Featured Are You Racist, Prejudice of Biased?

No, Yes, Maybe

 

Every single person on the planet is a combination of all three of those things in various levels.

 

I was raised in a mixed race family.
I married someone not my race.
My children are of a mixed race.
The man I am now married to (first marriage ended long ago, we married as unbelievers) is white.

We moved to Oklahoma.

I knew prejudice existed, but was floored by the degree of it when we moved here. We joked about having moved back in time, but it's really just not funny.

It's made me think things I don't like to think. The majority of prejudice we've faced comes from white people, and the worst of it we've ever seen has come from white people in Baptist churches. That is likely because we've always gone to Baptist churches, and the majority of people out here in Baptist churches are white. They seem to separate by...race. They about fainted to see a mixed family, and when we brought in black friends...WHOOO DOGGIES!!!!!!! Even at the churches, one of the biggest crimes out here is WWB, WWNW, even PWB or PWNW. My kids and their friends have had to go through total ridiculousness, have had their lives endangered by complete idiots, and I've had to teach them grace under fire. That when a white guy with connections to the police endangers your life and falsely accuses you and then lets it go, to smile and nod and walk away and pray for him because if you call the police and report hit, half of his buddies work there and your butt will be the one in jail. That's the reality of living in certain areas of this great country and not being white.

That leads to just what I am, no matter what race I appear.
What I am is a person who struggles with feelings of anger and frustration when I see my family hurt by white people. So far, that's who has hurt my family. White people. Mostly white people who claim to be Christians, and most of those Christians in our path have been Baptists. The ignorance and racism has broken our hearts, destroyed large portions of our lives, left us with long nights of grief and tears. We moved here and discovered there are still people who won't let someone who isn't pure white walk past the curb of their house. Won't let them be friends with their kids. Will call police at the drop of a hat. Will call anyone just because. Will do anything in their power to get a white kid out of that family so they won't have to suffer the horror of being in a mixed race family. All the while smiling and being tolerant, but automatically assuming the family is of a criminal mindset and in need of saving and help.

But...it is what it is. I'm not going to sit here and say I never feel a speck of disdain for this race or that race that is unmerited. Sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it's just born of anger and frustration and is unjustified and I know it's wrong. I work on it. I teach my children to work on it. It still angers me that I can't undo what ignorant people have done to them, but I can teach them that it's ignorance, but you know what? It's really really difficult to teach them to separate Christianity from prejudice when people who claim Christianity treat other people that way. When you take someone in their teens who are already on shaky ground emotionally and you crush them, they tend to take it pretty seriously.

These arguments, this stupidity on this board, it all means something. People are reading it, shaking their heads, having it cemented in their brains that yep, this is what Christians do. They hate. They fight. They won't admit they're prejudice, when everyone really is in their way. There isn't a soul on this earth who isn't born thinking their race and culture is somewhat superior. That's pretty natural, but when you take it to the point that you think you're above others for it and don't give others the honor they deserve, then it's trouble. When you don't grow out of that attitude and realize we're all inferior to Christ and that puts us ALL on level ground, then it's a problem. When you can't live your life admitting you have sin and that you need to stop and work on it, instead of denying that it exists and ranting endlessly about how unprejudiced and loving your are towards "them," you need to to just quit. Really. You're driving people away from Christianity and I really don't think that in your heart, you want to do that, but that's what you're doing.

Trust me. You are.

 

Gena...

It must be an Oklahoma thing, but could you please d-code these....:wavey:


out here is WWB, WWNW, even PWB or PWNW.

 

Watched an Al Sharpton promo on NBC and he said there is still progress to be made. He mentioned Blacks,Hispanics,and LGBT? Something missing? And something added to the race mix? There is only one race ....the human race and people like Al Sharpton are hypocrites racist that excludes. BTW in Houston Hispanics are the new majority….. not minority Al.

