Another bar quote

I can't believe some things that people say, drunk or sober, I don't care. The guy I spoke to last night has said such things while inebriated and sober. He was a tad buzzed last night, but that's no excuse.

For whatever reason, I haven't figured out what yet, he has a problem with African-Americans. He keeps telling me the Chris Rock line of, "There's black people and there's n*****s. I love black people, but I hate n*****s." My friend ALWAYS resorts to that line when he knows I'm offended by something he said. He doesn't talk negatively about Anglos (whites), Latinos, Arabs, Natives, etc. The negativity always surrounds blacks. We can be talking about a football game one second and then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he'll say something like, "It's so bad in North Omaha. (North O has a heavier African-American population than in West O, where he resides)" or "Blacks commit 60% of the crimes in Omaha."

To that comment, I asked what his source was and he didn't provide one. I then said, "Well, even if that is true, if the tables had been reversed, the U.S. was Africa and vice versa, and the whites were the ones that dealt with slavery to their black masters, you'd see that crime rate completely reversed."

At first, he didn't understand what I said, but then he said, "No, it wouldn't. Do you really believe that?"

In a very certain tone of voice, I responded, with, "Yes, yes I do."

He then said, "Well, that just goes to show you, I guess. The whole nature vs. nurture thing."

I'm not sure exactly where he was going with that. He could have been going one of two ways: 1) Backing up his inital response, basically claiming that blacks are genetically more violent than whites or 2) Understanding where I was coming from and believing that the violence was more indicative of environmental factors than genetic ones.

I believe genetics to be very powerful and I believe they to play a factor in almost everything. I think some people are definitely more genetically inclined to violence than others, but this doesn't hold true for one ethnicity or another. I see it more from an individual than a group standpoint.

I mean, let's turn the tables around for a second. Let's say that Africa was the superpower that America is. Blacks from Africa owned white slaves from the U.S. The U.S. was hampered with disease, poverty, and starvation. The whites finally earned their freedom, their ability to be labeled as African Citizens, have the right to vote, to speak their innermost thoughts and beliefs, to write an editorial, to own a gun, to have rights when charged with a crime and when entering a court room, etc. While we/they would be thrilled with our newfound rights, it's not like the masters, the blacks, the majority in Africa would hand us true equality in every sense of the word upon the initial documents being signed and passed. The majority (blacks) would still hold certain advantages to the minority (whites). Blacks would earn a great deal more annually than the whites. As common sense tells us, whites would therefore be more apt to committing property crimes, such as theft and robbery than blacks, who held all the essentials (money, food, water, home, clothing, vehicle, etc.) that the whites wanted/needed.

It becomes a battle for survival. It doesn't matter what color one is. If the whites and blacks had reversed roles in the history books, the direct opposite would be true now than what is actually occurring. For whatever reason, my friend and others like him believe that blacks and other ethnicities are inherently more violent than whites. It doesn't matter how violent a certain neighborhood is, if there are more blacks residing their than they're used to, then it's referred to as "a dangerous part of the city." Violent crime in America amongst ethnicities, who make similar salaries, is nearly identical. People who make a lot of money? What needs is there to steal or rob? There is no need to do such a thing. Some like to state that those blaming poverty are simply making an excuse. No, I'm just giving a reason. Children that grow up in an abusive household or in a family that uses drugs and consistently leaves them lying around will be more prone to abuse their children later on or to take drugs in their future. Those aren't excuses, just reasons, so that we may hopefully better understand the situation and make changes, so that such matters aren't as prevalent. Just as there is a link between smoking and lung cancer (not 100%, so smokers may say otherwise), there's a link between poverty and crime. It doesn't matter what skin tone a person has, if they are classified as poor, they will be more apt to committing crime, especially property crime, than those who are not labeled as such.

Links:

http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2004-10/19wise.cfm

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Myth-of-Black-Criminality&id=74841

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-poorcrime.htm

http://www.exodusnews.com/editorials/editorial-051.htm