Quote Originally Posted by Gandalf View Post
I am on the side of hope. People who want kids can do so with love and those that cannot should just not bother. But all should respect the right to live freely without discrimination and without harm to others. Let those who choose poorly go their way. Let those who try either rise or fall trying. Let everyone find a place on the ladder of life.

I don't think people should face more interest on a loan unless they are a high risk and US law prohibits discrimination based on race.
What more can I do but say truthfully that blacks do get loans. Of those rejected I suspect many are unreliable and that yes there is likely some prejudice. I would like that to be stopped. Thus I cede a point as I am not particularly racist.

History is history. 150 years ago my great, great, great gran was probably spinning cotton 14 hours a day at 13 years of age and had 6 kids by the age of 26 and died of consumption at 42. I am not impacted by her trauma. Neither by my grandfather in WW2. I am affected only by my own experiences and whether one grows or not is a personal choice to make, but I do not believe we are condemned in the here and now because of the terrible oppression faced by my great, great, great gran who like all the working poor probably had a very bad diet and a low life expectancy. Going not all that far back in history we were all serfs and you just got on with it. We are privileged today and do not have those same problems. Anyone blaming their own failings on historic child labour is making excuses for their own inadequacies.


Things should be evaluated on their own merits. Some will fall on either side of the judgment line.

I don't champion nor applaud leaning too much on the past to get preferred treatment status or attempting to get a free ride. Thus my stance on slavery reparations.

Too much of a hassle.... too complex an issue.... impossible to make everyone happy..... more likely to make many people resentful..... and finally impossible to quantify, as no one is alive today on either side of the equation.

I also believe fully in individual accountability. Instead of blaming others (parents, ancestors, the white man) for your failures in life, pull yourself up and make something of yourself.

But to deny the existence of systemic discrimination for years and years and years, which has resulted in many of the disparities we see today........ that is nearsightedness, IMO.

Slavery may have been abolished in the 1800's, but discriminatory banking practices, as well as who knows how many other denied opportunities based on color, persisted until relatively recently.

And when made illegal, these practices are discontinued grudgingly. Just because the law tells you you can no longer discriminate against blacks for housing, education, etc..... it doesn't mean racism has been eliminated forever.

That ain't never gonna happen. Racism = ignorance... and I think it would be safe to assume there will be shitloads of ignorant people on this Earth until the end of time.