1. Focusing on Race as a predominant issue is never positive. Regardless of whether it is the KKK or the NAACP, I don't believe that either organization perpetuates an upward cycle for its members.[...] I also believe that this applies to organizations such as the NAACP in its current form (whereas I don't believe that it's always been this way). I believe that the NAACP spends time playing the race card in situations when it's not particularly pertinent. Why not spend the time fighting to get people into college, or into new homes, etc?

 
However, the race card has been played to the extent by many of these organizations (i.e. NAACP, Rainbow Coalition) that people often times even discount legitimate arguments. When these organiztions begin to stress hard work and perservearance as opposed to apathy and hand outs... we'll begin to warmly embrace their ideology. I have no problem with funding deserved underpriveledged children going to college, but don't never will accept the idea that we should be taxed to help pay for systems that send mediocre students to college (or job training, etc) based upon the color of their skin. 
 

It is a mentality that drives these gatherings to occur, without unity on the part of fellow African-americans they fear the dying our of their race. I would go so far as to compare them to Aryans. During World War Two the typical person wanted by Adolf Hitler was a young male of blonde hair and blue eyes, an aryan. The europeans of this era who deemed themselves "pure" were determined to keep themselves isolated and sperate from the Jews who they deemed inferior and who they believed had bad blood not worthy of mixing with "pure" blood. I see things in shades of grey and I see the African-americans as attempting to shield their heritage from mixture into our country. They call themselves American's but they want exclusive clubs and meetings devoted to the celebration of their history free from the influence of American history or American beliefs. 
 

1. If racial segregation is a "bad" thing, then why are so many "black" organizations perpetuating it?

I think some Black organizations perpetuate "segregation" and others are working to help Blacks attain greater opportunity in society.  It is a fine line that these organizations walk.  For example, I don't think it is helpful for college campuses to have specifically Black groups or organizations.  I understand that the theory is that these organizations on campus will help promote opportunity and set up networking possibilities for Black students.  But the downside is that these groups frustrate the goal of "diversity" by encouraging people to segregate themselves according to skin color.  Campuses are supposed to be the place where people of different backgrounds come together and get to know each other and have an experience that they would never have otherwise had.  There may be "diversity" in the classroom-- but it ends there when you have groups tending to segregate themselves in socializing and activities etc. 



2. If the general culture will not accept "white race based organizations", then why should 'black" organizations be permitted instead of being socially scorned as not helpful?

White based organizations seem to be set up to promote the notion of white supremacy.  Black organizations tend to promote opportunity for Blacks.  That is the difference.  The purposes are different and that is why society looks on the two differently.  I do believe that society should examine the downsides of Black organizations (and there are some).  They should not be taken to the extreme so that people are more focused on the racial issues than on the common issues and goals that we all share.

1.  If racial segregation is a "bad" thing, then why are so many "black" organizations perpetuating it?

2.  If the general culture will not accept "white race based organizations", then why should 'black" organizations be permitted instead of being socially scorned as not helpful?[/b]

I wouldn't call it "segregation" by any stretch of the imagination, and it's hardly something that only minority groups do. It's simply human nature that we spend time with people we have things in common with.
The majority of my friends do happen to be gay white men like myself, but my closest friend for years is a heterosexual black woman. I don't spend time with her to "integrate my group of friends", but because we have a lot in common.
It is also notable that ghettoization and "white flight" is a major cause of this, people spend more time with people they live around.

There is also, and I hesitate to bring this up, a definite uncomfortableness of feeling that the (straight, white) majority is "watching their behavior" while we're around. I do tend to be uncomfortable around straight guys in social situations, because I see them hesitate in speaking and I know it's because they were going to make a remark they think I'd take offense at...

Self-segregation, like many other things, has varying degrees and levels. I think the majority of people who self-segregate do so on a small scale...in school, for example, black kids sit together at lunch because they are more comfortable among the people they believe they have the most in common with (which tend to be other black kids)...the same goes for pretty much ANY group, be it ethnic, socioeconomic, career field, marital status, etc. We tend to congregate with/among people with whom we have things in common...people of color, while obviously not a homgenous group, DO tend to have certain broad common experiences that the vast majority of white folks just don't have (i.e. things related to a history of institutional racism/discrimination).

I do believe it's healthy and completely normal. Now, more severe forms of self-segregation aren't healthy, IMO...people who avoid contact with people of different backgrounds, people who purposely don't interact with people of different backgrounds, etc.

A little bit of self-segregation is a good thing: individual self-esteem (especially among ethnic minorities), group empowerment (among "minority" groups of any kind: sexual orientation, ethnic, etc.), etc. - all of those things can be positively influenced by self-segregation, IMO.

People tend to associate with those they relate too and have common interests and are like minded. I, being a lesbian, tend to hang out at a gay bar and feel the most comfortable showing my girlfriend affection there without the fear of condemnation. But in my day to day life, my friends tend to be across the board and every color of the rainbow. But my core group of friends are kinda geeky straight guys into D&D and starwars, both black and white. I think race is becoming a secondary source for if you'll associate with some one, but rather interests, be that religious, hobbies or lifestyles are a bigger factor, including economic. 

