Is everyone so racist in the US?

[Argus]

You hypocritical a hole are country is multi cultural and we let imigrants from the middle east in to Canada witout strip searching them and beating them adn accusing them of terrorist acts does yours um yea htat is sure tolerence i dont think so you guys make everyone that comes into your country assimilate and become american and you have never heard your country use the word "nigger" before well just over 20 years ago you guys took in black african slaves beat them called them niggers and stripped them of their rights.

now never tell me that my country has no tolerence again

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why? Why do we have to have these types of people calling themselves conservatives?

Just ignore him like Greg has told most of the rest of us to do. He's likely a troll and will probably be banned before too long, especially if he keeps advertising that retarded web site of his all over every thread.

[Toro]

moderateamericain

I too, live in the South, and I share your sentiments. Also, its not just black people who are friendlier. White people are also more hospitable in the South.

I've lectured at a predominately black university and have hired many black Americans. They tell me that the racism in the South is no worse than elsewhere in America. 60 Minutes did a piece a couple of years ago about the large black migration back into the South over the past decade numbering in the hundreds of thousands over the past decade.

[Montgomery Burns]

I doubt that Americans are any more racist than Canadians. I am shocked at how many Canadians freely hurl racist statements at Indians.

And Canada does have a shockingly high number of racist groups for a country with only 32 million people:

The Heritage Front, The Nationalist Party of Canada, Stormfront Canada, The National Action Party, The Church of the Creator, The Identity Church, Citizens for Foreign Aid Reform, Canadian National Front, White Power, Rock Against Communism, The Aryan Nations, Anglo Society, Northern Hammerskins, International National Socialist Party, Tri-City Skins, Canadian Ethnic Cleansing Team, White Power Youth Crew, The Western Guard, White Aryan Resistance, Canadian Heritage Alliance, and the KKK.

[Hawk]

PocketRocket, re: your reply to my post... I believe that you mis-interpreted me when I said

As for reserves... Only in Canada would it be considered a step towards equality to erect government-sanctioned barriers between its citizen's racial groups.

I was not supporting reserves by any means, I was being extremely sarcastic. I despise reserves because in my opinion it does nothing but furthur destroy what pitiful culture the Native Americans have left. Not to mention it encourages reverse racism like you experienced (I have as well).

[Montgomery Burns]

America's ugly racism - in pictures

[newbie]

Maybe not everyone, but there were 762 hate groups going strong in 2004. Here's a list:

http://www.tolerance.org/maps/hate/

[Black Dog]

Hawk  Jun 20 2005, 12:12 PM 

True tyranny has always entered society under the veil of tolerance and understanding...

Uh..no it hasn't.

I am at least glad the US citizens aren't afraid to voice their concerns over minorities.

Call a spade a spade, as it were?

I am not supporting actual racism, but I do know that certain minorities do deserve the bad name they have earned on an individual basis.

I'm curious as to what you'd consider to be actual rascism, then? Your reasoning reminds me of the old Southern redneck expression "there's blacks, and there's niggers."

You're judging the whole by the actions of individuals. That stinks.

live in Alberta with Peigan and Blood reserves in the area, and I see our homeless shelters filled with first nations drunks and druggies, I have had friends jumped at night by groups of them, I have had to work with them (and hire them at times) and they have the worst work ethics I have ever seen, and while the rest of the province is working to build ourselves up they are wandering the streets wasted out of their minds wearing clothes and drinking booze our tax dollars paid for.

Yeah well, let's take your land, shove you in squallor, destroy your culture, decimate your people with booze and disease and see how well your grandchilddren do.

Like I said, judge them based on an individual basis... the problem is, there is just such a higher % of these minorities that are bums than there are caucasions. So I think the same thing will apply down south =p

Oooh your getting closer...to paraphrase something August once said: what colour are the people on our money?

Good morning HAWK:

Please allow me to address two of your comments.......

QUOTE

Also consider that a higher % of 'white' people actually go on to post-secondary education, but heck that wouldn't have anything at all to do with anything right?

Personally, I feel that the lower % of natives going on to post-secondary education is no one's fault but their own.

The reason for this is simple; any Status-Indian in Canada is entitled to free education for as long as they may want to continue their schooling.

