See, thats the thing. I agree this was a mistake, but Im just over 30 now, so growing up we were fairly cautious of saying it to friends or singing it; though I'm sure I've sang the word on nights out partying when I was younger. Now, I dont listen to rap and have matured from partying and such so I dont have any reason to say it. It doesn't even cross my mind. This is the real question to me though. Do his young black friends actually care? He made a mistake to post this video to the world, but in his daily life do his black friends care at all? Do some of them not give a sh*t? Are some of them angry about this? Are some of them piggybacking off of the feelings of the generation before them? How do the younger blacks actually feel about this, if they had no input from parents, older blacks, etc? He and his friends are growing up in a different world, and you can't deny that. No one is advocating for its use by whites. What I am trying to say is that a white kid, especially a white kid who favors black culture, should not have their life taken away from them because maybe they were ignorant and didnt think twice about singing this word in a song. Sit him down, tell him to think next time, have him apologize publicly and then ask him to de-commit behind closed doors. Dont pull his scholarship and make this front page news for every other university to see. There was zero harm done. No one is looking at him like a racist. Absolutely zero harm done
If the second this video went public, you were to go to the houses of some of his black friends and seperate his friends from their parents, put them in two different rooms, and get their honest opinions about this situation, you might hear two different feelings. Let's go further. Bring those friends and their parents back together afterwards, and have an open conversation with everyone. Would the friends opinion start to change if they heard their parents sharing a different opinion? This is another aspect of Stokes' situation. You are dealing with a different generation. Once again, I'm not advocating for the use of the word. Hypothetically, if Stokes' grew up in a black neighborhood now days and used the word bc all of his black friends use the word, and they did not care because he grew up like them, how would their parents feel? Possibly two different feelings and you know it. Yes, Stokes made a mistake, but no one was actually offended. Don't publicize this. Handle this behind closed doors, do not make this front page news. If you want racism to go away, you have to let it go. This is a non-story, nobody was hurt by this. The only thing this does is keep people like me and you going back and forth on a message board and letting this stuff linger in our minds. This story does no good
You're making a ton of assumptions and then basing your conclusion on those assumptions. How? How does letting this go make racism go away? You aren't making sense, dude.
Your post referred to Dixie crats not nj. Additionally in the early reconstruction when the south was still basically occupied the north did force the south into allowing blacks to vote. In the early 1920s in the south blacks were systematically excluded from voting. Nice try but google is not your friend without some basic knowledge
Yes, those are assumptions, but they are based on truth. That truth is that the world is changing. The most recent generations have grown up in integrated schools. Blacks and whites are growing up together now, as opposed to 50 years ago. I mean Dee Webb just vouched for a 17 year old white kid who mistakenly said that word, saying that Stokes "loves our people." And in another 50 years, those black generations might not even know what its like to be discriminated against. I don't know what it feels like to grow up black and be discriminated against. I hate it for blacks. But if black people think they are going to change how real racists feel, they are mistaken. The good thing is that more of those "thoroughbreds" are dying off. Blacks and whites are associating with each other on a daily basis exponentially more than they were 50 years ago. Younger generations are seeing that there is nothing "wrong" with the other race, and are more likely to favor other cultures because they are around them more. By having his scholarship pulled, this story basically goes viral. If they just address him personally, tell him how this is wrong, and let him apologize, tension is kept lower and the story more local. By this becoming so big, kids like Stokes, who might favor black culture, will continue to feel more like an outsider than part of the community. They're gonna feel like they have to walk on eggshells so they dont "offend." Like I said, in another 50 years or so, those black kids probably wont know the pain associated with being pointed at and called that word, because we are growing up together. But right now, the word isnt going anywhere because it is still being used as a term for endearment. Instead of keeping people like Stokes feeling like he really hurt someone, when I dont think he did, except maybe someone who has felt the pain of being called it intentionally, how about we work on trying to completely change the feeling associated with it by having whites like Stokes use it as well? That might actually be a step forward
No, they're assumptions based on conjecture. What "kids like Stokes" will learn is a much-needed lesson. And that's a good thing. Actions have consequences, and don't post things to social media without thinking of the harm they can do to you and others. That is the last thing we need to happen. Wow. I feel like we've had very, very different life experiences, despite being about the same age.
Only because they made it a point to come out on stage at their shows and trash George W. Bush verbally. Had they not been so caustic with their rhetoric, it never would have been an issue for them. Dixie Chicks started their demise, not the other way around.
