Re: Are all black men brainwashed?
If you want to know what I said, they look at the entire quote in context to the question I was asked by Haymarket; not as one of TPD's lame Gotcha Games frequently directed at me.
I'll have to go back and look for your commentary and judge for myself what you meant. Still, that "conditioning" you're referring to has a history behind it. There's a thread I started long ago...I believe the title was something along the lines of "Race Needs to Die Out in America" or something to that effect. Essentially, my argument was that since we've elected a Black man to the presidency, short of landing a Black man on the moon African-Americans have achieved the same goals as our White counterparts. As such, there really shouldn't be a racial stigma between Blacks and Whites in American anymore. But unfortunately, it would seem that the racial divide has gotten wider, not narrower. But who is really to blame for that?
White people - both citizens and politicians - claim it is the President himself who has played the race card throughout his presidency and that Black people have fed into the racial tension. While I agree that Pres. Obama has sided more with Black people along racial lines, I don't find anything too unusual about this. After all, every White president throughout this nation's history has put forward initiatives that stood to benefit White Americans moreso than any other minority group. Why then do White people find it "disturbing" or "troubling" or "unfair" or "disingenuous" when a Black president attends a conference of the Black Congressional Caucus and is subsequently labelled a racist is beyond me. Or when he stands up for an injustice imposed upon one of his Black friends who happens to be a professor at a prestigious college and is arrested in his own home even after it's been made plainly obvious that he broke into his own home? Or when a Black man running for the office of the Presidency is ridiculed for attending a Black church for upwards of 20 years? I mean, why should these things surprise people...that a Black man would attend a church of his peers? (BTW, I get the Black Theology issue and "GD America" and all that, but those who are basing their opinions off of sound bites really need to dig alittle deeper and learn exactly what Rev. Wright's surman was about or even what the vast majority of his church services were like before basing everything they know about the President's former place of worship from what little they've seen in the news or replayed on YouTube videos).
My point here is simple: "Seek first to understand, then be understood." If you as a White person really want to know what makes a Black man tick, why not sit down and hold an honest, open discussion with a Black man instead of throwing out generalities or jumping to conclusions as to what you think drives us. You're likely find we are just as diverse and have many of the same problems White people do.
Your first bolded sentence above? I'd ask you to ask that question of your fellow African-Americans. [RE: Am I not Black enough?] That sounds like a very strange thing to say...never heard a white person say that in my life. I suspect there's a whole interesting story behind that question.
No story except that my dad didn't eat that kind of "soul food" often and I never acquired a taste for much of it. It is funny, though, when I tell some of my Black friends that I hate chitterlings they always say, "You don't know what you're missing." To which I respond, "Oh, yes, I do!" And believe me, it ain't much. LOL
Your second bolded sentence above: What a horrible and racist thing to say. Not really. You are pointing out what you see as reality. The KKK was begun by "Conservative Democrats." Interesting use of the word "conservative." Do you mean to say these Conservative Democrats changed into Republicans? Democrats were behind the KKK. Their first targets were black and white Republicans. Who knew?
To clarify, yes, Conservative Democrats started the KKK, but my point in bringing up this issue was to point out that while Blacks were being pursecuted by the Klan, powerful White Republicans mostly sat on the sidelines until matters got so out of control they had no choice but to step in and do something about it. But here's the rub - and it's the point I want people to understand where "trust" among Blacks in Democrats stem from - although a strong segment of Democratic politicians were behind the Klan, when Black people needed the help of powerful Republicans, they mostly sat on the sidelines until their positions of power, wealth and prestige were threatened. In a nutshell, Republicans lost the Black vote when they refused to stand up for our Civil Rights in the 50's and 60's. To this day, the Republican Party still doesn't do enough to endear Blacks to their cause. You talk prosperity and opportunity for all, but even knowing what the unemployment rate is within the African-American community what exactly have Republicans done to turn that 18% unemployment rate around? Have you loosened restrictions on community banks in Black communities? Have you fostered business growth in Black neighborhoods? Have you worked to get rid of Affirmative Action in a meaningful way where Blacks and other minorities believe they'll get a fair shake at jobs typically held by our White counterparts? I'm not asking these questions to further widen the racial divide, but rather to make people think.
Referring back to the thread I mentioned above, I encourage you to find it and read it, but consider the legal roadblocks that were set in the path of many Blacks that have contributed to the stigma of prosperity for Blacks that linger even to this day. Read it, then try to see what Black people see every single day. For some of us, things have gotten better but IMO that has more to do with some of us taking matters into our own hands than accepting what's been "given" to us (i.e., entitlements, welfare, food stamps...)
I included this post here because apdst has shared with us that he is black also, as is Objective Voice, as is BlackDog. There's is the perspective I'm most interested in. Not those who would cry like little babies and call me a racist.
Well, now you have alittle of my perspective on what it means to be Black in American. If you'd like to talk more, I'm always just a PM away.