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When it intrudes into my life

and that has been a part of the result for sure

it is a continuum and we slide back and forth on it

but things are currently very unstable in the world and people are uncertain and those with eyes and understanding need to heed it

Every generation has experienced that. The difference is in our connections with the generations preceding us and whether or not the continuity of growth is preserved. In America mobility opened up so many doors for us, it also robbed us of the lessons of our elders.
 
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Certainly a lot better than what goes on behind my eyes :lol: I really don't know what you're trying to get at here though; wondering about and trying to understand other people's thoughts and perspective, as I described, is precisely the opposite of what you're describing.

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I don't know which American teams would apply, but imagine two teams with a long-standing, mostly friendly rivalry: And then over the course of a few months or years a number of killings are highly publicized, almost all by fans of one team against the other. And then two guys in that team jersey are standing in an elevator and a fellow with the other team's jersey steps in too...

Like Albus Dumbledore said, just because something's in your head doesn't mean it's not real ;) Thing is, most American posters here seem to be agreeing that that kind of tension would have been much less likely a decade ago (and for me as an Australian, unheard of until I started frequenting this forum, at least as far as African Australians are concerned).

The point that my old rival Code is making in the OP is that to a large extent that "all in your head" stuff is manufactured: The media, disappointingly but understandably, hype up the racial side of things for the ratings. But would they do so as much if the politicians weren't making 'race' into a big issue? The D-team play racial tensions up to ensure they get a lot of black people's votes (and do little or nothing to make it better for fear of losing those votes if the issues are solved!). The R-team certainly haven't helped by the sheer level of hatred and wild conspiracy theories which have been directed at the current President, and they too do nothing to fix the issues because (I suspect) they are a lot more about urban poverty than skin colour directly, and R-team policies just don't seem to help in that regard.

_Sal mentioned something similar with regard to folk of Middle Eastern appearance. No-one enjoys tension, no-one wants to live in fear, and almost no-one wants to view others primarily by the colour of their skin, but that's where the politicians and the media of many countries seem to be leading us.

A few seconds in an elevator isn't enough, in my view, to establish anything.

I've been in elevators a hell of a lot lately - sorry . . . not selling it to me. Not everyone is quick to judge and brash with their views and assuming anyone is is an insult to them.
 
Every generation has experienced that.

in one way or another

however with the terrorist threat on home ground it is new to us in the West to have foreign invasion so to speak

Europe knew foreign invasion but there was liberation...we will not experience that for a long time

this is a new war and we are less than equipped to handle it
 
I have been a victim of crime when a passerby found my car unlocked and stole my guitar and tape player. Cassette deck. It's been a while since I haven't locked my car.

I also was the victim of speed trap in which the speed limit on a US Highway was reduced to 30 mph and the local constable gave me a ticket. A real Mayberry moment.

In both cases, I felt like my world had been invaded and tarnished. Losing the guitar was like a personal invasion and the speed trap was like a bullying incident.

Now we find the Race Wars beginning to start and I find that the current events have invaded my life again. Following the events of the recent days, my world is changed on a personal level. I don't like it.

It's hard to define a feeling. I "feel" like there is a separation suddenly erected between me and others. Little things. Postures, averted looks, pretended interest in the cell phone for no reason and all seemingly rising from the presence of different races.

On an elevator yesterday, a Black gentleman in a suit entered the elevator to join myself and another White guy. The other White guy was about my age with long-ish grey hair. Both of us, refugees from the Viet Nam era. The Black Guy seemed to be about 40 years old and seemed uneasy after the elevator doors closed. Any or all of us could have been seated at the same table in a conference room. There were about 20 floors to reach the lobby. He reached for his Apple phone like he suddenly had something to do. He stared at the screen, but did nothing. It seemed to me that there was tension in the air.

I've been on that same elevator many time with many skin colors and many nationalities and never had that feeling before. It was eerie and uncomfortable. I blame the hate mongers and divisionists in our society.

All of this went on in the time it takes to on-board an express elevator and for the doors to shut. 3 or 4 seconds? Seemed like a long 3 or 4 seconds. Everyone on the elevator was tense. Not a big deal, but it was. Why do I have to feel oppressed by the ginned up hatred of the politicians trying to sell their brand of hate? Why are there people dredging up bias and prejudice that is outdated and way past its sell-by date? Why?

I chuckled and offered that the world changed when "we all" got smart phones. The black guy looked at me to find a friendly, albeit, White face and laughed, too. The tension was abated and his posture and facial expression both softened. We agreed that our kids know more about smart phones than we do and that the Pacers are not going to be champs next year or any year to come as Durant is now with the Warriors. Turns out he and I both bought shares of Ford after the recent drop in Stocks.

