Racism Accelerates Aging In African-American Men, New Study Suggests

Reminds me of that penn study that said discrimination happens in law

No shit

 

Stress accelerates agin, and makes you unhealthy. Racism causes stress, and anxiety. Feeling inferior can give you stress, and anxiety. I agree with the article.

 

Never felt inferior a day in my life.

And I don't think most bm feel inferior (correct me if I'm wrong fellas). The ones that do prolly don't have a problem with racism at all. They're "well adjusted" to their position in society and only hate on other black people

 

Simply this; as a black man you have to be aware of your surroundings. You're not looking for trouble. If you're alone, you are vulnerable, even amongst black people. The fear of violence from racist white people is not uncommon. These people and even others can randomly choose you as a victim because you were there. It didn't matter if you were a homeless man or a professional. You were chosen because you were there. It is the whole "playing God" thing, or just seeing what happens when a person purposely ruins another person's day. I am aware of this all the time, as I know you are. One day may turn out great. But the next day, noone knows no matter how much we plan for that next day, there is the unforseeable. Paranoia does heighten your situational awareness.

 

Not really just us. Really it's anyone.

Asians, Immigrants, Hispanics, and Mexicans are treated that way in society too.

 

Very True

 

Nonsense. The nazism against black men is different from what those groups experience both in kind and in intensity.

What's more, the history of racism against those groups is completely different both in kind and in intensity. And the stories of the cultures is completely different.

American society is far more painful, more complex and more of a conundrum for black folk, especially black men. I won't waste time explaining it, because if you really believe that those groups experience nazism comparable to what black people experience (and have faced throughout our history in this country), nothing I can say will make you believe otherwise

The experiences cannot compare at all. The differences are stark

 

thanks for breaking it down, gorath.

Bm very rarely share info about the racial atmosphere, even though I get the feeling that many of them are walking around feeling threatened and marginalized every day they wake up, depending on the year and the city they're in

...Which is one of the reasons it's never going to change. BM culture just isn't up to the challenge. it's taboo to "calibrate" and see if you're just carrying around some weird persecution complex or if society is actually as hostile as it is

We have the rep that all we do is sit around and whine about racism, when in reality, black people don't even talk to their kids about it, let alone to each other. Every generation has to figure the workaround for themselves.

Once, in a very rare revelation, my mom said "when I was young, we was scared of white people!", a testament to the terror her generation experienced coming up in the south. yet despite that terror, most parents say nothing to their kids about america's nazism or how to deal with it in anyway way, shape or form whatsoever.

And I bet your parents are the same. I think most black people believe that talking about it is actually counterproductive, like it'll make you angry or otherwise hobble you in some way

...To hear outsiders tell it, all we do is sit around and whine about racism and point fingers at "the white man", when in fact black people don't talk about it enough.

On the flipside, you can tell that people who target bm talk about (and laugh about) the things they do, because you sometimes see distinct trends in the antics

 

Wish I could rep you. There's a lot of truth here but I do have to say sometimes we give too much power to the negativity. Yes the racism is there it's clear as day but we need to bring solutions into the conversation.

 

I think we give more power to the negativity by letting everyone just figure it out for themselves.

You can't come up with solutions without comparing experiences and sizing up the extent of the problem.

I find it objectively fascinating that there are black men out there walking around in fear of physical violence, yet it remains taboo to talk about what's going on.

It's almost as if black men can be simply "browbeat" into submission, and that doesn't say much for black men. If that's really the case, then "3/5ths" is generous

There's really no way to solve it, if you have to avoid "negativity". It's an ugly subject.

