Sun 10 Aug 2008
During last Thursday’s hearing on the black depopulation of San Francisco, I jokingly said that nobody in San Francisco was racist, but Leslie Fulbright’s solid article on the subject brought the racists out of the woodwork. Although many of the comments have been removed for content, there’s still quite a selection of racist comments to choose from. The SF Gate online “community” is a backwater cesspool….
oldschool138 8/9/2008 7:42:27 PM
Why do black folks always seem to have it so bad, & how many special programs and study groups will it take for the black community to “catch up” ? I don’t know if that is the right phrase. At the risk of sounding racist, I would dare to say, why is everyone always looking at an external reason as to why the black population does not thrive like every other ethnic group. Perhaps if the emphasis of these “programs” were responsibilty and character development, this would be a non-issue. In other words, stop blaming everyone else, this isnt the 60s or 70s and this isnt Jim Crow south, this is one the mose liberal places in the world. Figure it out. Nation of Islam? What the hell do they have to do with a positive black community. Just another quasi-terrorist organization to blame all black woes on whites…..and Jews too! Didn’t Farrakhan call for a race ware against whites? And they give these poeple credibilty, like inviting the well tanned Klan without the robes. Look deeper people.
andyman_sf 8/9/2008 7:48:20 PM
Lived in SF most of my life. Been robbed 3 – 4 times by a gang of blacks. I won’t shed a tear if they can’t afford to live here and continue to rob me. If blacks really want to stay here they really must WANT to help themselves. Frankly this article is probably written by another white person in a comfy office trying to make themselves feel better. Get over it. I can’t say all blacks are bad, but what I can say from experience is the city can do without them.
tk2x 8/9/2008 7:50:11 PM
And why should I care? I assimilated into the City and made sure I was educated and gainfully employed so I can afford it. If blacks don’t want to do the same… See ya!!
jcpardell 8/9/2008 7:57:11 PM
I guess not taking education seriously, hanging out with gangmembers, paying more attention to partying than schoolbooks, spending more money on hip-hop gear, etc., has nothing to do with it.
sfgangbangers 8/9/2008 7:58:15 PM
When I drive down Cesar Chavez (Army) St., right by the projects I see dozens of Latino laborers looking for work. I’ve never seen any African American there looking for work…
jevonprice 8/9/2008 8:01:08 PM
That’s good for me, better pickings of what’s left and less competition
frisbeedude 8/9/2008 8:17:51 PM
If you want more out of life, WORK HARDER!!!
Dantrez 8/9/2008 8:20:12 PM
If this is a “black” problem, let black people fix it. Step up and show some accountability. Stop looking to others to fix your dam problems. I don’t care if whitey set the whole system up. We all know that he did. It’s still your challenge as a man or woman to make a better way for your family, and get off the public teet.We are at a point where blacks are being lapped economically by every immigrant group of the last 100 years, and they have no one but themselves to blame, even if whitey does make an attractive target.
ohreally 8/9/2008 8:26:44 PM
Congratulations to SF. Why couldn’t Oakland be so lucky? Who is murdering whom? Who is once again on a robbery spree holding up restaurants? Right.
eastoak 8/9/2008 8:29:33 PM
not a word in this article about blacks sharing the larger part of the blame for their plight. ask the japanese, chinese, vietnamese, jews, caribbeans, africans, latin americans and all of the other immigrant groups how hard it is to make it in this country if you are WILLING TO WORK. i wish the scum of the black community would leave the whole of the bay area so blacks who want to live as productive members of society can get on with their lives.
chewchewtrain 8/9/2008 8:30:30 PM
WISE WORDS: Bill Cosby has stated Black issues very well, but has the Black community, like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, gathered around his observations?…… Blacks complain about crime but when cops show up nobody steps forward as a witness….. From separate sources, I’ve been told Black youth feel it’s “too White” to get good grades in school…… Inner city Black communities are rotting from the inside out.
imperialist1960 8/9/2008 8:36:29 PM
Black culture leaving SF? Fortunately, we still have Oakland, Richmond, and other bastions of black culture to fall back on locally, so rap lyrics about “the life” won’t suffer too much, I think. Light Rail in, standard of living up, property values up. If you own a house you sell and cash out. If you don’t own, rents go up and the expense of living in SF begins to resemble the rest of the 49 square miles and it starts to look like a bad deal and tougher to do. Vibrant gentrified neighborhood, or the place I got shot at 10 years ago when riding my motorcycle? I’ll take the no-gunfire option, please.