Point is, if we had gone to the same high school or worked in the same office or went to the same church and knew each other, we probably would have been friends because we share various areas of commonality. However, because of the state of affairs put forth by current events and shaped by the A-holes who shape these things, there was tension between us. No reason. Just because.

This hate crap has intruded into my life and I don't like it.

I know what you mean. My best friend, and really my only close friend, is Black. He is a US marine. My girlfriend is half Asian. No matter how many events happen, it won't change the fact that I don't care about skin color. And demanding that we care about it only serves to divide us more.
 
Every example, save one, that you gave was from at least 50 years ago. The LA riots happened about 20 years ago.

Does this tell you anything?

There has been an amazing move forward in race acceptance in this country in my life time, born in 1953. Of course, there was a lot of room to make up.

Brown v Board of Education was rendered in 1954.

The LA Riots happened in the 90's. The rest you list culminated in the 60's. You demonstrate my point by your litany.

Our political leaders on both sides are trying to get us back to the 60's and we need to be aware of this.

Why are we suddenly turned to a regression from the ideal instead of a progression toward continued improvement?

In your post you stated "race problems are becoming more pronounced in recent days....."

MORE directly implies comparison. PRONOUNCED means 'very noticeable'. You didn't include a timeline. I'm assuming that you're comparing the recent race-related events to SOME other point in our history?? My point was that, comparatively speaking, our nation has gone through much more tumultuous times of racial tension that what we're seeing today, and obviously those issues, whether 20 years ago or 200 years ago, have never been fully resolved. Don't take the ostrich approach and be one of those who believe that the Brown decision and the Civil Rights Act of '64 and Voting Rights Act of '65 magically settled the issue of racial divisiveness in this nation.

Like I've said several times, in this thread as well as in others, the major difference today is (1)An irresponsible, ratings-driven, 24-hour corporate media, (2) A dumbed-down population with no real knowledge of national/world events other than what they read in tweets, Facebook posts, or see in YouTube videos, and (3) A presidential election year where the partisan puppet masters have already created an atmosphere of heightened tensions and already have the voting public pissed off for various reasons.

Wake up people.
 
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A few seconds in an elevator isn't enough, in my view, to establish anything.

I've been in elevators a hell of a lot lately - sorry . . . not selling it to me. Not everyone is quick to judge and brash with their views and assuming anyone is is an insult to them.

Maybe some folk are just better at reading expression and body language than others; often ten seconds is more than enough to see that someone is tense or agitated. The OP said nothing whatsoever about anyone being an insult to them, however. Don't be so quick to judge ;)
 
Maybe some folk are just better at reading expression and body language than others

And the corollary to that is that maybe some folk, the OP perhaps, are worse at reading expression and body language

The OP's claim of detecting racially motivated tension with a glance is hard to believe
 
In your post you stated "race problems are becoming more pronounced in recent days....."

MORE directly implies comparison. PRONOUNCED means 'very noticeable'. You didn't include a timeline. I'm assuming that you're comparing the recent race-related events to SOME other point in our history?? My point was that, comparatively speaking, our nation has gone through much more tumultuous times of racial tension that what we're seeing today, and obviously those issues, whether 20 years ago or 200 years ago, have never been fully resolved. Don't take the ostrich approach and be one of those who believe that the Brown decision and the Civil Rights Act of '64 and Voting Rights Act of '65 magically settled the issue of racial divisiveness in this nation.

Like I've said several times, in this thread as well as in others, the major difference today is (1)An irresponsible, ratings-driven, 24-hour corporate media, (2) A dumbed-down population with no real knowledge of national/world events other than what they read in tweets, Facebook posts, or see in YouTube videos, and (3) A presidential election year where the partisan puppet masters have already created an atmosphere of heightened tensions and already have the voting public pissed off for various reasons.

Wake up people.

My comparison was to the recent years. That you reach back so many years to find examples of violence illustrates my point.

I lived through the 60's and was very impressed by how every part of the country was shredded by all of the tumult during those years.

The recent violence is very probably at least in part, a result of the paid rabble-rousers who are rousing the rabble. They seem to have drawn their inspiration from other organizers who sought similar outcomes and used similar tactics.
 
So what does electing a Black president have to do with anything? Did anyone think having a Black president was going to change the hearts and minds of people (of all races) who are victims of hundreds of years of generational mistrust and cultural division?

So, you think if we elect a Baptist Minister as president, everyone's going to turn away from their sinful ways and be saved too? People are so delusional. :doh:

I have a question for you - women in this country for hundreds of years fought for equality. We were told we were subservient to our spouses etc. etc. etc. Do you see us living in the past? Nope - we move forward. WE all have a dream for goodness sakes - black people don't have the market that. We can't live in the future if we are always living in the past. It's time to move on.
 
