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pennywise121 · 04-15-2005, 04:03 PM

see, you are very and firmly rooted in your feelings, and that is okay. the simple fact of the matter is that you are looking at the exception and thinking that it proves the rule. the simple fact that there are three famous african americans (four, including the supreme court) in washington and oprah does not mean that everythign is okay. of the hundreds of television shows and thousands of people working in washington, five is not such a huge number.

simple numbers are against you. and it doesnt matter how many people you know or i know that have made it, the facts remain the same. there are entire groups of people that are not as advantaged as you are. if you think this isnt the case, think about whether you would want to trade places with any minority living in an inner city..... south central LA for example. with over a 50% unemployment rate since the factories left the inner city, do you think you could make it? put yourself in the shoes of the people you claim are so advantaged and ask yourself this: would you change your skin color to become a black man if you could?

if the answer is no, you need to acknowledge that there is a reason for it. if everythign was equal or they have it better, there would be no question about whether you would do it.

simple fact of life at the moment is things are not equal. not even close.

if u want a personal story instead of statistics, here u go: i am a white male, and i come from a rather poor family, but i am about to graduate with my Masters in Sociology and will be attending Berkeley this fall to start my doctoral work. thing is, at every step i have been advanced and seen my friends fall by the wayside because they couldnt afford to advance, or werent able to. it takes money to get into college, and when a family cant afford to put food on the table, college start-up expenses are a bitch. i dont know of a single person in six years of college that was there on any scholarship for ethnicity. when it comes right down to it, minority students have not had the same opportunities as i have. there is not a day that am not thankful for the advantages i have had.

but you know one big difference between me and most of my friends? i could do exactly what i am about to do to this thread. LEAVE. i got out because i was advantaged; they didnt because they werent. if you want to believe that you are the victim, go ahead; its youre right. but i havent the time to argue with you about our differences. the challenge still stands. look around you and see how many positive images of whites and negative stereotypes of minorities you see.

as for me, i've said my piece

04-15-2005, 04:03 PM	#110 (permalink)
pennywise121 Upright Location: Sacramento	see, you are very and firmly rooted in your feelings, and that is okay. the simple fact of the matter is that you are looking at the exception and thinking that it proves the rule. the simple fact that there are three famous african americans (four, including the supreme court) in washington and oprah does not mean that everythign is okay. of the hundreds of television shows and thousands of people working in washington, five is not such a huge number. simple numbers are against you. and it doesnt matter how many people you know or i know that have made it, the facts remain the same. there are entire groups of people that are not as advantaged as you are. if you think this isnt the case, think about whether you would want to trade places with any minority living in an inner city..... south central LA for example. with over a 50% unemployment rate since the factories left the inner city, do you think you could make it? put yourself in the shoes of the people you claim are so advantaged and ask yourself this: would you change your skin color to become a black man if you could? if the answer is no, you need to acknowledge that there is a reason for it. if everythign was equal or they have it better, there would be no question about whether you would do it. simple fact of life at the moment is things are not equal. not even close. if u want a personal story instead of statistics, here u go: i am a white male, and i come from a rather poor family, but i am about to graduate with my Masters in Sociology and will be attending Berkeley this fall to start my doctoral work. thing is, at every step i have been advanced and seen my friends fall by the wayside because they couldnt afford to advance, or werent able to. it takes money to get into college, and when a family cant afford to put food on the table, college start-up expenses are a bitch. i dont know of a single person in six years of college that was there on any scholarship for ethnicity. when it comes right down to it, minority students have not had the same opportunities as i have. there is not a day that am not thankful for the advantages i have had. but you know one big difference between me and most of my friends? i could do exactly what i am about to do to this thread. LEAVE. i got out because i was advantaged; they didnt because they werent. if you want to believe that you are the victim, go ahead; its youre right. but i havent the time to argue with you about our differences. the challenge still stands. look around you and see how many positive images of whites and negative stereotypes of minorities you see. as for me, i've said my piece __________________ Food for thought.