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Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta
More to do with civil rights than slavery was it not? Haven't read it since high school.
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Yes true, although it all is related to slavery and the fact that some Americans still do not recognize equality among the races.
My sister was in a relationship with someone from the States and she lived with him in the Houston area for a few years. He invited me and my other sister in Calgary to come for a visit and to attend the Houston Indoor Rodeo with him and my sister.
That was the first time I met him. To better describe him, I should start by saying he was raised in Birmingham, Alabama and was raised during the time of complete segregation of the races.
He had a big construction firm and employed people from all races and knew what was expected of him according to law. He paid all employees equally, treated them equally.....but
...in private, it was the complete opposite. He was completely estranged from his only child, a daughter, because she was dating someone who was part Hispanic.....you know, no mixing of the blood
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What he would never say in public anymore, he certainly said in private, in spades. He still referred to Blacks as n.....s, to those from Pakistan or India as sand n.....s, it was very uncomfortable to say the least.
The worst was on our way to the Rodeo. We were all in the same vehicle and he had brought one of his best buddies. We were stopped at a pedestrian intersection and some Blacks were crossing and they said to one another "should we get ourselves a n....r.
I was not raised that way and at that point that my sister and I had to tell him that we were very uncomfortable with those type of words and we asked him to please not use them in our presence.
Well, he also prided himself in being a "southern gentleman" and complied with our wishes.
Anyhow, no matter what the laws and books say about equality among the races, you simply can not legislate away discrimination and force people to be tolerant and accepting of others.
And babies are not born knowing how to hate and discriminate...those are learned behaviours within the family unit. Until that family setting changes, and until people decide to change their attitudes and values, sadly too many things will remain the same.