It always makes me shake my head and sigh when people talk about "entitlement" and use it almost like a dirty word when talking about the poor, the disenfranchised, etc... These are often the same people who seem to expect the same world and preferential treatment their grandparents received - sheesh, talk about entitlement.
I also think the vast majority of what has been poked at here is cultural and not specifically racial - there's a difference between the two, and I think it's important to make a distinction, eve though they are often lumped together when discussing racism. Disliking a culture does not inherently make one a racist. Disliking a culture, and assuming that it stems from racial inferiority, in spite of a lack of attempt to understand it, that is racist. Many who you perceive to be "PC" may share similar dislikes of some cultures, but they keep their mouths shut because they don't want to be lumped together with those who believe cultural problems stem from racial inferiority. As science has shown us, they do not.
There is more genetic variation within a given ethnic population than there is between it. In fact, genetically, there are wild parallels between seemingly random peoples across the world. For example, the Swedes are incredibly similar genetically to the Masai in Africa. The Ainu in Japan are genetically similar to various Celtic populations in Europe. The list goes on and on.
In terms of African-American culture, I'll be the first to say that it has glaring issues which irk me daily. Does this mean black people are somehow inferior? Hell no. Matter of fact, I think a lot of the problems with black culture in the US today are the direct result of being oppressed for so long. They were enslaved - their culture robbed from them. This left them in search of identity, so they forged a new one, mashing together a bunch of different cultural traits from Africa and combining them with new ideas, and southern culture. When slavery ended, their need for a cultural identity was stronger than ever since they could no longer draw identity from being an enslaved people in search of freedom. This shifted to identifying with being oppressed and disenfranchised instead of enslaved, a notion that grew over time (and rightly so), but they also latched onto things that were distinctly theirs and "not white" just so they could have a cultural identity, even though some of it was perhaps negative. In a culture not bereft of identity, this would not have been tolerated and their culture would have evolved normally, shunning negative behavior instead of embracing it. Fast-forward to today, much of this cultural mindset persists, and added to it is the proud refusal to submit to discrimination and racism - this has led to the unfortunate "I'm gonna get mine" mindset that is all too common these days. Very often manners and common decency will go by the wayside in favor of "not giving in to whitey." I understand this, and I still do not like it. When there's a pregnant woman on the metro, give up your fucking seat and let her sit. When there's a man carrying a sleepy toddler, don't quickly leap into the seat he's about to sit in and then look at him like "what, motherfucker? I don't have to go to the back of the bus!" - of course you don't, and nobody would even ask it of you, only for some common courtesy. Being rude just sucks, but its tolerated for reasons I've just given, and is incredibly rampant here because of it.
For awhile I was afraid that living in DC where this type of behavior is so prevalent would begin to turn me into a racist, and after reading what I've written, I'm sure some people will say that I am, but I think what has instead happened, thanks to my education and study of Anthropology, is that I've come to a better understanding of AA culture and history. This understanding of why things are the way they are does not mean I like it - only that I "get" it.
Do I feel "guilty" about the plight of the AA population, their systematic disenfranchisement, and cultural issues stemming from it? No. It's not my fault, or even my parents' fault. I don't feel guilty, just as I don't feel guilty for someone having a cold or cancer. Sympathy? ......perhaps, though I can guarantee you it would be unwanted.