...this is a misconception that majority groups tend to have regarding minorities and it springs from the fact that people in a racial majority group (in America, whites) are in the enviable position of being able to have a few black (or asian, or native american) friends without jeopardizing their racial identity. In large social settings like universities, black people are often observed by whites as engaging in self-segregation. If this is so, it's due to the fact that, statistically speaking, if they chose their friends with an absolutely blind eye to race they would hardly have any black friends.

If it seems like white folks don't self-segregate or make social/cultural decisions based upon racial identity, it's because we don't need to. Society and culture in America is, predominantly, white society and white culture. I guarantee you, move the most high-minded white liberal to Ethiopia, and they'd notice pretty quickly they were engaging in "self-segregation" with the other ten or twenty white people there.

I don't remember exactly when Civil Rights Laws began to actually be enacted; but I remember the newspaper photos of students integrating schools under the protection of the National Guard.

I can remember growing up in a black neighborhood, and being taught by white teachers. "Our job as teachers, is to babysit you until you're 16. Anyone who stays beyond that age, we'll attempt to educate." On tests, spelling counted. If you spelled the teacher's or your name wrong, the test wasn't graded or returned.

The few neighbors who would talk to me, admitted they risked being punished for speaking to a white person. Friends are something that I am still trying to learn how to make, because I didn't have the experience as a child.

I can remember starting my first job. "You'll be working for a negro if you take this job. If that's a problem, we can fire him."

The next time I worked with a black man was about five years later. "There's a negro that will be training you. If you can work with him, we'd like to keep him. Your actual work schedules are such that once you're broken in, you won't ever be on the job at the same time. You'll trade relief information 3 days a week. You're replacing a man who quit because he didn't want to work for the same pay as a black man. We'd rather fire him and have you train a white man than to have that problem on a recurring basis." I needed high school chemistry, physics and algebra to hold the job. He had a B.S. in Chem engineering. He was working hourly because "someone who doesn't work here anymore looked at his resume, and credentials and made a commitment to hiring him." He would tell me that every time he had a new neighbor, he would get a visit from the police. "We got a report of a black man breaking into this house. Sorry, we didn't know there were any black people living here."

Recently, the University of Michigan had to defend in the Supreme Court, an admissions policy that was designed to ensure the admission of minorities to the University.

I've lived in Michigan all my life, and I can assure you that fifty years ago, segregation was as real in the North as it was in the South. When I retired in 1996, I had worked with perhaps 6 black men over a period that exceeded 30 years. Co-workers would look back longingly on the days when the sheriff would escort any black that drove into Midland County, back to the County line.

My first wife worked for the Post Office for awhile. One day she came home with the news that "There is now a black family living on every single mail route in the city."

I never saw anything healthy about segregation. I remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird and arguing in a book report that its publication should be banned. The only way, I reasoned, to teach integration is to integrate; and to stop teaching segregation. By then, I was over 16, and most of my classmates were white. I was told that integration was something that wasn't ever going to happen.

The laws have changed, and the workplace is arguably changing. Society is changing, but if some of the older black people you hear sound as though they have never socialized with whites; it's likely because they haven't. Fifty years ago, they hung people with impunity for such an offense. White policemen did not aggressively investigate the deaths of young black men. I remember the time that a policeman rang a doorbell in our neighborhood, and triggered a booby trap. Two shotgun blasts cut him in half. There was no such thing as a minority member of the police force at that time. There were people on both sides, I suspect, who viewed it as open warfare.

Life is not a beer commercial.

Watch a beer commercial where a couple of guys are hanging out in a bar, eating pizza, lying about women and pounding brews and what will you see? Two or three white guys and one black guy bused in to intergrate the group.

WHERE is this bar? Nine times out of ten when I go to a sports bar I see black folks sitting with black folks and white folks sitting with white folks. Oh yeah, there are mixed couples and groups, but it sure doesn't look as "We Are the Worldish" as the commericals would have you believe.

I don't think black people choose to congregate among themselves for any racial reason any more than whites or Latinos do. People are naturally drawn to others they feel they may have something in common with.

Most people aren't really adventuresome to approach other groups from races or religions or creeds different from their own. How many African-Americans have friendships with native Africans? Aren't there liberal white males on this board that might feel very uncomfortable if you took them to a gay bar? Many people are very progressive until they have to stand up for their expoused principles.

Self-segregation, especially in high school and college, bothers me because for many people it is the last time they will be exposed to a vast variety of individuals and beliefs. That's a shame because until they enter a racially integrated workplace they may miss out on a truly enriching experience. Why limit yourself?

But then again, some people require the comfort and security that only comes with being around others of a similar and shared interest. Self-segregation taken to a extreme or enforced by laws and regulation IS harmful.

Intergration wasn't fought for so whites and blacks HAD to hang out with each other. But if they CHOSE to they could do so without fear of breaking a law and being harassed for being the one black person drinking with all his or her white friends.