High Court Rules for White Firefighters in Discrimination Suit

[Jeepluv77]

I'm surprised this hasn't been raised yet, and forgive me if it has, but aren't you a medic crotchity? It's terrifying to think of a critical white patient in your care with your thirst for payback and your level of hatred towards whites. You really need to reign this in and get some help before you kill someone through negligence because you just don't care due to the color of their skin. Just like I wouldn't want a KKK member in the back of an ambulance with a black patient, I question whether you should be back there with a white patient. I don't think you would intentionally hurt them(but then I didn't think you would conduct yourself as you have these last 12 pages either) but I can see you slipping up and missing something because you don't give crap and just want them out of your way because of what their ancestors may have done 200 years ago.

[Doctor_Phil]

I don't believe in racism. Any person, can be prejudice aganist any other person. But I don't think that's for you or I to change. I don't like Billy, Billy is white; so that's okay. I don't like Billy, Billy is black, so I'm racist. See, it has no merit. I think things that happened 200 years ago, happened 200 years ago. Get over it. I had family that served in WWII. Should I kill a German, because one of them killed my uncle? No. Should I kill a German, because they may have killed a Jew? No. You can't blame a whole group of _____ skin color, for the past. Get Over It, all of you. We are who we are. Therefore, I don't recognize your right to use the word "Racist". I don't even recognize the word.

I don't believe in racism.

[letmesleep]

Ignorance is bliss!

Racism obviously knows NO boundaries!

crotchitymedic1986, by your own admission throughout what I read, (and please correct me if I'm wrong) your 40ish. This tells me that you may have grown up during the civil rights movement, but wouldn't it be safe to say that you may have been too young to understand what was going on? This tells me that you (as I did) LEARNED about this movement from your family and/or in school.......history class I'm guessing. Beyond that, I am guessing that you were able to attend school, and received an education......as I did. I will and do admit that we (more than likely) went to different schools, but the opportunities were similar. With that said, I have to state that I am more than disappointed in your statements that minorities are unable to pass tests because of only being allowed in the school systems for 30 to 40 years. My question in regards to that theory is this: Why do you feel that an entire race (in this country...America) is dumb? Based on your statements, you are expecting me to believe that African Americans have NO drive to be educated, or to expect anything more than what their parents were able to provide for them. I DISAGREE WITH YOU! I will give you a couple of examples that your statement is a farce: George W. Carver (January 1864– January 5, 1943), and how about Vivien Thomas August 29, 1910 – November 26, 1985? Both of these MEN pushed to educate themselves, and be influential to our lives to this day, and look at that.....both were born before the civil rights movement.

If I am following your time frame wrong then I would have to say that being 40ish that you couldn't have been more than 10ish during this era in American history. Now with that said, if you do remember and did comprehend what was going on because you "lived it", then it would be fair for me to say that you are a very intelligent person with NO reason to make excuses for failing, in regards to the afore mentioned statements.

Let me add to this thread that I am a Caucasian, 38 y/o male, a state licensed paramedic, working for an EMS system and carrying the rank of private. I did grow up with the opportunity to become higher educated, but as a younger man, I made my own decisions and chose to go to a community college.....a choice that I regret at this point in my life, but one that I will correct......again by my own choice. Don't blame anyone, in this day and age, but yourself for your level of education! I don't think that the two MEN listed above allowed their social surroundings to hold them back and nor should any of us.

It is amazing to me how strong racism remains in this day and age, but I cannot help to think that it is because of those who are more proud of their race, instead of their own accomplishments. Racism is nothing more than different fish living in different ponds, and once in a while one of those fish take the leap to see what’s going on in the pond next to their own. How that fish is welcomed, equates to racism.

We all need to get past this issue as medical providers......after all, we all bleed RED!

Edited July 18, 2009 by letmesleep

[crotchitymedic1986]

I am not sure what questions I have not answered for you lonestar, but feel free to type any question and I will do my best . Please watch black in america this week on CNN and I am sure you will get an education. I do not THINK that a whole race is "dumb", it is just a scientific fact that blacks score worse on standardized tests, doesnt mean blacks are dumb, it is just that tests are written by whites, and are racist. We can go round around about all that, but the fact is that the department in question has a long history of racism that has been proven.

As far as the courts making a decision that is right, that is incorrect. The courts have been wrong many times. There was a time when the court upheld that women and minorities should not vote or work. There was a time when the courts upheld the imprisonment of asian americans during WWII just for being asian in america. There was a time when abortion was illegal, and currently the court has upheld the discriminatory practice of not allowing gays to marry.

I have not uttered any hatred of whites, I have just suggested that you owe us for the damage you caused. The same as if you wrecked my car, I would expect you or your insurance to make me whole again. Thats all we blacks want, is to have an equal playing field.

[letmesleep]

The problem with that theory is that I and my family are being lumped together with those whites whose families and forefathers may have actually done the "damage" to your family and forefathers solely based on the color of my skin. My family arrived from Germany and Ireland in the 20th century. There is NO owed debt.

I will say for the record that I disagree with this court ruling, and it being a "victory" for these fire fighters. In my opinion this is NO difference than the government setting hiring "quotas". So lets level the "playing field", and change the way this job and the FD promotes, instead of pointing the finger and using excuses in a court of law to climb the ladder. Educate yourself in the career that you chose to join and add a brick for the next generation, instead of dwelling on the past.

