Black Couple Only Shopping at Black-owned Businesses

[Chaotic42]

I think that the sooner our communities stop being "Ethnic" and start being American, the better off we'll be. We need to stop seeing ourselves as a nation of different races and cultures and start seeing ourselves as a nation. "Sticking together" might look like helpful community support, but I see it as an extremely bad thing.

Flame on.

 

[n yusef]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
I think that the sooner our communities stop being "Ethnic" and start being American, the better off we'll be. We need to stop seeing ourselves as a nation of different races and cultures and start seeing ourselves as a nation. "Sticking together" might look like helpful community support, but I see it as an extremely bad thing.

Flame on.

The white middle class has no monopoly on "American." Black Americans are just as American as you; to us, you are "ethnic."

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
I think that the sooner our communities stop being "Ethnic" and start being American, the better off we'll be. We need to stop seeing ourselves as a nation of different races and cultures and start seeing ourselves as a nation. "Sticking together" might look like helpful community support, but I see it as an extremely bad thing.

Flame on.

The white middle class has no monopoly on "American." Black Americans are just as American as you; to us, you are "ethnic."

I know I may be stepping on a landmine here, but I think that mindsets like yours are the problem. You assume I'm white, which is correct, but it looks like you're twisting my words. I don't see how you got what you did from my post.

My point is that we need to stop identifying ourselves as black, hispanic, Italian, German, white, and start identifying ourselves as Americans. We need to stop this whole notion of only supporting black businesses or only supporting Italian businesses or only supporting Southern businesses.

Obviously we all have genetic differences, but we need to stop thinking of ourselves as white and black and southern and northern and start thinking of ourselves as a nation. See my point?

 

[n yusef]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
I think that the sooner our communities stop being "Ethnic" and start being American, the better off we'll be. We need to stop seeing ourselves as a nation of different races and cultures and start seeing ourselves as a nation. "Sticking together" might look like helpful community support, but I see it as an extremely bad thing.

Flame on.

The white middle class has no monopoly on "American." Black Americans are just as American as you; to us, you are "ethnic."

I know I may be stepping on a landmine here, but I think that mindsets like yours are the problem. You assume I'm white, which is correct, but it looks like you're twisting my words. I don't see how you got what you did from my post.

My point is that we need to stop identifying ourselves as black, hispanic, Italian, German, white, and start identifying ourselves as Americans. We need to stop this whole notion of only supporting black businesses or only supporting Italian businesses or only supporting Southern businesses.

Obviously we all have genetic differences, but we need to stop thinking of ourselves as white and black and southern and northern and start thinking of ourselves as a nation. See my point?

I think it's racist when you only ask "ethnic" people to change. Do you consider white American "ethnic"? Usually, white Americans and Western Europeans are not treated as "ethnic." "Ethnic" food, for instance, is foreign in origin. Your usage of "ethnic" may white Americans and Western Europeans, but I assume it does not.

If my assumption is correct, I find your statements troublesome. You demand that "ethnic" people, who have American citizenship just like you, change. You ask people to conform to your image, which is an implicit claim of superiority. If my assumption about your usage of "ethnic" is correct, your statement is racist and nationalist.

If my assumption about your usage of "ethnic" is incorrect, then I apologize.

 

[spacejamz]

For those that can see how this whole 'experiment' is racist in nature, (whether it was intentional or not), no explanation is needed.

For those that cannot see this, no explanation is possible.

 

[JD50]

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
I think that the sooner our communities stop being "Ethnic" and start being American, the better off we'll be. We need to stop seeing ourselves as a nation of different races and cultures and start seeing ourselves as a nation. "Sticking together" might look like helpful community support, but I see it as an extremely bad thing.

Flame on.

The white middle class has no monopoly on "American." Black Americans are just as American as you; to us, you are "ethnic."

I know I may be stepping on a landmine here, but I think that mindsets like yours are the problem. You assume I'm white, which is correct, but it looks like you're twisting my words. I don't see how you got what you did from my post.

My point is that we need to stop identifying ourselves as black, hispanic, Italian, German, white, and start identifying ourselves as Americans. We need to stop this whole notion of only supporting black businesses or only supporting Italian businesses or only supporting Southern businesses.

Obviously we all have genetic differences, but we need to stop thinking of ourselves as white and black and southern and northern and start thinking of ourselves as a nation. See my point?

