'They called us cotton-pickers and monkeys': Students at white school dressed in banana skins and taunted black school's basketball team with racist slurs

Disgusting.

E

Yesterday, while researching Black History Month on-line, I encountered a photo of Mrs. Obama as a chimp. I experienced immediate brain freeze and had to step away from my research.

Yes, this is the 21st century. 21st century children of the people who want to take back their country, are displaying their disdain for anyone who does not look like them. The claim is that President Obama's political agenda is divisive. There's nothing in President Obama's political agenda that calls for disparate treatment of any American.

well, it is kind of one-sided, unless you believe that the victims of racism, are asking for it somehow.

"well, you know, we would not have done that, if they did not go and have black skin. why would they choose to have black skin?" <sarc.

this isn't aboutlefgt, or right, it is about right, and wrong. the students were wrong to do this, and the school was wrong to have let it happened. the security officer should have stepped in immediately, instead of joining in the laughing at the idiots in the banana suits. wtf?

800, they were wrong to do this.

They are ALL wrong.

It is disgusting but it isn't a one way street. When I was in high school we played a predominantly black school in Football. We had to leave class early because the area we were going to wasn't very "white friendly" after dark. We played the game and won but the usual "good game" line where the players would line up and congratulate the opposing team on a good game became a line of pissed off black kids calling us "crackers", "honkies" and "bitches". Then the icing on the cake was during the game 5 parent's cars were vandalized and one was stolen...in broad daylight. I'm not condoning the behavior of the white schools students (and they should have been suspended) but to act as if the racism ONLY happens at white schools is ridiculous.

And where do you suppose the kids learned this behavior? And who do you suppose condoned it?

jeff

i have not seen anyone suggest that racism does not affect everyone, and it can be used against anyone. it is always wrong.

I'm just saying that when it happens to a black school it's headlines, when it happens to a white school it's expected.

6 cars were destroyed or stolen during our game on top of the racial slurs we dealt with yet not even a mention of it in the local paper.

to act as if the racism ONLY happens at white schools is ridiculous.

This is unfortunately true, but they have to stop it when they see it, and the kids should have been hammered in this instance, and it sounds like it was simply tolerated.

Jeff

If someone beat you up every time you walked out of your house, woudn't you eventually decide to fight back? Not to excuse black on white racism but who started this fire? Did you call your local paper to ask them to cover your experience when it happened? Newspapers aren't psychic and they need someone to tip them off if they are going to cover any story.

Personally I didn't call the paper but one of the parents might have but I can't speak for them. Given that 6 cars were vandalized or stolen during a daytime high school football game that alone might warrant a paragraph, the cops were called.

If someone beat you up every time you walked out of your house, woudn't you eventually decide to fight back?

How is that relevent? What do you think that in our case white kids drove through their neighborhood yelling racial slurs that prompted them to use racial slurs when referring to us?

We ALL need to quit making excuses for bad behavior-even the behavior that suits our ideology (hint hint).

WHITES - Racism. Decades of documented abuse of minorities and institutionalized racial discrimination all over the world.

BLACKS - Largely the victims. Some indulging in REACTIONARY reverse racism.

Comparing the two and considering them equal - STUPID, DELUSIONAL and SELF SERVING.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS - Gotta acknowledge that most whites in most countries have since turned around and embraced diversity with open arms and open hearts.

We ALL need to quit making excuses for bad behavior-even the behavior that suits our ideology (hint hint).

Who are you referring to? Me?

I didn't condone these kid's actions I just pointed out how it's news if a black school experiences racism but it's not when it's a whte school experiencing racism.

How is that relevent? What do you think that in our case white kids drove through their neighborhood yelling racial slurs that prompted them to use racial slurs when referring to us?

SOME white people have been beating up black people (and other minorities not only based on race) whenever they walk out of their house. Most white people were in agreement or silent while this happened in the open for DECADES. Some white people acknowledged it was wrong and helped to put an end to the culture of permitting such behavior. It is relevant because knowing where the fire started is helpful information when trying to put the fire out.

Do you think this story would have been told the same way back in the 50's? That it is being told at all is a testament to how far we've come, and pointing fingers at racism directed at white people to distract from this story shows we still have a ways to go.

No Jeff, I agree with you. I was referring to those (usually on the left) that try to make it look like only whites engage in racially motivated confrontations. People like MrIndia come to mind.

I'm not denying the negative effects of African slavery. I'm just saying "Can't we ALL get along?"

I didn't condone these kid's actions I just pointed out how it's news if a black school experiences racism but it's not when it's a whte school experiencing racism.

When did this happen to you? In 2012 we have cameras and phones to send stuff instantly so to compare the two eras is ridciulous.

I was called a cotton pickin ni99a @ a track meet once. We had to go to the bathroom in pairs. One white parent even said some of the girls on our team must have dix because there is no way a normal girl could run like that. We were a mostly black school from the hood @ a mostly white school in the burbs. That didnt make the news either. However, that school was well known for such foolishness and we were prepped. This was my freshmen year in 1996.

