Well I'm not one to rain on anybody's party. I like parties and celebrations . I like to see success rewarded.
I'm the eternal optimist. The Micro Manager says that I would call an empty glass full.
So it's with a rather heavy heart that I conclude very little will happen to bring about changes in racism. I know that people are very hopeful that something will. happen.
I think very little will happen. Once all the demonstrations are history, the world will quietly slip back into racism as usual.
Yes, there will be some improvement but not much. Some people will become more aware of what racism is. Some people will work for changes , but little will happen.
The politicians will go back to the same old game. Forget about racism and get some votes so that we can stay inpower. Systemic racism is safe. None of the system is going to change.
Do you think the jokes will change?
I think very few people are willing to give up power.
Living in segregated areas will stay as people like it.
The everyday slurs will continue. Worse physical abuse will continue. Things are commonly thrown at people every day.
So you see I'm not at all hopeful things will change. I know a large part of the population is hoping for a change. I hate to rain on your party.
I'm a Canadian. Racism is alive and well here. We are smug about it and it's quiet. The system is set up for one group and other groups get the pleasure of suffering. Racism is so common in society that it's not noticed. Ask most Canadians and they think racism is not a problem and they are quick to say, "I'm not a racist. "
I would like to be wrong on this one. If I'm wrong I will gladly apologize.
I am pessimistic about these developements too. I remember the sixties with the protests, what has changed now so far?
ReplyDeleteLittle has changed and some things have slid back.
DeleteI am not so pessimistic.
ReplyDeleteWe need positive people to push the agenda forward.
DeleteSadly I think you hit the nail on the head, Red. The racists know how to pacify angry people and go back to doing their thing once all the hullabaloo dies down. I hope and pray we are not both right. I'd love to be wrong.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to be very , very wrong.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you, we (the USA) have been through all this before. I remember the riots in Baltimore, the car hitting people in Charlottesville, events that stick out in my mind. We seem to be going back in time, rather than forward. Everyone has their rights, we need less hate and more love your neighbor attitudes. Sorry, about ranting. Have a good weekend.
And I remember the sixties and school integration but the racists found a way around that.
DeleteI hope you are wrong, Red, but all change comes incrementally, not all at once. The young people are much less prejudiced than the old, so maybe once we old folks die off, things will get better.
ReplyDeleteSo two steps forward and one step back ?
DeleteIt is possible for things to change but it requires good will and a change of heart and a long, long time before any change will be evident. See, I started off with easy words and then moved in the direction of reality.
ReplyDeleteGovernments, organisations and sporting groups may pay lip service to the idea of resisting racism but it is really up to individuals to play their part. To be constantly vigilant about their own behaviour and to head off any racist slurs that crop up in their hearing.
And for those people who claim not to have a racist bone in their body and who therefore see themselves as exempt from any action at all, they might like to consider the idea supporting an organization that fights racism.
Alphie.
I agree that we all have to step up even when it's uncomfortable. We have to be willing to call people out and stand firm in our beliefs.
DeleteIt really seems like there should be a simple solution but there's not. As some have commented it will have to happen over a long time.
DeleteI, too, hope you are mistaken. For several reasons, this time around (and I was here for the end of segregation, the murders of black leaders such as MLK, and everything since) I think there will be positive steps to be seen this time around. I look especially to the strong black women in the US who are forging into leadership positions, nationally as well as locally. I’m not going to stop hoping or doing what I can to help make a better life for non whites in my country.
ReplyDeleteYou're right that we can never stop hoping or working on a solution.
DeleteI hope that an important step has been taken.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're right.
DeleteI don't know anyone who is smug about racism in Canada, Red.
ReplyDeleteThere is a huge divide between rural and urban citizens. My white community of Perth, ON, has just in the last few years taken in Syrian refugees. There are far more people of colour on TV. We've come a long way from the 60s. White people have to speak truth to power. And to each other. I am hopeful!
And, yes, I am wobbly: cataracts, nerves, anxiety. I'm a mess!
Smug? We just keep quiet and go on thinking that we don't just by color
DeleteI hope you are wrong, but I suspect you are probably right. I think as long as humans can "see" the superficial differences of skin color, they will react accordingly. If we were all color blind it would be a different world.
ReplyDeleteColor blind sounds like a good game to invent for teaching about racism.
DeleteThe reading I have done would suggest that colour blindness is not the answer and can be detrimental
DeleteI hope you are wrong. We’ll see over the next few years...
ReplyDeleteI hope that I'm wrong but we have so much to do.
