Appreciate your intelligent start for a hard discussion.
I interviewed at North Carolina Central University for a law librarian position in late 1994 and never saw so many different shades of African American skin colors. NCCU is a historically African-American school.
I was applying to everything in was remotely qualified for in the fall of 1994 and honestly had not known NCCU was a African American university. But was excited to be visiting and they paid for the plane trip from Chicago. And the hotel stay.
Not sure why in 2020 we would even need universities that have student bodies which have one ethnicity that is predominate.
Until you look at the histories of these schools though and the hard roads that they had to travel to survive.
Also probably schools like NCCU are good for people who share a lot of the same life experiences and who can empathize with one another.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LoisR
By now, probably most, if not all The Villages has heard of or seen the video of the man yelling “White Power” at the recent golf cart ride. As inappropriate as that statement was, I started to think about why anyone would even use it. I then thought of several conversations I have had in the recent past with Villagers when we shared original homesteads and I mentioned I was from NY. On three separate times, I was asked, “What was it like living with “them?” “Where you ever attacked by “them?” “Weren’t you afraid to live with “them” so close? On two other times I mentioned we had to go into either Leesburg or Wildwood for an errand and we were asked what type of gun do we carry? The people asking the questions stated that they never go into “those areas” without a pistol.
That got me to wonder where, or how and why does one develop thoughts and fears like this? As humans, we are not born with a genetic predisposition to be a racist, bigot, or hater. As humans, like all other animals, our intelligence (the ability to incorporate and use information) is developed from combinations of our experiences with our environment, including family, our living experiences, including schools and religious associations, and interactions with other people and processes.
So, why would a person who has never met one of “them” be so fearful that they must carry a weapon because they assume they will be in danger? Why would a person who has never met with one of “them” believe they are different than we are? What was so devoid in a person’s development and life experiences that they must yell “White Power?” The questions are easy to formulate, the answers are not. I invite your thoughts.
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