Can any group be liberated without being just as prejudiced ? [ long]

[VIncymon]

Let's start with racism.Racism is something everyone connects with.

The black power movement was a great thing, it started out with great intentions. However, over the years a bitterness has grown inside us that i wish had not developed. What I am referring to is the "anti-white" rhetoric that is spewed quite too often by ourselves.

Occasionally , I admit, am still subject to racism from whites. Sometimes I hear white guys complain about things they "cannot do because they are white" and racist statements made about whites within their earshot. At first I laughed this off. But it is there, and all you have to do is listen to BET for 15 minutes, or spend a week in the ghetto to hear it.

Alright, second point, the women's movement. Another good idea. However, many law abiding, trying-to-be -good young men find it frustrating that blatant negative caricatures of ourselves are constantly displayed in all media, and that all sorts of negative stereotypes of us are constantly uttered without the blink of an eye.

Now sexist statements against men, and racist statements against whites, are used for kicks (jokes) in most popular comedy.

The last issue I will talk on is the newest. That is the question of homosexuals. This debate is still new, but already I have had to deal with arrogance. My high school had an openly gay principle who constantly used his assemblies to tell us how much "more of a man" he is than us. We had to listen to an hour of this rambling at least once a week. We never complained because, at the time we were afraid that the girls would say we're being prejudiced. The principle of course, was well aware of this advantage. To this day it is still questionable whether he abused any of the students.

I of course, stayed out of trouble, so i never had to worry about 'that' kind of thing.

But still, I find it a remarkable coincidence that some of the most troublesome students have grown to be homosexuals. In fact, i don't believe its any coincidence at all.

-- All of these begs the question, can any group pull itself up, without bringing another down ?

[Micronian]

Originally Posted by VIncymon

Let's start with racism.Racism is something everyone connects with.

The black power movement was a great thing, it started out with great intentions. However, over the years a bitterness has grown inside us that i wish had not developed. What I am referring to is the "anti-white" rhetoric that is spewed quite too often by ourselves.

Occasionally , I admit, am still subject to racism from whites. Sometimes I hear white guys complain about things they "cannot do because they are white" and racist statements made about whites within their earshot. At first I laughed this off. But it is there, and all you have to do is listen to BET for 15 minutes, or spend a week in the ghetto to hear it.

Alright, second point, the women's movement. Another good idea. However, many law abiding, trying-to-be -good young men find it frustrating that blatant negative caricatures of ourselves are constantly displayed in all media, and that all sorts of negative stereotypes of us are constantly uttered without the blink of an eye.

Now sexist statements against men, and racist statements against whites, are used for kicks (jokes) in most popular comedy.

The last issue I will talk on is the newest. That is the question of homosexuals. This debate is still new, but already I have had to deal with arrogance. My high school had an openly gay principle who constantly used his assemblies to tell us how much "more of a man" he is than us. We had to listen to an hour of this rambling at least once a week. We never complained because, at the time we were afraid that the girls would say we're being prejudiced. The principle of course, was well aware of this advantage. To this day it is still questionable whether he abused any of the students.

I of course, stayed out of trouble, so i never had to worry about 'that' kind of thing.

But still, I find it a remarkable coincidence that some of the most troublesome students have grown to be homosexuals. In fact, i don't believe its any coincidence at all.

-- All of these begs the question, can any group pull itself up, without bringing another down ?

It is a coincidence.

All of these movements have such huge followings of people. Everyone in the group is different, with individual personalities and motivations. Just because you hear some statement, or slogan, doesn't mean that everyone in the group (and I'm talking a large group made of hundreds of thousands of individuals) are going to think EXACTLY the same. There should be a whole spectrum of opinions.

Same with homosexuality. Homosexuality is like being blonde, or freckled. It's just something that you are; it's not an attitude--which is the way you seem to describe it.