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Racism

  • Thread starter altrade212
  • Start date
  • #21
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Amateur_Expert @ Feb. 11 2005,9:22)]I think next time i'll save all the trouble and just say "i'm human"
Until we start running into alien civilizations I think that's the only correct answer.
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  • #22
Racism is a social disease. Everyone is a raciest. Yeah you can say "O' I am not a racist?". You go into any neighborhood that is unsual you tend to lock your door or not look at people a certain way. Racism is more then just black and white...then you have the people that just use the race word just because your opinion is different. I was called a racist because I thought O.J. Simpson was guitly.
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  • #24
Man, as a mod when I see a post titled racism... shivers run down my spine... this has the potential to boil over into a heated mess, and I commend you all for having such an intelligent discourse so far.

America has been described as 'The Great Melting Pot of the World'. We are a fusion of race, culture, and nationality. Like Treaqum and others, I think DEFINING yourself by your ancestry is an incorrect practice, and I'll tell you why, but let me first clarify that I think everyone should be proud of, and celibrate their heritage.

When you hyphenate yourself (African American, German American, so on, so forth), you diminish what it means to BE an american. I believe our for fathers had a vision far greater than even they knew, when they talked about the liberty of Man, they didn't include at the time what they viewed as property, but as elightenment occurs, old dreams take on new meanings, and THAT is an American Principle.

To be an American means you throw out your fear of what is different, and in turn come to accept it, relish it, cherish it. America is strong because of it's differences, but when we define ourselves as individuals by those differences, we weaken ourselves. You start forming pocket communities and cultures that don't see eye to eye, I would argue that there is a greater Gap between Republicans and Democrats than there is between whites and blacks these days, those polictical parties have become cultures unto themselves. ( I could be wrong, and am willing to accept that however!
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I too come from the south, and I can tell you while Racism is alive and well everywhere, I think the traditional view of a 'racist south' is nothing more than small pockets of fear and hatred here, One thing people don't realize, is that Souther America is becoming more and more hispanic, that in some areas, the white majority has become the white minority, that tends to shift perspectives very rapidly. America can not so easily be divided into north and south, as it once was, we are a trans-continental culture, movement and migration is a way of life, most of my closest friends here in san antonio aren't even texans, heck, I am not a Texan by Birth, I come by way of california (where my california mom met my illionois (airforce) dad. My brother and sister while 100% american were born and partially raised in Germany, My mothers family ancestery splits between California and Indianna, My fathers ancestry splits between St. Louis illinois and Romania. Melting Pot.

I often wonder, for those of us that hyphenate ourselves (I would be a German - Romainian - Swiss - British - American (read Mutt) what people who live in those countries or continents would think of us? Would a Man living in the heart of africa understand why an 'african-american' identifies himself as african american? He most certainly identifies himself as congalese, somalian, ethiopian, or some such national identity.

Racism is a horrible mental tradition for some people in america, it doesn't just affect whites, it festers in the heart of every race that has ever walked the face of this earth. I wish I could be alive for the day Racism officially dies, when All Americans consider themselves an "American Race" and beyond, when we all simply call ourselves "Human" or "Residents of Earth". Sadly I think neither of those days will occur in my lifetime. I do know the way there is not through government legislation, political agenda's and so forth, it's by walking out your front door, and talking to your neighbor.
 
  • #25
Oh, and an interesting tangent that occured to me via the walmart topic...

Nationalism... sometimes nationalism can be as bad as racism. Case in point, in the IT industry many people over the last few years have lost their jobs to Indian companies that come in and offer brute force programming, typically you have 10 americans doing a job, an indian company gets the contract, 9 of those americans lose their job, 3 or 4 indians come in to work with the client directly in the US, they are usually lead programmers, back in India, they have a programming staff of 30 or so people to brute force the labor out.

What has this led to? It hit's americans and in this case, well paid white colar americans, where it really hurts, the wallet. I have heard so many belittleing names for indians in the last 5 years It makes my head spin. I don't neccissarily think it is racism, though, that is the easiest way to define it, but where racism comes from fear and the desire to have power over someone (i think) this comes from anger, jealousy, feelings of broken trust and loyalty, depression and despair.

Interesting side bar.
 
  • #26
Racism?? Not me! I don't like to run, therefore, I am not a racist!
 
  • #27
you have no idea how tempted I was to post that bugweed!
 
  • #28
Sorry RP. I just couldn't resist.
 
  • #29
[b said:
Quote[/b] (altrade212 @ Feb. 11 2005,6:06)]how do you feel with racism against african americans? i just watched "Men of Honor" GREAT movie... i really felt bad of how they used to treat african americans it was so evil, i just get real emotional when it comes to that, everytime i see vedios and hear about it, see documentries and movies i get very emotional.. i just wanted to know your views on racism (since its black history month i figured it was appropriate)..
You didn't expect anybody to say, "Yeah, racism is great!", did you?