And now we have a 23 page thread about the evils of a teenage white kid singing a rap song. Lands squarely between funny and sad.
You have made some real nice posts here. I think you’ve asked the right question too. If libbies actually wanted to improve relations and move forward it would make sense to minimize the incident. In time, most won’t have a clue what the word used to mean at all. So it leads me to believe they don’t want to end racism, libbies just like to think they’re better than the pubs. They don’t want to lose that sanctimonious feeling.
Yes, I'm sure we have had very different experiences growing up. I dont know what it feels like to be discriminated against as a black person has. But I also have had no part in that or the past. What you cannot deny is that, while we can't change history, the world has changed drastically since the 1960s. The experiences you have had cannot be compared to those of your parents. The experiences your children will have will not compare to yours. The slavery in context has passed, and a lot of racism likely came from people having not experienced other races and being told they were bad. A large part of those left is dying off. The issue we are talking about is not one of religion. We are no longer segregated. The hard work has already been done. Feelings will only continue to change from having good experiences with other races. At the end of the day, the chance you change the mind of someone who is actually racist is probably slim to none. You also have many people who might be called racist today that are not actually racist, they just dont like a certain type of person based on their actions. You or another poster said it's common knowledge blacks started using the word to drain it of its power and change its meaning. If the goal is to change the word from an insult to a term of affection, the next logical step would be to now have races that once used it as an insult, use it for affection instead. If were using logic, trying to ban a word for everyone else just gives it MORE power when it is used. Instead of holding a monopoly where only blacks can say it, you would actually want to spread the new way in which it is being used to others. Thats just logic though, if we're actually trying to take power away from it. Right now, it's consolidated. It's being given MORE strength. If you really want more change, youre going to have to think outside the box my brother. If you dont think racism is on its way to dying out like others do, and you feel the need to expedite it, the same old same old isnt going to cut it. If you dont think anything is changing this far in, what makes you think anything is going to change in the future?
Their “crime” was to criticize W and state that the invasion was bs. They were blacklisted and received death threats by freedom loving patriots (lol) for being 100% correct at the time and on the right side of history. Again, same morons that tried to cancel French toast and French fries are the first to cry about “cancel culture” because they want to be able to spew actual hateful bs.
Or one might say his self-awareness is such that his self is all he thinks about, and that he has no meaningful awareness of others. In any event, his lament is common among the MAGA crowd, who feel aggrieved and look to "the other" as the cause rather than to the one stoking their Angst (for example, Trump) and their own shortcomings.
I'm all for that as long as the aim is to not take away opportunities from deserving kids and award it to minorities just based on race alone. It happens a lot in our public universities. You simply can't fix racism with more racism. Racism at it's core creates division no matter to whom or how it's applied. The left will call it a "white" advantage but having a stable family core to help with finances and homework is the key. God forbid you bring up the fatherless African American community and extreme teen pregnancy rates or you get get crucified for being a racist. The lack of family structure creates a socioeconomic hole that is extremely difficult to come out of especially in the black community given the historical disadvantage of lack of generation wealth. I feel there is a lack of resources pointed to this particular area, however, I don't know how to fix those problems either.
I’m well aware of voting suppression attempts on Blacks during Jim Crow, it’s also incorrect to suggest that absolutely no Blacks voted in the South during Jim Crow. Sorry, but you don’t get to play this game. “The parties switched during the civil rights movement.” 715: “Actually Blacks started shifting over around the 1930s, and Republicans in the 1970s and 1980s.” “Blacks were suppressed from voting in the South which is the only place that counts, which means we really can’t take any data regarding Black political tendencies prior to the 1960s.” You don’t get to make a claim that something changed in the 1960s in the parties, then ignore all inconvenient history that happened before the 1960s.
And I’m the one who lacks self-awareness. “I did nothing wrong. We did nothing wrong. Why is MAGA so angry at us?” Maybe people got tired of your sanctimonious race-baiting playing the victim bull crap so they stopped caring what you think. Maybe people got tired of the hysteria where anything to the right of Stalin is evil and racist.
Remember Google is your friend. Apparently, you're the one who needs educating. The voting records of Republican members of Congress with respect to the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s, which they overwhelming supported as well as the party's opposition to the voting rights bills proposed last year are matters of public record.