 

Walking while black, walking while not white, parking while black, parking while not white..there are a lot of acronyms we use. They usually get stopped for the walking one. Or just the creepy slow down and stare thing. Didn't matter if Bible in hand walking home from church...not being white is just plain old suspicious in the evening.
Now couple that with me wearing a head covering, and that's just plain fun. LOL They actually refused to serve us at a fast food place once. We tend to use drive through places if we go now.
Though at the mall, they did oblige me and send a new security guy to tail us when I mentioned I was tired of the same old one. :laugh: A bit of kindness in an otherwise cruel world, eh?
My goal is to change a few hearts before we leave. I know, good luck, roots run deep, but I swear we're the least scary people I know, so this weird universe we entered is really silly! About the wildest thing we've ever done is walk through the adventure safari at the zoo. Though I did get one traffic ticket some years ago that never went on my record. That was my wild brush with the law.

 

Gena,,

I live in Kentucky (and I LOVE Kentucky, btw), and we certainly have our fair share of back woods, redneck, ignorant cretins.

But Oklahoma might just might just have us beat.

 

Racist? Nosirree. Prejudiced? Nope. Biased? Yes. I am biased towards my Brothers and Sisters in the Lord. :thumbs: :thumbs: I'll take their side(both Cal and Arm) over the world.

 

I also live in Kentucky (extreme west), and went to school one year in Oklahoma (Norman), and think Kentucky has Oklahoma beat in that department, just not football.

 

I lived in Louisville for a number of years (seminary brat) and have been to Tulsa. I live in Georgia now and we certainly have our fair share of back woods, redneck, ignorant cretins.

We've got both Kentucky and Oklahoma beat. Go Dawgs!

 

Nice to see that there is at least one honest person on this board.:applause:

And based on the way anyone who is different or has a difference of opinion is treated by the majority opinions on this CHRISTIAN board, it's real easy to see the truth in everything Gina B just said.

 

Gib, they fill the pews of churches from east coast to west. They just don't think the stuff that they do is prejudiced cause everyone else they associate with thinks the same way.

 

LOL, the sports thing here hasn't changed a whit! When I first got here, I didn't know that two colleges were different ones. I now know them to be OU and OSU, but first thought they were the same one with different campuses, as I've seen in other places. So there I am in a group at work and they're talking, and I say "what's the difference? I thought they were the same."
Dead silence for a second, then I had to make a snap decision on whether to run or crawl under a desk. LOL (bit of exaggeration, they did teach me, though one person did jokingly run away in shock) They're apparently big rivals in...some sport. I forget now which one. (more of the zoo/science center type, mere cats get me more than sports fans :smilewinkgrin: )
They fight out here over their sports, it gets pretty vicious.

 

Gena...

Those 2 teams that you thought were the same are Oklahoma(OU) and Oklahoma State(OSU)

Here in Kentucky the sports hatred is between Kentucky(UK) and Louisville( Uof L). The hatred is intense. I might be the only one who does not particpate in the hate. I have a favorite, but I dont hate the other.

 

I suppose I am a racist. I had only one black friend now gone on to be with the Lord. A black son in Law who hates me because I would not vote for Obama. He's told me several times I'm a racist because I would not vote the way he wanted. His family hates me just because I'm white and they all call me a racist. Just about every black person I know now call's me racist because I believe Zimmerman is innocent of murder. Though I didn't ever think they were racist until they started calling me one. Truth is over this Zimmerman thing we may be just looking at the start of the real Helter Skelter.
I suppose I am a racist because I'm very tired their whinning about every thing and showing so much hatred for me when I'm not the one who put them in slavery or discriminated against them. When I say this to them they say I may not have owned slaves but that I have benefitted from slaves because I'm white. They seem to think I should feel guilty but I don't. No man is responsible for the sins of relatives or anyone else.
MB

 

Angry white syndrome is what the black people call it. The white people are angry at being called racist and hearing black people whine about race and slavery to the point that their(White's) new anger ends up highlighting another racial prejudice.

 

Racism applies both ways. For instance, if someone voted against Obama because he is black, that was a racist vote. If someone voted for Obama because he is black. That is just as much of a racist vote.

 

You are most likely right on that. Maybe it's why they do it. They're own whinning is prejudice. Blacks claim they are never prejudice. I'm beginning to think everyone is prejudice to some degree. Even if it just preferring to be with people like them selves. It's too bad there is so much hatred over nothing more than color.
MB