They do it too.

Parris · (#1 (**permalink**))

I've got a question that is BURNING, BEGGING to be asked. Let me see if I can worl it correctly

*clears throat*

Why is it that no matter what the news, issues, statment, problem or query that is said with regards to Black AFrican, Negro (and what ever other word is used to decribe people of color)....we will look at what ever is being said or written and say.....

(insert race)...Do it too?

Black crime...White people do it too.
The recent post I just read, bride tours....asians do it too.
Poor counrties....there are countries in the west that are poor too
AIDS...white people have AIDS too?

Is this the knee jerk logical fallacy we used to dimiss whatever is on the table. Our own tu quoque, (Look who's talking) A is doing something, but B does it too, so it must be ok for A to keep doing it.

Or are we using what others do to validate our own actions.

speak on it.

PaRrIs

Mokele Mbembe · (#2 (**permalink**))

It is because some of us highlight the troubles afflicting usas if to attribute them to something inherently wrong with us as black people. They revel in labelling us savages and whatever other interesting titles they come up with.

So when one says, "they do it too" it is to refute the basis of the argument that there is something wrong with us.

Example

Person A
Black people are thieves and criminals by nature, look at this situation...

The argument appears to be that something is wrong with black people themselves.

Person B
Well other races thieve and commit crime too.

Therefore this person is saying either, that ALL races (humans) have something wrong, OR that something is affecting black people externally in that particular situation.

Ahmaad · (#3 (**permalink**))

Drunk Monky:

niceone.gifExcellent reponse.

As black people, we shouldn't make excuses for negative behavior...NOR..should we be held to a higher standard than others.

Why expect perfection from us?

Parris · (#4 (**permalink**))

Ahmaad wrote:

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Drunk Monky:

niceone.gifExcellent reponse.

As black people, we shouldn't make excuses for negative behavior...NOR..should we be held to a higher standard than others.

Why expect perfection from us?

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That is the very issue..."should we be held to a higher standard than others." Without a doubt.....or more aptly put, are we letting the standards of others, be our standards?

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Me personally, I set HIGH, very high, standards for myself, why would not I apply this same reasoning to us as a people. You are saying exactly what I'm questioning Ahmaad..........letting others validate us.

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PaRrIs

Ahmaad · (#5 (**permalink**))

That is the very issue..."should we be held to a higher standard than others." Without a doubt.....or more aptly put, are we letting the standards of others, be our standards?

Me personally, I set HIGH, very high, standards for myself, why would not I apply this same reasoning to us as a people. You are saying exactly what I'm questioning Ahmaad..........letting others validate us.

It's not about others validing us...it's about common sense and reasoning.

How can a people who have been denied our very human rights and the arts of education and civilization for generations justly held to the same or higher standard than those who've never had their freedoms and moral structure interrupted?

As AfroAmericans, we have little control over our environment now and had NONE just a few generations ago.

Would you set for a baby the same standards as that of an experienced marathon runner?

If not, why set high standards for us in OUR infancy as a developing people?

Again, we shouldn't make excuses and we should CORRECT and point out negative behavior.

But unnecessary criticizm is counter-productive and in many cases disabling to the weaker among us.

Reminds me of the "No Child Left Behind" act.

You force people to live up to expectations that they haven't been properly prepared for.

emerald_flame · (#6 (**permalink**))

Should we be held to a higher standard than others?

blknoway no-one has the right to judge us against standards that they don't expect of themselves.

We on the other hand should set our own standards, that suit our needs and objectives as a people, and measure ourselves against these standards.

However, we mustn't let people who are against us use our self-determined targets as weapons against us.

queen9ile · (#7 (**permalink**))

Parris wrote:

Quote:

I've got a question that is BURNING, BEGGING to be asked. Let me see if I can worl it correctly

*clears throat*

Why is it that no matter what the news, issues, statment, problem or query that is said with regards to Black AFrican, Negro (and what ever other word is used to decribe people of color)....we will look at what ever is being said or written and say.....

(insert race)...Do it too?

Black crime...White people do it too.
The recent post I just read, bride tours....asians do it too.
Poor counrties....there are countries in the west that are poor too
AIDS...white people have AIDS too?

Is this the knee jerk logical fallacy we used to dimiss whatever is on the table. Our own tu quoque, (Look who's talking) A is doing something, but B does it too, so it must be ok for A to keep doing it.

Or are we using what others do to validate our own actions.

speak on it.

PaRrIs

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I think it is just more of a natual reflex that everyone practices in almost every situation in life not just when it comes to race. People say it to humanize themselves. We are all humans and in ever race/culture/environment you will have the ying and yang.....but faults are almost always only magnified in the African/Black communities......so it almost a natural reflex that one may say it. Same reflex happens in day to day life........such as when we were children if we got caught by our parents doing something against the rules we will say well my brother so and so did it or does it too....or if you failed a test in math you might say well everybody else failed it too........association to feel human is very much natural.

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I might be alone in this in many cases but I could give a damn what white people thought of me and my people. I define how I view myself as well ashow I view my people. Funny how I don't see the evil they see......I see humans and humans aren't perfect and I am intelligent enough to know that much......am I right or wrong? Good and evil exist in all of us....not just in one race or culture but you would probably think the opposite if you read the daily news or watch it on television and internalized it.

