Racism in Mississippi

[??????????]

You are wrong on one point. The rich whites actually were the ones who instilled the hatred towards blacks into poorer whites and this mostly happened after the war during the reconstruction period. If you read colonial and antebellum history you will see a great closeness between poor free blacks and poor whites.

[opebo]

Ya'll could be describing the current racial/class divide in the US just as easily as the historical Southern one.  Its the same - especially since the middle class was revoked.

[DanielX]

Ya'll could be describing the current racial/class divide in the US just as easily as the historical Southern one.  Its the same - especially since the middle class was revoked.

Err... then what are my parents doing here?

The middle class is a product of capitalism - it began as a merchant and shopkeeper class in the middle ages, and expanded during the industrial revolution when it took in millions of formerly poor people.

[Hitchabrut]

20-39%. more blacks than whites are racist

[7,052,770]

more blacks than whites are racist

I agree on that point definitely

[dazzleman]

@Dazzleman: And no, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to live in black neighborhoods. Many black neighborhoods are very poor, which usually translates to a high crime rate, and that's a fact, albeit an unfortunate one.

True.  It's self interest, but it does require people to make broad generalizations about individual behavior based upon race.

White people generally don't move into black areas unless they are gentrifying.  The problem comes in when black people, who may be perfectly nice people, want to move into a largely white neighborhood, and they are rejected solely because of their color.

I am most sympathetic toward successful blacks who want something better out of life than to live in a high crime neighborhood if they are not contributing to the problem.  I have zero to no sympathy for the black underclass, but I do think there should be better options available to blacks who want to be successful and integrate into the larger society.  It should be open to them if they conform to the larger society's cultural norms, and they should not be rejected and excluded solely because of their color.

[opebo]

more blacks than whites are racist

I agree on that point definitely

Racism against the race which is oppressing one is hardly the same as the racism of the oppressors against their victims. 

[angus]

Of course on a grand sociological level that's true.  I don't think anyone questions that.  The counterpoint is that a Sudafrikaner, for example, can feel as lonely and as alienated and as degraded, as a young Zulu boy.  Unless you're given to the real bigotry of low expections, you must be prepared to admit that each human is, a priori, capable of feeling the same frustration and rage against the machine as any other.  Your "victim" is an individual, not a society.  I think you've lost sight of trees and are only seeing forest right now.

[opebo]

Of course on a grand sociological level that's true.  I don't think anyone questions that.  The counterpoint is that a Sudafrikaner, for example, can feel as lonely and as alienated and as degraded, as a young Zulu boy.  Unless you're given to the real bigotry of low expections, you must be prepared to admit that each human is, a priori, capable of feeling the same frustration and rage against the machine as any other.  Your "victim" is an individual, not a society.  I think you've lost sight of trees and are only seeing forest right now.

Quite so - good point.  I suppose if my car breaks down when I'm cruising for you know what in the ghetto, and I have to flee on foot, I'll feel the sting of racism.  It matters little that on some level a white 'deserves' to be dragged behind a Cadillac more than a black 'deserves' to be dragged behind a pickup truck, if you're the one being dragged.  (Deserving used here of course in a purely 'benefits from the system' sense, not a 'moral' sense)

Thoughts of the constant but subtle benefits from racism I have recieved for 36 years would probably fly right out of my mind at that moment!