All they have to do is sign up and take advantage.

QUOTE

As for reserves... Only in Canada would it be considered a step towards equality to erect government-sanctioned barriers between its citizen's racial groups.

The reserves in Canada are somewhat different from those in the States.

In Canada, the reserve is more like a safe retreat for those who would rather live within their native cultural setting.

Natives in Canada are not confined to reserves, and are free to live wherever they please, limited only by their personal financial resources.

Just like the rest of us.

Many simply do not TRY.

Many others get rich when they DO try, by taking advantage of tax loopholes not available to the rest of us, working off-reserve jobs, while maintaining a reserve mail-address for further tax advantages, etc.

Statistics Canada lists only 21% of Aboriginal people as living on reserve. 11.2 per cent of the on-reserve population is non Native. A little more than 78% of Aboriginal people live off reserve and many are denied any support from their home reserve.

As for the subject of the thread, I think the U.S., by virtue of its much larger minority populations (blacks and Hsipanics in particular) and the relative novelty of equal rights (Black people only got the vote in 1965!), has a higher level of institutional rascism. But even that, arguably, is a byproduct of class divisions.

[moderateamericain]

dont get me wrong there is still alot of racism here, someone posted a listing for 700 something race related hate groups in america. I wonder how many memebers belong to each group. because one thing to keep in mind is we have something like 260 million people living here. say on average theres 1000 memebers per group. so thats 700.000 people that are actively involved with a race hate group. now divide that into 260 million and tell me what percentage of the populationt that you come up with. The point im trying to make is its not AS BAS as i think some canadians percieve.

[canuckcat]

It surprises me that this thread continues. I think we have an answer on the nightly news - tens of thousands of refugees and likely thousands dead. Was it the hurricane Katrina that did this? The flooding? No - these are the poor who were left behind. It's not only that they were left behind in the evacuation. They were left behind in education and employment because of their race. The result of wide-spread racism is large-scale poverty and ignorance.

[newbie]

dont get me wrong there is still alot of racism here, someone posted a listing for 700 something race related hate groups in america.  I wonder how many memebers belong to each group.  because one thing to keep in mind is we have something like 260 million people living here. say on average theres 1000 memebers per group. so thats 700.000 people that are actively involved with a race hate group.  now divide that into 260 million and tell me what percentage of the populationt that you come up with.  The point im trying to make is its not AS BAS as i think some canadians percieve.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'd like to see a link where Canada has the per capita problem. I don't think you'll find that up here.

[Montgomery Burns]

Black Dog:

Yeah well, let's take your land, shove you in squallor, destroy your culture, decimate your people with booze and disease and see how well your grandchilddren do.

What is it like to be so self-loathing?

Moderateamericain, the US has nearly 300 million, not 260 million. Indeed, the World Factbook estimates the 2005 US population at 296 million.

[Freshinit]

I'm a liberal thinking Calgarian. So I've been exposed to a cowboy or two who always seem to find a reason to bring up ones ethnicity or race. Most people aren't blatently racist, however I find it odd how easily some people can brush off racist remarks. I guess in the name of civility it is best not to respond to such a comment, however the comfort in which some of my fellow cityfolk use the 'N' word leaves me feeling uneasy.

I guess I shouldn't be so critical, it's not as if we have white lobbyists abundant in our streets, or the weekly lynch mobbings. But these racist tendencies clear a path for prejudices in everyday life.

[BHS]

It surprises me that this thread continues. I think we have an answer on the nightly news - tens of thousands of refugees and likely thousands dead. Was it the hurricane Katrina that did this? The flooding? No - these are the poor who were left behind. It's not only that they were left behind in the evacuation. They were left behind in education and employment because of their race. The result of wide-spread racism is large-scale poverty and ignorance.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What a load.

[losiguy]

n

[Liam]

The simple answer to this question is No, not everyone in the US is racist. I live in Boston, which is considered a very liberal city in the US, and my city a checkered past WRT race. Things here are much better and much more inter-racial now than thirty years ago.

