re: I don't think the racial tension in America is as bad as the media portrays...

quote:

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I think the negative part is assuming that different color means you must have different values. I don’t know why we got to this point.

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I don't think we do have different values when we are similar in terms of economics. I smoke cigars in a shop near me where the customer base is almost entirely black. Those who smoke on site....loads of white customers buy them and smoke them elsewhere, and the owner is white. Inevitably smoking cigars amongst a bunch of men leads to discussing value related issues. Keep in mind cigar smoking is an expensive habit....not many poor black men are smoking cigars in that shop....in fact, judging by their vehicles and their clothes they are solidly upper middle class. They are as conservative as ANY upper middle class white man I ever knew...more so on many issues.

On the flip side of that coin go to areas where white folks are poor as hell....I grew up as white trash....and the similarities between their values and those of poor black people...are nearly identical.

Age is also more indicative of similarities in values than race. Old poor black folks are pretty damned conservative and share basically the same set of values as poor old white folks.

Is there a difference between poor young black folks and middle class white folks? Without a doubt....is it based on race or economics?