WHITE PEOPLE...WHAT DO YOU... - Roots (1977) Discussion

[–] photoe 14 years ago

My parents were both born in foreign countries, so it really did have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with me. That said, racism is definitely international, even if the groups in America are stuck in pathetic old ruts, both the legacy whites and blacks that have been here for generations. As an outsider, I think it's clear that a large percentage of both groups are stuck in behavioral patterns that are utterly ignorant, unproductive, and thoroughly dangerous to the future of the USA.

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[–] jc2scoops 14 years ago

Slavery seemed incomprehensible, surreal and plain old flucked up

Kinda like the Jews in Nazi Germany, its INCONCEIVABLE to me

As far as being a white man, I dont feel any guilt for my "ancestors" considering that my ancestors didnt arrive in the US until well after slavery was abolished.

As a human being, I felt bad that other human beings were treated so poorly

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[–] movieboy_1 14 years ago

Such as stupid question since most people didn't have any ancestors that owned slaves. BUT...if I did have ancestors who owned slaves I probably would if I would be benefiting today in some way. But since I didn't and am not then what's to feel bad about? Should I feel bad about the Irish stuck working in coal mines or insert some other exploited group.

Whatchoo talkin bout Willis?

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[–] Wish_Phoenix 13 years ago

While i think that the way that the blacks was horrible, i dont feel guilty about it. I am a white female living in the USA, but i think its pointless to feel guilty about something that I did not do. I had no more control of slavery than I did the holocaust, or the Salem witch trials, or of the slaughtering of the Native Americans.
While i feel bad about those it happened to I dont see why so many years later people expect us to feel guilty. Do you feel guilty about your great-great-great-great-grandparents killing someone, or committing adultery, or stealing something? No. Do I expect that people should always remember the horrible things that were done to black slaves? Of course. If we forget then we dishonor both them and the struggles they faced. While there were some white people who owned slaves, most did not. That was either due to the expense or because of their beliefs.
It also seems that while many people remember the suffering of blacks, they tend to forget that the white & black people from the northern states fought in the civil war to free them from slavery. Yes blacks were treated horrible, but not everyone in the US was ok with that. There are the "Yankee" soldiers who died in the civil war to help bring freedom to the slaves. Somehow whenever I hear talk of slavery, that is somehow forgotten.
I also get tired of how its ok for Black people to be proud of their heritage but when white people say they are proud to be white, we get looked on as raciest or as white supremacists. I grew up in a lower middle class home and I knew raciest black and white people. I do not think I am better than anyone because I am white, and no one is better than me because they are black or white or male or Indian.

Wow... I digress...

Anyways. To answer the question. No I dont feel guilty. I am a proud white female and I am glad.

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[–] bilsnod 13 years ago

Black Americans still suffer from the legacy of slavery. Whether we want to admit it or not it's true. Racism from the slavery era is still rampant though subtle. Whey do most white people feel superior to blacks, why are opportunites for blacks fewer than for whites today? Why are so many blacks living in poverty compared to whites. Why do blacks get inferior, health care, living situtations, education, jobs etc. compared to blacks. It's the legacy of slavery. Why is a black person 95% more like to go to jail than a white person who commited the same crime?

Once this country good ole USA, is willing to have a sincere dialogue, maybe we can all be on a level playing field. Meanwhile, we can all pretend slavery never happened, we have no reason to feel guilty etc. and let the old wounds fester.

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[–] ecmblume 13 years ago

What continent do YOU live on? Fewer opportunities? Education? Jobs?

Yeah, let's have a sincere dialogue. Answer me this: If a person receives food stamps, sometimes in excess of $1000 per month, how can they afford a nice Chrysler 300, Cadillac, or newer Dodge Charger? All with expensive 24" wheels. I mean after all, they are so poor that they cannot purchase their own food right? If a person EARNS minimum wage and wants to advance in the workplace, is the best course of action to a)smoke weed on the jobsite b), behave rudely to coworkers and customers and act lazy in general or c), work your ass off and see what happens?

Let's set this sh!t straight right now. ANYBODY can go to college. People of all races and colors do it everyday in the United States. Student loans, grants, and scholarships see to that.

