Comments on: Beating the Drums for a (Non-existant) Race War

By: poplock

poplock — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:32:34 +0000

Ms. Meff – The research numbers are strictly addressing gang violence – Murder. Your comparing apples and oranges.
In 1970s, I remember standing at the local grocery store line more than once and blacks cutting in front of my mother and saying, “what bitch?” What is a mother holding three boys ages 1 through 6 going to do? Let black people try that number these days….
Back in my elementary school days, I dont remember a day without fighting a handful of chicken shit black boys…. I dont regret cracking their heads in two.
Nevertheless, I was one of the few fortunate that had good black friends from outstanding families. This taught me the best lesson in life – there is good in every culture and race.
My father tells me blacks were a lot worst toward latinos in the late 50s and 60s. He dropped out of High School over racial issues.

By: Celeste Fremon

Celeste Fremon — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:38:21 +0000

Hi Woody, I’ve got a more direct link up now. I did the interview from the Homeboy building, which was a somewhat crazy environment, so I was a tad more scattered sounding than I’d have liked. Still Warren is a sweetie, so I’m always happy to do his show.

By: Woody

Woody — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:12:30 +0000

Celeste, your radio appearance hasn’t made it up yet. I’m interested in hearing whether your voice is sweet like your heart or whiney like a liberal–or a combination, maybe called swiney.

By: MsFeff

MsFeff — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 01:01:41 +0000

I was surprised to read this morning’s paper as well. Clearly, this is a much more complicated situation than these numbers reveal. I teach at Jefferson High School and make a giant effort to discuss black/brown racial tension. I watch black students get hated on by other black students for hanging out with brown kids. I see brown and black students making babies together (hmmm, other problems with this example). I hear brown students make remarks about lazy black people. I hear black students make remarks about immigrants destroying our country. Almost every Friday night I watch the brown/black football team lose games together. Ha.

So, I just do not buy all of this recent publicity. There is indeed conflict between folks struggling over the crumbs. I just showed my students “Walkout” and “The Children’s March” to begin the dialogue for the year. These researchers need to spend a day in the hood.

By: Pokey

Pokey — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 23:56:28 +0000

So you think it is getting better (Poplock????)

By: Pokey

Pokey — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 23:53:51 +0000

Poplock, perhaps I live in the sheltered small world, they call Orange County, but I went to school in downtown Los Angeles when it was mostly black and latino in the early 70Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s. I had two Hispanic roommates and spent quite a bit of time in East LA with them, and they in my neighborhood.

Since that period, I have noticed that the blacks have felt displaces by the new immigrants. I plead ignorance about the zoot suit era of the 40Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s and 50Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s and what it was like.

From my viewpoint, I have been very surprised at the increased racial animosity among some of the blacks that I have encountered to Hispanics.

I have not found Hispanics to convey the same thing about blacks. Certainly there are millions of exceptions, my Hispanic God Daughter dated a black man for more than a year and mixed marriages are very common.

By: poplock

poplock — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:58:34 +0000

The research is the closest Ive seen to the truth.
For those that say that racial issues between blacks and latinos started 20 years back, you have no real gasp, inside, or competent knowledge of the discrimation that was occurring from blacks toward latinos in the lates 50s to the 1960s.
Pokey, your statements is probably the most saddest stereotypical of all views I’ve heard.
I would go into lecturing all of you on gang issues, but its a waste of my time and energy.

By: Pokey

Pokey — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:22:53 +0000

Calculating statistics is a naive approach to the problem. The issue is that these two groups are being polarized apart. The comparison of intra racial homicides is like tabulating rapes at work and relating it sexual discrimination.

My point is that the racial tensions (brown vs black) have been growing over the last 20 years and has recently erupted (as Maggie mentioned) in schools and prisons.

It seems to be getting worse – Not better.

By: maggie

maggie — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:36:32 +0000

I have to agree with Pokey: When I hear some academics in Irvine (which has very few Hispasnics or blacks, their ethnic battles have been Asians and Asian Indians supplanting whites, along with their cultural institutions: huge Buddhist and some Hindu temples replacing churches, etc.) giving opinions based on crunching numbers, I have to laugh it off. What about the recent black-Latino violence at Hamilton High, which required the intervention of not only campus police but LAPD, and resulting in shutting down the school for the day? And at high schools around the city. Tables reserved for certain races isn’t just the case at Jena. And Janice Hahn and Mayor V very recently tried to calm tensions in her district, where young people get shot for accidentally crossing to the wrong “black” vs. “Latino” side of the street. I guess those people are “nominal” in termms of some UCI academic numbers. If they believe the UCI nonsense and ignore the reality on the street, they’ll be killed and become a relatively “nominal” statistic.

By: Celeste Fremon

Celeste Fremon — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:27:39 +0000

Good call LA Res, I meant to link to Jill’s article last night, but I forgot. She’s got a better ‘graphic anyway.
Thanks for the reminder.