As for me, I honestly don't understand why skin color has any more significance than eye color or hair color.
 
  • #31
Racism doesnt just have to be towards people from Africa, as most of you know I am Bosnian, and I have been racially abused because of that.

Action should be taken to reduce racism, and people should accept everyone no matter where they are from.
 
  • #32
Very good point Starman, and it also needs to be noted, that just noting the differences between races does not constitute racism either.

ZappaFan, I have heard what you are saying before. Bigger Cranium Schmanium, I bow to the intelligence of many people in other races that far exceeds my own. While an interesting point, I don't want anyone to take what you said the wrong way.

Also, I hardly accept that caucasians will be extinct by 2100, I plan on living to at least 100 (2075), and know pretty much for a fact my kids will have either blonde or red hair, blue eyes, and white skin, they will most certainly be alive at the next century mark.

Also, something to be understood about genetics, is that it doesn't all go one way, I know a stunning young lady that I work with that is 'african american' for 5 generations on both sides of her family that has amazing green eyes (not contacts). Personally, I think some of the most beautiful people I have ever seen (both men and women) have been of highly mixed heritage, I am not talking one or two races, but 3 or 4, or 5. oh, and races don't go extinct, species do. And we are all the same, just different sports of the same genetic tree if you will.

I am proud of my heritage, sounds like you are too, but would have no problem with a completely homogenistic society springing up.
 
  • #34
Well, I could care less who my kids mate with, as long as they are good and decent people It doesn't matter. neither does it matter to me that it took my friends green eyes 5 or more generations to reassert themselves.

Certainly DNA tests will show differences between races, and I acknoweldge that, big whoop. We are different, that's a good thing. If in the future we aren't so different, I dont think it will be a bad thing.
 
  • #35
I must agree with Bugweed, if we were all (and this sounds goofy but it's what I think) the same because we were all similarly different (told ya) everything would be sweet... it really is like that now, but there are still enough distinct differences to make it easy for the less observant types to make up group-based theories

Like what tropics (I think, pages ago) said, there are some places on earth where there are so many different groups that it would take more time than anyone has to effectively "hate" any one group

The town where I live just happens to be (pretty much widely accepted as) the main terminus for the Underground Railroad

As such, there are many,many people who settled here and built communities at the same time as folks form old Europe were immigrating into the area.... the people right next door to me are black and they are sweet people, I actually want to ask them about their heritage but have not found the opportunity- I find that really getting to know people who's experience is different from your own is one of the best ways to improve yourself.. I have friends from every continent (except antartica, natch), I shop at Middle Eastern grocery stores (one run by Lebanese people, one by Libyans with whom I've had pretty interesting political discussins with)
I don't know what my life would be like if I hadn't opened my eyes, but it would not be anywhere near as full and meaningful as it is had I adopted the attitudes of many around me while I was growing up
 
  • #36
I read that certain genetic diseases are present in man because there was a poor mixing of genetics early on due to smaller groups of people. It's a scientific fact that you are more likely to be attracted to someone with differing genes (not to do with skin colour - that's just a small batch of chromosomes) due to the pheromonal signals that you unconsciously pick up.

There's an experiment where 10 females were ranked regarding the difference between their genes and that of the test subject. The women wore T-shirts for a couple of days and they were then put in jars and numbered 1-10. The tester sniffed the T-shirts in the jars and arranged the jars in the order in which he liked the smell. When the numbers on the jars were revealed it showed that he had arranged them in a perfect 1-10 order. 1 being the smell he liked the most and this was the female with the most differing genes. Female 10 had very similar genes.
 
  • #37
My wife and I both think people of "mixed" heritage are the most attractive, but we're each stuck with a white spouse.
 
  • #38
Fifty years from now we'll probably be able to visit our friendly neighborhood cosmetic surgeon and make our eyes orange and our skin blue for a week if we feel so inclined. We'll be less and less concerned with losing genes through breeding as they become more and more malleable. And then we'll find whole new silly things to be prejudiced about.
 
  • #39
The good thing about this and other cp forums is no one can be racist because now one know anything about you (except you like cps).
 
  • #40
zappafan, consider it evolution of the human race. What you are saying only pertains to the united states though because remember, the whites here came from europe. You don't have to worry about "whites" being whipped out. "White" is a generic term for a white american, even though that white american came from Europe (Germany, Russia, Spain, Italy, France, etc). No one knows the exact genes for the color of eyes and things like that, it hasn't been squared out yet. You've seen a study that calls (white people's, specifically) eye color recessive?
 
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