Let me just say,before I start this I'm in no one saying I'm a racist because I feel I'm not nor have I ever been. But on the radio this mornin' they were talkin' about racisim in general and some of the attributes of a racist and one of them was racial profilin' and I was thinkin' back and I myself am guilty of that. Last year after my daughter was born,we all went on a trip to Seattle to visit family. Now I've flown alot in my life because my real pops was a pilot for the airlines,but since 9/11 I been real nervous bout hoppin' on a 747 cause of them crazy terrorist mu'fuckaz . Anyways,we on the jet and sittin' about 2 seats up and to the right of me was this middle eastern cat (i dont know what country he from tho cuz i can't distinguish the languages) and he was jabberin' on the phone in his native tongue after he got off this cat was lookin' extremely nervous. Lookin' back and forth all the time gettin' up and down and just lookin' real unsettled. This spooked me bigger'n **** playas,I started thinkin' about 9/11 and cats with box cutters jackin' a plane an all that. And I was like oh hell naw ain't nobody wit' a box knife gonna do that sh!t in a plane I'm on! So this cat gets up to go to the bathroom....and I'm right behind him and I don't even gotta go. Wait til he comes out then hang back and follow him back..I be like ludacriss you move I move...anyways,I shadowed this cat the whole time. He moved I was behind him..and the whole time he lookin' nervous as hell..but I stuck wit him all and made sure he wasn't gonna pull nuttin' crazy wit' a box knife or somethin'. Well like i say this radio show say profilin' is racism. But I don't think so,sometimes there is good reason to be vigilant like that. Hell,they been profilin' black folk for years...but I understand cuz alot of black peeps be off the chain and do crazy things. Don't make it right but it's understandable...1000 black kids be jackin' folks make anyone wary. Anyways,what ya'll think about this? Am I racist?
you are not racist for thinking this way. you are just a concerned parent/person concerned for your safety in a time of fear.
Society has made us a racist people my friend. Television being the main offender. Just watch COPS, and all you see are either black people getting chased or trailer park residents squabbling about family issues and stab wounds. It's not our fault that we have that instant reaction to seeing certain people in certain situations, it's a learned reflex. True, it doesn't make it right, but that's what's up in my opinion. My family didn't TEACH me to be a racist persay, but we'd always avoid the inner city KMart and go to the suburban ones, or as we drove back home the doors would get locked at a street corner. Just little things like that make an impression on kids. I had it out with my parents on the subject when I was a little younger, and they were shocked that I said that they made me like this! They had no idea they were doing it, partly because it was done to them as children, probably a little more obviously than what I experienced, but it's cyclical. We need to bring our children up around a diverse group of people and stop the cycle. Ignorance breeds hate and hate breeds fear. What we don't know about we hate, and eventually fear. It's a touchy subject. I'd talk about it more if people want to..... just my opinions.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting thajuiceman:</div><div class="quote_post">Society has made us a racist people my friend. Television being the main offender. Just watch COPS, and all you see are either black people getting chased or trailer park residents squabbling about family issues and stab wounds. It's not our fault that we have that instant reaction to seeing certain people in certain situations, it's a learned reflex. True, it doesn't make it right, but that's what's up in my opinion. My family didn't TEACH me to be a racist persay, but we'd always avoid the inner city KMart and go to the suburban ones, or as we drove back home the doors would get locked at a street corner. Just little things like that make an impression on kids. I had it out with my parents on the subject when I was a little younger, and they were shocked that I said that they made me like this! They had no idea they were doing it, partly because it was done to them as children, probably a little more obviously than what I experienced, but it's cyclical. We need to bring our children up around a diverse group of people and stop the cycle. Ignorance breeds hate and hate breeds fear. What we don't know about we hate, and eventually fear. It's a touchy subject. I'd talk about it more if people want to..... just my opinions.</div> Well I wasn't contesting that. What I'm wantin to know is since 9/11 happened and me havin' this reaction to a middle eastern man..does it make me a racist or does it make me a vigilant citizen on the look out for something bad that could/may occur? I don't know myself..I mean I don't think I'm a racist...however I do think that the terrible events of 9/11 have left me with somewhat of a wrong impression of some peeps of middle eastern decent and background..personally I dont think it can be helped after seein' that ********* go down in '01.
Well, on that subject I agree. It's natural for us to wonder what someone's up to, especially on a PLANE!, if they're of middle eastern descent. The police get paid to racially profile! It's a necessity in today's society, with a certain type of people being responsible for most if not all of the terrorist attacks on our home turf. I think it's racism if you stop going to the local food mart because of the ethnicity of its owner. But getting spooked on a plane with someone acting like he did, I would think that to be a normal reaction considering 911. That was truly the worst day in recent history. And to see it happen, over and over on tv........I'm gettin mad just thinkin about it......I'm out.
