The High Price of Stale Grievances

[Belsnickel]

(06-08-2018, 07:15 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Stating it is racist even when it isn't dilutes the accusation when it is made for valid reasons.  In any event, I think the main thrust of the article is that black people should not be able to commit casual, and overt, racism with impunity simply because of the injustices of the past.  That this happens isn't really disputable, nor is it disputable that the fact that it is happening is severely damaging to race relations in this country.  Nor does this issue affect only black and white people.  

The man led off with a story about his Hispanic friend being denied a job because he wasn't black and his musing on what would have occurred if his friend was black and was denied a job because he wasn't white.  To me the central point of his essay is readily apparent but appears to not be the main topic of the back and forth in this thread.

I got the central point, and I talked about my agreement with that. I think it is important to understand that there is a very strong reason to discuss the injustices in the past in conjunction with present day. When we talk about people not using those to justify racist acts by black people, that's fine, but what we need to make sure doesn't happen is that we eradicate discussion of those atrocities and pretend they don't influence the inequalities faced by black people in modern times.

That's my main point in all of this. The socioeconomic impact and the way society acts are joined together because they come from the same origins. If we are going to make a point of taking a critical look at the societal actions, we need to make sure that conversation can take place while still recognizing the economic injustices and allowing ourselves to continue that discussion.