From: tim@ais.org (Tim Tyler)
Subject: Re: Sexist African Males
Organization: UMCC
Distribution: world,local
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 06:05:59 GMT

In article <1992Apr16.213537.12083@casbah.acns.nwu.edu> dowdy@tochtli.biochem.nwu.edu (Dowdy Jackson) writes:
>>
>I suggest you stop trying to base your opinions on the status of race 
>relations based solely on what you THINK the situation is. Why don't
>you listen to what someone who is going through the problem has to
>say. No one would ever say that what a woman who has been raped says
>she went through is not true but when it comes to race and what
>blacks have to say .....Seems like alot of white people don't 
>want to beleive what they have to say. WHY ??? Maybe you should pay
>more attention to Farakkan.
>
  A rape victim doesn't attempt to blame an entire sex, Dowdy...
 
 As for whites not wanting to believe blacks talk about racism, I'll just
speak for myself:
 
    #1.  I interpret "RACISM!" to *often* (that's right, often, not always)
         be used as an excuse for failure or poor conduct.
 
    #2.  I see more time & effort being spent by blacks on talking about 
         "RACISM!" than I see being spent on actually working to improve
         conditions (education, suppressing crime/violence, improving family
         values).
 
    #3.  My frame of reference shows that in general, blacks are no less
         "RACIST!" than whites are.

    #4.  Any person(s) who go around wearing the $100 'Triple F.A.T.'
         or 'TROOP,' etc. jackets, $70 non-prescription glasses, $120
         gym shoes, and/or who has a $500+ stereo system (played so it can
         be heard half a mile away...), is not a member of a 'poor,
         oppressed' races in my opinion, yet I see so many people 
         ('minorities') who place a strong emphasis on these types of
         things (the latest 'fad,' apparently thanks to some rap group, 
         is for the homies to have $75 walking canes, and even 
         stethescopes!), rather than on necessities.

    #5.  Most importantly, I have travelled around the world (most 
         notably, India, Africa, China, Thailand, New Zealand, Australia)
         & have seen many nations and cultures where conditions are a hell
         of a lot worse than the slums of DeTroit, L.A., D.C. or even right
         here in Ypsilanti, Michigan.  The people often make the best with
         what they have, strive to educate their offspring, & don't have
         the intra-cultural crime & violence that sadly occurs so often in
         the U.S. black community.   The majority of both my support & 
         sympathy extends to them.

    #6.  I also think that the strongest, most capable people in the world
         are the ones like my next door neighbor -- a 45 year old black
         woman raising her 3 daughters & a total of 5 grandchildren pretty
         much on her own (+ gov't assistance), and will do anything to help
         them.

    
     But in general, I tend to care more about groups which are spending
 more of an effort to improve their own conditions, rather than discuss who
is to blame.


>Dowdy Jackson
>

    P.S.  If you don't like my opinions, you can:
 
             A. Assume that I am somehow an (innocent) victim of something.
             B. SImply write me off as a "RACIST!"
             C. Appreciate the fact that I'm expressing my honest opinions.
             D. Pity me because I don't have enough sympathy to cover
                everyone & everything.
 
    I'd prefer C or B.