I think it's racist when you only ask "ethnic" people to change. Do you consider white American "ethnic"? Usually, white Americans and Western Europeans are not treated as "ethnic." "Ethnic" food, for instance, is foreign in origin. Your usage of "ethnic" may white Americans and Western Europeans, but I assume it does not.

If my assumption is correct, I find your statements troublesome. You demand that "ethnic" people, who have American citizenship just like you, change. You ask people to conform to your image, which is an implicit claim of superiority. If my assumption about your usage of "ethnic" is correct, your statement is racist and nationalist.

If my assumption about your usage of "ethnic" is incorrect, then I apologize.

He's not saying that "ethnic people" need to change, he's saying that we're all Americans and that certain groups should stop singling themselves out.

 

[n yusef]

Originally posted by: JD50
He's not saying that "ethnic people" need to change, he's saying that we're all Americans and that certain groups should stop singling themselves out.

You don't get it. By certain groups, you meant nonwhites, or at least non-American or Western European whites. You are operation from the paradigm that people of color are "singling [our]selves out." This implies that there is a group, Americans, out of which we single ourselves. You are saying that we are not American, unless we change something about us (thoughts, actions, culture, etc.). I disagree with this premise, because anyone with American citizenship, regardless of their race, culture, religion, beliefs and traditions cannot single themselves out of America, because they are American.

I do not define "American" by ones identity, thoughts or beliefs, and I strongly object to those who do.

 

[tvarad]

The one thing I know about this kind of xenophobia is that it hurts the very community it is supposed to be helping instead of aiding it. For the simple reason that there is less competition for these businesses and hence will result in higher prices, shoddy goods and services and the like, all borne by the community.

I find it amazing that these morons would come up with such a whacky idea when the U.S. has elected it's first African-American President. I sincerely hope they fail.

 

[jpeyton]

Is the concept of a Chinatown racist?

It's full of ethnic Chinese who do business with other ethnic Chinese.

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
My point is that we need to stop identifying ourselves as black, hispanic, Italian, German, white, and start identifying ourselves as Americans. We need to stop this whole notion of only supporting black businesses or only supporting Italian businesses or only supporting Southern businesses.

Obviously we all have genetic differences, but we need to stop thinking of ourselves as white and black and southern and northern and start thinking of ourselves as a nation. See my point?

I think it's racist when you only ask "ethnic" people to change. Do you consider white American "ethnic"? Usually, white Americans and Western Europeans are not treated as "ethnic." "Ethnic" food, for instance, is foreign in origin. Your usage of "ethnic" may white Americans and Western Europeans, but I assume it does not.

If my assumption is correct, I find your statements troublesome. You demand that "ethnic" people, who have American citizenship just like you, change. You ask people to conform to your image, which is an implicit claim of superiority. If my assumption about your usage of "ethnic" is correct, your statement is racist and nationalist.

If my assumption about your usage of "ethnic" is incorrect, then I apologize.

I think you owe him an apology on already-present grounds. Chaotic42 has a good point, and I agree with its gist, although I'd quibble about the nationalism if that implied some sort of substitute chauvinism. But I can take nationalism in this context to just refer to a greater community, and drop my quibble.

 

[n yusef]

Originally posted by: Madwand1

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
My point is that we need to stop identifying ourselves as black, hispanic, Italian, German, white, and start identifying ourselves as Americans. We need to stop this whole notion of only supporting black businesses or only supporting Italian businesses or only supporting Southern businesses.

Obviously we all have genetic differences, but we need to stop thinking of ourselves as white and black and southern and northern and start thinking of ourselves as a nation. See my point?

I think it's racist when you only ask "ethnic" people to change. Do you consider white American "ethnic"? Usually, white Americans and Western Europeans are not treated as "ethnic." "Ethnic" food, for instance, is foreign in origin. Your usage of "ethnic" may white Americans and Western Europeans, but I assume it does not.

If my assumption is correct, I find your statements troublesome. You demand that "ethnic" people, who have American citizenship just like you, change. You ask people to conform to your image, which is an implicit claim of superiority. If my assumption about your usage of "ethnic" is correct, your statement is racist and nationalist.

If my assumption about your usage of "ethnic" is incorrect, then I apologize.

