Honestly my most early experience with Blacks was fine. I remember Onyae Butler. She was a goofy, nice girl. And Martha. And PJ. They were all unique personalities, and I never and nor did any of the other white kids really treat them differently. I treated the girls like girls and PJ was a star athlete so he was a popular kid. Blacka never had any kind of non privelaged status in my home town. Pretty sure PJs father was in the car industry and well respected. The only people who used the word ni**er in my hometown as I grew up were a class of people that I never wanted association with. I still don't like the word, if used in a negative, derogatory manner.
And Curtis was the lead custodian at my high school. He smoked pot and was cool with all the students. My town had 95% white people or so as I grew there, and though it was a farming community and things, there were never any outright problems with obvious racism, and most blacks were treated as special, unique, people. Like you might a foreign exchange student or something.
I fought against racism for many years, after leaving home. My first roommate at school was a Black quarterback for the football team there. It was my first experience living so closely with someone of another race- or living with another other than family. This school was four hours away in the state of Kentucky, Bowling Green. He accepted me quickly, making me feel nothing but welcome, though he had a dominant personality that immediately made me a little uncomfortable. But I was excited to be having a new experience and went in with an open mind. He was popular at the school, and it seemed all the Blacks knew him, so very soon as I walked with him through campus I had attention from many blacks, and got to meet them. I can't say it was a bad experience. I saw new possibilities.
The first friend I met, though- Mike, I soon decided to move with him. He was white. His last name was White, which in hindsight, sticks out here. Part of my discomfort I think was that the other was Black. I was simply more at home with Mike. There was certainly an ease. Maybe it was just that he and I shared getting high and a desire to get high and eat psyches. Also the other guy preached at me, all the while having a girl pregnant and slept with others. He was very religious and had women all around him. Say one thing, do another. There was conflict. He begged me to stay with him, as his roommate. But it came down to feeling for me.
I don't know the point of that story. Just saying, I didn't have such horribly sheltered experiences. I dealt with feelings of difference. I saw slight difference in behavior, not that I could place it any certain way. A bit more loose. Less constrained. Less old, because their culture is an adopted one.
MDAO, I appreciate your words. In fact I consider you one of the best posters on here, honestly, and I always respect what you have to say. You're always fair, balanced, rational, insightful, open...
Many times I do see them as not different enough to make a fuss about- that all differences perceived are a result of culture- and of course difference in people generally but culture in that theirs was basically beheaded when they became slaves and existed as they did, cut off, separate, lower class, for so many years. I don't think that that cultural 'vibration' has had enough time to... Be the same as, generally, 'whites' in this country. But of course 'white culture' (however hard to define it might be as 'white') has also been influenced. But generally, whites can trace their history back thousands of years in some way or another. Subtly, but significantly, that matters. Subtly but significantly people ARE different, even if it is just some 'vibration' that continues.
pa cites the Irish and Italians immigrating in the states as being analogous with people like Pakistanis and etc. immigrating into Western Europe. It is not the same. Irish and Italians are both Western Europe. They are both products of the Roman Empire. They have that vibration- that influence. All of Western Europe has experienced similar enough evolution. A lot more similar than an Arab or Pakistani, or Black African. And even then, if it is only culture because I know not many of you believe in racial divides, I for one am not sure. I just can't imagine Black Africans ever going to the moon had they not been integrated into 'Europe'. I believe we have been on different paths. I believe that what we see as 'races' are the start of what would have been unique species. At some point we wouldn't be able to breed. I think prejudice is not just something to be dismissed as 'wrong', but something with an evolutionary purpose. And this is enough for me to question... These questions. But, maybe that's not fair because honestly, I sort of like Central and South American people. I mean, I'm attracted to their women, and don't feel exactly like I'm doing the wrong thing when I imagine mating with them, unlike with Blacks. Jesus, I really don't know, honestly, how I want to interpret. I'm going to take a break.
When I say I sort of like a people... I sort of like any people. Its all me really. And with the Americas people and white mixes often, I just find that at a decent frequency, I'm attracted. Often I'll be a lot more attracted to them than whites. Of course they are also my ancestry, albeit a small portion. I just find that generally, I'm not very attracted to blacks. I might experience attraction... But .. Of the races, they are the least attractive in my experience. And I don't prefer their features. Preference. Not to say a fine black woman doesnt exist that I could get into. But I'm not sure if I would. But, shit, man, I don't know.
Anyways, I'm not really worried about the U.S. and Australia. I mainly don't want other races to colonize North West Europe, and out-breed the native population (and or mix). Because they're just going to keep pouring in. In the next century Africa is going to have one of the biggest population booms it is expected. I doubt they're all staying there.
I guess this is a side effect of colonization, though. Or it comes with.
...There are different frequencies. We might carry the same genes basically, but they are arranged differently. There are different frequencies in populations of kinds of genes. Some have to do with mental processes even. 'Racists' nor 'anti-racists' really have enough evidence to say anything conclusive about the differences that occur, but for some reason or another East Asians beat whites at tests that are blamed for being biased for whites, and against blacks. Everyone is fine to accept that certain populations of Africans have different ways their muscles attach, slightly, and 'whites' have longer arms and more upper body strength, generally (if you put it all on a bell curve some way), but people are just so terrified that behavior might be in part biologically influenced... And that some people just maybe shouldn't mix. It may not be good for one (even if good for the other...). But, good and bad.. Hard to measure.