Living situations...hmmm, I dont get free or next to nothing housing. Or help with utility bills, etc. I think my tax dollars go towards that. I wasn't (like many Americans) born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Thank God I wasn't. I know the value of a hard days work.

Percentage wise, the largest concentration of black people are in the South. And the blacks down here are VERY different from the blacks in the North. I know because I am a Damned Yankee! I have plenty of black friends up north. Down here, different story. That is not to say that there are not some fine black folks down here, because there are. I love to meet a young black person that is repectful, intelligent, articulate and has direction in their life. That is awesome. I mean what the hell were the civil rights struggles for anyway? Not for some thugged out idiot wearing his pants around his ankles to ride around in a Crown Vic w/ 24" wheels and a sonic boom coming from the trunk looking for thick white girls to hit on. Is that really what Martin Luther King and Malcolm X envisioned for the future? Bullsh!t!

And if somebody is going to jail, then more than likely they probably f@cking did it!

Does the above stated include everybody of a certain color? Not at all. But you can't tell I am wrong otherwise you are being intellectually dishonest.

They're in the yard not too far from the car

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[–] suzycreamcheese1 13 years ago

not a thing. This is what my people saw: No Irish Need Apply. Although one became President of the United States. Native Americans...that's where I feel guilt.

RIP Heath Ledger 1979-2008

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[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Wish_Phoenix 13 years ago

I agree with you there Suzy.
Though some Native Americans have become quite wealthy, mostly due to casinos, many live in poverty. You would think we could find a way to help them :(

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[–] straw_hat_boy_luffy 13 years ago

Slavery was wrong but:

1. The people alive today didn't own slaves and none were owned as slaves. I don't believe there needs to be a debt for what somebody's ancestors did to another person's ancestors.

2. My family (both sides) were not yet in America when slavery was legal. Therefore, MY ancestors didn't have anything to do with American slavery. So again, there's no reason I should feel bad about anything related to me. I feel for what the people then did to the Blacks, but I am not even related to anybody involved so it's really not much different to me than any other travesty in history.

__
Writing is my favorite hobby. Writing something that many can enjoy is my favorite dream.

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[–] kmgrieve 13 years ago

ashamed.

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[–] citrine75 13 years ago

I think Alex Haley was an extremely talented writer and very inspirational both as an artist and person. I think that the film was a magnificently produced television program that hold up today. I think it is the story of America.

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[–] LesterFester 13 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Haley

read the section on roots

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[–] happipuppi13 13 years ago

First thing,here's to the 35th Anniversary.
(The week that started on Sunday - January 23rd,1977.

Except for that 1970s style TV music,yes it holds up wonderfully. I just watched this over the last week (on DVD).

I used to like that music (in all that i watched) but now it sounds "too happy". Nothing wrong with being happy but I'd have prefered a Quicny Jones music score. Quincy's very versitile musically and coul;d have done something really incredible.

As for,how do I feel about slavery after seeing ROOTS ? Well,I saw it in `1977 but was only 8 & 1/2,saw it again in 1978 (but was only about 10.)
I do know at that time,my brothers & I would act out some of the things we'd seen like a game (what'd we know yet? We were kids.) I did know the slavery was "bad" and that the whites were mean to the blacks. In simple defenition.

When I happened to find it airing on a non-network channel on week,only a few years later,I finally got the full impact of it. Now I have no idea if anyone on my mother's side of the family dealt in this atrocity,I can only hope not.

Being an Italian-American (descended) ,I do know I was sickened when I found out about Christopher Columbuses slave trading activities and here we have a holiday for this man who "Discovered" America. In the 1970s,he was taught to us in the klight of someone heroic or to aspire too.

I do know that it is important that every generation of all walks of life,wacth not only ROOTS but ROOTS : The Next Generation.... also Amistad,The Color Purple and any other film about slavery and the racism associated,

I want to also remind people(as someone else did)not only was it whites,it was many blacks from different countries as well and even Spaniards and Asians. You'd findvery few who were not guilty of this.

P.S. - The first night this aired,my family set off from Pennsylvania to California.....by car,across America for five days! Cathing as much of the show as possible in hotel rooms. Kunta left Africa,we left our home town,both forever.

happipuppi13 *arf,man!*!

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[–] weird_beard 13 years ago

Excuse me! My ancestors were not slavers, thank you very much. They were Krauts.

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