I appreciate your comments. I have been reading more of them and I wonder if it is just a matter of semantics and lack of better available terminology, as it would seem that your overall tone doesn't carry much malice... I hope so. Perhaps your initial comment that initiated so much adverse reaction was just hasty, unfortunate wording. Though, here again, I would suggest that your use of the words "Black culture" in the context you are using them should be more specifically defined. "Black culture" is not universal. What you seem to be alluding to is only a particular local phenomenon... attitudes of some within our inner city black communities. And, even then it is not justly applied to all or even to a majority of any given community. One does not know the minds of the majority. It is a few bad apples that unfortunately place a bad light on an undeserving majority.
As easy as it is to "draw a conclusion based on ones own experience" if you do not question and check this appraisal against a wider context one can be lead to prejudicial, and I might add, false, premises.
I cannot read your mind or judge your intent from anything but your words. Others will do the same. I would caution you to consider the ease with which the words you have chosen thus far could be construed to the detriment of your reputation and perhaps contrary to your intention.
That is all I have to say. I shall leave you to the last word if you so desire, but recognize that we are all judged by our words.
A word to the wise,
O.A.

I dont really judge based on race at all. But I do make generalizations based on culture, particularly after observing behavior. By and large, the black culture today is the most arrogant around, after having been coddled by our government. That doesnt mean each and every black person is arrogant. But its very easy to draw a conclusion based on ones own experience.

Hello term2,
I understand your apprehensions relative to gangs etc., but it will be seen as prejudice when you assert that "Blacks are the most arrogant people around..." That is assigning a characteristic to an entire ethnicity. Intended or not, it will naturally be taken as racism, as it defames an entire ethnic group. You must be clear about any distinctions between ethnicity and culture. That is all I am saying. If you had stated your case that a particular ethnicity has a larger percentage of welfare recipients statistically, and you could back it up with a study, that would be a statistical fact not a slur. For instance: Statistically mass murders are more likely to be committed by white, middle-aged men. Food for thought...

I do not do an entire analysis on each person. I assume a better nature until presented with contrary evidence regardless of color. In this fashion it requires no time.
Life is too short to pre-judge and assume the worst of anyone, just like a book by its cover.
Well, that is me. I hope I have been of some assistance.
Respectfully,
O.A.

Wouldn't it be grand, if more people, especially the Eric Holders, Al Sharptons, Jessie Jacksons and the rioters in Ferguson saw things as Maya Angelou did?

You're right about that, the race part is not the issue. People who act like this are putting a big sign on their foreheads that says, "I have no values, I do not respect boundaries, and I have no self respect".

"There is only one 'race' and that is the human race"
Maya Angelou

Ones attitudes and actions have nothing to do with race in my opinion. With so much intermarrying and such, the whole concept of race is a bit outdated. But I am definitely a culturist. I know that one has to choose words carefully because its often mistaken for "race", and being politically correct these days seems to be really important. I generally treat people all the same, and with dignity and respect, but I think that its a natural thing to attempt to categorize people in this fast moving world. There just isnt enough time to do a complete analysis on each person that one sees in the world. We categorize all the time based on our experiences. You see a lion and the immediate reaction is a defensive one. Doesn't mean you have to kill it, but it would pay to be wary of it. See a group of what looks like gang members and it pays to be wary of that too (doesnt make any difference about their "color", but it does factor into whether its more likely that they are gang members)

Hello term2,

A bit of unsolicited advice: Culture is one thing and race is another. Around here you must be very careful to choose your words wisely. Even local "cultures" as you perceive them, that may in larger percentages be on welfare programs, may not be responsible for the government plantation programs that have elevated the numbers. Politicians have purchased many votes with their policies that unwittingly punish those once on the dole by actually making them poorer when they work, than when they don't. When you say, "THEY must have been black. Blacks are the most arrogant people around,..." you are making a blanket statement about an entire race. This is unfortunate, if it is your opinion based on your experience. I have lived and worked with many people of color and though there may be a large percentage in my neighboring city of Detroit that have an entitlement mentality they do not represent an entire race, nor do I feel they represent the majority of their locality. I have interacted with just as as many that do not exhibit these characteristics as do in the same zone and I have also witnessed the same among Caucasians.

