Herman Cain: Racism doesn't hold blacks back in a big way

[Winston]

What is this guy smoking?!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/0 ... 02375.html

Herman Cain: 'Racism In This Country Today' Doesn't Hold 'Anybody Back In A Big Way'

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said on Sunday that he doesn't believe racism holds African Americans back.

"I don't believe racism in this country today holds anybody back in a big way," said Cain, former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, during an interview on CNN. “Are there some elements of racism? Yes, it gets back to if we don't grow this economy, that is a ripple effect for every economic level, and because blacks are more disproportionately unemployed, they get hit the worst when economic policies don't work. That's where it starts.�

Cain asserted that he firmly believes that "many" African Americans have a level playing field when it comes to economic issues and pointed to his own credentials to make his case.

With the estimated unemployment rate for the African American community sitting well above the national average, the Republican hopeful signaled he sees the discrepancy as a product of geographical conditions and factors related to education. When it comes to African Americans struggling economically he said, "They weren't held back because of racism." He added, “People sometimes hold themselves back because they want to use racism as an excuse for them not being able to achieve what they want to achieve."

Last month, Cain raised eyebrows when he suggested members of the African American community "have been brainwashed into not being open-minded, not even considering a conservative point of view." He said at the time that his observation can be seen in black voters traditionally lining up to support Democrats.

Cain predicted during a recent appearance on Fox News that in a hypothetical general election match-up against President Barack Obama he'd secure at least one-third of the black vote.

During a recent appearance on CNN Cain said, "This whole notion that all black Americans are necessarily going to stay and vote Democrat and vote for Obama, that's simply not true." He added, "More and more black Americans are thinking for themselves. And that's a good thing."

Recent polls show Cain finding a surge in support in the Republican presidential primary contest.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

As a black American I say he is correct. He is not saying that racism is not a factor. He is saying that it cannot hold people back if they wish to succeed.

The factor that holds black people back is a concept of "therapeutic alienation" which is the purposeful rejection of mainstream behavior, speech and culture that keeps far too many black people on the margins of society. John McWhorter writes extensively about this topic in his book "Losing The Race."

For example, I recently met a young man on vacation who warned me that Key West, Florida is "racist." When I asked him why, he explained that no one would give him a job and he has a BA in Architecture from Cal Berkley. I told him that if he were serious about obtaining a job, he should shave his dreadlocks, refrain from wearing the baggy clothes he was wearing, and polish his appearance. The man, at first, could not understand why he had to do that and protested that to do so is , "Not me." I asked him if the President of the US wore dreadlocks, would he be President? Something seemed to click and he had a revelation that perhaps he was undermining his own success and that racism was not necessarily the reason.

So I can tell you personally, that racism is a frequent factor in that I still she women clutch their bags when I approach, I still get asked for assistance in stores when I'm dressed nicely as if I am an employee, I had one women hand me her keys as if I were a valet, but despite those petty annoyances, I am financially in the top 20 percent of the USA, I am professionally accomplished, and I enjoy my non-American women as any man rightfully should. On that last note, the USA is indeed hopelessly racist when it comes to women, but American women do not determine my overall success in life.

Herman Cain is right on the mark, regardless of his politics. I'm sure Barack Obama would agree, regardless of his politics. Shame on people who keep telling people that you cannot succeed in America because of racism!

[zboy1]

Bleh! Herman Cain is a Federal Reserve, NWO lackie. He's an Uncle Tom for the globalists. He is right in what he said, but take what he says with a grain of salt.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

Bleh! Herman Cain is a Federal Reserve, NWO lackie. He's an Uncle Tom for the globalists. He is right in what he said, but take what he says with a grain of salt.

One of the sicknesses that plagues Americans such as yourself is that when a black person rises above the stereotype, they are derided as an "Uncle Tom" out of envy, resentment, and out and out jealousy.

To many Americans like yourself, black people should stay in their rightful place where they can be controlled and not be a threat to the social pecking order.

One thing that is the common denominator in people who "Uncle Tom" more successful and intelligent black folk is that they are unaccomplished or have underachieved in some way. Therefore the "Uncle Tom" comments are a way to salve the demolished ego by delegitimizing the target, in your case Herman Cain.

I'm sorry that you hate successful black people since they remind them of their own failures. You would hate my guts for sure

[zboy1]

Bleh! Herman Cain is a Federal Reserve, NWO lackie. He's an Uncle Tom for the globalists. He is right in what he said, but take what he says with a grain of salt.