DeleteI hope you are wrong, too. I think we will see changes as the old white system gives way to a younger, more diverse group. My grandparents would have been surprised that several of their great-great grandchildren are from other races and cultures. It would have been shocking to them but to me and my children, it is normal and accepted and we love them all. The more global our world becomes, the more the old ways seem wrong. There will always be haters but I hope we can see our way to a better future. I really want that.
ReplyDeleteYou are one of the positive people that we need who show us by example.
DeleteI hope you're wrong and you may well be I have strong sense from my last two years of teaching that the majority of my student's small town in Minnesota were far far less racist prejudice than even our generation was. Beyond that my grand children two of whom are from Africa and the other three born Americans have regularly been protesting, against racism in Arizona. The demonstrations are of mixed race with often as many white mostly young people as black perhaps I'm wearing rose-colored glasses but I like to think.
ReplyDeleteThe demonstrations have been mixed and that is good.
DeleteI don't believe you can ever eliminate racism or any of the other -isms out there. I'm older. I deal with ageism. I'm overweight. I deal with attitudes and comments dealing with that. It goes on and on. But no one has made me feel my life is in danger because of it. But things have changed. We have seen the result of racism among some members of Law Enforcement. We are aware of how bad it is. We can't legislate how people feel. We can make changes to protect people who are being victimized. And I think that is being done. We can enforce consequences for the actions and people that deny anyone's civil rights. And I do see that happening. That at least is a move in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteTime will tell but I do hope there will be change.
ReplyDeleteI may be looking at too short a period of time in my lifetime since I'm 80.
DeleteFew people have your courage, Red.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there are some simple down to earth issues that must be dealt with.
DeletePlease be wrong. Government begins way down here, at the level of the people you're talking to. It's up to us to elect the folks who walk the walk and talk the talk. Time for us to begin calling bullshit on the bad guys we've inadvertently elected to office. We'll see what happens. You get out and vote for the right people this time time.
ReplyDeleteI'm not an american but my daughter is an american so I'll tell her what to do.
DeleteI don't think everything will be fixed at once, but I hope that this is a step - preferably a big step - in the right direction. We need especially excellent leadership to help make it happen, and unfortunately politicians are mostly not up to the job - partly because of the way politics works, with a four or five year cycle which deprives leaders of enough time to get results, and partly because the best leaders don't want to get involved in the political system anyway. Whoa, I'm off the path into the shrubbery now, aren't I? Whole 'nother discussion :)
ReplyDeleteIt may be a whole nother discussion but it all counts.
DeleteI think you are right that racism is not even close to ending but I find hope in the conversation becoming more nuanced and more frequent
ReplyDeleteI agree that there have been some better conversations but the old racists are still spewing all kinds of hate.
DeleteIt is frustrating.
ReplyDeleteIt's frustrating but it's not an easy situation.
DeleteI disagree. I think things ARE changing. What we're seeing are the painful adjustments our society needs to make and questions we need to ask ourselves in order to move on to the next step. It's all agonizingly slow, but we're going somewhere.
ReplyDeleteYou're mush closer to it than I am. I hope you're right.
DeleteYes, racism is alive and well in Canada unfortunately. I hope that all this will change things
ReplyDeleteThe frustrating thing about racism in Canada is that we don't think we're racists.
DeleteNo changes here that I notice. I don't think there will be lasting changes just lasting unrest:(
ReplyDeleteYou're more pessimistic than I am. You are also closer to the situation.
DeleteLiving here in Seattle, we are an epicenter of the call for change. I have learned much in the past few weeks and have become much more self aware of my own ignorance and privilege, and I'm a liberal! I believe some change will take place, at least here, especially as we examine the role of police in our society. We need a wider range of well funded resources, so the there is more help at the other end of the line on a 911 call. Most problems don't need the attention of someone showing up who carries a gun. We need new thinking, and many of us are beginning to understand that.
ReplyDeleteRacism changes will take time I agree
ReplyDeleteYou may have a valid point, Red, but then it's not just racism again many different races that I believe are current issues, There's also biases against certain ethnic group, body types, features, abilities . . . the list can be quite extensive.
ReplyDeleteSigh.... Sadly, I think you may very well be right. I was so very hopeful when Obama became president. That was a start. But as soon as Trump came in, wow! Suddenly all the racists that were in hiding thought it was safe to pop out. And so they have. I don’t know. I just don’t know. We need a woman president. We need a black woman president.
ReplyDeleteI'm hopeful that with each new generation, we will continue to move forward.
ReplyDeleteoh i love optimism that rises from blind faith upon Lord dear Red
ReplyDeletestill i share your grief for people who are suffering because of ignorance of some
this reflects your honest kind heart ,i think things are in process but very slowly though
they can take hundreds of years but i believe that people will step out of box and will join each other as one
when love will be the only religion and humanity will be the only race