So, are you saying, then, that America is slowly sliding back to the days of overt racism in America?

I Googled the question, and I found this blog:

millermps.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/racis...

The fellow writing the blog claims there are more arrests of African-Americans than any other group, and that there is a higher conviction and sentencing rate for African-Americans than whites.

And he concludes his short essay by saying that African-Americans remain America's stigmatised class.

Looking back into America's early history, it is true that the founding fathers gave the states political representation based on the fallacious idea that a black American counted for only 3/5 of a white American, and they did endorse slavery.

But, surely, the majority of white Americans do not subscribe to this sort of thinking? 

Still, there does seem to be a hard-core of racially motivated white Americans from the political far-right wing that has never supported racial equality.

To what degree is America a racist culture?  

Roodog -

Thank you for your thoughtful post, which I found extremely interesting - but scary - to read.

You mention your feeling that the U.S. could break up into several different countries in future, and this is something I've always wondered about myself, given that America is such an enormous country, with so many diverse ethnic and social groupings.

And, of course, it did happen when South Carolina seceded in 1860.  (We've watched the Ken Burns 'Civil War' series with much interest several times.)

Had the country not had a president like Lincoln in those perilous days, you might well have had two separate countries divided at the Mason-Dixon line.

If South Carolina or any other Southern state decided to secede today, I wonder just what would happen.  Maybe there are laws against that sort of thing nowadays.  Or, perhaps, there wouldn't be enough popular support by the people of the state for it to actually happen.

I didn't know that immigrants were kept in warehouses.  Would these be people who don't have a green card?  Or just people who were caught coming over the border into Arizona or other western states?

This sort of outrageous, not so say draconian, behaviour on the part of the immigration officials makes me think of the words on the Statue of Liberty:

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free....

Send these, the homeless,

Tempest-tossed to me.

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

May 22, 2012 -- 12:24AM, solfeggio wrote:

Roodog -

Thank you for your thoughtful post, which I found extremely interesting - but scary - to read.

You mention your feeling that the U.S. could break up into several different countries in future, and this is something I've always wondered about myself, given that America is such an enormous country, with so many diverse ethnic and social groupings.

And, of course, it did happen when South Carolina seceded in 1860.  (We've watched the Ken Burns 'Civil War' series with much interest several times.)

Had the country not had a president like Lincoln in those perilous days, you might well have had two separate countries divided at the Mason-Dixon line.

If South Carolina or any other Southern state decided to secede today, I wonder just what would happen.  Maybe there are laws against that sort of thing nowadays.  Or, perhaps, there wouldn't be enough popular support by the people of the state for it to actually happen.

I didn't know that immigrants were kept in warehouses.  Would these be people who don't have a green card?  Or just people who were caught coming over the border into Arizona or other western states?

This sort of outrageous, not so say draconian, behaviour on the part of the immigration officials makes me think of the words on the Statue of Liberty:

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free....

Send these, the homeless,

Tempest-tossed to me.

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Just watch this country over the next 12 months, if Obama is reelected, then it'll be, to say the least, interesting. What Obama's policies will be and what reaction to those policies is a matter of guessing.

If Romney gets in, it will be the return to the same old Bush policies that got us into so much trouble in the first place.

Eleven years is a very long time for this country to be at war: Obama plans to take the vast majority of our forces out of Afghanistan by 2014. I am not sure what the Republicans intends to do. Add to the mix Iran. I trust Obama more to avoid war with Iran more than I trust Romney. The Political and Religious Right are clamoring for war with Iran. It should be noted that war weariness was the catalyst for the Russian Revolution and the drawn out war in Vietnam and the opposition thereof brought the US to the brink of another such revolution.

I for one do not want any more war for economic and humanitarian reasons, I see war as the very last recourse after all other diplomatic means are exhausted and letting the situation remain as is is too dangerous to this country and the world. My background in Government (State and Local) has influenced my thinking that any given Government's primary task is to protect their people and keep the peace by whatever means is neccessary.

Living in a multiracial and multicultural country(some may say an empire)  will always present problems of large scale bigotry along ethnic and religious lines. The American Southwest is an area in which the Hispanic population is asserting their influence and at best I expect to see a plebicite to determine if the Southwest remains with the US, rejoins Mexico or becomes yet another country.

The late Malcolm X had called for, before his demise, an Afro American country, independent from the US. The proposed country would stretch from Georgia to Louisiana inclusively, cutting the  US off, along with the prospective loss of Texas to Hispanic seperatists, from the entire Gulf Coast.

White America, by and large, would find neither scenario acceptable. I am sure that there would be serious trouble. If not from our Federal Government, then by Whites residing the affected regions.

May 30, 2012 -- 12:14AM, rangerken wrote:

Getting back to the thread topic...(subtle hint...OK...not so subtle)... the woman should have shot and killed the man and claimed she was in fear for her life. Here in liberal Massachusetts, the police tell fiearms owners to never, ever, EVER, wound someone or leave someone to be a witness. If you have to use a firearm, make damn sure you kill the 'target'. Warning shots are stupid. All they do is warn the target to duck or run or shoot back, etc.

And yeah, Florida does have some odd laws. My mother lives in Palm Beach a bit over 6 months each year and I visit often, so I'm aware of some of the wierd stuff that goes on.

Ken

If I am going to get 20 years for shooting at somebody, I sure as hell want a body to show for it.