One of the sicknesses that plagues Americans such as yourself is that when a black person rises above the stereotype, they are derided as an "Uncle Tom" out of envy, resentment, and out and out jealousy.

To many Americans like yourself, black people should stay in their rightful place where they can be controlled and not be a threat to the social pecking order.

One thing that is the common denominator in people who "Uncle Tom" more successful and intelligent black folk is that they are unaccomplished or have underachieved in some way. Therefore the "Uncle Tom" comments are a way to salve the demolished ego by delegitimizing the target, in your case Herman Cain.

I'm sorry that you hate successful black people since they remind them of their own failures. You would hate my guts for sure

Actually, Contrarian, I agree with what he said: Blacks should stop blaming the government for problems in the black community. I just don't trust him because he used to work for the Federal Reserve and was against the auditing of the Fed. He also a member of the Bilderberg group. He's a part of the elite. Vote for Ron Paul instead.

[ErikHeaven]

Cain is a Fed through and through. He is a protector of the system. He is a tinkerer not a reformer. We want to see the Fed eliminated not replaced with a 999 tax or flat tax. Cain is a dinosaur of old prop up the system ideas. We do need Ron Paul to end the Fed and return us to sound money.
He also talks down to black Americans with his we do not vote republican for being brainwashed.
Most of us do not vote republican as they are almost non existent on social issues. They mainly stand for corporate profits, war and empire building.
Cain makes me sick to my stomach and not only that he will not win.

[odbo]

Her man Cain. Lilith!?

[ErikHeaven]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pL-4_JI ... ure=colike
I remember in the 80's (Yeah i am an old dude!) on the applications they had must not wear an afro or dreadlocks. There was an uproar regarding this and you do not see that on applications anymore. I disagree with you Contrarian we have to get out of that go along to get along attitude. If one is qualified in every sense of the word and can do the job why should we Black Americans be forced to change our looks to please white aesthetics?
If we follow that logic one day some white people will require us to bleach our skin in order to get hired.
Here is my story i worked at a Denny's many years ago and my boss was a female Italian woman. She was telling me over and over again how she could not find an assistant manager as no one was applying. I told a dark skinned black man in my building to apply as i knew him for awhile and i knew he had an extensive history as manager's in restaurants in the south, and he had a bachelors in culinary arts.
She said to me tell him to come down. He did and went she met him she had this look of shock on her face. She interviewed him and 30 minutes later she walked up to the front and threw his resume in the garbage. 1 month later she hired a white woman way older than him that did not have a college degree.
So there is still racism in America for Black Americans and Mr Cain's mentality of try harder or just fit in and be quiet is not working for Black America or White America.
It has to stop and this is what some parts of these current protests are all about.

[ErikHeaven]

Just like Cornell West said "Blacks do not want to be free, blacks want to be comfortable."
Many of us only want wealth and privilege and not to suffer.
We have turned our backs on the legacy of Dr Martin Luther King. We want to sip wine and eat caviar and pretend that everything is ok.
Everything is not ok and America is corrupt beyond repair and the system needs to be abolished and restarted.

[ladislav]

There is definitely racism/ethnic intolerance in the US and it does hold you back. It does not necessarily come from WASPs but from everybody in equal proportions. The experience you gave, Erik is all too common. Did the man sue, though? It sounds like a pretty good case and he could have won a tidy sum.

The same holds true for even white people who are " non standard" and try and do mainstream occupations. I have known people from Serbia and Russia who had been discriminated against because of last names and accent. As long as they knew their place, such as being a programmer or running some exotic ethnic restaurant or maybe being a teacher of some wacky ethnic studies, it was OK. But in case they wanted to be managers or leaders, hmm, in the business world, there is an obstacle, a big one.

I have noticed that many Italian Americans are VERY bigoted and it is a pity because they have a great culture and art and music and have so much to the world in terms of enlightenment. Many of them still act totally contrary to what their rich heritage is supposed to be teaching. In many ways, they are far more prejudiced than the Anglos. It is ironic because they used to be treated like dogs in the US and were often second in line to be lynched after blacks.

In America, there is still an attitude that one is supposed to know his place and stick with the field that is "assigned" to his ethnicity. Blacks should do sports and music, Indians are supposed to run 7-11s or be some techie behind a computer, Asians are supposed to be mixing noodles 15 hours a day, or giving karate classes.
This sounds like a bona-fide caste/race system. Worse than in India; at least there it is not as much ethnic as what profession you inherit from parents. Here you are supposed to do what you do based on ethnicity. It sucks and it strikes you when least expected and after years of experience and with degrees and all. So, unless you are rich already, racism will affect you in the US big time.

