'I'm Not Racist' is the brutal race conversation nobody wants to have

You're not alone, and it damn sure isn't because of your skin color. I'm right beside you.

Thank you brother.

Thank you brother.

I am NO BETTER than you, no worse than you on your worst day. You are every bit my equal, and I fully respect you. Not based on rank, privilege, or race. I respect YOU for YOU.
I cannot take away what happened to you, but rest assured, not all of us are as stupid, asinine, and something that should've been aborted like the man who did this to you. He's not worthy of life. That is just my personal opinion. I am actually sorry that happened to you, but glad you rose above it.
You always have a friend here.

SSG Warren Swan - Staff Sergeant Swan: You could Not Be More EQUAL to me if You Tried. My prayer is that the man who raped me is in prison for life; such that he will Never rape another woman nor man.
Thank you so very kindly, Staff Sergeant Warren Swan, for acknowledging and being glad that I rose above the rape.
Staff Sergeant Warren Swan: You have a friend in me; And, you are most Beloved by me.
Carry On Bright Star: Staff Sergeant Warren Swan! -Love, Margaret

It’s both on both sides. One claims the other wants to rewrite history. One says the other doesn’t include history equally. That in itself poses a serious problem when facts are not facts, but who’s interpretation is seen as better. Culturally the king of rock is Elvis. But he got his style from blacks. Pat Boone made remakes of songs sung by blacks and made a lot of money, got a lot of fame, but the originating artist got none. It’s like being a culture vulture. One takes, but doesn’t respect where it came from. It’s not a solely white thing either. In the end, both sides bicker over what’s real what is not real, then claim history is on their side and theirs alone. We can’t go on like this, and the current social economic and political climate does little to help the situation any. It’s no longer whites vs blacks, it whites against themselves, blacks vs themselves, and keep on going. Divide and conquer to the fullest

SSG Warren Swan - In a capitalistic society, everyone tries to make money off of everyone else. Buy as low as you can and sell as high as the market will allow. You have mentioned the music industry, so lets stick with that. How many artist have been screwed by record labels regardless of their race, religion etc... I suspect its hundreds or thousands. Until technology allowed someone to build a recording studio in their garage, the world was stuck with the major players because of the cost of the equipment. The owners of that equipment wanted to make as much money as they could, screwing everyone they could or had to along the way in the process. Retail and the service industries are a lot like that to this day IMO. I don't like it and it's not fair, but that is the way it is.

From my observations, culture is the big discriminator in life. We can name several prominent and successful blacks in the USA. I am observing as an outsider, but from my observations this holds true for all people, those who succeed don't do so by bucking the system, but by assimilating into the system. This is why I suggest that the culture clash is the problem. An uneducated person with a rough street personality/attitude (cannot get along with people) is going to have a hard time being successful in society.

Those that buck the system then complain that the system is against them, and is unfair. Go back to the thought of how to succeed in society, by succeed I am talking about making a living wage and the ability to afford some of the wants in life in addition to paying for the needs in life. I will use my son as an example. I am not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but we did put away money to pay for my son to go to college. By all rights, he should have had an easy path to success, but he choose not to go to college and instead to pursue a non-degreed career path, he works as a pharmacy tech. He complains regularly about not making the kind of money to affords the wants in his life. This seems to be a universal complaint, uneducated people with no marketable skills cannot satisfy their wants and find an excuse. Life is about the choices we make and the consequences of those choices.

LTC (Join to see) - Sir you are spot on, but you've been in command a few times. Did you maintain the status quo, or did you say "I want the standards higher for mine"? I know it was the latter. It's required to succeed. You want and I agree with the take of working within the system to effect change, but be ready to buck the system knowing you'll have an ugly initial feedback and response.
We had the revolutionary war based off starting to work within, just to find we had no choice but to tell the King where to go and how we'll help you get there.
Education is extremely important in all walks of life. Application of said education is also key, and going above and beyond formal education to get things done. I've been to college just like you, but the biggest lessons I've learned were after stepping on my crank screaming OW, and walking my stupidity back to see what happened, and how not to do it again.

Sir the video won. Note while everyone on this post does not agree, we're talking about it. That in itself is the biggest takeaway from this. I could debate all of you (maybe loose some or a lot), but if what we did right here, was done mainstream BEFORE something major and unfortunate happens, imagine how far ahead we could go? I might actually be able to date the LTC's daughter.....until he finds out I'm enlisted and beats the hell out of me. Can't have the joe dating the LTC's child