At this point, there is no reason for anyone in the US to suceed. I reject ANY arguements beyond that. Sure there are racist people on both sides, but guess what, it doesn’t stop there. There are people who don’t like you because of your hair syle, attitude, any number of reason why you would be shafted by your superiors at a job. Its all political and bias. You want to succeed, you either find the right job environment where you fit in, or you change to be what your boss wants you to be. No race involved. Life isn’t fair *plays a little violin*. Start speaking properly, wearing business clothes, learning manners, don’t shoot people with a gun, make good grades in school, don’t steal, show up for work, work hard, ect … ect.. These are basic things you NEED to do to succeed. That is american business culture, it isn’t a hit on your race, give me a break.

Sure, its harder to rise above when you come from a poor family. But its not because you are white or black, it is simply because you are POOR and don’t have the money or resources available to you. You have to start from scratch.

This is the fudamental meaning missing from such discussions–the details. What exactly and where did this racial discrimination take place. No one ever gives any examples, they just put it out there as a generalization. When did you get denied an opportunity because you are black? What? When? Where? Could it just be that you are lacking in certain attributes that are required to make it? Maybe you called out 20 times in the last 6 months, thats why you got fired. Maybe you stole something. Maybe you came to work too many times in baggy jeans. Maybe you didn’t finish your jobs right after being told multiple times how to do them and given the proper tools.

There is no disparage in america other than what you choose to live in.

I see that in your article you give a lot of thought to America and why things are the way they are and use good common sense, like in the example with the police (not saying they are 100% right).

I too agree with you on his stance on corporate America. It concerns me greatly that we are falling behind in taxes with China and the European Union.

I found this youtube vid tonight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5z9lD4C2Io

You can dismiss it as propaganda, but when I see it, I get angry about how the people highlighted in this video just screwed up lives of the people they claim they were trying to help.

Obama seems like the person that is going to be able to draft these kinds of legislation, I am only worried about how he is going to deal with corporate America. Right now, he seems like he’s on a war path against the corporations which scares me a little, but looking at his ability to work with organizations, I think he will be able to compromise with certain corporate lobbyist -even though now he’s blazing them every chance he gets.

Skeptical, I’m not sure what your talking about. But I think you are agreeing with my point about individual responsibility.

Obama is a cipher, riding the wave of revulsion at our corrupt system, while attempting to salvage it, and co-op the opposition. He is, nearly, an empty vessel, with no more significance than a flea, yet there he is.

God save us.

PS. I’m a white guy that grew up in black neighbothoods and schools in the 60’s and 70’s and so am gratified to know Mr. Santos is not the only person who learned to see “through the lens” of black rage at injustice. It has shaped my entire view of the world since. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

Before I begin I should note that alot of what I’m about to say may sound like I’m equivocating, but I think it’s the right position. I see what you’re saying and I agree with it to a point. There’s no doubt that times have changed and alot of what we think is systematic racism is really an excuse for lack of will. And what those things are, exactly, are debateable, but I think it’s enough to say in this miasma of politics and policy that racism is there in some varying form. I really don’t think we can say that there is NO racism in America, and that racism isn’t tied to economic status. That being said, the point of my article was to say that Obama’s rise doesn’t mean that systematic racism, in my view, has disintergrated and possibly may be less affected then we’d like to think. The proof of it’s decline will be in both what he does, and what the white public’s reaction will be to those decisions.

Those problems I mentioned before, which statisticly are black problems endemic in the community, are going to need specific policies to end them. You mentioned police brutality which is interesting since one of Obama’s greatest accomplishments in his IL senate tenure was his passage of the police interrogation law that forced cops to videotape interrogations to make sure that they weren’t coerced. One may say that this liberal law makes criminal justice more fair for everyone, and that is true, but pragmaticly it helps to stem the tide of systematic racism. Think of it, for whatever reason blacks get arrested more, are undereducated, lack less resources to defense lawyers, so on and so on, they are more likely to have their rights trampled on. Laws like the interrogation bill help not only help to defend those rights, but it makes police think twice about hauling in some black person it just cause they’re black and the cops need to close a case. This is what makes Obama, to me, the type of canidiate I want in office, because, rather than shape policy to fit the elite few, he finds ways to find just ways to help out the people that need it most. But I digress.

What I’m saying is, should Obama become president, hopefully this will be the type of legistation he supports and endorses. Bills that will undoubtably help people of all colors but will directly affect the poor minorities. This is also the type of bills the right wing has a field day with and can get easily polarized. What I’m saying is that should he become elected the real test of his white support–a ton of which we can’t forget are independents, and moderate republicans–will be if they can support more than just his slogan and his image but his policies. That will, to me, be more of a test of the level of racism in this country rather than just getting him elected.

PS: I also can’t exit this discussion without saying a brief word about former mayor of NYC David Dinkins, the first African-American mayor of New York. He was elected in a tight margin, (as Obama might if he makes it that far) and the day after got absolutly no support as the NYPD refused to work with the guy. His tenure was stained with tons of racist rehetoric that seemed to sprout up the day after he was elected. Now I’m not saying that Obama is Dinkins but you can draw a parallel.