Riverpoet31 said:

I think that many black people try to be optimistic and somewhat idealistic with regard to racism when we are younger. However, as we get older and REALLY experience life, we realize that nothing has really changed. Whether covert or overt, racism is racism.

I am a 30-year-old black woman and I have definitely experienced some racist things throughout my life - several this year alone - that have shown me that racism will always exist. As people of color we need to know our history and embrace ourselves, because we live in a world where we are taught that we are inferior. I think Prince has just become wiser as he has aged. Experience is a teacher. What is life if not a journey to self discovery. As Prince reaches half a century on this earth, he has disovered himself - like most of us whop are willing to undertake the task.

Krystal666 said:

Oh, please.

dewalliz said:

Thank you. The "colorblind we are the world" mentality irks my nerves. There isn't and never will be a such thing as being "colorblind." Why should there be? Why should someone have to convince themselves that everyone is all the same just to get along with people from different background.

It's all about acceptance. Accepting that there are differencs.Let's celebrate and appreciate the differences between the races, cultures and ethnicity group, instead of trying to pretend that the differences don't exist. As you stated, the world would be boring if we were all the same.

No artist should have to down play any aspect of who they are just to sell records...just to crossover. Unfortunately, P felt he had to do that.

Back in the day black artist couldn't appear on their own album covers. How sad was that.

Krystal666 said:

How many threads have YOU started about black man this, black man that? Either you give a fuck about race or you don't.

At the end of the day, if Prince offends white people because he is proud to be a black man, that's too damn bad. Piss or get off the pot. Prince stuck his dick in your cornflakes and you're suffering from BPFS. I'm outta victim vouchers.

Romera said:

Yes but there ARE always going to be people who THINK they are better than others....

Doesn't mean they are but they WILL think it.

There's women who think they are better than other women. Men who think they are better than other men.

You can never make everyone in the world open minded and realise that we are all the same.

Judging people by skin colour and treating people differently is a form of pyscological bullying.

Romera said:

i love the hell outta you...

PurpleCharm said:

No you are wrong.

Not being allowed to live in a certain area because of you skin colour is bloody ignorance.

Being followed by the police because of your skin colour is....very much ignorance...

It's patronising. it's nasty and it's bullying to an extreme.

Rascism is just a fancy word for it.

PurpleCharm said:

What way are we not ALL the same? Please explain? This seems like an odd statement to make.



What are these "differences" pray tell???



Are you speaking for Prince? Is this a direct quote from him? He HAD to play down an aspect of who he was? Really, you seem to know an awful lot about Prince. Seems a bit disrepectful and shallow to me. You seem to be dismissing all his hard work and talent that he put into his music.

You are stupidly criticising him over views you actually don't know.



Eh? Prince turned himself into a pin-up . How the hell do explain that nonsense???

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I love the hell out of you, too Dej.

I'm just sick of shit, you know? Nobody screams about racism until it affects them personally. Well, I'm sick as fuck about it. When some of these guys stand up against racism for ALL people, then we can have a serious dialogue about it.

Til then, they can go back to their cornflakes with extra good Prince-dicketyness.

pepper7 said:

I am not going to go back and forth with you about this. If your simple mind can't process the fact that we are NOT all the same and that there are more than just physical differences between racial and ethnic groups, then there is no need to go any further with this dicussion.
[Edited 3/3/06 21:46pm]

PurpleCharm said:

I agree. People like Pepper7 are deliberately twisting the issue. People who think like this want to deny other people their identity because they feel it will somehow diminish or exclude them. It's fear and insensitivity, pure and simple.

ChristopherTracyParade said:

Exactly. They have the luxury of not having to experience this on a regular basis and therefore have no frame of reference.

I love how unapologetic racists love to pretend prejudice, segregation, and racism only applies to their race/religion/culture. They might as well start a group, dress in their races colored sheets and start torching people's lawns.


