Prejudism
 

Please do not think that I am racist for posting this article and agreeing with the wife of the victim. I think it's great that the wife realizes this problem.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/det/ne...07-170622.html

Couple Accuses Teens Of Ethnic Intimidation
Inkster Family Says They're Being Forced To Move
Posted: 6:42 p.m. EDT June 7, 2002
Updated: 7:23 p.m. EDT June 7, 2002

INKSTER, Mich.-- An Inkster couple is moving after allegedly receiving a series of racially motivated threats, Local 4 reported Friday. Three 14-year-old girls were taken into custody Thursday night . They have been charged with trespassing and ethnic intimidation for allegedly directing slurs at Robert Bielaczyc, who is white.

Parties Involved Tell Their Stories

Bielaczyc told Local 4 that a group of black teens in his neighborhood have repeatedly directed slurs and derogatory remarks at him, and that a man in the area threatened to kill him.

"I know sooner or later I'll be dead," Bielaczyc told Local 4.

The three girls were arrested after an incident Thursday night. Bielaczyc said that the girls walked across his corner lot and he took their pictures, then warned them not to trespass. That's when he said slurs were hurled at him.

The girls, who were not identified because they are minors, said that they also heard the slurs but are not responsible for them. They said that a group of boys nearby shouted the insults at Bielaczyc.

The Bielaczycs have several complaints on file with the Inkster police, including one that came after a car was driven across their lawn, leaving deep tire treads behind. The couple has been pressing police for more protection.

Inkster police Sgt. Tom Diaz said that the department has been sending a car by the couple's home once an hour to check on them and their property. He said the department will continue to do so until the problem is addressed.

Pamela Bielaczyc, who is African-American, said that if the situation were reversed and her husband stood in front of their house yelling racial insults at blacks, he would probably be in jail.

The couple told Local 4 that after buying and renovating their home, they are moving to avoid further problems.

Copyright 2002 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

This is too true. Racism goes both ways and if this story were turned around, the husband would definately be in jail, no matter what other race it was. What are your opinions?

That is true, if the offender were a black male, they probably would have arrested him a long time ago. It would be interesting to find out if this occured in a predominately black, white or integrated neighborhood. Everyone is not cool with the idea of racial mingling and you have to wonder what the girls' parents are like since racism is a learned behavior. In any case, I don't think moving is going to make the situation any better... A little background here. When my family (minority) moved into a all white, upper middle class neighborhood, some of the neighbors did pretty shady stuff and a few moved out once more minorities moved in, but we didn't move.

Re: Prejudism
 

Pm_Mama-

why would you be seen as racist? you are allowed to any opinion you want whether or not it is PC or if others agree with it! NEVER apologize to others for your beliefs!!!!! they are yours for a reason and there is no guarantee that another's is the 'right' one. by apologizing, you make it seem like you "know you are wrong but just have to say it anyway". state your mind...we know others around here do. :rolleyes:

that being said...that absolutely is racism and those girls should have their day in court. we live in a civilized society where we prize our freedom of speech but ONLY if it doesn't infringe on the rights of others. and those girls are invading on his rights.

yes, the wife is correct, her husband would have been carted off long ago and it would be front page news.

racism is racism regardless of the color.

INTERESTING ARTICLE. I DO NOT SEE HOW PEOPLE CAN BE SO NARROW MINDED. UGH!

RONNIE :D

Sorry but there is no such thing as a racist black person. Do you guys need a history lesson? It never ceases to amaze me how whites scream racism when it is clearly PREJUDICE we are talking about!!!!!!!!

Tsk, tsk, tsk!

What the heck does history have to do with it??? :confused:

ANYONE can be racist. Doesn't make any difference what color the person is. A black person can be racist against a white person, just as a white person can be racist against a black person. Both are wrong. It's a two-way street. Period.

History has everything to do with it. Partly, because whites don't like to acknowledge that things happened and blacks still continue to suffer from it. A black person can not be RACIST. Racism involves POWER. Prejudice involves having a bias against someone.Know the difference.Read a book. PERIOD.

Racist People Suck!! Racism is a form of predjudice. And, in this situation, the black people making the threats had power. The power to intimidate. Therefore, they are racist.

Um, no you are wrong.You are not looking at the big picture. Black can not stigmatize a whole group/race of people if they wanted to.Please read Race Matters ASAP.

Both of these definitions are from Cambridge Dictionaries Online. According to this, a black person can be racist and/or prejudice, just as easily as a white person. Saying white people have no rhythm is racist. Saying black people are better at sports is racist. These things are also prejudice. It seems that actions are more prejudice, such as locking your doors when you see a black, hispanic, poor, biker, etc. Prejudice can be practiced against any group, black, white, greek (college or nationality), athlete, brainiac, etc. Racism can be practiced against races only. That's my take on the subject. Also, at Dictionary.com, i found the last definition of racism, which makes a lot of sense.

racism, British dated racialism
noun [U]
DISAPPROVING
1. the belief that people's qualities are influenced by their race and that the members of other races are not as good as the members of your own, which results in the other races being treated unfairly

2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

prejudice
noun
an unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, esp. when formed without enough thought or knowledge

The statement you made about "whites don't like to acknowledge that things happened" is wrong. If that was true, then the history books that I had in school would have been a lot shorter than they were. I think white people have done very well at taking responsibility for prior racist acts, laws, etc in this country. So please don't try and tell me that we're not acknowledging things that happened.