Remember, one's own experience is only anecdotal and a reflection of one's limited exposure. The News, reports mostly dirty laundry and will slant one's opinion if one does not search out a wider exposure. I prefer, even if it is not efficient, to give benefit of the doubt to the majority of all races. In localities and different parts of this country as well as around the world there are vast differences, well pronounced within all races. There are of course exceptions to all. For me the exceptions are the bad players not the good.

I do not believe generalizations of this sort serve us well. That is my experience.

O.A.

I am not ignoring individuality, but I AM taking into account "culture" as a very strong influence on people growing up in it. My own personal experience leads me to believe that members of various cultures tend on the average to exhibit certain thinking and ways of acting. There are exceptions of course, and I am the first to acknowledge them. But there is not enough time during the day to form an opinion on each person. One must generalize to a degree, at the risk of incorrectly identifying a particular individual.

Sorry for the late reply. A prospector on another planet comes across? meets? finds? a small being, bipedal, tool-using. He invites it into his house, where it demonstrates various examples of intelligence: this [nut and bolt] unscrews that way, so this [plastic jar and top] does, as well.
After rich deposits of a precious stone are found in the area where the Fuzzies [the prospector's name for them] seem to come from, there is a trial to determine whether or not they are animals which can be trained, or people.
The determining factors for being a person are "talks and can build a fire".
spoiler:
Justice ensues.

How do you think we get up in the morning? Don't ask me about T-Rex. He's Cretaceous. I'm Jurassic.

;)

I suspect he realizes that whitewashing this site is an error...time will tell.

Hear, hear. term2, please check your premise.

you had to go and be all nice with your persuasion, after he addressed this site as following the KKK.

Below, I've quoted a post you made a while back. Kudos to you and your family on their accomplishments (regardless of your race). However, remember that using the_same_ 'broad brush', in your comment above, will not render the detail produced with a fine one.... Isn't that the same point you're trying to make?


"I am a Black man with three sons. One is in a music conservatory and is an accomplished violinist, another just won the Atlanta regional in Robotics and has interviews with MIT and my other son is a web designer. Oh by the way I am a Masters level mental health counselor and I grew up in the projects in the South Bronx with my mother, father and 2 brothers and three sisters. By the way my Dad is 93 and my mother is 88 and they are still together as well as my brother and his wife, my sister and her husband (40 years w/ seven children you would love to have as role models for your children) and me and my wife. In other words speak about what you know and stop classifying people you don't know. ...."

Um... not really interested in getting within the length of a football field of one of those...
I'd still like to see one do a pushup.

You could save you "ashamed" speech for this woman:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/...

who completely ignores the fact that 62% of South Carolina voters chose Tim Scott as their new senator
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UETFjCOp...

"This seems to becoming more of a forum for the KKK" if you write this on one of my posts again, I will hide your comments.

I just saw this comment. I guess you missed the gentleman hero in the video, Dr. Thomas Sowell, Dr. Walter Williams, Condaleza Rice, Dr. Ben Carson, Alan Keyes, Tim Scott, Mia Love, JC Watts, Stacie Dash, Hon. Clarence Thomas, Hermain Cain...here's a link to many more Black Conservatives who definitely do NOT want government coddling anybody:
http://www.ranker.com/list/republican-an...

what is the story about?

race is not part of this discussion. As usual, you are a one-note. You should be giving this "ashamed" talk to those two women. And did you not notice the comments made about the gentleman who rebuffed their violence. He was compared to a super-hero. Conservatism is about ideology NOT race, unlike some political persuasions. There is empirical evidence showing the welfare state mentality breeds private property contempt. The video is dramatic and also...... ridiculous. People behaving like animals is anti-human. I don't care what color your skin is.

I, too, was amazed by how calmly the man caught the chairs and lowered them, only for one of those animals to pick it up and hurl it at him again.

Sure...as long as you remove the redundant "Jan". <blush, dig toe in ground>

Jan the singular

That is an interesting 'super-hero' image, eh? Someone throws a chair at you and you catch it calmly, then hurl it back at them. (Patrons cheer.)

Jan

Hello Susanne,
I can't remember...did you recommend the "Lone Star Planet" to me in an earlier conversation (months ago)? I picked it up and read it this past summer. It was quite an enjoyable novella. Texas style justice! :)
If so, thank you!
O.A.