boardordi3 said:
there's also a HORRIBLE double standard
theres a BET station(black entertainment channel) but no white channel, because that would be racist. god, this crap makes me so mad...
the point is that most other channels are white entertainment channels, when BET was set up there were literally only mainly white audience channels showing programs aimed at mainly white people.
the same now as there is a BBC Asian network, it's available for anyone to watch, the regular BBC could be renamed the BBC white network, and the programs would be available for all to watch, but you have to ask yourself what is the point?
also going off of the double standard, and what Jenox said about the "n" word, why is it two African Americans can say that, but the moment a white person says it, its bad?
because of history, and how that word was a derogatory word when said by a white person, there was a point in time when people who were essentially repressed in every way, (including the language of the society that they lived in) 'took back' words. making words more acceptable to use...
it used to be that calling someone black was actually a derogatory statement, however as black people started to declare themselves as black it became more acceptable.
hence why James Brown had the song Black and Proud, the point of that song is that you can be both black and proud.
I think the trouble is today, unless you go out of your way to find out about these things that there is still largely no education as to what actually happened. and the way that society is today where (especially younger people) are ignorant to the past, and yet still accepting of all different creeds and nationalities, it becomes more difficult to see why there is a NAACP, a United Negro College Fund, BET or any other thing specifically aimed at giving something to a person of colour but not a white person.
whilst it may seem unjust you have to realize that even now there is a situation where the effects of the slavery trade, segregation in schools, segregation in society, years of racism etc are still in effect, it's still harder to get ahead if you are black than it is if you're white...
you have to look at the statistics compare the amount of black people and white people who are company CEOs directors etc, presidents or Prime ministers.
now I'm not suggesting that we need more societies for the advancement of coloured people or anything like that, but we do need to appreciate their need and work towards changing our behavior (society as a whole, though that starts with the individual) so that they are no longer needed.
wherever there is a culture where a group ignores the history and the effect that has had on the current situation, and then says about how unfair any kind of helping hand that they are excluded from should be abolished, then the more racism there will actually be.
You only have to look in this country (Britain) at groups like the National Front, or the British National Party to see that the people complaining the most about these kind of groups seem to in fact not want equality, rather that they want supremacy, or at least all of the non-whites out of their country.
it's a complex situation, and one that's going to take more than a few posts on a forum to get through.
the only thing that I can suggest you do is educate yourself about the way things were and look at how you can improve the future for everyone,
I think that everyone here is essentially not racist and realizes that given the chance anyone can make a valuable contribution to society regardless of their skin colour. just everyone needs to be given the same chance...
if that means that a guy who is poor and black gets given a scholarship to go to college whilst you who may be white middle class doesn't then so be it.
if it was your family who was being repressed for all that time and having the opportunities taken away from you then you'd want that chance to.
just remember that if you have a black friend there is a good chance that his mother/father were denied the opportunities, or even decent education that they'd need to get ahead in life.
something that your white parents would have took for granted and something that would have helped them to get along in life. get a good job and actually be able to pay for you to go to college or whatever.
as I said, the situation is improving, but there is probably a good few generations to go, (which could be the next hundred years) before you'll have that situation where things truly are equal, where people aren't segregated from society, or where people had a bad start in life because their parents were segregated and poor, or the repercussions of that aren't still in effect.
For me, half my family is black, I hear all kinds of things, good and bad. I know the affects of saying such words to them, and then when I get words thrown my way for being in a mixed family, although both my parents are biological and white, the black side of my family comes from a long, personal story. 
