Comment by wernercd | Hacker News Reader

Comment by wernercd | Hacker News Reader

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It's sad that race is being blamed by those claiming to be against racism.

My benefits, as said before, are being American - and I embrace those benefits. Nothing to be ashamed of.

"life on the other side" I refuse to treat others as less because of their skin color. You might be racist but I'm not. I'm surrounded by successful people of all color (and sexs, religions, lifestyles, etc) who don't cry victimhood.

You will continue to be either a victim or treating "POC" as victims who aren't smart enough or good enough - IE treating people different based on their skin color. (IE: Liberals talk down to POC because they look down on them. You might want to check YOUR "priviledge" and how you treat others - https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11/30/white-liber...)

I refuse to treat minorities as if they aren't good enough... society shows that is a lie and, as I was raised, treating people differently based on skin color is racism.

You may be okay being a racist... I refuse to be one.

Completely agree. Most racism in the USA can be explained by poverty—of which "POC" are disproportionately represented. America's systemic racism is better described as systemic poverty combined abuse of the poor.

>Most racism in the USA can be explained by poverty—of which "POC" are disproportionately represented

And why do you think that is the case?

Historical racism, especially slavery.

Slavery ended 160 years ago. Other countries that practiced slavery don’t have as bad of problems as the US does now in terms of racial inequality.

You say historical racism, but what makes you think that it is only historical?

Did I say that slavery was the only reason? No.

Did I say racism is only historical? No.

Having words put in one's mouth makes conversation deeply uninteresting. Thus I shall end my contributions here.

Yes, but the problems are interwoven. Poverty amplifies the problem of racism. But racism is what caused that poverty in the first place.

Now I do believe that more social democratic policies would benefit African-Americans a lot. But it would not completely eradicate the problems of racism and they would still be worse off than white.

The problem with only tackling racism and not inequality and poverty is that, even if you removed racism completely, African-Americans would still be stuck with being poor, simply for historical reasons.

Just like poor white people are likely to have kids which are poor.

> Poverty amplifies the problem of racism. But racism is what caused that poverty in the first place.

I partly agree, but I’d argue that it’s less complicated. I would rephrase thusly: Poverty IS the problem. And historical racism is the cause of a lot of that poverty.

> even if you removed racism completely, African-Americans would still be stuck with being poor, simply for historical reasons.

I agree in principle. The question is how you solve for systemic poverty. I think the first, most obvious step is to enact a very steep inheritance tax. That would be the most effective way to dampen generational capital inequality.

The second thing you could do is a generous UBI because that would dramatically benefit the systemically poor. The most effective way to lower income inequality is to raise the floor.

If one group of people are at a disadvantage due to racism and discrimination, then how do you suggest one compensates for that?

Do you shrug and go "though luck! It is what it is," or do you use legislation to try to compensate and level the playing-field?

And to play the devils advocate. Say I was a racist and I was very okay with it along with 150 million other Americans. And together we make life miserable for POC. How do you suggest dealing with us?

What is your policy? What are your action points?

What's your suggestion? Reparations? Who gets them? People who were never slaves? Do descendants of union members - white people who freed the slaves - get credit and exemption from paying for it? And where you going to get the money? Taxes that hit the poor the hardest?

My action points? Stop treating minorities as victims and idiots unable to take care of themselves. Its called being a decent human being. Everyone - minorities included - already have opportunities for college and starting businesses and all that. It's called American Privilege's.

I thought I'd seen it all. Advocating for racial equity is now considered racist. You heard it here first, folks.

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