[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Rausch

I'm still trying to figure out what you mean here...

Basically the history of how the groups interactions began in this country.

Native Americans were already here, obviously. The Europeans came here with imperialistic motives and through disease and warfare damn near wiped out their entire race. Being in intense competition with them, the Europeans did everything in their power to destroy their society and painted them as dangerous savages while doing so.

The first blacks were brought here around 1519, I think. They were then subjugated for the next 400+ years, relegated to less-than second-class citizen status.

Then you have the Asian and Middle Eastern groups. They came here farrr later and under totally different circumstances. I want to say the first influx of Asian immigrants didn't touch down until well into the 20th century and Middle Eastern groups came much later than that. Also, as some others already pointed out, the types of people that travel across the globe looking for opportunity are a different breed of people and their situation is often more conducive to becoming successful in the end.

Originally Posted by Rausch

Stupid, ****ing STUPID comparison.

What about the Irish, Germans, and Jews?

Do you really not see the difference?

Those white ethnic groups did face a shit ton of prejudice and discrimination. People fear what they don't know and don't understand. Then you throw in the fact that they offered a good bit of competition to those already living in America... The difference between those ethnic groups and blacks and Native Americans is that they're white and, being so, are able to assimilate much more readily. Its tough to tell a 3rd generation German American from a British American or French American, whereas you can tell who is black/Native American just based off easily identifiable physical feature.

Originally Posted by stevieray

SOLD into slavery.

Let's not pretend that Indians weren't violent and weren't involved in fighting with and against the British..

you know why SOME blacks still struggle? SOME blacks refuse to forgive, and can't move forward.

I'm not interested in pointing fingers at who started the chain. All that matters is the outcome, really. Regardless of whether some blacks were taken by whites or sold by other Africans, the outcome in this country has been 400+ years of persecution. Slavery in America has fostered a great deal of prejudice and racism that we still feel today.

You really just have to sit back and think about it; open your mind. For over 400 years, most blacks in this country were either kept in outright slavery or kept from basic human rights. The Civil Rights Movement was less than 50 years ago. A lot of posters on this board are 50+! That means there are a shit ton of people that post here regularly that were either born in a time when black people had to use separate ****ing toilets or were raised by parents that surely do.

It's easy for white males to sit back and say "I don't know why they can't just get their shit together!". Well, no shit! We come from homes where education and success are not only encouraged but expected. We have family lines that go back for centuries accumulating wealth and building good values; blacks in this country (as a whole) were purposely kept from accumulating wealth and building status until very recently.

From around 1960 until now, that's what? 3 or 4 generations? We've come a loooooong ****ing way. A long damn way. But to pretend like racism, and, yes, even institutionalized racism, don't still exist is just being disingenuous.