Personally, I don't have any friends who I consider racist and I don't think I have ever heard anyone here use the "N word". (Well, except in a joking way, I do occasionally call an African-American buddy of mine "my nizzle".) The N word was a staple of my upbringing outside NYC and my siblings, who still live down there, are frequently racist. I spend half of my visits to them rolling my eyes and the other half plugging my ears.

I think a lot of racism comes down to education. With education, your world expands, you begin to understand different points of view and racism, to a large extent, just fades away.

[Black Dog]

Personally, I don't have any friends who I consider racist and I don't think I have ever heard anyone here use the "N word". (Well, except in a joking way, I do occasionally call an African-American buddy of mine "my nizzle".)

You should be ashame dof yourself. Not for rascism, not for appropriating black culture, but for using "izzle". That shit went out in 2004, man.

[rhumbline]

First off most americans families never arrived in he country untilslavery had ended,mine among them,so I pay no attention to the guilt by being white thing!

Yes there is predjudice in the U.S., but on the other hand, I'm very suspect of anyone who is not just a little in favor of his own!

Whites in the U.S. know they are on a track to extinction. In 100 years they will be novelties. This might be one reason why they continue to segregate themselves. The white birth rate in the U.S. is negative, and the white population over 60 is close to fifty million. In other words,most of them will be gone in twenty years. Three out of seven white women are assimilating into other races for any amount of reasons from unmatchable white mates, unavailability of white partners.

The average height in the U.S. has shrunk an inch due to the arrival of millions of non european immigrants,not that it factors into the grand scheme, but it is an indicator of change. Many whites have foregone having children in favor of the Saab, a larger house, and other material items. The cost of schooling is another factor that have had influence in not having children. People from other backgrounds, have not come to this point. Whites know they are on the way out, and the bitterness sometimes seeps through the indifferent cover..

[YankAbroad]

I spent my last two summers in northern Ontario and I run down to northern Minnesota to visit family on the weekends. It seems like every visit I am appalled at the sheer amount of racism and homophobia there. I know Canada isn't perfect with respect to tolerance (we have come a long way in my opinion) but in all my life I have never heard the word "nigger" spoken outloud, yet everytime I go visit I hear it over and over again. Somehow my family never caught this "racist" bug or else I would have stopped visiting long ago and only my love for my family keeps me going back. However, my patience is pushed to the limit when I encounter other Americans shouting out the N word or saying things like "they have blacks working there now... ah shit" or "those damn Indians". So basically... I want to ask you people who probably know the US a hell of a lot more than I do if the rest of the US is like that because my cousin wants to do a road trip to Yellowstone at the end of July? Will I go out of my mind? Thanks

Well, speaking personally, the worst racism I ever saw was in Canada when I lived there -- a black African friend of mine and I went for a road trip across Ontario from TO to Thunder Bay. Once we got west of London, people started "looking at us funny." (She's black and from Zimbabwe, I'm white and male).

Some guy started warning us that "we'd better be careful, couples like you can get in trouble around here." When I explained I was gay, and she was just a friend, he scowled and walked off.

We went into a hotel in rural Ontario and the innkeeper made a point to tell us he would only give us separate beds and would NOT under any circumstances give us a double room. I don't know what was more offensive -- the idea that we were a couple simply because we were mixed-gender, or the idea that we were a couple but an interracial couple shouldn't sleep together.

I drove through the deep South and encountered racism here and there (blacks being waited on after whites despite being in front of the line), but never to the degree of what I saw in Canada.

YMMV. . .

[tml12]

I was at a bar once with an American friend of mine. We met another random guy and started talking.

My American friend said "Indian" and the guy was like "you must be American...the word "Indian" is racist and never used in Canada." While I knew that was clearly a lie of the Canadian left my friend was a bit taken aback.

I tried to tell him that wasn't true, but my answer was to come soom. The next day in the paper, a local columnist referred to aboriginals as "Indians." Upon looking the columnist's biography up, it turned out she was born in Canada, schooled here, and lives here.

[Melanie_]

I don't know what was more offensive -- the idea that we were a couple simply because we were mixed-gender, or the idea that we were a couple but an interracial couple shouldn't sleep together.

My marriage (20 years) is interracial, and we've never encountered any issues; I don't know if that is just the luck of the draw, or if it is an indication of tolerance. Or maybe we just haven't gone to the right places.