AmericanMark 8/9/2008 8:42:37 PM
The ones who “don’t care about black kids getting shot” are the other black kids and black adults who decide not to help the police identify the shooters; who decide not to help the “black kids getting shot”.
dupay27 8/9/2008 8:51:42 PM
hopefully it’s only the criminally-minded, thugged out blacks that are fleeing. i think san franciscans of all races wouldn’t mind that.
felix94109 8/9/2008 8:58:32 PM
How about black people going to school, getting education and working hard like the rest of us to live in San Francisco? Why does any race for that matter have to depend upon the government for subsidized housing and all the benefits that come with not making enough money. You can not expect gorgeous condos with ocean views etc. and be sitting aroun doing nothing all day and blame the city for the same. If you can’t make enough to live in the city than either find a good job or move out. This applies to any race as there are enough opportunities here.
ofey 8/9/2008 9:29:20 PM
BORING, WHO CARES, GOOD RIDDANCE.
AmericanMark 8/9/2008 9:48:37 PM
The first posters comment was removed. There was nothing offensive about it and race wasn’t mentioned. However all the article did was basically say “blacks = good, whites = bad to blacks”. The article is one of the most racist articles I’ve seen in a long time. And she got paid to write it. In comparison, the poster was decent. What is the problem?
bobsicle 8/9/2008 9:51:18 PM
lklein — “To those blaming african americans for not coming forward regarding crime I ask this: If you and/or your family firmly believed that coming forward would result in your family being threatened or killed, or your property vandalized, would you do it?” But it’s other blacks who are doing the threatening, killing, and vandalizing, so it’s still a black problem. Why don’t blacks hold their neighbors accountable? Why don’t they point fingers when 13-year-olds sprout tummies and become baby mammas? Why don’t blacks tell their kids they can’t wear gangsta pants? Why don’t blacks read to their two-year-olds? That Deacon the other day in the news said little black kids’ eyes lit up when given a box of crayons. A box of crayons cost $1. Why don’t blacks buy their kids boxes of crayons and encourage their creativity? Why are blacks such gawdawful parents? Black matriarchs used to keep tight reins on their families. Now grandma is smoking crack with her daughter while the baby cries.
dr8kangas 8/9/2008 9:53:37 PM
Blacks don’t come forward & finger black criminals living next door because they are not willing to stop crime. I have no problem dropping a dime on a black or white criminal. I know a dozen people I have had arrested, who will probably try to kill me, if they see me, because I sent them to prison. But they know I carry a gun legally. This is a class war & I am on the front lines. Take no prisoners.
nativeguy1964 8/9/2008 10:00:05 PM
does this mean it will finally be a lot quieter in my neighborhood at night?
bobsicle 8/9/2008 10:00:14 PM
LStaley — “Do people on both sides of the racial divide even want and search for a solutions?” There’s no need to search for a solution. We already know what the solution is: to the girls, stop having babies by no particular father when you’re 13 and 14; to they guys, pull your pants up and speak proper English; to both, go to schoo, go to college, and make something of your damn lives. That’s the solution, but it’s like horses and water. Our colleges and universities are basically free, but you can’t make the horse drink if it doesn’t want to.
joker55 8/9/2008 10:15:28 PM
Yep, it is time to level Hunters Point Western Addition and Sunnydale. I am tired of having no go zones in my city. Replace it with nice middle class housing and watch the area prosper. Look at Filmore now. Nice place to go hang out, eat, listen to music. Tired of crime, tired of filth. Tired of subsidizing people who do not care to lift themselves. Don’t care who moves in, color is not important. Any middle class folks are welcome. Hurray for gentrification, lets get rid of all pockets of poverty and decay in SF
August 11th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Sometimes I think that SFGate has its own automated comment generator that allows it to feign “community” outrage over anything progressives do. Then again, given the fact that sfgate didn’t even get comment capabilities until like 2005 makes me think they’re not sophisticated enough to do that.
August 11th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Chris,
As an African American, I find most of these comments not racist so much as they’re expressions of frustration. I believe that most people don’t feel comfortable talking about racial issues because they feel the deck is stacked against them in terms of perceived rights and wrongs, whether true or not. Online is the perfect forum to hear what you’d never otherwise hear, people’s unrestrained thoughts. Naturally, the bad apples and haters will chime, but if you believe that most people, are good people, then perhaps you should consider that the preponderance of the posts are from every day people who would very much like to see the African community stand up for itself and tackle its problems, as so many other communities have done. Consider posting not just the negative, but also the positive posts, and perhaps reply to the ones you feel are racist and explain what you perceive to be racist about them?