I think you owe him an apology on already-present grounds. Chaotic42 has a good point, and I agree with its gist, although I'd quibble about the nationalism if that implied some sort of substitute chauvinism. But I can take nationalism in this context to just refer to a greater community, and drop my quibble.

I see that, but, by and large, white Americans do their best to ignore race and only identify as American. Racial and ethnic identity is more important to those outside of the mainstream, so his post attacks us more. He is still saying, "be like me," and I think that's problematic.

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: n yusef
I see that, but, by and large, white Americans do their best to ignore race and only identify as American. Racial and ethnic identity is more important to those outside of the mainstream, so his post attacks us more. He is still saying, "be like me," and I think that's problematic.

I don't see that at all from his post. From what I see, you just didn't get his post and put in your own interpretation which you then objected to.

White self-identification is also a real problem, as from that point of view, gated white-only communities separated from say black-only communities work really well.

Bottom line -- you can't solve this problem by putting the blame on one side. You have to get rid of the sides. That's the point -- if you don't interject racial assumptions into it, it works. If you insist on racial assumptions, you get problems.

 

[n yusef]

Originally posted by: Madwand1

Originally posted by: n yusef
I see that, but, by and large, white Americans do their best to ignore race and only identify as American. Racial and ethnic identity is more important to those outside of the mainstream, so his post attacks us more. He is still saying, "be like me," and I think that's problematic.

I don't see that at all from his post. From what I see, you just didn't get his post and put in your own interpretation which you then objected to.

White self-identification is also a real problem, as from that point of view, gated white-only communities separated from say black-only communities work really well.

Bottom line -- you can't solve this problem by putting the blame on one side. You have to get rid of the sides. That's the point -- if you don't interject racial assumptions into it, it works. If you insist on racial assumptions, you get problems.

What did I say that implied that about segregated communities "work really well?"

I don't think it's fair to say, "everyone needs to ignore race and become Americans," when the common image of "American" is that of a white person eating a hamburger, drinking beer, watching football, etc., if you are a white person who already eats hamburgers, drinks beer, watches football, etc. Whether you realize it or not, you are saying, "be like me."

My contention is that you can be American while maintaining your own culture, traditions and beliefs. Some people want a homogeneous society. I am not one of those people.

 

[themusgrat]

It's just as racist as a white person saying they'll only shop at white-owned stores, and that's not far off from saying you'll only shop in an all white store.

I wouldn't put too much blame on them though, we've got all these black organizations trying to provide "equality," we've the government saying that you must accept x number of black students into state school, regardless of qualification, we've got huge amounts of funding going to black only.... It's like someone 50 years ago decided that black people needed a boost to catch up to where white people were, it's stupid. I come from a city where you almost can't walk alone if you're white, certainly not at night, and in certain parts of town, walking or driving around, being white, is a good way to get beat up or killed. You won't find many places at all in America where blacks are afraid to walk and drive around. But it's not a big deal, someday it will all balance out, especially now that we've got us a black president.

 

[n yusef]

Originally posted by: themusgrat
It's just as racist as a white person saying they'll only shop at white-owned stores, and that's not far off from saying you'll only shop in an all white store.

I wouldn't put too much blame on them though, we've got all these black organizations trying to provide "equality," we've the government saying that you must accept x number of black students into state school, regardless of qualification, we've got huge amounts of funding going to black only.... It's like someone 50 years ago decided that black people needed a boost to catch up to where white people were, it's stupid. I come from a city where you almost can't walk alone if you're white, certainly not at night, and in certain parts of town, walking or driving around, being white, is a good way to get beat up or killed. You won't find many places at all in America where blacks are afraid to walk and drive around. But it's not a big deal, someday it will all balance out, especially now that we've got us a black president.

I haven't found statistics for other crimes (just did a google search), but most crime is intraracial. 86% of white victims of homicide were killed by white criminals. Text

You are uninformed. It is black people who are and should be afraid of violence in poor black neighborhoods, not you. We do not like violence any more than you do. We are also afraid of the police, whether you think that fear is rational or not.

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: n yusef
What did I say that implied that about segregated communities "work really well?"

When did I say that you said that? I was pointing out that Chaotic42 clearly pointed out white self-identification as an issue as a counter-argument to your point that he was only asking non-whites to change, and illustrated the problem with my point.

Originally posted by: n yusef
I don't think it's fair to say, "everyone needs to ignore race and become Americans"

So you just don't get the point that to get beyond racism that we have to stop introducing racism.