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For instance a friend and I was discussingjust todaythe term and usage of calling ourselves black. She went onto say that she hates to be defined as black because it is a term that whites have given us, but see I view it differently being that the word black means something totally different to me than the negaveway it is defined in good old Webster dictionarywhere it is associated with everything that is dark and evil. Webster is indeedthe definition of the white man and that is why we were called black in a sense....maybe maybe not, but I have a more positive definition of the word as it relates to me and us and oh yes the beautifl shade or our hair, eyes, and skinand is it my own definition that counts most and that is not just how I view the word but how I view us in our entirety. No white man, No race, Nobodycan define me and I have no troubles or struggles with inferiorty complexes becauseI was trained growing bytwo proud parents growing up to reject the negative views or others geared to define, degrade, and destroy my selfesteem.

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Just my take on the subject.

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Luukvd · (#8 (**permalink**))

I applaud you Parris for your stance on responsibility. It is inspiring how you feel the need to help your community. What I do regret is your feelings towards Africans, hopefully both you and Africans can come to an understanding.

Respect, Luuk.

Parris · (#9 (**permalink**))

Luukvd wrote:

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I applaud you Parris for your stance on responsibility. It is inspiring how you feel the need to help your community. What I do regret is your feelings towards Africans, hopefully both you and Africans can come to an understanding.

Respect, Luuk.

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Luuk, peace,

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Respect me and my views, and I will respect you and yours. The very first thing that happens on this site full of New Negroes, is when something is said that is unpopular and that people disagree with.......the insult start.

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"Uncle Tom" "slave" "bitch" ha ha ha, You get the idea....Respect me and I will respect you....that does not mean we will agree.

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As far as my feelings towards Africans, You'd be surprised at how I feel about Africans.

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It is going to be a task to explain Buddhism to you without boring you to tears so I won't try. But using my wedding as an example, an Eritrean (born), held the highest position of honor (above my blood brothers and sisters) and was seated directly right of me duringthe union of my wife and I, under the eyes and blessings of the Eternal One.Its not a position given to merely friends, or people I'm cool with, or even to family members simply because we share a blood bond. There is no higher position. She stood in place of my mother, there is no great place of honor. She is African.

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Until coming to this site, I never made an distinction between a Black-American or an African-American…..all were black to me. But upon arriving here, I realize there is a division, yall think because your parents came from Africa, or that you are the 2nd generation African, it somehow makes you better than Black Americans.

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News flash.......IT DOESN'T. Also on this site, asite for Africans, about Africans (mainly populated by British with identiy issues), its seems post after post is a highlight of whats wrong with Black-Americans. (If I didn't know better I'd say yall were working for the media). Until coming to this sight, I never gave blacks in Britian even a passing thought. (well besides Craig David and Seal)...oh MONEY LOVE back in the day, and Slick Rick.

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My goal is to point out this-clear-known-fact.

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Africans, anywhere on the planet, or NO BETTER than blacks in America. And those on thissite have far to many issues in their own community to be pointing fingers are Black Americans…mainly being marginalized almos to the point of being ignored. There are Black Brits that can tell you more of what's going on with Black America, then they can tell you about their own communites. Pfft.

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I'm a warrior, and I care about people suffering, and for fighting for people who can not, do not, or will not fight for themselves. BUT KNOW THIS...I am not Anti-African, I don't dislike Africans but know this……my people (Black-Americans) and my country (United States) above all others.

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Call me a nationalist. Call me arrogant. Call me cocky....hell, I don't give a shyt what you call me. But you can't call me Anti-African.

Better yet........just call me

PaRrIs

caster_troy_uk · (#10 (**permalink**))

black people do it 2 but most of them keep on getting caught. Most people well in other contries know that the best gangstres in the world are Yakuza's then either Italian Mafias or Triads but they hardly get caught thats why people dont know that there criminals some people woudn't even expect italian, japanese or chinese to be criminals unless they watch gangster movies but the white british people arent into other contry gangstre films and are rasict thats why they dont have much general knowledge. And start tinkin that most black boyz are criminals

All C-in · (#11 (**permalink**))

Ahmaad wrote:

Quote:

Drunk Monky:

niceone.gifExcellent reponse.

As black people, we shouldn't make excuses for negative behavior...NOR..should we be held to a higher standard than others.

Why expect perfection from us?

Bottom line we as a ppl should hold ourselves to a higher standardin everythingwe do.blktypeForget whateverybody elseis doing. Obidience=Discipline, Discipline=Unity, Unity=Power

Ahmaad · (#12 (**permalink**))

All C-in:

I believe we should try to do our BEST regardless of the effort others are putting forth.

But I don't believe we should be unfairly scrutinized or held to a higher standard than others.

For example, many people commonly point to the warfare, poverty, and division going on in Africa and say:

"Black people are the most incompetent people on the planet.
Every other race has is doing better"

But they neglect the fact that the Indians of both North and South America not only have had their entire continents took form them, but the vast majority are regulated to poverty, alcoholism, disease, and lack of an identity.