Now we find the Race Wars beginning to start and I find that the current events have invaded my life again.

stopped reading there. sorry about your guitar, though. that sucks.

yep me too, the post might actually be good but once i read that silliness i just laughed out loud and said "well that's enough of this nonsense"
 
Race relations in this country are better than they have ever been in the history of the nation.

in REALITY, NORMAL, EVERYDAY people have less issues with race than ever before. Its amazing and inspiring.
Actually equal rights and protecting the rights of others along the issues of race, gender, religions, sexual orientation etc is better than its ever been before also and that's the issue.

Because equal rights is spreading, and spreading fast on many matters and race, gender and religion issues are less volatile than they have ever been what is actually happening is the nutters are losing their minds.

Only the people that always had a problem with that stuff still do and now its even a bigger issue because they know they are losing.

So between them nutcases and the media catering to those stories it seems bad but its better than its ever been.
 
I have a question for you - women in this country for hundreds of years fought for equality. We were told we were subservient to our spouses etc. etc. etc. Do you see us living in the past? Nope - we move forward. WE all have a dream for goodness sakes - black people don't have the market that. We can't live in the future if we are always living in the past. It's time to move on.
Are you speaking for all women? From whence do you hail? Have you traveled much in the rural South or the rural Midwest? Whether by choice or due to institutional discrimination, not all American women are as empowered as you seem to lead on. Many still act as "homemaker" and act in a "subservient" role as you so eloquently put it.
 
And the corollary to that is that maybe some folk, the OP perhaps, are worse at reading expression and body language

The OP's claim of detecting racially motivated tension with a glance is hard to believe

Some portion of 22 floors is a bit more than just a glance, and there could be half a dozen cues in the first ten seconds: Did they hesitate an instant before stepping in? Did they make eye contact? Did they look at the floor? How quickly did they turn around? Did they immediately pull out their phone (or have it out before stepping in) as if keen to get back to something, or pull it out after a pause as if keen for a distraction? Besides motion and eye contact cues, fidgeting and staring fixedly at something are possibly the biggest indicators of tension or agitation there are; pulling out a phone but staring at it while apparently doing nothing, as described by the OP, arguably covers both bases :lol: Nothing is ever certain, but as competitive social creatures we've evolved to be pretty decent at understanding each others' mood a lot of the time.


Regardless, I think you're missing the point (which _Sal and I mentioned in our anecdotes) that the disturbing thing is how the race fixation of the last couple of years (or Muslim fixation, in _Sal's anecdote) can change our feelings and perceptions.

You can't honestly pretend that being regularly bombarded with the message that black lives are different - from one extreme, the message that they are subject to systemic racial discrimination by the justice system itself, and from the other that they are just more prone to criminality and violence - has no effect whatsoever on anyone's perception of race, can you? Like I said, to my own discomfort I've noticed it from the opposite side of the Pacific, purely from being a DP regular :(

Supposing for the sake of argument that the disparities in arrests and deaths of black people are primarily a result of differences in income, education and habitation (ie, urban poor rather than rural), wouldn't the constant emphasis on race be purely divisive and entirely counter-productive?

At least unless there were some ulterior motives in play: And let's face it, if the D-team have been focusing on race anywhere near as much as gun control after the past week (and so soon after the Orlando massacre!), it would be a pretty heavy indication that there's political pickings to be had from the race issue! Have they?
 
Some portion of 22 floors is a bit more than just a glance, and there could be half a dozen cues in the first ten seconds: Did they hesitate an instant before stepping in? Did they make eye contact? Did they look at the floor? How quickly did they turn around? Did they immediately pull out their phone (or have it out before stepping in) as if keen to get back to something, or pull it out after a pause as if keen for a distraction? Besides motion and eye contact cues, fidgeting and staring fixedly at something are possibly the biggest indicators of tension or agitation there are; pulling out a phone but staring at it while apparently doing nothing, as described by the OP, arguably covers both bases :lol: Nothing is ever certain, but as competitive social creatures we've evolved to be pretty decent at understanding each others' mood a lot of the time.

How does any of that indicate that the black guy was tense because the other people in the elevator were white?

It can take no more than a moment to see that someone is stressed. But you could look at someone for an hour and still not know the reason is because they are in an elevator with white people. Other than hearing someone say it, what other sort of casual observation would indicate the reason why they are stressed is due to "white people are in the elevator with me"?


Regardless, I think you're missing the point (which _Sal and I mentioned in our anecdotes) that the disturbing thing is how the race fixation of the last couple of years (or Muslim fixation, in _Sal's anecdote) can change our feelings and perceptions.

Oh no, I'm not missing that at all. You may be missing my point - the OP's fantasy about detecting race based discomfit in someone else is just a case of massive projection of his own discomfit at having to share an elevator with a black man - a discomfit that may very well have been exacerbated by recent events.
 