Originally posted by: n yusef
when the common image of "American" is that of a white person eating a hamburger, drinking beer, watching football, etc., if you are a white person who already eats hamburgers, drinks beer, watches football, etc. Whether you realize it or not, you are saying, "be like me."

Nobody but you said this.

Originally posted by: n yusef
My contention is that you can be American while maintaining your own culture, traditions and beliefs. Some people want a homogeneous society. I am not one of those people.

So you want a separation of cultures, traditions and beliefs, and implicitly ethnicities. I am not one of those people.

 

[n yusef]

How do you envision this homogeneous America? Whose culture would we accept, and whose would be erased? To me, it is obvious that homogeneity will be a reflection of the mainstream culture in heterogeneity. I find this problematic for those not represented in mainstream culture, yet still American.

 

[OCGuy]

lol @ the resident racist.

 

[tvarad]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Is the concept of a Chinatown racist?

It's full of ethnic Chinese who do business with other ethnic Chinese.

No, for the simple reason that it does not imply that ethnic Chinese should do business with ONLY other ethnic Chinese. It's more cultural than racial.

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: n yusef
How do you envision this homogeneous America? Whose culture would we accept, and whose would be erased? To me, it is obvious that homogeneity will be a reflection of the mainstream culture in heterogeneity. I find this problematic for those not represented in mainstream culture, yet still American.

Nothing of that sort. While I don't have a much interest in the facade of this or that culture, and accordingly don't give it much weight as a matter for preservation in itself and look forward to changes all around, my point is that we need not and should not go into our own caves and cloisters to huddle around those just like ourselves, but rather go beyond and see that others who might not look or eat or earn like ourselves are still like ourselves, and in a greater and deeper sense. This is a point of view of greater diversity, not homogeneity, but notably an inclusive diversity in that the "other" is recognized as a potential "brother" regardless of superficial differences.

 

[n yusef]

Originally posted by: Madwand1

Originally posted by: n yusef
How do you envision this homogeneous America? Whose culture would we accept, and whose would be erased? To me, it is obvious that homogeneity will be a reflection of the mainstream culture in heterogeneity. I find this problematic for those not represented in mainstream culture, yet still American.

Nothing of that sort. While I don't have a much interest in the facade of this or that culture, and accordingly don't give it much weight as a matter for preservation in itself and look forward to changes all around, my point is that we need not and should not go into our own caves and cloisters to huddle around those just like ourselves, but rather go beyond and see that others who might not look or eat or earn like ourselves are still like ourselves, and in a greater and deeper sense. This is a point of view of greater diversity, not homogeneity, but notably an inclusive diversity in that the "other" is recognized as a potential "brother" regardless of superficial differences.

Why are you disagreeing with me? The original post by Chaotic42 advocated that we, "stop being "Ethnic" and start being American." He created a dichotomy between "Ethnic" and American. I think that these two concepts can coexist, and that is why I objected to his post, which is a call for homogenization of America. You don't seem to support that.

EDIT: I am very pro-integration, and I spend much of my time discussing culture. I am not calling for some preservation of culture, I just disagree with homogenization because I think it is inherently racist and xenophobic. I think that cultural change should come from moral forces, not cultural supremacy.

 

[themusgrat]

Originally posted by: n yusef
I haven't found statistics for other crimes (just did a google search), but most crime is intraracial. 86% of white victims of homicide were killed by white criminals. Text

Not in Memphis, there's a direct correlation between white/black areas of the city and crime rates, and guess where the crime is....

 

[Mursilis]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Is the concept of a Chinatown racist?

It's full of ethnic Chinese who do business with other ethnic Chinese.

In the Chinatown nearest me, it's full of people of all races looking for good dim sum! One of the great things about America is the cross-cultural cuisine!

 

[Phokus]

"Why yes, of course black people only supporting black businesses is racist, it hurts me as a white man so much!"

*sips martini while speeding down highway in ferrari with GOP bumper sticker in the back*

 

[FuzzyBee]

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: 0marTheZealot
It doesn't make them racist, it makes them supportive of their own ethnicity.

So you're saying that it makes them supremacists then.

ZV

No. This couple is trying to better the black community. They think that blacks are disadvantaged in society, so they're doing their part to correct that.

Wait - the lady that owns the wine store they go out of their way to patronize is disadvantaged? How does that work?