BUT, we made the news when we won state and beat the brakes of that and other teams in the process..... #winning

MrIndia, you do know it is 2012, right? Blacks have not been "largely the victims" for a loooong time. There are black colleges, sponsorships, churches, neighborhoods, TV channels, movies (does Tyler Perry EVER employ a white actor?), gangs, clubs, and even a dedicated month. Have you have ever heard of a white college? JEFFINVA has a perfectly vaild point- it's only news ONE WAY.

Oh, and there is no such thing as reverse racism. It's just racism, either way. "Reverse" was added to make the (presumably oppressed) race sound less like the bad guy for disliking the other race.

When did this happen to you?

1998 when it was the worst. But the slurs started the first time we played them in 1996. They continued on in 97' and finally in 98'. Also reporters used to actually find news in 1998, so they would follow up on police reports. Just because somebody didn't text them the news doesn't mean that it was not covered.

SOME white people have been beating up black people (and other minorities not only based on race) whenever they walk out of their house.

The kids that slung slurs at us I can guarantee haven't been beat up in their neighborhood by white kids daily but they sure acted like it. Ever heard the saying "two wrongs don't make a right"?

This is just sick and appalling. they need to remove the teachers and the admin from this school that allows and tolerate this kind of behavior.

This is bigotry and racism at its worst, and it needs to be stopped. These kids weren't born with this mentality, they were taught at home and in their school to be bigots.

Shut the damn school down and replace all the teachers with decent White, Hispanic, Asian, and Black teachers.

This is the only way to teach kids about different races in our schools.

1998 when it was the worst. But the slurs started the first time we played them in 1996. They continued on in 97' and finally in 98'. Also reporters used to actually find news in 1998, so they would follow up on police reports. Just because somebody didn't text them the news doesn't mean that it was not covered.

@ Jeff :Not as fast though. I mean now, it can be on the web before the news even gets to cover it. Hell, sometimes they get it from the web too! We used to call the news station to report sports scores, now we facebook it while we are still @ the games.

There are black colleges, sponsorships, churches, neighborhoods, TV channels, movies (does Tyler Perry EVER employ a white actor?), gangs, clubs, and even a dedicated month. Have you have ever heard of a white college? JEFFINVA has a perfectly vaild point- it's only news ONE WAY.

@ Dejesus- Those colleges are historically black because @ the time of their creation, they were some of the only places of higher education for black people since they were not allowed in the already established schools. They now employ many white faculty, and white people can get substantial minority scholarships @ those schools. Matter of fact, the minority scholarship for a white person @ an HBCU is better than what a minority person gets @ a traditionally, predominately white institution. (talking about the state schools anyway…)

Tyler does employ white people all the time, check out his movies and the casts. W

hat gangs and clubs are you talking about? I know a few white crips and bloods if you are talking about the major gangs. As for the neighborhood ones, they are grouped by block sets, so it’s more about living in the area vs. skin color.

German American Heritage month is in Sept-Oct I think. The difference with black history month is it encompasses the black experience in Africa and America, while “white history” month focuses on a country of origin, like Germany. Irish- American and Greek – American Heritage month is in March.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commemorative_months

Rational Brent

Agreed-comparing the President to a primate is stupid.
ht tp://bushchimp.homestead.com/

Trying to make this a one-sided issue is equally dumb.

Show pictures of Laura Bush being attacked in a similar manner

I'll agree with the scholarship point. My white friend went to a black college on a minority scholarship. VUU to be exact.

Racism is started at home and continued by your surroundings. The kids who yelled at us had never been directly effected by racism themselves (at least not like their parents did) but continued the hate that their parents seeded in them same thing applies for the white school. Their parents probably seeded the racism and their surrounding didn't correct it which led to this incident. Parental teachings and peer pressure are what makes racism grow like ivy.

I'll agree with the scholarship point. My white friend went to a black college on a minority scholarship. VUU to be exact.

Heck yeah! I dont know why more people dont take advantage. As an HR professional, I could care less where you went, did you graduate, and is the place accredidited. Other than that, you could have gone to college on a small island off the coast of Timbucktu. Long as I can verify it, you are good to go.....

New bumper sticker: "Proud Parent of a Raging Racist at Brentwood High School"

Am I wrong in thinking that this would be a better story if the basketball team had abandoned the game and, instead, decided to peel a few bananas?

Rational Brent

Agreed-comparing the President to a primate is stupid.
ht tp://bushchimp.homestead.com/

Trying to make this a one-sided issue is equally dumb.

Comparisons between the current First Lady and a chimp are motivated by racial bigotry. She has never done anything to warrant such a comparison. You cannot deny this.

Comparisons between the previous President and a chimp were motivated by disgust for his almost-daily, chimp-like behavior. You cannot deny this.

In math, for two things to be called equal, they have to actually be...you know...equal.

You do the math.