[YankAbroad]

I was at a bar once with an American friend of mine. We met another random guy and started talking.

My American friend said "Indian" and the guy was like "you must be American...the word "Indian" is racist and never used in Canada." While I knew that was clearly a lie of the Canadian left my friend was a bit taken aback.

I tried to tell him that wasn't true, but my answer was to come soom. The next day in the paper, a local columnist referred to aboriginals as "Indians." Upon looking the columnist's biography up, it turned out she was born in Canada, schooled here, and lives here.

Oh yes, you've got to love PC efforts to accuse someone of being racist.

I was described by one particularly odious bore here in Britain as a "racist" for using the term "people of color" -- which he claimed was racist -- right up until I pointed him to speeches and articles by Mary Frances Berry, Kweisi Mfume and other black civil rights leaders which use it as a term of community and respect.

The irony is that people like the moron you encountered, or the British bore I've encountered, is that their supposed commitment to "multiculturalism" automatically crumbles to dust when it comes to respecting AMERICAN cultural traditions -- including our proud tradition of civil rights struggle.

[Liam]

Personally, I don't have any friends who I consider racist and I don't think I have ever heard anyone here use the "N word". (Well, except in a joking way, I do occasionally call an African-American buddy of mine "my nizzle".)

You should be ashame dof yourself. Not for rascism, not for appropriating black culture, but for using "izzle". That shit went out in 2004, man.

(Hangs head in shame)

[tml12]

I was at a bar once with an American friend of mine. We met another random guy and started talking.

My American friend said "Indian" and the guy was like "you must be American...the word "Indian" is racist and never used in Canada." While I knew that was clearly a lie of the Canadian left my friend was a bit taken aback.

I tried to tell him that wasn't true, but my answer was to come soom. The next day in the paper, a local columnist referred to aboriginals as "Indians." Upon looking the columnist's biography up, it turned out she was born in Canada, schooled here, and lives here.

Oh yes, you've got to love PC efforts to accuse someone of being racist.

I was described by one particularly odious bore here in Britain as a "racist" for using the term "people of color" -- which he claimed was racist -- right up until I pointed him to speeches and articles by Mary Frances Berry, Kweisi Mfume and other black civil rights leaders which use it as a term of community and respect.

The irony is that people like the moron you encountered, or the British bore I've encountered, is that their supposed commitment to "multiculturalism" automatically crumbles to dust when it comes to respecting AMERICAN cultural traditions -- including our proud tradition of civil rights struggle.

You know, YankAbroad, that many Canadians (and I am sure British but I have never lived there) have preconceived notions of Americans. I lived in New York for awhile and have travelled extensively in the South (i.e. Macon, Georgia, etc.) and I realize now that you can never look at issues in a black and white context.

"Americans say 'this is my gun, screw you'" while Canadians are "gentle, tolerant, and multicultural." Anyone who has lived in both countries for an extended period of time need not be an anthropologist to see that these widely used statements and descriptions are silly and counterproductive, as well as ridiculously false.

I believe the Republican Party in the U.S. and the Liberal Party in Canada are relying on ignorant people to believe these myths, as they seem to be propagated by these parties. The parties are trying to use these myths to sink American Democrats and Canadian Conservatives. U.S. Republicans say the Democrats are "un-American" for not going along with a more aggressive U.S. foreign policy. Canadian Liberals call their Conservative opponents "American ass-kissers." And fools in both countries accept these black and white characterizations as reality.

I think, YankAbroad, that you understand the differences and are in a better position, based on your experience, than others here to question the prevalent stereotyping...well done!!!

[YankAbroad]

tml, if more people on both sides of the border understood things the way you just described them, we could throw away these silly arguments and get down to the work of creating a better economic block with labor mobility which would elevate Mexico, preserve the differences between the three countries, increase average incomes in Canada, and expose more Americans to international points of view.

I hope we get there in the next ten years.

[moderateamericain]

Amercans arent racist, Individual A-holes are racist. I live below the mason dixie line, and i can tell you that white/black relations, or native american relations are better here then where i grew up in Detroit Michigan. Any who still believes in racism down here is pretty much laughed at.