[quote=ShonHarris]So, let's talk about this for a moment. 1) White People refers to, oh, people who have white skin. 2) African American refers to people with roots leading back to Africa. First problem here is that you're not distinguishing parties in a way that makes sense. I say this because, an African American can be white, and can actually declare themselves as white too, but still be African.[/quote]

White people are European people. Black people are African people. When I say "European people" or "African people", I'm referring specifically to the original inhabitants of either continent (or at least what peoples are perceived as being the original inhabitants). For example: French, Germans, Hungarians, Finns, Italians, Greeks and so on would all be considered Europeans, and thus fit under the 'white' colour metaphor for European ethnicities. Somalians, Khoisans, Mandé and so on would all be considered Africans, and thus fit under the 'black' colour metaphor for African ethnicities. This system is imperfect; there are numerous ethnicities that could be argued to have not originated from either Europe or Africa, but are still generally considered either European or African. Contrastingly, numerous other ethnicities, some with histories going back in their respective continent hundreds of years (such as the Boers), are generally /not/ considered to be an ethnicity native to the continent in which they are located. As I already said, this system is imperfect, but it's commonly used and not offensive to any reasonable person. If you have a problem with it, good for you. We could spend all day arguing semantics. What matters is that you understand what I mean when I say 'white' or 'black', and clearly you do.

[quote=ShonHarris]There is institutionalized racism and oppression based on what group you hail from. Random example could be that people with white skin have committed numerous atrocities and genocides, shootings, bombings, and horrific killing sprees in the United States. Yet, somehow, anyone who is seemingly Arabic or perhaps Muslim is more apt to associated with such activities, and are much likelier to be pulled aside in airports or in some states (I'm looking at you, Arizona) to prove their citizenship. We could talk about the deaths after recent Stand Your Ground laws and the disproportionate number of cases where a person of colour is killed by a white person and it's ruled as self defence despite disturbing circumstances suggesting otherwise. There's of course media representation, which is actually accepted as a flaw by figures in the business, often depicting any of people of colour (beyond just African) in highly stereotypical, often demeaning ways. Oh, oh, shoot, I almost forgot the studies that have come up showing that charges related to drug possession often differ greatly depending on the ethnicity of the accused. Right, do you remember the inner city school full of mostly students of colour, Harper High? They're at 29 students shot, 8 killed by gun violence. They actually had pretty big shooting last year, but didn't receive much media attention -- yet other schools suffering the same, but with far less children hurt gained tons of attention, granted those were largely white, suburban schools.[/quote]

This all simply wrong. The only codified, state-sanctioned racism that occurs in the United States is against European Americans via affirmative action. What legislation is being practised in Arizona that discriminates based on race? Name a bill. Cite a case, and cases with identical circumstances where the only difference is the race of the defendant, yet the sentence is disproportionately larger for the coloured defendant. You need to say something credible to convince me. [i]Anything[/i] other than "just trust me, it's there" would be preferable.

But of course, the above only qualifies to the situations you mentioned that, if proven, WOULD be institutionalized racism. Media outlets putting emphasis on shootings that happen in schools where it [i]isn't[/i] normal for students to get shot to death makes absolute perfect sense. It's the same reasoning behind it being more newsworthy when a bomb goes off in down-town Washington D.C., to give a random example, as compared to down-town Baghdad. News is something newsworthy—something extraordinary and out of the norm. [url=http://www.wbez.org/news/education/weight-citys-violence-one-school-principal-100699]A student of Harper High School getting shot is not newsworthy[/url].

[quote=ShonHarris]See racism is ugly. Nobody gets behind pure, illogical hatred that leads to violence with no rhyme or reason. People followed Hitler, because it was empowering to shame another group and oppress them, especially in light of their severe humiliation not two decades prior. The most evil minds are all too often convinced that their actions make sense, and in that sense, they are free to do as they please. So obviously those parts of the system that perpetuate oppression and prejudice aren't going to blatantly identify their oppressive nature. They're going to act subtly, but the power dynamics will still be written and the pain still felt. I'm sure it's wonderful to be able to pass alongside the majority that are expected to have the most opportunity and be generally acceptable just from appearance. It must be nice not have people commenting on how exotic your hair is, or when you jewellery, ask what that means to your culture. Shoot, it must be extremely nice not to get pulled over by police while you walk to work in a hoodie and accused of selling drugs. I get that it's probably hard to see the prejudice when it's constantly aimed at you. I'm sure you've felt that sort of hate at some point in your life, and that experience is valid, absolutely. But in North America if you're of colour, you're a minority. And the simple fact is that nobody is going to defend your image, or you culture, or simply accept that you are an individual, without somehow noting your ethnicity, your race, or generally that superficial difference. I am so happy for you that prejudice is not a systematic problem in your world.[/quote]

None of that has anything to do with what we're talking about, but okay.