Prince isn't any more black then he ever was. Everything Prince does, if you are the type that only thinks in terms of race, is "black" because he.. is black. If you want to argue his rock and roll songs are more "white". Well then aren't we forgetting the debate of Elvis making a black mans musical style very popular.

If we want to debate of why Prince is now talking to the black culture through his music. Maybe it's because he is older. He is trying to give something back. What better why then through songs that can inspire. He has every right to be proud of who he is, and I've never heard him or seen him actively put down other races for being proud of his race. (unlike some of the people in this thread)
[Edited 3/3/06 21:33pm]

pepper7 said:

and you seem to know awful little about prince; not to mention other artists of color who are in the same row as he is. indeed, he and others have indeed had to downplay themselves in order to make their product and themselves salable to the general public. it's sad, but it happens.

do a little bit of homework about the recording industry and the role that people of color have had to play within it in order to be heard. you'll be surprised at what you'll find out.

Some of these clueless and simple-minded posters on here needs to go to their library quick and get start reading some books about racism . They are sounding ignorant as hell and it aint even funny.

Romera said:

"Racism is not in the past."
I know that's right, Look at Lilly White Congress. America is ran by White Folks whose Whole System is to elevate them and keep blacks down. Which can be seen to a degree across this Country.

"I'll remember it the next time I'm in my boss's car and his boyfriend calls someone a nigger in my presence." Were I work, our parking spaces are supposed to be for everybody in the company; this white woman raised hell with management & my supervisor because I parked in her spot.(they broke her ass off and stood by their original policy that it was open to everybody).
[Edited 3/3/06 22:33pm]

Riverpoet31 said:

1) So what you saying Black blood is Tainted?

2) But it would be ok if white men kicked this white woman in the stomach?

3) You're right, dont judge white people today for slavery, Just Judge White people who carry on racism today in a different form!

Riverpoet31 said:

Exactly and well said, its about the person not the race or the kin colour. I am not saying white never happened, but its nearly gone now and theres opportunity for most people in the world now. A lot of Maoris in New zEaland have the same persecution complex, our land was stolen off us by the Pakeha, and our culture was debased, and so what that was 200 years ago, its millenium, the Maoris I notice who dont walk around thinking this crap all the time are the most successful ones.
Prince was the same, he didnt let white people hold him back, he just did it. Hes who is he because hes Prince, not because hes black or has white people in his bands, but because hes a member of the same race as all of us, the human race.!!

Yeah Right ? Actually its a fact that there is Racism all over the world in probably every culture and every colour how can u say Yeah Right as thats not true. Sure there is a specific history in America thats 100% been an example of racism , but slavery as an example of Racism has been commited by many different peoples, Spanish/Portugese, Arabs,and even by African people against other Africans, just look at whats been happening in Africa recently, not to mention how the Japanese treated the chinese etc etc there are many examples , if people really wanna say No to Racism then that means Racism of every type unless people just wanna say No to certain types Racism.

"We all come from the same December, and in the end thats where we'll go" Prince.

OskarKristio said:

That's what I meant with my post about racists that only think it applies to them. Other racism that Racists pretend never or hasn't happened.

English over the Irish
Shiites over the Sunnis
Rich over the poor (classism, still the same thing)
Portugual over many parts of South America
Japanese over Koreans
Chinese over Tibetians
English over the Scottish


And we could go over many many many more if we really wanted to. Only a true racist would pretend it only applies to him.
[Edited 3/4/06 0:30am]

Yeh your right and its actually a kinda scary mentality(dont mean to be overdramatic, i know there are scarier things) I mean I think there are actually people here getting off on the fact there is this talk or vibe of divisiveness,
i mean that, there are folk here who have stuff in there signatures and little subtle inuendos that are quite provocative or indicative that they kinda favour this devisiveness I think its a bit sad that people would get this way over someone like Prince whom I still think is anti racism and I doubt in his heart he would be as militant as perhaps the views of some here, but im sure those people like to think and believe he is which is ashame in a way, but i know lot these things come down to peoples insecxurities etc and thats cool we're all human and we all have insecurities.