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yep me too, the post might actually be good but once i read that silliness i just laughed out loud and said "well that's enough of this nonsense"

That's your option. Laughing at people dying seems a little off, but... Oh, well.

This link goes to an event that occurred after my post, but before yours.

102 arrested, 21 officers injured in 94 shutdown | KARE11.com

<snip>
ST. PAUL, Minn. - More than 100 people were arrested and 21 officers were injured after protesters brought I-94 to a screeching halt for more than five hours Saturday night.

Authorities say during the course of the protests on 94 and later, on Grand and Dale, 21 officers from multiple agencies suffered injuries. The injuries were primarily caused by fireworks, rocks, bricks, glass bottles and chunks of concrete that were directed at officers, some hitting them in the head. St. Paul Police said someone threw a Molotov cocktail at officers, as well.
<snip>
 
I don't allow myself to be a victim. I make mistakes, I fix them, live with them and move on.

My world is wonderful, meaning I have my God, family, health, and I have many great things I have been blessed with. And I am grateful. I'll leave all the hate for someone else to deal with.

Nice notion. But kind of runs contrary to the rest of your posts where you call people you disagree with "cancer" and smear them with references to Hilter. :peace
 
Nice notion. But kind of runs contrary to the rest of your posts where you call people you disagree with "cancer" and smear them with references to Hilter. :peace

I'm not opposed to pointing out the damage leftists have done to my country. I have zero problem calling a spade, a spade. You obviously have some kind of personal beef with me but at least have some respect for this forum and not post childish troll like crap all over the place. Now, if you don't like what I say, put me on ignore. I certainly plan on doing that to you.

Oh, and I will report your trolling activity.
 
1.)That's your option. Laughing at people dying seems a little off, but... Oh, well.

2.) This link goes to an event that occurred after my post, but before yours.

102 arrested, 21 officers injured in 94 shutdown | KARE11.com

<snip>
ST. PAUL, Minn. - More than 100 people were arrested and 21 officers were injured after protesters brought I-94 to a screeching halt for more than five hours Saturday night.

Authorities say during the course of the protests on 94 and later, on Grand and Dale, 21 officers from multiple agencies suffered injuries. The injuries were primarily caused by fireworks, rocks, bricks, glass bottles and chunks of concrete that were directed at officers, some hitting them in the head. St. Paul Police said someone threw a Molotov cocktail at officers, as well.
<snip>

1.) hey look another posted lie, can you point out where i laughed at people dying? oh thats right it never happened LMAO
Wow you just made the op even worse and fail even harder
2.) wooptydoo a link to stupid and bad stuff going on . . fact remains your statement in the OP which caused the majority of people reading to laugh, stop reading and not take it seriouslyl hasn't gain any logical traction and is still a dishonest, nonsensical, retarded claim. Please continue though its great entertainment.
 
1.) hey look another posted lie, can you point out where i laughed at people dying? oh thats right it never happened LMAO
Wow you just made the op even worse and fail even harder
2.) wooptydoo a link to stupid and bad stuff going on . . fact remains your statement in the OP which caused the majority of people reading to laugh, stop reading and not take it seriouslyl hasn't gain any logical traction and is still a dishonest, nonsensical, retarded claim. Please continue though its great entertainment.

You said that the post caused you to "laugh out loud". When you said you laughed out loud, I assumed you laughed out loud.

Many people did read it because many people are worried about what may happen.

Others are happy that nothing bad is happening. You are apparently in this group. There are several dead and injured that probably are not in this group.
 
1.)You said that the post caused you to "laugh out loud". When you said you laughed out loud, I assumed you laughed out loud.
2.)Many people did read it because many people are worried about what may happen.
3.) Others are happy that nothing bad is happening. You are apparently in this group. There are several dead and injured that probably are not in this group.

1.) 100% wrong, what I said that caused me to laugh out loud was the retarded statement "now that race wars are beginning" and like many other posters who laughed out loud at that silliness thats where i stopped reading logic and relaity wouldnt allow me to take it seriously.
2.) worry doesnt equal race wars are happening LMAO
3.) more retarded dishonesty and hyperbole. This is AWESOME!!! please continue because this makes this failed OP and thread get worse and worse but yet more and more entertaining!
:popcorn2:
 
I'm not opposed to pointing out the damage leftists have done to my country. I have zero problem calling a spade, a spade. You obviously have some kind of personal beef with me but at least have some respect for this forum and not post childish troll like crap all over the place. Now, if you don't like what I say, put me on ignore. I certainly plan on doing that to you.

Oh, and I will report your trolling activity.

So you'll leave the hate for others, except for when you compare them to Hitler.
 
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