Jeff.... you sound like one of those people who always has to one up other people. Sure it happens, but don't try and take away their moment. Geez. You keep saying that you don't condone it, but then go back and almost imply they deserve it because you experienced it before and it was worse.

If you experience it and have a problem with it and want the world to know, f'n yell from the rooftops about it. I bet you all just bitched quietly amongst yourselves. It also sounds like you don't really like black people. This ain't about you. It's about them, and the behavior of the offending kids was WRONG! Period. Not- well some black person called me a name once so they should just deal with it. That certainly doesn't solve a thing.

Canadian Dave,

I usually don't jump on the "where were the parents?" bandwagon, but I definitely agree with your sentiment. These kids should know better. Most kids know better at half their age.

Disgusting.

but don't try and take away their moment.

Take away their moment? Their moment where racism happened? Bet they wish they didn't have that moment at all.

You keep saying that you don't condone it, but then go back and almost imply they deserve it because you experienced it before and it was worse.

Where the hell did I say or even imply they deserved it? Pointing out that when it happens to a black school it's news and when it happens to a white school it's deserved isn't saying the black school deserved it?

You seem like a person who calls someone racist just because they share a story about racism being directed at them.

It also sounds like you don't really like black people.

I'm pretty sure me myself being an African American and my wife being African American changes that though huh? What do you think I'm not black because my name is Jeff? Or the fact that the other team called us "crackers", "honkies" and "bitches" They didn't call me a honky, they reserved bitch for me. Now get off your high horse of trying to pin me as a racist.

Pennsylvania is not in the south folks, so it's just not the south this occures.

It is disgusting but it isn't a one way street. When I was in high school we played a predominantly black school in Football. We had to leave class early because the area we were going to wasn't very "white friendly" after dark. We played the game and won but the usual "good game" line where the players would line up and congratulate the opposing team on a good game became a line of pissed off black kids calling us "crackers", "honkies" and "bitches". Then the icing on the cake was during the game 5 parent's cars were vandalized and one was stolen...in broad daylight. I'm not condoning the behavior of the white schools students (and they should have been suspended) but to act as if the racism ONLY happens at white schools is ridiculous.

:/ Um dude... Your name had nothing to do with my deciding you are white... maybe it had something to do with you saying you were attacked for being white.. I also didn't call you a racist, just saying that just because you were.. (no I totally doubt anything you say being truthful) subjected to bad behavior, doesn't make what they experienced any less wrong..

So, I really don't have much to say beyond that because I think we're on different planets..

a line of pissed off black kids calling us "crackers", "honkies" and "bitches".

I'm pretty sure me myself being an African American and my wife being African American changes that though huh

saying you were attacked for being white

Where exactly was that said? I went to a predominantly white school with a predominantly white football team. I really could care less that you don't believe me just because I think racism towards black people is constantly called out but racism towards white people isn't.

Here you go Bonos-

I'll agree with the scholarship point. My white friend went to a black college on a minority scholarship. VUU to be exact

Mmmhmm.

Why do I have the sudden urge to watch Zelig again?

'Nobody in that school did anything and that's why I was so appalled.'

How very sad indeed....

Why do I have the sudden urge to watch Zelig again?

LOL!

Three students have been disciplined, officials for Brentwood schools say.

Good. So at least they're trying to do something about it.

<i>Have you have ever heard of a white college?</i>

Well, yes. Why do you think most "black colleges" were established? Because blacks couldn't go to many "white colleges". Today there are no "black colleges" as such. They're subject to the same anti-discrimination laws as other colleges.

Anyway, is this your way of defending the kids who called names and dressed in banana suits? I really just clicked on this thread to see what the indirect defenses would be this time around. I could have saved my time...they're the usual indirect defenses.

Am I wrong in thinking that this would be a better story if the basketball team had abandoned the game and, instead, decided to peel a few bananas?

Actually the Monessen athletes acted maturely and did the best thing. The won the game and went on their way. They, their coaches and parents deserve a lot of credit because what the Brentwood crowd did could very easily have sparked a riot.

I'm from SW Pennsylvania where this occurred and the blatant racism here is rampant. The national media likes to say that the younger generation is not as bigoted as us older folk. I can only assume that they've never been to western Pa. because the old folk here have done a great job teaching racism, homophobia, xenophobia and religious bigotry to their children. . . Not a very good job teaching science, technology, and how to get along in the world but a great job teaching bigotry.

It was at a Palin rally in Johnstown that an old white guy waved a stuffed monkey toy with an Obama sticker for a headband and Palin never said a word. . . actually she encouraged the crowd. Some folks who were interviewed in a diner in the same area actually said that Obama shouldn't be president because blacks didn't have the mental capacity to hold a job like that. And those quotes were put in the newspaper!

But I've also seen it in central Ohio and in West Virginia. And it's now worse with a black president. How do I know? I wore an Obama 08 ballcap during the campaign and heard the slurs firsthand. My 'favorite' was, "I'll never vote for a f**king, n*gg*r, Arab", from a 35-40 year old woman in Alliance, Ohio.

