Tuesday, May 19, 2015

The Only Problem in the African-American Community

Tuesday, May 19, 2015  ,  2 comments
Photo: PA
Germar addresses race seriously on the podcast, for the first time in quite some time. If you listen, and you still don't get it, you might be stupid, or an awful person, or a racist (maybe all three). We haven't done one like this since Trayvon--no intros, no jokes, no music, and on the road. It's a shortie. Germar calls this "the only problem" because all other issues stem from it. Overstand.

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 8, 2015 at 12:46 PM

    Hey Germar, I could still nit-pic the podcast, but it was a very good show. Race oppression has obviously come a long way, and for sure, has a long way to go... but to further your point, I have a little thought experiment for you. Let's say at each stage of interaction, whites have a 10% bias against blacks (you can change the percentage, but I think you'll get my point). When a police officer sees a black man, in a car, on the street, whatever... he's 10% percent more likely to be suspicious. Then during the interaction, he's 10% more likely to make an arrest. Then the black man goes in front of the magistrate, then the judge, then sentencing. Each step of the way, he's faced with that same 10% bias (or 20-30%, whatever it is). In the end, it obviously stacks up. I'm an optimist so I like to think it's not pure, malicious racism (although I know it still exists). It comes down to two things, racial bias, and economic inequality which still puts most black people in a terrible position right out of the gate.
    I hate to say it, but I'm still part of that problem. I can say I have black friends (which I do) and I try to understand all the history that goes into our current situation (and I do), but in the end, when I'm walking down a dark alley and I see I black man, in the back of my head, I still have that 10% bias. I can rationalize that it's just (especially in Detroit), but I also know that it's the root (at least one of the roots) of many of our problems.

    Anyway, good show. I still check back in now and then. I'm glad to see you're still doing the podcasts. Also, I like the redesign of the website. A lot faster and cleaner. Cheers Germar.
    (sorry for all the parenthesis!)

    Stan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Look to the CookieJune 8, 2015 at 8:26 PM

      heyyyyy Stan's back! I don't think I disagree with you. I think that's the exact problem. Everyone thinks they're not racist, but that bias based on . . . bias creeps in and then unarmed black teens are shot and so on and so forth, but it always "feels" a little more justified because of that ever-increasing bias. Thanks for the comment.

      Delete

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