 

Anyway, I'm more interested in assessing the problem. I'm a black man, but honestly, oftentimes I can't figure black men as a group

 

There was once a time that I was ashamed of being a black man. I was ashamed that there are so many black men in prison. When I worked as a Corrections Officer, I saw a lot of young black men in prison for just about every crime known to man. I do not equate prison as a part of the black race or culture. I just could not identify myself as a black man. Of course, I did not choose which race I was born into. I was ashamed because I would often see black men behave in ways I felt and still feel, are just plain stupid. A good example is the issue of Ebonics. Ebonics, or Black English was established as urban slang. It was a language that is spoken on the streets because to most young black men, it is something of their own that noone can take away. There were a lot of black folks who thought it was a good idea because it was self-expression. If someone talked to me in Ebonics, I would seriously ask that person to speak English because I have no idea what they are saying. Bill Cosby was against it. And then there is what I call the Saggers; guys who wear their pants below their butts and expose their boxers or boxer briefs. They claim that is self-expression. And not only black men do this, white, Asian and Latino men and lesbians wear this trend. In the town of Opa Locka, the police used to arrest guys who wear sagging pants. I can deal with one black man but as a group, I do not know. It was like that with my brothers. I could deal with my brothers individually, but together, I could barely tolerate them because when my older and younger brother get together, they are very loud and they always have a lot of fun together. I often felt left out because my interests were not theirs and their interests were not mine. But it is like that in my family. I had come to the conclusion, that I am a man. A human being. I am a mere speck of dust adrift in God's universe. I'm not saying that I am better than they are. I once had a discussion with a young black man who was just released from jail. He asked if I knew where he could get a job because he was afraid that he would go back to that lif of crime again. I asked him if he really wanted to go back to that. I reminded him that the police when they arrested him the first time was kind to him and won't be very kind the next time. Or, worst yet, he would be done in by "a concerned citizen." He would be villified and dead and the citizen will be a hero. I told him where he could go for a job. I told him to go to the church I worked for at the time. That was all I could do for him. I wish that these young men would aspire to something other than getting those trappings of perceived wealth. I remember a tragic story of one young black man, who graduated top of his class. He was on his way up and going to law school. His proud father gave him his custom Jaguar as a gift. This young man was very happy and he took his car out for a spin. And then he went to a party and he suddenly became popular because of his car. It didn't look like the others at the party. One of the owners of the other cars was so jealous that he and his friend killed the student and drove away. When they were arrested, later in the week, they had no idea of what they had done. The father was on the local news for a good while. He was accused of using the tragedy for himself, but he was a father demanding justice for his son. It's like what Rudy Ray Moore as Petey Wheatstraw says after seeing a bunch of black guys stipping his Lincoln to sell the parts to get drugs, "GODDAMN! DOPE-HEADED JUNKIES MAKE ME SICK! THAT'S WHY NIGGAS IN THE GHETTO CAN'T HAVE SHIT!" I think jealousy could also be another factor. The crabs in the bucket mentality that says that if you make it you cannot get any higher. The jealousy that you will see and not see. The truth is, those jealous people didn't help you get to where you are. They probably didn't give a damn about you. But when you make it, watch their behavior change. In closing, it is important to live for you and not them. Lead by example. Help if you can.

 

Paragraphs man

 

The groups you just named are racist as hell toward Black people.

How do so many negroes not see this?

 

For some reason certain people can only spot racism when it affects black people

 

Makes sense to me.

How 'bout you??

All groups are most concerned about how THEY are affected.

 

:smt043

 

What happened to the roma dude who posted in this thread? I didn't have time to respond to it, but was gonna give him props for refreshing insight.

One of the most under-acknowledged aspects of the nazism is the "racial climbing" part of it. That is, some of the other minorities think that hating black people makes them whiter. The roma dude pointed that out.

..Was also going to say that as long as we're comparing the racial experiences of the various minorities, roma are one of the few groups that (imho) have it harder than black folks, especially roma in eastern europe.

Of course, it's not about comparing experiences. Every group has different experiences with racism and discrimination, and no group's experience is a reflection of another's. Experiences are different in kind and intensity, but point is, everyone can point to some grievance.

The cacophony of grievances is exactly why it's important to focus on the one thing that's clear and unchanging -- that no group should singled out aggression, spite and scapegoating. No one should be persecuted for the circumstances of their birth. No one should have impunity based on the group they belong to.

You're right (heroesoftheinternet I think the name was) racism is indeed evil.

 

yeah, gorath, you gotta use paragraphs if you want anyone to read what you've taken time to write.

I read it. A question: do you think this "sagging and ebonics" stuff is the most pressing problem black people face?

 

It is not the only problem black people face. But for one to survive one has to know how to communicate and how to present themselves in order for anyone to taken seriously.