It was there before President Obama was elected but it has surfaced since and it continues to get worse with the continuous rantings of Republican 'leaders' and right wing media.

This is truly an article for those who say racism does not really exist in America any more.

My African friend once told me she appreciated that I appeared to be "color blind". I said, "I'm not color blind, all colors are beautiful...Black is beautiful." I am grateful for my father teaching me this.

R.I.P. Daddy.

Rational Brent

We ALL need to quit making excuses for bad behavior-even the behavior that suits our ideology (hint hint).

Amen!!

I'm going to go out on a limb here and throw out that all these parents weren't just Republicans. Racism isn't a right/left problem, it's a human problem. Some people take it to extremes, the FLOTUS picture comes to mind, also referring to Bushchimp, no it wasn't due to "chimplike" actions, it was because he DOES look a little like a chimp, that doesn't make it right though.

I watched a Chris Rock youtube video and he was going balls out sayin ni**er and cracker over and over and people were laughing, if it was a white comedian he would have probably been mobbed and had the @!$%# kicked out of him. Stop the double standards and quit stirring up the racist @!$%# pot and it just might fade away. There's probably always going to be racists, we aren't going to eradicate it but we can mute it out, but that's going to take EVERYONE, not just whites.

Racism isn't a right/left problem, it's a human problem.

well said. i'll take it one step further and say it's prejudice that is a human problem and racism is only a small part of that. human nature leads to strong opinions and prejudice. it's society that dictates which prejudices are acceptable and which ones are not. it is sad that one can hold a certain strong prejudice and have it be accepted by society, while another can hold a different strong prejudice that is abhorred. unfortunately, life isn't fair and society is an untamed beast. we, as a collective, will never conquer prejudice until we stop believing we are better than others, superior to others and more deserving than others. but, that is human nature and how can you change something that is embedded in our DNA?

every human on this planet has prejudice built into them in one form or another. it is merely society that allows people to think that their prejudices are "ok" and others' are not.

I watched a Chris Rock youtube video and he was going balls out sayin ni**er and cracker over and over and people were laughing,

Was he with a group of his friends surrounding and verbally attacking people at the time, or was he giving a show that people 1) paid for and 2) knew that to expect?

No? Then how is it the same? It's not.

Would you suggest that they could have dressed up as Nazis and taunted jewish students by calling them Kikes? I doubt you would. But by defending this action, you defend that one, by default. It's no different.

Are you being deliberately dense bonos? Do you think a black man saying ni**er and cracker is acceptable?

No, but are you suggesting that the two are even anywhere near comparable???

And can you answer my question about Jewish students?

Maybe re-read my post, I never defended what they did.

Now that that's cleared up, do you think racism is a white only problem or do minorities contribute to it?

The root cause of the problem is that we don't live together enough, school together enough, play together enough, work together enough, and inter-marry enough! Encourage your children to do all of these.

We are all God's children equal in all ways. There is no reason for separation or hatred in any way.

Racism is started at home and continued by your surroundings. The kids who yelled at us had never been directly effected by racism themselves (at least not like their parents did) but continued the hate that their parents seeded in them same thing applies for the white school. Their parents probably seeded the racism and their surrounding didn't correct it which led to this incident. Parental teachings and peer pressure are what makes racism grow like ivy.

completely bs statement and post. african american youth are subjected to enormous torment in this society. why do your think the black rap group nwa wrote and performed the song "f tha police". they are subjected to constant police harrassment, beatings, unwarrented arrests and convictions. they are made to live in virtual war zones in impoverished neighborhoods suffering from substandard services. they have to attend substandard schools with burnouts asteachers (there are many good and dedicated teachers,but the richer districts can lure many of the best teachers with higher saleries) and now rising cases of outright pervertsas teachers. theyhave little or no access to proper medical or dental care outside of the emergency room, especially after they are not covered by medical. i went to school in both oakland and saratoga california and it's like going to school in two different universes. the difference in supplies, teachers, environment is breathtaking. you are constantly subjected to police saying demeaning things. you are constantly told that you dreams and aspirations are "unrealistic" and experience unwanted redirection if you tell a teacher or counselor that they include higher education. i not only experienced this, but stopped teachers doing it on a return trip to my old high school. i caught a teacher lying about college entrance requirements to students and corrected the lie right then and there in front of the teacher and in front of the class.

Their parents probably seeded the racism and their surrounding didn't correct it which led to this incident. Parental teachings and peer pressure are what makes racism grow like ivy.

this is an insidious lie. the statement that the parents of the african american students are the cause of racism is rightwing hypocrisy and scapegoating.. straight bs. the continued racism rampant in america is what causes racism, nothing else. your statement completely exonerates racist actions and a racist society.

Yeah, and writing and performing a song called @!$%# da police is such a good way to promote racial harmony and all around touchy feely emotions.

Why are you deflecting so desperately hard?