[Doctor_Phil]

There you go again. Pity me, I'm a middle aged black man, look at what my ancestors fought through, I deserve your respect and your sympathy.

Why? What's to say that what you are doing, isn't disgracing the culture of Americans who have skin that is not pink-white tone?

My ancestors were spat upon and much similar, when they got off the boat in New York and Philadelphia; from Ireland. They were a class of citizen that didn't exist. But I don't tromp around asking for more rights than anyone else, or that everyone stop and take pity, take a month to force our history down everyones throats. No. From Now on, let it be known, that every human, is now Dark Red, the color of blood. Since true color is only self preceived. I no longer recognize white, black, taupe, or even jaundice.. You are all now Dark Red.

You're only white, if you have severely high cholestrol. If that's the case, you're going to die soon anyway, so you don't matter.

Crotch.. You need to get a life. Nobody cares about your ancestors. I don't. I don't care about their struggle, or their hard times, or how they were treated. Because everyone, every group has a struggle. You could akin the civil rights struggle, to volunteer EMS. There's probably Black EMS Volunteers. So, now, YOU are a racist. You only want to get rid of Volunteer EMS, because they have a black guy. See? Racism has no merit. It's just a way for a group to say "Hey, look at us, pitty us, sympathize with our plight".

I'm not feeling it.

The streets of every city and town, are stained red, with the color of the Human being. Life knows no color, except red.

[Jeepluv77]

If I wrecked your car I'm sure you wouldn't want me to pay your great-great-grandson for it. 'Nough said there.

Let me ask you this, crotchity. During the civil rights movements a lot of whites stood up and fought for black rights. Blacks wouldn't have gotten anything without that help. I'm not just talking sit ins at diners, I'm talking lawyers and newspaper editors that had the cajones to do it at the risk of their livelyhoods. Do they owe you, too? Or did they already pay their dues? What about the subsequent loss of income that caused a lot of white families to have to raise future generations with less than they would have had? My friend's mom was kicked out of college for supporting the civil rights movement. They never had a spare nickle because of that. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be ashamed at you. He wasn't about payback or using your race to sit on your heels and demand people pay you for work you never did. He just wanted his people to be looked at with the same respect whites got.

Since it's obvious you aren't going to see the pointlessness of your arguements or how lazy you look demanding show me where your ancestors graves were and I'll bury the money with them. No problem. They earned it, even though my family worked right along side them. Maybe the African nations should pay their part, too, btw. Black people were sold into slavery by other Africans. It wasn't a bunch of white people running around in the jungle with guns and rounding them up.

"Along the west coast of Africa, from the Cameroons in the south to Senegal in the north, Europeans built some sixty forts that served as trading posts. European sailors seeking riches brought rum, cloth, guns, and other goods to these posts and traded them for human beings. This human cargo was transported across the Atlantic Ocean and sold to New World slave owners, who bought slaves to work their crops."

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr4.html -Notice it's PBS, not Wikipedia. I can find more for you if you'd like.

That's the third paragraph. Keep reading on that page. Educate yourself before you start talking about who owes who. It was still wrong, but it wasn't all whitey.

[tniuqs]

Thats all we blacks want, is to have an equal playing field.

Ever consider a return to your homeland if its not a fair playing field in the US ... ?

I know where some fair playing fields are the Dafar region in the Sudan or Rwanda perhaps Cameroon ? ... lovely this time of year with all the civil wars and ethnic cleansing going on and all, have a good trip.

cheers

[cosgrojo]

In the 16th century 1.25 million Europeans were captured by Barbary pirates and sold as slaves to North African plantation owners... That's right... Blacks using whites as slavery... I am from European descent Crotchity... I want my reparations now.

Africans were much less "captured" as slaves to bring to America as they were "sold". It is called the "slave trade" for a reason. The chiefs of the individual clans and communities of Africa SOLD their brothers and sisters to "whitey" for slaves. If you want to blame someone for slavery and racism, blame your own ancestors for not allowing its' own people to be free, and then selling their own people to the white people. And since you can't tell me definitively whether one of your ancestors wasn't one of the people enslaving the white Europeans... that means you should forfeit your right to complain about it. I am not your slave and you are not mine... isn't that enough?

Slaves have existed throughout all cultures on this planet... While awful and regrettable, it has happened to Whites, Blacks, Asians, Indians, Arabs et al. More often than not it is one race enslaving their own race and/or country men.

Why is it that the African AMERICANS are the ones that are constantly screaming about reparations, and banging the drum the loudest?

Crotch- your ancestors were enslaving themselves and each other long before my ancestors came along. And because they were already good at enslaving themselves, they made easy trading partners for when "whitey" came a knockin'. If you want proper perspective on who to blame, do the research. Slavery didn't start with Roots... it is far more encompassing, and involves all "civilized" nations in our worlds history. In order to move beyond it toward equal footing, people need to stop using racism and slavery as a crutch and start viewing each other as people.

So I have a solution Crotchity... I'll forgive your ancestors from enslaving my ancestors, if you forgive mine from enslaving yours... Deal?

[HERBIE1]

This is what it's all about folks:

Crotchity said:

"you owe us for the damage you caused."

There you have it. This isn't about righting a wrong, offering solutions, getting past a horrible time.

Paybacks. Plain, ugly, and simple.

It will never be enough. No end points, no settlements.

Thus, a rational discussion on this is futile.