[ErikHeaven]

And even Oprah was denied getting into a swanky store in NYC after hours even though she has known herself as the queen of the universe. Lenny kravitz back in the day could not get a cab in NYC, same as Denzel Washington. So yes sometimes even rich blacks get the shaft. Herman Cain makes illogical statements like "Its your fault if you are not rich".
First off if everybody was rich then who would take out the garbage and run the subways or drive the buses. Everybody does not want to or even has the ability to be rich. He is just parroting the same lines as Rush Limbaugh. Mr Cain reminds me of modern day rappers who only talk about getting money, cars, hoes and not social issues.
What about changing the unfair divorce laws against men? What about stop allowing judges to break pre-nups as that goes against the constitution?
What about stop taking non-custodial parents drivers licenses away or their tools they need to perform their job so they can pay child support?
What about campaign finance reform stopping the corporations from being labeled as persons that can donate unlimited funds?
Mr Cain like the modern day rappers they both have no hearts and no soul.

[MrPeabody]

I agree this guy is another lackey of the financial system. He recently criticized the protests of Wall street saying the protestors were only "jealous" of financial success. This is a typical Republican conservative response. Nothing is said of the billions of tax payers dollars that went to Goldman Sachs and other robber barons. I have never heard one of these conservatives call for an investigation of fraud and crimes to put financial criminals in jail. Instead, they obsess about peoples sex lives and ignore the greater wrongs committed by those with power and money. They make a mockery of morality and are only posers of goodness. As much as I have a distaste for liberals in America, the conservatives are even worse.

[ErikHeaven]

The Republicans and Democrats are two different sides of the same coin. We need a third party in America.

[ErikHeaven]

No my neighbor did not sue he was very mad though. He could have won as i seen her toss his resume in the garbage. Denny's has been sued many times over the years for discrimination against African American workers and customers.
Out of touch Cain just does not get it.

[ladislav]

Just because it did not hold "him" back, does not mean it is not holding anybody else back. I really hate it when people who had not encountered social hardship say- "Oh, never happened to me." Hence it is all your fault.

Here in Angeles City a lot of people had been robbed at gun point and an acquaintance of mine has just been shot dead here. But, it has never happened to me. Hence, it should not be a problem. Yeah, right.

"it is ill talking between a full man and a fasting" as the old proverb says, as he simply cannot relate to the people who are being held back, There are folks that are just lucky in a way that in addition to making efforts, they are supported by some kind of good karma. So, they become exceptions to the rule trying to prove that the "rule" does not exist.

One thing is certain though, racism is real and still very strong and race bigotry should be seen as a real obstacle and not imaginary, and one way to counteract and control it- since it cannot be "overcome" as some people claim, is by having very very good qualifications that make you indispensable and by realizing that you need to be better that those people who are of a more "popular" race.

It also helps to have strong anti discrimination laws - they cannot eliminate discrimination completely but they significantly reduce it.
And, ultimately to combine the hopeless racially divided America with less race- conscious countries where one can just be an American. Not an Italian, a Black or a Mexican, have normal friends of all races, enjoy female company and just live a normal, relaxed life instead of becoming a brooding, angry racist person oneself because one confuses 'America' with ' the world' and hyphenated Americans with the 'real McCoys' who are almost always friendlier.

Indians and even Brits move to the US to escape the vicious and divisive class/caste systems back home and Americans can do the same by adding a few friendlier countries in their action package to lessen racism to insignificant levels.

As I get older I realize that some social ills simply cannot be eliminated or completely avoided- at least not for a century or two. They can be reduced in your life, though, to the level where they do not interfere with daily living by making it full of suffering and great stress. If racism is a taxi driver overcharging you 20c or talking to your girlfriend instead of you ( because he assumes you cannot speak the language) it is annoying as hell, but if it happens rarely, it is OK. If someone makes a remark once every couple of years about your ethnicity/ nationality but it does not affect 95% of your life, it is good enough. If you can have a flow of income, regular friends who are not racially limited and date most local ladies, it is also good enough.

I have met Black Americans and American Jews living in Germany of all places and they acted "normal". To Germans, they were just Americans and this kind of reflected on their behavior towards all. Black guys were relaxed and Jews were less sarcastic. And this was in Germany, can you imagine?

Racism is a reality all over the world, so we need to be where its intensity is so low that it has virtually no influence on our daily affairs.