I'm not deflecting anything, you went ape@!$%# about nazi's and jews, thats more of a deflection than anything. You either cant comprehend what I wrote or are being intentionally difficult, either way I'm finished with you.

the song "f tha police" was not meant to be "touchy feely". it was a protest song that meant to highlight the interactions between african american teens in los angeles and a racist, gestapo police department.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/@!$%#_tha_Police

@!$%# tha Police

"@!$%# tha Police" is a protest song by the gangsta rap group N.W.A that appears on the album Straight Outta Compton. Despite not being a single, it ranked #425 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[1]

Since its release in 1988, the "@!$%# the Police" slogan continues to influence pop culture today in the form of t-shirts, artwork, and even transitions into other genres as seen in Rage Against the Machine's version

here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S8Wc26XowM

The song "@!$%# tha Police", containing N.W.A's trademark inflammatory lyrics, stood out in particular from many of the songs on Straight Outta Compton. It highlights many of the tensions between black urban youth and the police. The song was prophetic in its reading the widespread resentment towards the LAPD that later boiled over in the 1992 Los Angeles riots following the Rodney King incident. The song also alleged that blacks in the police department were in way worse that the whites, with lyrics such as:

“

But don't let it be a black and a white one

Cause they'll slam ya down to the street top

Black police showing out for the white cop

In 1989, Australian radio station Triple Jhad been playing "@!$%# tha Police" for up to six months, before gaining the attention of Australian Broadcasting Corporation management who subsequently banned it. As a reaction the staff went on strike and put N.W.A's "Express Yourself" on continuous play for 24 hours, playing it roughly 360 times in a row.^[2]

In 1996, during massive opposition street protests in Belgrade, Serbia, "@!$%# tha Police", along with Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" was continually played for 2 days on a Belgrade radio station B92.

On 10th April 2011, New Zealand dub musician Tiki Taane was arrested on charges of "disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence to start or continue" after performing the song at a gig in a club in Tauranga during an inspection of the club by the police

protest songs are often confrontational or use analogies that are vivid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_What_It's_Worth_(Buffalo_Springfield_song)

For What It's Worth (Buffalo Springfield song)

"For What It's Worth" is a song written by Stephen Stills. It was performed by Buffalo Springfield, recorded on December 5, 1966, and released as a single in January 1967; it was later added to the re-release of their first album, Buffalo Springfield. The single peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This song is currently ranked #63 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time as well as the eighth best song of 1967 by Acclaimed Music.^[

The song was inspired by an event at the dawn of the psychedelic era in November 1966, the year during which Buffalo Springfield started playing as the house band at the Whisky a Go Goon the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles Times,^[2] annoyed residents and business owners in the district had encouraged the passage of strict (10:00pm) curfew and loitering laws to reduce the traffic congestion resulting from crowds of young club patrons. This was subsequently perceived by young, local rock music fans as an infringement on their civil rights, and on Saturday, November 12, 1966, fliers were distributed along the Strip inviting people to demonstrate later that day.

Hours before the protest one of L.A's rock 'n' roll radio stations announced there would be a rally at Pandora's Box, a club at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights, and cautioned people to tread carefully.^[2] The Times reported that as many as 1,000 youthful demonstrators, including such celebrities as Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda (who was afterward handcuffed by police), erupted in protest against the perceived repressive enforcement of these recently invoked curfew laws.

Though often mistaken for an anti-war song, it was this first of the “Sunset Strip riots” which inspired then Buffalo Springfield band member Stephen Stills to write “For What It’s Worth", recorded about three weeks after on December 5, 1966.

The song quickly became a well-known protest song.^[3] While it has come to symbolize worldwide turbulence and confrontational feelings arising from events during the 1960s (particularly the Vietnam War), Stills recounts writing the song in reaction to escalating unrest between law enforcement and young club-goers on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles County, California.^[4] The song's title appears nowhere in its lyrics; it is more easily remembered by the first line of chorus: "Stop, children, what's that sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp5JCrSXkJY

try the fugs out

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fugs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2AGqlf8J9g

A satirical and self-satirizing rock band with a political slant, they have performed at various war protests — against the Vietnam War and since the 1980s at events around other U.S. involved wars. The band's often frank and humorous lyrics about sex, drugs, and politics have caused a hostile reaction in some quarters, most notably the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the late 1960's. The group is referenced several times in the F.B.I. file on The Doors, where an excerpt mentions eleven songs from The Fugs First Album that are "vulgar and repulsive and are most suggestive

or this list of bob marley protest songs

http://worldmusic.about.com/od/genres/tp/Bob-Marleys-10-Best-Protest-Songs.htm

I didn't mean it was supposed to be a warm fuzzy song, I listened to part of it.

I just meant it probably didn't help relations between police and citizens.

Ya'll are taking Jeff out of context, I see him post here a lot; in no way is he condoning this.

He is simply pointing out that racism happens both ways, quite frequently. There is no excuse for it, regardless of which side is doing it.

