Only in my mojado dreams.

-Rudey

Rudey,

Please get help. For the sake of your loved ones. Please get help.

Shoot. Did I get carried away again? I do that sometimes. I mean as soon as the topic of dead babies comes up I always end up looking crazy.

-Rudey
--It's the stress :(

"Ghetto" historically means nothing more than a neighborhood consisting of one ethnicity. There are Jewish ghettos, Italian ghettos, Black ghettos, etc. Some of these neighborhoods are characterized by poverty, degradation, and stigma. This is how the phrase "ghetto" became a negative associated with particular groups.

As was stated previously in this thread, it isn't what these words REALLY mean as much as it is what people THINK these words mean and what images come to mind when they think up qualifications to win these awards. If a "most ghetto" award is nothing more than a cover-up for a "most wanna-be black person" award then that's easily offensive. Things do not have to be overt in the form of minstrel shows for people to be able to grasp the point, although some GLO chapters have also condoned the modern day equivalent of minstrel shows.

Lastly, please refrain from speaking on "African American issues" and the "Black community" until you have demonstrated a well-read and well-articulated ability to approach this issue from more than ONE angle (i.e. the ridiculously named "race card").

Indeed.

Chaos, I love how you have the ability to turn a slurr against whites into an insult against blacks. Bravo! Really, I admire your skill.

Either you can form an argument to substantively contest my statement or you can remain on the sidelines in admiration. ;)

Is that what she did? :confused: I interpreted her post to mean that the slur against White folx is just as offensive and stupid.

I am not surprised by this incident at all. White privledge is ever prevelant in our society, people just refuse to realize it. Here's my take...

As a White Anglo Saxon Protestant male from an upper middle class to upper class family, I was not exposed to people of many different ethnicities as a kid. I went to a private middle school, where people of color were few and far between. It wasn't until I got to my predominantly white Boarding School that I was exposed to other cultures, through the taking of Chinese.

Yet, I am in an Asian American fraternity, and almost all of my friends are either Black, Latino, or Asian. I see people from many different "groups" always making stereotypes about people in other groups. Everyone is making stereotypes in some form or another. The reality is, if you are white, you have a LOT more privledges just because of how you look. If you are a man, you have still even more. Throw in the religious and ethnic part of it, and you're at the top of the societal "food-chain" that is the world today.

It's a hard concept for many white people to understand. I know it was for me. I couldn't fathom white privledge until my Greek big sis (who is an AKA and is like incredibly socially aware) explained it to me. If you don't have to worry about acting a certain way just to be accepted, just to be able to get by in life, then life is a lot easier. But because of pride, or because of ignorance or whatever, it is tough for many white people or men, or anyone in any majority to accept.

My point is this. The ONLY way we as a society or as individuals can overcome these things is by opening our minds and hearts and ears and learn about other people and their experiences. IF we were to do this, we would realize that we all have a lot more in common than we do differences. It's just that we associate with people we feel more comfortable with. For me, I feel more comfortable around people who care about race and ethnic issues. The reality is, that most of the time those people will be people of color, because they HAVE to care about it, because they LIVE it every single day.

Every day I hear different groups of friends make some comment or something that bothers me. Usually its about a perception of a different ethnicity or race. Sure, those comments might be made in jest, but the reality is they are much more complicated than that. I hear friends of one ethnicity or race saying "Why can't we be united as that (insert X minority group here) group?" And then another group will say the same thing. Everyone is saying we have to take care of ourselves first, for many different reasons.

Obviously, I have a different perspective on taking care of one's own group than many because I have the luxury of not being followed when I go into stores, people not assuming that I can't speak English and speaking very slow to me, or people assuming that I am an illgeal immigrant. At the same time, as big of problems as these things are, and indeed they are HUGE issues that must be faced, we all have to take a step outside ourselves and realize that other people face similar issues, and other people have stereotypes. The ONLY way these will be broken is by educating others about those stereotypes. It all comes through friendships and talking to others. That is the way that we all must go about it if we are going to change things. Don't avoid someone just because they are X ethnicity or race. Get out of your comfort zone and into other people's worlds, because at the end of the day, it is the right thing to do.

/end rant/preaching

^^^^ hear, hear!

if that's what you got from it, i question your school's admission process.

And there you have it.

;)

just as we settle down...
 

yes, just as we begin to get civil some pissed off folks get all bent
out of shape, start whining again. We owe no one a living. I am
so damned sick of the mis-playing of the race card...

Well alright now!! :)

eddie murphy
 

eddie murphy, one of my favorite comedians, said
"You know, caucasians don't have no lips"
He went on and wondered how we ate ribs.
Gosh, I never thought of it, but perhaps I need to join a
multi-cultural group to be enlightened.
I guess I could have got my panties all in a wad over this, but
I thought Murphy's comment was funny.
Chill.