RateItAll: The Opinion Network

I'll simply ask a favor of the administration here- can this listing be made invisible to "McGowan?" Because I don't want to see blood all over the screen once he finds this listing and his head explodes...

Questions of semantics aside, I believe we all know what the thrust of this item is. It would be easy to make a gross generalization and say that blacks in America are the primary group responsible for perpetuating the majority of race issues in this country today (that is, if we assume that the majority of race issues do indeed involve blacks and whites, and excluse issues regarding Hispanics, Muslims, and possibly other smaller select groups like Koreans, Vietnamese, etc). With respect to the ongoing black/white racial issues in this country, there are more than enough whites who find it in their interest to perpetuate the race issue. I'm referring primarily to left-wing liberals who go around cooking up phoney issues to show their sympathy for blacks, mainly to get black votes when it comes to election day. Alongside names like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, and Maxine Waters, names like Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton should appear on the list. Parenthetically, I think that Bill Clinton, often referred to as "The first black President", is or was much more honest and sincere in his concern for blacks than many black leaders themselves are. Racial issues continue to be perpetuated by people who are not truly interested in advancing harmony and equality in our society, but who are interested in advancing their own agendas.

Peace, indeed. However, the sub-heading might have been more appropriately submitted in the affirmative - so as to allow no misinterpretation as to who share responsibility in perpetuating the problem - or else not introduced at all. The fact is, race issues can be fostered both through direct (active) and indirect (passive) means and each one of us should acknowldege to ourselves, at least, whether we have in either way contributed to radicalize or to assuage what is worldwide a very serious, real and unavoidable situation.

I had to choose one subtitle to give my outlook here and this one was as good as any. It seems there are always two types of raters. Those who are going to take the opportunity to give their opinion, and those who want to treat it as an opportunity to speak directly to the list creator. Its those folks that I believe usually take this stuff WAY too seriously. I will be the first to admit that my outlook on things can be flat midevil, but I dont apologize for it. That is who I am. Admittedly, I dont walk around and spout off my opinions and outlooks out here in the infected politically correct world we live in now, and I suspect that most peoples opinions are not spoken outwardly all the time. I use terms like "his woman" but I have never meant it to be disrespectful. I bring up race becasue it is still a huge problem from where Im standing, and it usually spawns interesting converstion. I have been called a sexist many many times and dont deny being somewhat male cheauvanist. Again, I consider myself an old world guy who misses a time when men were men and girls were girls. That time is long gone and is reflected on this site all the time. Thats ok, and Im ok with it, but I dont change for anyone. I appreciate all the interesting stuff on this list. I find it a lot more interesting than the banter I have seen lately on the site. Im just gald to make for some thinking other than to rate music and greatest recordings of different eras. I hope all you folks were entertained. Thats the main thing here. PEACE.

Souljunkie, I don't know what color you are, but you seem to perpetuate the majority of race issues on this site.

I think race is more of a social construct than any kind of genetic similarities. Race as a whole is a BS concept that assholes play as a card against the masses to keep them divided. Wake up and smell the BS, kids.

Like anything there will always be parasites to opportunity. Let that be in business, religion or politics. However, I don't believe it is the responsibilty of the "white man" to police the rhetoric of the the Farrakahans of the world. Though I get out of bed every day, work hard, am as honest as I can and try my best to contribute to my society I can't win. As a white American male I'm tired of having to defend my genetics to an ever increasing trove of prosecuters. Depending where I find myself, I am either a predetermined pig to the feminists, a predisposed bigot to the African Americans, a pompous war monger to the Europeans, or a proposed poster child to the KKK. It's about time the minorities begin to realize the friction about their circumstance is perpetuated within their own camps, so they are the ones who should have the moral obligations to monitor their own actions. UPDATE: Hey, Djahuti, where in my post do I refer to a "white race". Besides the last time I checked the term "race " has been used only in popular media as a subjectve term used to categorize humans. Genetics, on the other hand, is responible for such things as skin color and gender, to name a few. It is also partially responsible for intelligence. So, lets just go ahead and blame your innocuous pick on your parents. OK, dude.

"White America" is not even a race.Bone up on the latest genetic research,dude.

No, but white America is allowing it to happen by not overwhelmingly calling out race baiters and reviling them for what they are: shoddy little opportunists. When whites do not openly chastize Louis Farrakhan, Al Sharpton, Maxine Waters and the like they are essentially saying "This is OK or not worthy of condemnation." We have no one to blame for this situation but ourselves. We Caucasian types are frequently guilty of condescending to unproductive minorities. Whites commonly allow misbehavior, poor performance, criminal conduct and lack of effort to go publicly uncriticized when it involves Latinos, American Indians and blacks. Were it Asians or whites engaging in the same behavior, hordes of excuses and other rationalizations would not be quickly offered for extramarital births, high dropout rates, entanglement with the criminal justice system, substance abuse, etc. If Americans are going to be equal (as they obviously should) then that should extend to expectations.