There is indeed a bias in the news when it comes to reporting racism. That's a fact.

But the last thing we need is one side to report racism on blacks only while the other side reports racism on whites only. I see it heading that way though, with either side of the fence cherry picking whatever opposites they can on which to stand.

The school should ALWAYS take a position in these matters regardless of who the perpetrators might be. To allow this to continue and not address it is unconscionable.

But, as somene pointed out, when it is black on white it might be racial, but not racist. Much of that is a reaction to what they have experienced and now have a chance to retaliate against. I am not saying that bad behavior is justified, but I think that the motivations are different.

My guess is that when black kids do it to whites, they do it mainly because they are on the other team and their whiteness gives them an easy target. When white kids do it, it could be for those reasons, but when people dress up like bananas and invoke simian images, they are dredging up the racist history of this country towards blacks and perpetuating age old perceptions. In other words, if a black guy is good at basketball(all are not believe it or not), it is because of his physical and animal characteristics. If a white guy is good at basketball, he is a cerebral player who understands the game.

In other words, there is more history in white racism than black retaliation.

My guess is that when black kids do it to whites, they do it mainly because they are on the other team and their whiteness gives them an easy target. When white kids do it, it could be for those reasons, but when people dress up like bananas and invoke simian images, they are dredging up the racist history of this country towards blacks and perpetuating age old perceptions. In other words, if a black guy is good at basketball(all are not believe it or not), it is because of his physical and animal characteristics. If a white guy is good at basketball, he is a cerebral player who understands the game.

In other words, there is more history in white racism than black retaliation.

I like that last sentence.

As I stated before. Its one thing when the players are talking smack, its another when the spectators get invovled.

Now that that's cleared up, do you think racism is a white only problem or do minorities contribute to it?

America operated its systems via notions of white racial superiority non white/ black inferiority. US citizenship was tightly knitted to the skin color white for nearly two centuries. Americas architects of whites only laws / policy were white. A fact you can neither confront nor deny. Racism in the USA is not symmetrical.

Kids who act like this are TAUGHT to act like this by their parents.

No one is born racist, it's learned.

Just to clear something up here, my post was in response to what MrIndia said, not to the story. I would not defend what happened there.

@Neish1920- in my lifetime I have never seen any business, school, or radio or tv station celebrate any other minorities' "month". Black History month has been force-fed to us since I was a kid. I understand that you may know some white gang members, but my point is that there are groups that have been formed (recently, post-civil rights movement) with the intention of seperating people by race. If a group such as a college fraternity was started with the goal of being "white only", it would be this biggest outrage the world has ever seen. The NAACP (you know, the group that defends one race only) would cry racism!

Black History month has been force-fed to us since I was a kid

Define force-fed? Were you held captive by way of force? Is American history force-fed? Who is us?

cannonballer

I didn't mean it was supposed to be a warm fuzzy song, I listened to part of it.

I just meant it probably didn't help relations between police and citizens.

if you were african american in los angeles you would know that the relationships between african americans and police couldn't get worse

Dejesus-3020741

Just to clear something up here, my post was in response to what MrIndia said, not to the story. I would not defend what happened there.

@Neish1920- in my lifetime I have never seen any business, school, or radio or tv station celebrate any other minorities' "month". Black History month has been force-fed to us since I was a kid.

i feel the same about the history taught every other month which is just a litany of caucasian glorification. african americans students are made to feel that they have no historical achievements

I understand that you may know some white gang members,

neish said she knew of caucasian in majority african american gangs

but my point is that there are groups that have been formed (recently, post-civil rights movement) with the intention of seperating people by race. If a group such as a college fraternity was started with the goal of being "white only",

a guide to the formation of african american greek letter organizations

http://learningtogive.org/papers/paper171.html

Historic Roots

These Greek fraternities have played a significant role in forming the lives of many African Americans to become part of society. The focus of this briefing paper will concentrate on the major "five" Black fraternities and what they have meant to African American culture including Alpha Phi Alpha (December 4, 1906), Kappa Alpha Psi (January 5, 1911), Omega Psi Phi (November 19, 1911), Phi Beta Sigma (January 9, 1914) and the newest Iota Phi Theta (September 19, 1963).

and african american greek letter sororities

http://learningtogive.org/papers/paper172.html

There are four major sororities, all of which were established in early twentieth century, including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (Howard University, 1908), Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (Howard University, 1913), Zeta Phi Beta Sorority (Howard University, 1920), and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority (Butler University, 1922). These organizations have significantly impacted the African American community as well as civil society itself.

i hope you notice that all of these organization were started during times of intense discrimination against african american students.

i also hope that you notice that the african american fraternities and sororities were started well before the civil rights movement

i will also inform you that many members of these organizations were leaders in the civil rights movement.

i would have to defer to members of the other organizations to talk about their membership but kappa alpha psi has many caucasian members whom i am proud to call brother

it would be this biggest outrage the world has ever seen. The NAACP (you know, the group that defends one race only) would cry racism!

