Name:   copperline - Subject:   my thoughts on that Date:   4/22/2016 11:10:01 AM

I don’t think my point of view is any better than anyone else.      It’s just my own.

I’ll use your example.   The Latin American farmer made his decision based on the economic realities he lived in, not because of his race or ethnic identity.     Faced with the effects of poverty and the choice between relieving some of the effects of that poverty…. verses doing what suited our wishes, he charted his course according to his immediate needs.     Of course, he was doing the “anti-social thing” & didn’t improve his life in our opinion.   From our point of view, he allies himself with an immoral, corrupt & criminal way of life….but to him it was the expedient, pragmatic & practical choice.  

Criminality is more acceptable within some portion of any culture, I suppose.    The question here is whether it is a racial trait of Black people.   I would say that there is nothing about being Black that causes you to be criminal, yes.      Of course, I would agree that not every poor person has to be a criminal.

If you wanted to understand the cultural conditions that cause increased criminal activity within any social group,  geographic region, or community… would you really just consider race?    I wouldn’t.   Race & ethnic origin don’t create violence, criminality, high rates of illegitimate births, and fragmented families….. poverty has that effect on people.   It really doesn’t matter what race you are…

So, I would say that if you could magically transform everybody in Mountain Brook into a Black person, and every person in the Gate City housing project into a White person….. Gate City would still be crime ridden and Mountain Brook would be just like it is today.   Except maybe with better music.

I see no reason to object to a Black person calling themselves African American, why would I?    I don’t object when my wife talks about her Cherokee grandmother and jokes she is a native American.     I don’t object to a group organizing themselves for the purpose of civil protests and calling themselves Black Lives Matter, even though I think it All Lives Matter works pretty well, too.     I’m not likely to be offended by a group that wants to bring attention to the number of unarmed Black men who have been shot by policemen, but I am alarmed by groups that organize themselves in order to bring weapons into restaurants, churches, and schools.     But that’s just me.

It’s interesting to imagine what would happen if the NRA and various Separatist/Patriot groups suddenly became Black organizations devoted to the very same goals.   Likely that would cause a fundamental shift in the way we perceive them…..    Because of ingrained racial prejudices, we would then see those groups as far more dangerous than when we think of them as predominantly white.