Also, please don't act as if black people don't have any POWER in this country. If you really believe that, then you are fooling yourself. I'm not saying that racism doesn't exist. It certainly does, and many black people are still faced with discrimination to this day. However, many white people are faced with racism from blacks also. It IS a two-way street. There is NO difference. Racism is racism and it doesn't matter who is on the recieving end. It's bad regardless.

Excuse me???? That's really convoluted thinking. Like I said many times before, anyone can be racist. And it's wrong no matter who does it.

Excuse me oh cranial rectosis one! Yes there is racisim by the African-American, Asian, and White Comunities!

I have no idea where you come by this information it sure is not from History!

Who do you think sold the Blacks to Americans but the Blacks who worked in conjunction with the Whites! It was members of African Tribes to make Money, Coin of the Realm.

Yes, I may not like N because she is Asian, or T who is Afro-American, but it amazes the hell out of me that I do get very well along with them and talk regurally!

WHAT, AM I SUPPOSE TO HATE anyone on this thread who is not White and I am? BS!

We do not for the most part know what color each and everyone of is unless it may be the Greek Organization that they represent!

DA guess what, there are the crossing of lines here!

I am sure Brother Rodney J would be upset about that as He is got a lot better tan than I do! We laff about it a lot!

If you do not beleive in what we are tyring to do here then you do not have to be a membrer of this site!

The definition of racism will never be resolve because Blacks and whites look at differently. Blacks view racism as a institution or a set of written or unwritten rules that are unfair against a group of people. In order to have racisim, the group must have power. The apatheid and Jim Crow are both racist systems. Those who applied those rules are considered racists.

Whites view racism (as which Blacks called prejudice) as a person who believes that his racial group is superior to another race. They do not believe that power is necessary. Blacks on the other hand call this prejudice because power is necessary.



#7 Snuggles
DST - RVA

That's an interesting idea ... I would have just said that race is thinking one race is superior to another in some way. Racism is a view one person has or a system has. But then, I'm white. It never occurred to me that there was more than one possible definition of the word. This is something I'll have to think about.

Whether we want to call what the folks in the article did prejudice or racism, though, I think most of us would agree that their behavior is not appropriate in a polite society.

I May Get Ripped For This But....
 

As a black person I gotta say that a black person can be racist just like any other person. To me hate is hate, no matter the color or the institution. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. But that's just MY opinion.

Black people can be racists, just like anyone else. However, it appears to me that black racism and white racism are different from each other in some aspects.

I think what neicy81 was reffering to, was the second definition of racism.

It doesnt matter how many times you said it before, BLACKS CANNOT BE RACIST. If a white person does not want to do business with black people, all they have to do is not deal with any. If a black person doesnt, it wouldnt make sense to do so because they will deal with whites in some wa or another.

And just what does history state hon? That Columbus discovered America?What the real meaning of Thanksgiving is?Sure, we can really rely on our white written history books. How have they taken responsiblilty?By eliminating affirmative action? Sure, you're umm right! Sike!

What racism have you encountered from black people hun? You bet your Ked gym shoes that you have benefitted from WHITE privilege whether you conscious of it or not.

When have you??
1. had problems buying a house in a black neighborhood? Oops sorry, you would never live next to such hoodlums.
2. been followed around the store by a black person?


I never said that blacks did not have any power. I stated that blacks do not have the power to stigmatize an entire race.How many blacks do you know have managed to wipe out millions of people from several races?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tom Earp
[B]Excuse me oh cranial rectosis one! Yes there is racisim by the African-American, Asian, and White Comunities!

I have no idea where you come by this information it sure is not from History!

Who do you think sold the Blacks to Americans but the Blacks who worked in conjunction with the Whites!

Whites love to mention that. But they seem to forgot that it was whites who slaughtered millions and attributed to the downfall of the race, not Africans.

Go figure!Go read a book!

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: ugh. here we go again. we have this SAME discussion every few months.

anyone can be a racist. period.


:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Sure and black people can account for the genocide of millions of people. Yeah you're right...here we go again...PERIOD

SEMANTICS!!!
 

You all seem to forget that words have no implicit meaning. Racism to some means one thing and to others mean another.

Neither of you are wrong... Neither of you are right.

Yet in a sense you're both right....

And in another you're both wrong!

To me a cat is something that is nice to have around the house and purrs when you pet it. Someone else might think a cat is a mangy furball that hisses, bites, scratches and carries fleas.

Since CAT has no implicit meaning but is formed by my experiences I have my very own picture of what a cat should look like.

This argument in my eyes is COMPLETELY pointless...

Ya'll might discuss (rationally) what YOU each think racism is and respect what others have to say about what they think it is.

