racist

[low_delta]

I was talking, the other night, to a guy who's been looking for work since late last year and hasn't had any luck. He said, "now I know what it feels like to be black." There was no ruefulness in his demeanor when he said it. He's just a creep.

Comments

[i.livejournal.com]

considering the relative unemployment rates, he has a point. there are still a lot of people out there who won't even consider hiring a black man.

[i.livejournal.com]

i guess i would say to him, "now you have seen a very small part of what it means to be black"

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

But then he would say, "yeah," and launch into some really rude stuff about blacks.

I don't know if you remember it, but way back when I first joined in at Anarchy, I posted about this guy. He is the father of one of the boys in my scout troop. At that time he said something unbelievably crude and rude.

[vlinker.livejournal.com]

that's sad indeed, although, it's not the case where i work.......only the man's (or woman's) qualifications are reviewed when hiring.......>

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[i.livejournal.com]

this part is just an aside: the last census figures only show 21,000 blacks in Alaska as of 4-2001. that is out of a total population of over 600,000. to equal the national average, you would have 120,000.

you are lucky to work in a place like that, i have been just as fortunate in some of my jobs, but particularly at the lower end of the income ladder, i encountered a lot of racism from both my fellow employees and my employers. it was not directed at me, being a white man, but it was displayed in front of me in a way that it never would be in public until i made my disaproval known, and then it was hidden. those low end jobs are where everyone has to start. then i could get into the property tax method of school financing, which is institutionalized classism at best, guaranteeing a child from a well off neighborhood a far better education than a child from a poor neighborhood....i'm ranting, sorry.

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[vlinker.livejournal.com]

well, the property tax method of school financing is not universal........in Alaska, some schools are totally funded thru the state with no burden on the local community where the school is located, although that is not the case in Anchorage.....

perhaps you should check out the other minorites in alaska's population stats........you will find that alaska's white population is lower than the national average...percentage wise.........

i do enjoy visiting your town (in winter) when i can......i can not imagine it in the summer, when you can bake cookies on the sidewalks......

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[i.livejournal.com]

going barefoot today is not an option :)

i absolutely did notice the proportion. i'm not disputing what you are saying about the nature of race relations in alaska. it just seems that, almost everywhere i go, no matter what the mix of origins, african heritage seems to guarantee starting at the bottom of the ladder. i say almost, because communities with a much higher than usual percentage of any minority tend to offer better opportunities to that group. i think our basic genetic makeup is to be afraid of people who are different and to be attracted to people who are similar. it has mostly faded as the definition of "survival of the fittest" has changed for humans, but we still have a pack mentality. if most of the people are white, it's better to be white. i'm sure if you did tests where three applicants, black, white, and native american with equal abilities applied for a series of jobs, in most communities, the black applicant would be the least likely to get the job and the white applicant most likely.

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[vlinker.livejournal.com]

i have to say, i do not have much experience out of my own state regarding employing people......and i can't disagree with you.....

don't you think that the labeling of people tends to perpetuate the problem?

a while ago when my boys were playing little league baseball, there was a couple of girls on the team, both named lesley, who happenned to be great friends......one was short, blonde, and had fair skin that would instanty burn if touched by the sun, the other was tall, black haired and her skin color was very dark, obviously, of african-american decent.....after one of the games, my wife asked our oldest boy what the difference was between the two girls........he said, "duh, mom, one is short and the other is tall, we get walks with the short lesley and base hits with the tall lesley."

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[i.livejournal.com]

nail on the head.

there is no problem in mentioning someone's skin color if you are describing what they look like, but gratuitous mention of it, especially when you are saying something negative that has nothing to do with appearance ...

Re:

[vlinker.livejournal.com]

yepper

[vlinker.livejournal.com]

"looking for work since late last year"???????

i wonder if he's looking all that hard.....or perhaps he's just too specialized to work in normal places....yeah, that's it, he's an engineer that is trained to specify ball bearings in papermills?....LOL...or maybe, he has to find work within spitting distance of a certain address?......*shrugs*

with regard to the racial slur......he's just a creep......we had to get rid of a couple of racists last year because they couldn't work together....both were of different backgrounds that would be considered minorities by the gov't......both had economic situations where they needed jobs........and then again, both were disruptive and caused dissent throughout the crew.....everyone on a team must be a team player....>

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

Creepy is the word that comes to mind when you stand and talk to this man. I try not to be judgemental but boy oh boy...some people are just yucky.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

You can find work if you're willing to do entry level manual labor. He's been employed as a departmental shop manger, like a shift leader or so. So that's a little tougher a level to find work in. I'm not sure how low he's willing to "stoop."

Re:

[vlinker.livejournal.com]

how long is he willing not to eat?

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Well, he's gone this long without a job. I'd think his unemployment is long gone. I'm not sure what his wife does, or how many kids he has.