[Tripper]

Don't you realise? It was merely 40 YEARS ago....FOURTY....That the word 'Ni**er,' was used by ALOT of american whites towards blacks. Most whites back then were openly racist - mainly because they didn't know any better. FOURTY years ago segregation existed, with the minority getting the underhand.

Most of the people that faced the OBVIOUS oppression back then - are STILL alive. They have families.
Do you expect them to just forget their past and move on? HAH! That's almost (although, a little extreme) like the sons and daughters of the Nazis, telling the holocaust jews, fourty years on, to "Get over it!"

I mean, doesn't this seem a tad bit unfair? Because this is, in essence, what you're telling those African-Americans who "pull the race card," or what ever the fuck you call it.

Most of these people have a right to not trust White Americans. I mean, if all they faced from whites was oppression, just fourty years ago...

...Alot of YOUR parents lived during this time period, and most probably a couple of them exercised racist attitudes.........But don't get me wrong - I'm not saying you fellas are the ones to blame at all - I'm simply saying, from the view on other side of the tracks, American Whites could be just as racist as they ever were.

Who knows.

In todays PC world, its as though those who still manifest racist attitudes, have to hide them......unlike they did back pre-civil rights era.

....So whos to know who actually still exercises racist attitudes in more subtle ways? (i.e, employing an equally qualified white over a black)

That's what affirmative action is about.

Can you all see what I'm saying?

BTW - I'm still not saying its alright for those african americans who push the "race-card," to do so (I'm also not saying it isn't), I'm simply saying that it is a state of affairs that needs sensitivity and a gradualist approach.

And also, this has nothing to do with Ed's "Nit-picking" (Although, on another note, I tend to agree with what he's saying), but this is more of a general evaluation of what you're getting at.