LHT,
Kevin

This is a rational discussion.

Re: SEMANTICS!!!
 

Well said! This argument is pointless.

TO the initial poster, I don't know why someone would feel you were racist for saying that what those girls did was wrong. It was, and they should be arrested.

TO neicy81, chill out girl! Not All white people are bad! Honest! THey don't all have to be convinced of the historical wrongs done us, or that we still face obstacles in this American society. Some, I might even be persuaded to say many, know that to be the truth.

But when you phrase things like everything is all their fault, and demonize them, you lose the very people who agree with you and whose efforts are equally important in changing the status quo.

i dont know why its this complicated
 

it seems to me racism is being looked at in the wrong way,
for example, if i met a german person, i wouldnt immediatly hate him for the holocaust, i wouldn't think oh he caused millions of my people to die, he is to blame. if he later said something anti-semetic, that would be a different story, then i would have a reason to dislike him not his entire culture, maybe some people do but i dont and i think the same can be said for black and white issues in this country, an african- american who doesnt like any white people because of what happened a couple hundred years ago at least is racist, because if that person then does something that is discriminating against you because you are of another ethnic group, then that person is to blame not everyone who is white. i just think that it is sad that people have so much aggression towards one another, if we want everyone to be treated equally then truely everyone should be treated equally no benifits, no special treatment, just equally.

-hannah

lovelyivy
 

I never stated nor intended for this to seem as if I "hate" white people.If I hate someone, I hate them enough to kill them. And yes, I have white friends.

However, this discussion was brought up on other website. A user created a forum to vent their frustrations titled"What Pisses You Off About White People" and a white person comes in the fourm and cries racism every day. I still say that blacks cannot be racist. You don't know any black person that had attributed to the downfall of any whites.

Regarding changing the status quo, I beg to differ.Most are too comfortable benefitting from white privilege.

Re: i dont know why its this complicated
 

Hannah, an african american disliking someone for that reason is prejudice not racist.How many white lynchings have you heard of?

Snuggles, thanks for the comparison. I think I understand a little bit of what neicy is trying to get across now. :)

Re: i dont know why its this complicated
 

I don't like your parallel. It's just a different situation, and to me, equating the situation of Jews and black people just never works. Too many differences for all our similarities to invite a real, FAIR comparison.

And black people faced a lot more in this country besides slavery. Jim Crow? Grandfather clauses? lynchings? Almost all those things are still happening!

There are a lot of black people who don't like white people because of their interactions with whites. They don't like being condescended to, they don't like being discriminated against, and that has been their personal experience. There are a LOT of black people (in my mothers generation) who can remember not being allowed to eat at the same restaurant, and who can remember what it felt like to be TOLD that they were inferior.

That doesn't go away in a generation. That doesn't necessarily go away in two. The world is not an equal place. It has never been an equal place. It is our job as citizens to make it better, and to do it by making ourselves more aware of the FACTS of how things are, instead of how we wish they were.

Then we change them.

Re: lovelyivy
 

There are a LOT who benefit and never, ever question that privilege. You're right. A LOT of them are on this website too, lol. But not everyone here is like that, and not all are like that.

I guess you just have to have some sort of faith in the best of humanity, or that there is a best of humanity, and that things will change. Look how far we have come in a generation, black and white, in our attitudes and the ways we interact. Twenty years ago, we would not be having a conversation like this, or learning about one another because a lot of attitudes that we are challenging were taken for granted.

dont get me wrong, i dont think that blacks dont have obsticles to overcome or what they went through is something that no one should ever have to go through, i think prejudice and racism are horrible things, and i think that its hard for someone like myself to understand it despite trying, when i have never personally had any type of problem with this, i think that like many people said earlier it all comes down to your point of view on racism and prejudice. and while it is idealistic i still hope for an equal society someday.
-hannah

Re: Re: lovelyivy
 

I completely agree lovelyivy.

Hannah it's hard for a lot of people to understand. But as long as you keep an open mind, then you're ok.

Re: lovelyivy
 

I personally don't think you hate white people, just like you say. I do however think it's always good to listen to people, and to hear them out (there's a difference). Take care.

-Rudey

Re: lovelyivy
 

"If I hate someone, I hate them enough to kill them." That's sad.

Re: Re: lovelyivy
 

I can see that I have to break down everything I say. I meant that "hate" is such a strong word for me, that in order for me to hate someone I would want to kill them. That does not imply that I would act upon it, but that my dislike for them is so strong. DO YOU GET IT NOW?

Re: Re: lovelyivy
 

I NEVER said I hated whites. Where did I say that hun?Regarding having white friends, I'm not using that as a justification for anything. People will throw that question in to make it seem as if I have a prejudice against whites that keeps me from getting to know whites.

Regarding that "good at heart" bit, I did "listen" to them. But do I have to agree? Umm, HELL NO.


Key fact to note:Lynchings don't all occur in the south.Please digest this fact.

Re: Re: Re: lovelyivy
 

THAT'S STILL SAD!