Posted On: August 21, 2007, 5:02 pm CDT

Posted By: KLS

I have to ask you though... are you seeing the glass as half-full or half-empty?

I think in the first post, WooX3 was referring to people who sue over frivolous things. (Using frivolous in a legal context, not a literal sense, just fyi.) To take that statement personally is to make a conscious decision to do so.

Where he/she tells you to "get over it" is definitively directed toward you, obviously. However, the statement about athletic prowess is again, in my humble opinion, directed to the athletes and comparing the value of education vs. the value of sports. I fail to see where that comparison is a racist remark.

I think professional football players are SUBSTANTIALLY overpaid, given their contribution to society and tendency of making the news for poor personal choices. In the same vein, I think our educators and hard-working families should be earning much better wages in comparison. That's basically saying the same thing WooX3 is. Is what I said also a racist statement?

My aunt and cousins are black. My aunt is old enough to remember having to drink from a separate water fountain and ride on the back of the bus. She experienced terrible, blatant racism. However, she doesn't think every neutral or negative remark about a sports star or celebrity who happens to be black is a racist comment. Yet her youngest son has that attitude and it really upsets her. She feels like over all, he is treated more fairly by society in general than she ever was growing up.

I agree with you that racism exists and it will always lurk somewhere in ignorant minds. Unfortunately, there's nothing you or I can do about that. We can't erase ignorance.

However, when things are vague, you might try seeing them as neutral or even positive. What have you got to lose? If you're hunting for racism, you're sure to find it. If you're hunting for fairness, you're sure to find that as well. There comes a point when the choice is yours.