[scragg]

I am a white male married to a black female with 2 mixed kids living in Texas. While we haven't experienced much bigotry our way, it has happened. The first time I was filled with disbelief and shortly after rage while my wife (then gf) cried.

Our lives would be different if we were born a generation ago. Thank you MLK and Tim Cook.

[grecy]

Wow. I feel so sorry for you that you live in a supposedly civilized country and you have to live with that.

What a shame.

[mikestew]

> Wow. I feel so sorry for you that you live in a supposedly civilized country

You might have missed the part where he said he lives in Texas.

[icelancer]

As if England is much better? Ask Theirry Henry how he feels about bananas being thrown at him in Western Europe.

[grecy]

Oh I saw it. That's exactly what I'm talking about.

The United States constantly labels itself the best country in the world, the pinnacle of democracy and freedom, etc. when unfortunately the reality for millions of people is not so good.

[mikestew]

Right, because there are no rednecks in the rest of the world, just an atmosphere of openness and a complete lack of xenophobia.

The reality is, tribalism and convenient categorization is everywhere, and the United States is not immune. Just because there might be a legal system in place to address discrimination in its various forms does not mean you won't run into close-minded, hateful individuals as you walk down the street. As Bruce Hornsby sang years ago, "Because the law don't change another's mind When all it sees at the hiring time Is the line on the color bar"

[itsathrowaway]

Great point. Just ask a Romani (Gypsy) if they think other citizens in the Czech Republic discriminate against them.

[aikah]

Romas =/= Gypsies ,they are 2 VERY different people.

[grecy]

> Right, because there are no rednecks in the rest of the world, just an atmosphere of openness and a complete lack of xenophobia.

Of course not. This is not black-or-white, all-or-nothing. There are shades in between.

When a country makes discrimination illegal, it forces people to stop doing it and slowly over time their minds will change, because otherwise they'll run afoul of the law. These days discriminating against a gay person in Canada is akin to discriminating against someone because they're female - it's unheard of, and you'd be quickly silenced and given a stern talking to, if not disciplined (if it was in the workplace)

If the US would hurry up and make discrimination of gay people illegal, the mind-set of people would slowly change. Maybe it would take a generation (or even two), but it's better to start that process now than x years from now.

[gfsdg4354]

Name one city in Texas that is more dangerous for blacks than Detroit, Philadelphia, Oakland, or Chicago. You seem extremely ignorant about Texas.

[mikestew]

Who said anything about "dangerous"? But I'm flattered that you created an account just to downvote l'il ol' me and offer a non-sequitur to the discussion.

[mkr-hn]

New accounts can't downvote, unless they lowered the karma threshold while I wasn't looking.

[dwild]

Have you experienced that only from older people? We can only hope that this kind of bigotry go away with new generations.

[scragg]

Older. Negative experiences with younger people were just ignorant and probably did not intend harm. Some older folks will say things with pure hate and complete disregard to our feelings. I understand when Cook mentions the empathy you gain when being a part of a minority. I get anxious when walking into a restaurant that I am unfamiliar with. I think to myself... are we are going to be welcome here, is someone going to say something, what should I do if that happens etc. I've never had these feelings the first 25 years of my life.

On the other hand, there were occasions complete strangers (usually older) have said very nice things to us in public. These positive experiences greatly out number the negative.

[dwild]

We still have hope then, thanks!

[sinisterbend]

reddit and similar sites are basically overflowing with teenage/20-something white male racists, so I'm guessing no...

[notastartup]

you should think about moving to west coast or a large city.