August 11th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Those are not racist comments; they are merely realistic. Most people are up to here with black victimization. Only politicians on the loony left and irresponsible race-card players like Sharpton and Jackson still pander to that.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:55 am
They all probably work for the Clinton campaign – not because she is (necessarily) racist, but because they sound like democrats.
Unfortunately, Republicans don’t hold the patent on stupidity.
Clinton knew how to get knuckle draggers to the polls…help the whiteys feel like victims and they are ready to blame anyone and everyone for their plight…just drag the train of your white robe by the doors of the ignorant whites and they will come crawling out in droves.
America thrived off slavery for hundreds of years, then after a civil war made us reluctantly stop being slave owners, we waited another 100 years before having to FORCE ourselves (through courts and legislation) to honor the result of the Civil War.
It’s been just over 40 years since sheepishly admitting our racism and now we ask – “Why can’t those Negroes get their act together, already?”
Gee, it only took us “superior” whiteys 450 years to do it, what makes us think that stain will be reversed within one generation?
Yeah, I feel like this comment just restates what is already known…but I’m submitting it anyway because I feel like it. At least I’m not wasting my breath at the comment section at sfgate (where I no longer dare to check comments because I respect myself too much).
August 11th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
This thread brings to light some issues that I think need to be addressed — something that was only superficially touched upon in the 60′s and has gone backwards ever since. Specifically, I’m talking about reparations for slavery. South Africa seems to be the only country willing to press for such initiatives in earnest, and they are a majority black society.
Some necessary programs:
Black (and brown) people deserve first priority over social services such as affordable housing, grants, scholarships, low-credit bank loans to start businesses and own homes, healthcare, education and, especially, jobs.
It should be made into law that corporations (especially the ones that profited off of slavery) should have a strict policy of hiring black people at all levels — from CEO right down to the janitor. An aggressive employment program whereby companies, at their own expense, are forced to seek out and recruit black people needs to be instituted.
In addition, in general, if a black or brown person (even if less qualified) applies for a job, he or she should get it over a white person. If corporations or governmental organizations repeatedly and willfully refuse to comply, their charter should be revoked and/or should be extremely heavily taxed to support other affirmative action employment programs. In addition, upper employment — the ones calling the shots — should be terminated for not being aggressive enough. There is no other way to establish TRUE equality.
What I find particularly unfortunate about Obama is that he, of all people, is not even willing to broach these subjects (even though, deep down, he knows he should). He actually does the opposite by framing the debate as a “class” thing as opposed to an inextricable class/race anathema. By doing this, he is equating black suffering and white suffering as one and the same, thus, further clouding the problem and making things even worse than they already are. It’s as though he is relying on white guilt to get elected.
The thread on SF Gate really shows us what we’re up against. Cetainly, it is more extreme and cowardly, but even many hardcore white liberals would blanch at some, if not all, of these proposals. White people — whether they are aware of it or not — cherish and parade their privileges because it makes them feel superior and, therefore, powerful. And they are powerful — at least outwardly.
And, for all you racist assumers reading this thread, I’m a white male.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Some of those posts on SFGate are quite shocking.
African-Americans have been victimized since being carted over here on slave ships. In my view, the only solution is “empowerment” for the AA community.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
By the way, Chris, I would guess that your oldest child is approaching school age.
You would be setting a great example by putting him in the Bessie Carmichael school in yuour neighborhood instead of Clarendon or a private school like most of the priviledged public employees.
August 12th, 2008 at 8:00 am
It is abundantly clear that many whites–and blacks are still in significant denial about the generational legacy of slavery and the institutionalized racism that exists in every crevice of this nation, including San Francisco. This blog space isn’t large enough to do service to a discourse on racism and discrimination. But I will end by saying to people, check your internal biases and heal your deeply entrenched attitudes before you offer any advice.
August 17th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
This is good information for those who claim blacks nad others are too sensitive, prone to exaggerating or are looking for some kind of race sympathy for not getting that supervisors position, getting that higher grade or just working as hard as that so-called workaholic white male( btw I don’t see any white males standing on that same corner looking for gainful employment).
Mostly racism today is generally the same as it was yesterday, it’s someone who feels inferior about themselves and needs to look down on others in order to feel superior. Clearly blacks have succeeded as much or more then any others in many fields yet even in this 21st century much needs to be done in preventing those racist voices who often prevent others from reaching their full potential. So when you see racism white, black, Indian, Asian whatever it is don’t be quiet, stand up to it and fight for equality for everyone or they will win in continuing in this systemic racism that still clearly exist and threatens us all.
We can’t afford to continue losing a piece of our humanity as exhibited here. Our children and our future depends on us wiping out racism where ever it raises it ugly head forever.
Don’t just stand up for black people join all people in the fight against racism.