Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

racism certainly exists.  it's been dissipating, like a bad bout of whooping cough, for at least two generations i'd suggest, and, i question openly if it would have survived another generation without gaslighting. 

what is getting worse is the delta between values across the spectrum of cultures and sub cultures, but mostly what is getting worse is the systemic lack of regard for someone different, someone who has faith, someone who has different sexual orientation, someone who subscribes to opposing political ideology... and the list goes on- but hangs up like a thorn in velvet when sliding past 'political ideology', and which in my opinion is the intent, here.

YOU believe that racism is 'systemic' because that is what you're being told to believe is my guess.  I don't see it.  I see the opposite, especially now among encounters with whites and blacks.  I see people trying to let other people know they respect them.  What I am glad to say I DON'T see is quarter being given to those set to disrupt- destroy- incite- and to, simply, 'hate'.  I see it on television, though.  On television I see pandering to the lawless as if official pardon is granted prior to the trial when someone lashes out based on their perceptions and breaks law.... 

In person I see a friend of mine- a middle aged black man who is raising a family and providing for them the best way he can, and doing a exceptional job of it... I see his masonry 'side business' and dedication to extended family, employing them, growing to surpass his 'primary' job as a lineman for the electric company... I see him approach me, cautiously, and make small talk, and then offer of his own volition "Man, I hope you don't think me or any of my family are into (interpreted as 'supporting') this mess going on right now, or that you think less of me for being a lifelong democrat"... and I was ashamed at that moment, because that is what he perceived as a possibility... I asked him whatever would make him think that and he responded "I feel I have to reach out and openly set this straight- every thing my mom and dad and their mom and dad, my wife and I and what I try to teach my kids is being exploited for the gain of people who don't have one bit of skin in the game".... and that^ is but one example, but the one that was better defined than similar discussions that relied on innuendo or 'reading between the lines' in communication. 

and that is what i think is happening- is exploitation.  reason, rationale, and logic are gone when they're rivaled by 'feels'... 'Feels' reigns.  People literally 'feel' they can set out to destroy the manifestation of others diligence, hard work, and careful planning culminating over a lifetime if not more because they 'feel' slighted or because they (or someone they 'feel' attached to) got their comeuppance for their own actions instead of 'getting by with it'. They use that as an excuse to loot, pillage, plunder and in some sort of state mocking 'righteous indignation' more than anything,  but is far from 'injustice' and wouldn't exist if not for the manipulations of those 'without skin in the game' who will retire to their comfortable and secure lairs after they leave the area they incited unrest- and leave the scorched earth to the plebs who only serve one purpose for them: which is to recognize their power.   

@OrangeAfroMan , you can fall prey to the shenanigan's of manipulators if you please- that is your prerogative.  You can sink your teeth into the bait if you want, and even allow it to trigger emotional state that overrides logic as so many have.. but that is on you... I'd rather see you, as i would anyone and everyone else, try their best to let the emotional charge wash through, and then make determinations based on rationale, accountability of logic, reconciliation against their own environment and determination if the conditions being suggested have weight by your own witness, and then determine if you want to be a part of 'it'- forwarding the position in amplification... or, if you decide to take the opposite and forward the position in critique... else... you just recognize it as something you don't know about other than others are talking about it... that position is up to you... but be fair about it- use facts, not conjecture; use logic, not emotional 'feel' responses; use compassion and empathy not callousness and self righteousness; think it through... consider the condition that is causing this practice is done by flawed humans, most likely, and almost certainly humans that were in a condition that didn't offer them the opportunity to 'think it through'.   

this group is a pretty good group for applying the above... there is another group present on this site that can get riled and take positions they're willing to plant a flag on and defend... and for almost ALL of us, it's ALL 'vicarious' anyway... and, I am amazed and horrified at how we let those with an agenda define and describe our environment and we dismiss our own data mining of that same environment.  I'm willing and ready to listen to opposition of my comments from someone who has experienced and has first hand account of what is being suggested- and which is presented bereft of calls to emotional response at least in initial presentation.  I'm certain these circumstances exist, but I'm equally certain they are the exception and not the rule.  I'm certain enough to know the outrage being manifest is manufactured based on the trigger device of those intent to manipulate, and far far FAR more than any personal encounters or experiences capable of triggering similar response is....

but.... WTF do i know... that^ is just my opinion.

YOU believe that racism is 'systemic' because that is what you're being told to believe is my guess.  

Not at all.  This isn't some recent discovery or blind outrage that was born yesterday.  It's inherent and has been our entire lives. 
It has absolutely gotten better.  It absolutely still exists. 

The systematic aspect is woven into our society, again, even if you throw the last 10 or 20 or 50 outrages over black people being killed by cops or whoever.  It's not about killings, really, it's about day-to-day things we all know about.  And some of us, somehow, just brush it off as unimportant I guess? 

People aren't good at treating strangers as individuals.  I think that's a big part of it.  Think along the lines of the black lady being observed/followed closely at the store by the worker.  Or the otherwise equal resume with the last name of Jackson vs Kensington.

It's a first glance at someone and before you have 2 seconds to tell anything else, you see their skin tone and probably involuntarily react friend or foe......there are still too many people seeing a dark tone and a foe reaction.  Threat.  Guilty until proven innocent.  Complimenting at what an eloquent speaker they are. 

Yes, the people running the BLM group are radical nuts.  I don't know who disagrees with that.  But it's not about them.  It's about the ongoing ebb and flow of the continued improvement (ie - advancement) of racial equality. 

I suspect this is the case, which is why we can label the racism as systematic.  Even if it's a learned, now involuntary act over time, it's still a disservice to the next individual you (we) encounter.

Now... i offer this as just a fleeting taste of training and training that is exercised by police regularly.  It isn't them who need training- its the public, and especially certain cultures within that public.  I mean, if a rocket crashes, are you going to listen to the engineer about the cause?  A person steeped in knowledge and experience?  Or, does the account offered by Billy Bob, who happens to be both high and drunk, fulfill your curiosity?  When we dismiss the account of police, and take the assailant's word, that is exactly what we're doing.