the name of the organization is the national association for the advancement of colored (not, negro, african american, or black) people.

the organization fights for rights which have benefited minorities and women, and yes caucasian working class people

if you are so outraged at organizations which serve a single race go and protest against the council of conservative citizens, kkk, stormfront, etc

here is a handy list courtesy of wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_white_nationalist_organizations#United_States

United States

• American Renaissance, is a monthly racialistmagazine published by the New Century Foundation.^[24]
• American Third Position Party, is an American political party which promotes white supremacism.^[25] It was founded in 2010, and defines its principal mission as representing the political interests of white Americans.^[26]
• American Nazi Party, is a neo-Nazi organization based largely upon the ideals and policies of Adolf Hitler's NSDAP in Germany during the Third Reich but claims that it is in conformance with the Constitutional principles of the U.S.'s Founding Fathers. It also supports Holocaust denial.
• Aryan Nations, is a white supremacistneo-Nazi organization founded in the 1970s by Richard Girnt Butler as an arm of the Christian Identity group known as the Church of Jesus Christ-Christian.
• Council of Conservative Citizens, is an American political organization that supports a large variety of conservative and paleoconservative causes in addition to white supremacism.^[27]
• Creativity Movement, (formerly known as the World Church of the Creator) is a white supremacist politico organization that advocates the racialist religion, Creativity. Mainly religious rather than political, the radical Creativity Movement, founded by Ben Klassen in 1973, worships the white race itself rather than any deity, and advocates a radical form of white supremacism known as RAHOWA.
• EURO, is a white supremacist organization in the United States. Led by former Louisianastate representative and presidential primary candidate David Duke, it was founded in 2000.^[28]
• European Americans United, is a white supremacist organization founded in January 2007. Professing to stress an incremental approach to social change and moderate stances, European Americans United rejects Nazism, fascism, and hatred.^[29]
• The Heritage Foundation
• Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as The Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present right-wing^[30] organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy and nationalism.
• National Alliance, is a white supremacist political organization. It was founded by William Luther Pierce, and is based in the Pierce family's compound in Hillsboro, West Virginia.
• National Association for the Advancement of White People, is a white supremacist organization in the United States incorporated on December 14, 1953 in Delaware by Bryant Bowles which presents itself as a civil rights organization such as the NAACP.
• National Policy Institute, is a think tank based in Augusta, Georgia in the United States. It describes itself as the right's answer to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
• National Socialist American Labor Party, is a neo-Nazi political party formally founded by Christopher Krebs in March 2008, after having set up their website as a recruiting tool in 2007. Krebs died in 2009 and Richard Miller, a military historian who maintains contacts with WWII Wehrmacht veterans in Germany, took over as party Chairman. The party is headquartered in Burbank, California. The NSALP distinguishes itself from other neo-Nazi groups in several ways: they attempt to be a more mainstream political entity, focusing more on ideology propaganda than mass activism. They eschew marching in uniforms and believe in door-to-door activism in white neighborhoods wearing jeans and T-shirts. As of 2011, they claim to have chapters in 30 states that meet in people's homes. While many neo-Nazi groups focus only on racial issues, the NSALP's program encompasses a range of racial, economic and political positions. The party supports both an Apollo Alliance-like program to achieve U.S. Energy Independence by developing alternative energy and nuclear power and a massive infrastructure repair program to end unemployment. The party promises to restore equal rights for those whom they refer to by their original early 20th-century name Aryan Americans by abolishing affirmative action. The party's Propaganda Director is Dan Schruender. Ryan Murdough is the National Political Director and Sid Gilmore is the Deputy Chairman and National Policy Director. ^[31]Some members of the party, including Gabriel Volk, the N.S.L.A.P.'s Chaplain and Director of Christian Outreach, are members of the "Imperial Catholic Association", a group of Roman Catholics who revere Adolf Hitler as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. ^[32]
• National Socialist Movement (United States), a party founded in 1974. Since 2005 the party has become very active, staging many marches and demonstrations.
• National Vanguard, was an American National Socialist organization based in Charlottesville, Virginia, founded by Kevin Alfred Strom and former members of the National Alliance.
• Nationalist Movement, is a Mississippi-based, white supremacist organization that advocates what it calls a "pro-majority" position. It has been called white supremacist by the Associated Press and Anti-Defamation League, among others.^[33][34]
• Occidental Quarterly, is a printed far-right quarterly journal with a web segment, TOQ Online, including interviews, essays and reviews on the website.^[35]
• The Order, or Brüder Schweigen ("Silent Brotherhood") was a white supremacist Revolutionary organization founded by Robert Jay Matthews, active 1983-1984, probably best known for the 1984 murder of talk of talk show host Alan Berg. Berg's killing was to be the first in a planned series of assassinations, followed by attacks on the United States government, all meant to bring about a race war which would result in fulfillment of White Separatist ideals (see Northwest Territorial Imperative.
• Pacifica Forum, is a controversial discussion group in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It has been listed as a white nationalist^[36]hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
• Phineas Priesthood, is a Christian Identity movement that opposes interracial intercourse, the mixing of races, homosexuality, and abortion. It is also marked by its anti-Semitism, anti-multiculturalism, and opposition to taxation.
• * Volksfront, describes itself as an international fraternal organization for persons of European descent.^[37] It has been called "neo-Nazi" and a "racist-skinhead group" in press reports.^[38][39][40] The Anti-Defamation League has called the group "one of the most active skinhead groups in the United States."^[41] The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has added Volksfront to its list of hate groups.^[42]
• White Aryan Resistance, is a neo-Naziwhite supremacist organization founded and led by former Ku Klux Klan leader Tom Metzger.

