Is Racism still an issue in the United States?

[Metalject]

Most people don't want to discuss issues of race because they don't know how or they're afraid to. People are petrified of saying the wrong thing - if you point out anything, something that is unavoidably true, someone somehow may call you a racist, and that term simply sits poorly with most even if it holds no factual basis. And others don't know how to discus it because they simply see racism in everything. In my opinion, those people are as ignorant as the racist themselves.

But on the topic of the thread, of course racism still exist in the U.S. It exist in every country and corner of the world, always has and it always will. Why has it and why will it always, a few reasons:

*People are not naturally good people. We are naturally evil. Jealousy, hate, envy and judgmental are all natural human traits. We have to make a conscious effort to be good people and some never will.

*People tend to hold pride in their ethnicity. On one hand you can argue there's nothing wrong with this, but on the other hand it is something that's meaningless to hold pride in. Does the color of your skin actually produce a quality of the heart and soul that another color does not? Of course not, but this pride in ethnicity leads many to think it does. This exist in every single race on earth.

*People hold never ending grudges. The prime modern example is the anger many black Americans hold against white Americans for the poor treatment of blacks in the past. No sane or reasonable person can argue that this treatment was good or justified. However, if the past treatment of our ancestors by another group of people is reason enough to hold a grudge against certain people today, we should all hate each other, you could even say we should hate ourselves. Every race, every group of people that has ever existed has been held down by another group at some point in history. This has occurred due to race, nationality, religion political thinking and probably many other things. In fact, if you're alive today, there's a great chance someone of your own race held your ancestors back at some point in time.

*Because people hope in the wrong things - there's a tendency and desire to believe that in time we will evolve beyond racism. What is the logical basis behind this thought? Sure, it's a nice thought, it's a happy thought, but so is everyone holding hands and singing songs in a marshmallow field. I've said this before in other threads, the nature of man is the same today as it was yesterday and it will always be the same. Technology changes, borders and laws change and events shape the activities of the day. But the nature of man is never changing - man has the same desires he's always had, the same basic needs, the same flaws and positive traits that the human soul can possess. No amount of technology or debate can change this. That doesn't mean we do not strive for it - striving for betterment, that is one of the key qualities and most important things in life. We strive, we right wrongs when they occur, we move on and we repeat, and that is a good thing.

[Euroholic]

Most people don't want to discuss issues of race because they don't know how or they're afraid to. People are petrified of saying the wrong thing - if you point out anything, something that is unavoidably true, someone somehow may call you a racist, and that term simply sits poorly with most even if it holds no factual basis. And others don't know how to discus it because they simply see racism in everything. In my opinion, those people are as ignorant as the racist themselves.

But on the topic of the thread, of course racism still exist in the U.S. It exist in every country and corner of the world, always has and it always will. Why has it and why will it always, a few reasons:

*People are not naturally good people. We are naturally evil. Jealousy, hate, envy and judgmental are all natural human traits. We have to make a conscious effort to be good people and some never will.

*People tend to hold pride in their ethnicity. On one hand you can argue there's nothing wrong with this, but on the other hand it is something that's meaningless to hold pride in. Does the color of your skin actually produce a quality of the heart and soul that another color does not? Of course not, but this pride in ethnicity leads many to think it does. This exist in every single race on earth.

*People hold never ending grudges. The prime modern example is the anger many black Americans hold against white Americans for the poor treatment of blacks in the past. No sane or reasonable person can argue that this treatment was good or justified. However, if the past treatment of our ancestors by another group of people is reason enough to hold a grudge against certain people today, we should all hate each other, you could even say we should hate ourselves. Every race, every group of people that has ever existed has been held down by another group at some point in history. This has occurred due to race, nationality, religion political thinking and probably many other things. In fact, if you're alive today, there's a great chance someone of your own race held your ancestors back at some point in time.

*Because people hope in the wrong things - there's a tendency and desire to believe that in time we will evolve beyond racism. What is the logical basis behind this thought? Sure, it's a nice thought, it's a happy thought, but so is everyone holding hands and singing songs in a marshmallow field. I've said this before in other threads, the nature of man is the same today as it was yesterday and it will always be the same. Technology changes, borders and laws change and events shape the activities of the day. But the nature of man is never changing - man has the same desires he's always had, the same basic needs, the same flaws and positive traits that the human soul can possess. No amount of technology or debate can change this. That doesn't mean we do not strive for it - striving for betterment, that is one of the key qualities and most important things in life. We strive, we right wrongs when they occur, we move on and we repeat, and that is a good thing.

I cant see why the blacks are still angry. If you never took them out of africa they would currently be living in 3rd world poor countries and not in the usa which has the worlds biggest economy. People should look at the positive opportunities and not laws of the old days. you cant get angry about the laws of old. Owning slaves was legal at a time you cant really look back and judge them from modern eyes because at the time it was all good and legal and was the norm of the time. Peoples views change over time but we shouldn't judge how people use to do things.

[Honkey_Kong]

I cant see why the blacks are still angry. If you never took them out of africa they would currently be living in 3rd world poor countries and not in the usa which has the worlds biggest economy. People should look at the positive opportunities and not laws of the old days. you cant get angry about the laws of old. Owning slaves was legal at a time you cant really look back and judge them from modern eyes because at the time it was all good and legal and was the norm of the time. Peoples views change over time but we shouldn't judge how people use to do things.

White people weren't the only ones who owned slaves. In fact, freed black populations disproportionately owned more slaves than white populations too.

Black Slave Owners Civil War Article by Robert M Grooms