I got no problem with Prince embracing his heritage I think thats Great, on the other hand I think its real shame if some people really think an artist of any given background should just be accesible and only make music for people of that background to me thats really sad thinking.

I here people saying stuff alsmost like what Prince did in the early part of his career was not really him he was just performing and pretending untill he could be the real Prince, to me thats just garbage, why would anyone wait 10 or 12 years to do what they want, its reported that Prince was given a heck of a lot of creative control in his record contract right from the start, in those early days he was practically doing everything, he cut a few albums where it was all down to him,so i just dont buy the story some are trying sell that he was somebody's boy then , nah man he was Prince and he was pretty much doing what the fuck he wanted to do.

PurpleCharm said:

What?????

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Yeah! piece of piss why wouldn't it be? skin colour doesn't/shouldn't matter.

No artist should have to down play any aspect of who they are just to sell records...just to crossover. Unfortunately, P felt he had to do that.

Back in the day black artist couldn't appear on their own album covers. How sad was that.[/quote]


Well your saying P felt he had to do that Im not sure he's saying that, and Im not sure he was thinking that at the time, the same standard of mentality can be applied in reverse for eg what if a particuliar artists actually wants to play certain stuff or have a particuliar fashion sense should they be criticised for playing it cause some think its not mexican enough or whatever the case, plus i never thought of Prince as a non black person, Im 35 now and I was into lots of Black Artists playing very black music before I got into Prince so I didnt get into Prince cause I thought he was playing music that was "whatever", I just got into him cause I thought he was funky and I like the whole vibe of what he was doing. Actually there was plenty of black artists from that time and since maybe they are not as popular as Prince but maybe they didnt play certain type of music
that people considered traditionally black, does that automatically mean they were conforming cause they didnt have a choice, what if they actually wanted to do and play what they did.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Were you not bought up to be proud of yourself no matter what you look like.

To say we are all different is such an obvious statement.

Of course we're all different.

Different noses, hair, height etc....

Not one person IS a carbon copy of another.

So you're white or black. Big deal. You are who you are and you should be proud of it.

Are you going to stop loving yourself if you put on weight? Get old and wrinkly?

Will you say "Oh it's only easy if you are young and attractive" ?

That's like saying you are going to get no-where in life because you are "black".

You are feeling negative towards yourself before anyone else even does.

babynoz said:

People like Purple Charm are just ignorant and twist the issue for their own cause.

He ALWAYS has been and GREAT EXAMPLE is FREE.....

pepper7 said:

No sweetie, you're the ignorant one. You wish that there was some twisting going on in my font.

OskarKristio said:

I was going to respond to your post, but I am not. I am done with this discussion. No amount of fonting back and forth will get any of us to see the others point of view. The last thread that turned racial ended up being pulled completely. Do you! Good day.

bellanoche said:[quote]

wasitgood4u said:

I'm glad some1 brought this up - I just didn't want 2 get 2 complex in y post. I definitely don't know who would win in a persecution and prejudice competition, but the treatment of Australia's aborigines is definitely beyond the pale. And although the Palestinian issue in Israel is part of a broader conflict with responsibility of both sides, and although Palestinian Israelis (those within the proper borders) have citizenship and full legal rights, there remains lots of institutional prejudice and injustice.
My point was not that Americans are racist and others are not, but that skin-colour is a much bigger issue there. In Australia, the Aborigines were and are mistreated, but the country is nevertheless full of people from all different nationalities and complexions and it's not much of an issue (although it seems to be becoming one what with the recent Cronulla riots). The Aboriginals in that case are more comparable to Native Americans than to African Americans. Israel is also full of people of different colours and origins and although there is sometimes tension and dissent, it's not really a big deal. THe Palestinian issue is more of a political conflict like, say, the US v. Cuba or Iraq.
Sorry for such a long off-topic thread, but once the understandable q was raised, I wanted 2 clear it up...