angelaisafan

Racism in the USA is not symmetrical

worth repeatng

the argument is also a logical fallacy

from the university of north carolina

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handouts-demos/writing-the-paper/fallacies#section-8

Weak analogy

Definition: Many arguments rely on an analogy between two or more objects, ideas, or situations. If the two things that are being compared aren't really alike in the relevant respects, the analogy is a weak one, and the argument that relies on it commits the fallacy of weak analogy.

there is nothing similiar about four hundred years of racial oppression including slavery, post bellum appreticeships, black codes, the reinstitution of slavery in 1927 for two years, jim crow, grandfather clauses, poll taxes, lynching, segregation to:

He is simply pointing out that racism happens both ways,

angelaisafan- Do you want me to literally define force-fed, or tell you want I mean by it? I will go with the latter. In the main hallway of my high school, on my way to class, there was a huge display for Black History Month (let's call it BHM for the rest of this post). After getting settled in our desks, the class is told that we have to do an essay on BHM. When I got home from school I turned on the television and what do you think I saw? More BHM. The radio had BHM. The internet has BHM. I'm quite surprised my cereal box does not have BHM. It is EVERYWHERE. No other month of any year I have been alive has had any mention of Anglo-Germanic-Caucasion Month (or any derivitive thereof). Who is us? Those without "months". Us is the one race that no one can commit a "hate-crime" against. Get it? I'm just looking for equality here.

kappa_man_stew- I think you missed the part about POST-civil rights movement. And I was referring to modern day clubs or interest groups, not frickin nazis and Black Panthers. Hate groups are not the issue here. Mainstream, socially accepted groups are.

Do you want me to literally define force-fed, or tell you want I mean by it? I will go with the latter. In the main hallway of my high school, on my way to class, there was a huge display for Black History Month (let's call it BHM for the rest of this post). After getting settled in our desks, the class is told that we have to do an essay on BHM. When I got home from school I turned on the television and what do you think I saw? More BHM. The radio had BHM. The internet has BHM. I'm quite surprised my cereal box does not have BHM. It is EVERYWHERE. No other month of any year I have been alive has had any mention of Anglo-Germanic-Caucasion Month (or any derivitive thereof). Who is us? Those without "months". Us is the one race that no one can commit a "hate-crime" against. Get it? I'm just looking for equality here.

The canon of American history is primarily a whites only record. America went to great lengths to protect and priviledge anglo (white skin) populations over time to the detriment of non whites. And here you sit with your jaw all tight looking for equality.

It's strange that the people who are complaining about being "force fed" black history month are the same ones who shout us down when the rest of us complain about having jesus "force fed" on us.

MrIndia wrote-

WHITES - Racism. Decades of documented abuse of minorities and institutionalized racial discrimination all over the world.

BLACKS - Largely the victims. Some indulging in REACTIONARY reverse racism.

Comparing the two and considering them equal - STUPID, DELUSIONAL and SELF SERVING.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THAT is where I want equality. In the average Joe's view of who is racist.

Angry Left-532262- I would stand right beside you in any demonstration against having ANY religion forced onto us. I would not "shout you down".

angelaisafan- Again, I am not here to debate history. I understand what happened in this country long before you or I were born. In the here and now, an act comitted by ignorant youths has made (the internet equivalent of) front page news, while stories of "reverse racism" as some people like to call it, are reduced to a sidebar. Such as...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Channon_Christian_and_Christopher_Newsom

Ever hear about it? Hmmm.

Again, I am not here to debate history. I understand what happened in this country long before you or I were born. In the here and now, an act comitted by ignorant youths has made (the internet equivalent of) front page news, while stories of "reverse racism" as some people like to call it, are reduced to a sidebar. Such as...

The canon of American History is the formal record of past and current history.

Racism is not reverse or symmetrical. Affirmative Action discussions dominate the net. Race card is mentioned 24/7. Unfairly called a racist tops the list of complaints. You presume to know my age. Seriously?

I presumed you were not born during slavery, or when the first black fraternity was formed. Am I close? And who would you say plays that race card the most? MrIndia had an ace up his sleeve. I'm calling him out for it. How do YOU feel about affirmative action, since you mentioned it? Hiring or promoting someone based on their skin color instead of their experience level? Sounds racist to me.