when did Blount do this? hell, he was trying to get at the crowd on his escort out.