Thread: things like this are keeping racism alive.

Originally Posted by conisag

Hi thanks for your replys, im not racist im very pro "get over the race issue" and im sorry for the anger i came across a bit harsh but im extremely pissed at this whole victim thing, and i just want to be me and forget anything to do with blacks/hispanics we in reality we shouldnt even know eachother exist there was a dam sea in the middle of us lol but we do and it could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how people react and how people are treated.
Peace.

Well you have to realize, conisag, that many of us are still victims of racial injustice. There are a lot of us who still have (metaphorical) scars over the way we, as a people, were treated in the past, because there are so many remnants of that treatment, still in existence to day, especially if you live in the south.
Now, I will agree that many people use that as an excuse to exercise reverse racism. I don't condone that either, but your view that you have "sat back and subconsciously thought of whites as racists," and whatnot, shows exactly the frame of mind that many people are stuck in. Just because you are pissed at that, doesn't mean that many blacks aren't still victims of injustice. It also doesn't mean that ALL whites should be looked at as racists, so don't think I'm advocating that point of view either.

But, like Kichu, I'm kinda wondering what kind of people you are surrounded by where people are coming up to you screaming "You're proud of being white? RACIST!" Where do you live?

About black history month and talk about black achievement on television: A lot of that is taken out of context. (Like we said earlier) It's not all about "Look at us! Look at we did! We're so great!" It's about educating a nation that is still partially ignorant to the achievements of blacks throughout our nation's history. It is an attempt to counter-act racism with knowledge. You have to over-look the initial "Oh, they're just getting special treatment" reaction and see it for what it is really meant to be.
On the other hand, it is a double-edged sword. Many people are offended by it (for the reason stated above) and it also fuels racism. I actually don't like the idea of "black history month," and I feel achievements of blacks should be talked about any day of the year, just like the achievements of whites are talked about any day of the year. I think giving it its own month is just another form of segregation and hurts the cause just as much as it tries to help.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

I think giving it its own month is just another form of segregation and hurts the cause just as much as it tries to help.

I agree with most of what you said, but this particularly line is so very true. I think the only one who could argue down that point is Johnny Cockrin (sp?).

idk where the blacks live who still get treated bad for being black, but I hope those places get over themselves like a lot of areas have and just treat everyone like they are human. Racism is out dated and in the global economy we are approaching, people better learn that not everyone has to be the same color.

this part to no one in paticular: I do wonder though, why is racism against a white person reverse racism? Shouldnt it still just be racism? reverse racism makes me think of a happy place where people's negative thoughts about race can be erased from their memories

Originally Posted by tkdyo

this part to no one in paticular: I do wonder though, why is racism against a white person reverse racism? Shouldnt it still just be racism?

To answer your second question first: Yes, it is still just racism. That's why I will often use the phrase "reverse racism is still racism," because many people like to try to separate it from "normal" racism.

But to answer your first: What makes it "reverse" racism is the ideology that "since we as a people (blacks) were wronged, first, then our return racism, toward the race that oppressed us, is justified." There are many blacks that live under this sort of philosophy, and I can't completely blame them for being that misguided, but that's exactly what it is; misguidance. To me, it is holding onto a hatred and refusing to make amends with a generation that is (as a majority) so far beyond that initial wrong-doing that to hold that strict a grudge is about as bad as the "normal" racial prejudice (from whites, back then) that sparked the whole thing.

Every person is an individual, and races are not teams. They are just biological classifications. No race has ever acted together as a single unit. Not even anywhere near it. Disliking a person because of skin color is extremely absurd.

I have to mention the most outrageous and funniest racist comment I have ever heard of. It might have never been said, but it still illustrates what racism really is. My brother's friend claims he knew somebody who said he hates Chinese people because of Pearl Harbor and that they should know that we have not forgotten what happened in Vietnam. I think that preposterous comment puts a magnifying glass on how all racism works.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

They are just biological classifications.

I agree with what you are saying UM, but actually human races cannot be classified genetically. There are a few genes (seven, I think) that control skin color, but within the genome there is more variation within races than between them. For example, since people evolved and have been in Africa for so long, there is extreme genetic variation within "black" people; and any one particular dark-skinned person may actually be closer genetically to a light-skinned person than another dark one.

That's why the recent unfortunate comments by a prominent scientist (even if he did help discover the structure of DNA half a century ago when his mind was still intact) make no sense at all.

I don't know if things like Black History Month are bad or not. I do feel like, Why do they have to act like we need to celebrate it specially?; like there's few enough things we can just think about it once a year.

I think we can all admit who invented every kind of music worth listening to tho.

You know I agree. It shouldn't EVEN be a question; wether or not black people are any good or not. For fucks sake we're people trapped on a huuuuge round object; And this is how we treat eachother?

You know the advertisement you mentioned was what they call "Politically Correct" A.K.A. hypocritical. They tried to compensate for all the evil done to and thought about black people by showing "black inventions".

Off course this is just fueling a fire. Aware or unaware. Well dude have you seen African culture? Off course they have good stuff. Have you seen European Gothic and Mediterranean culture? Off course they've got good stuff. Have you seen Native American indian cultures? off course they'vre got great stuff. Have you seen persian and arabic culture? Great stuff they've got.

But all of these people, because they are people, have bad stuff too. And guess what: A reasonable conclusion is that ethics are not related in any way to Ethnicity/Race; Off course they're not. And the add you mentioned does put that in doubt again. All you need to draw that conclusion is an I.Q. of at least 80.

It's time we started judging eachother on PERSONALITY, instead of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or anything else besides personality. Individuality and individual responsibility is far fetched in this misguided, frustrated world.

Racism and everything it encompasses are, what I call, tales for the lowly intelligent. That simple. Designed by the Dominator-authorities of our modern, western civilisations to keep us working class and lower class people so busy with fighting racial warfare that we tend to forget who's our REAL enemy; Those forces that devide and rule us.
Well we see how well it works don't we?

Originally Posted by Moonbeam

I agree with what you are saying UM, but actually human races cannot be classified genetically. There are a few genes (seven, I think) that control skin color, but within the genome there is more variation within races than between them.

Race is still a biological classification. Are you saying there is no such thing as race? That finding would end a lot of the world's problems. What would you say a race is?

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

Race is still a biological classification. Are you saying there is no such thing as race? That finding would end a lot of the world's problems. What would you say a race is?

After many many many many more years, perhaps we will all be the same race.

And I hear we're supposed to turn into hermaphodites??? lol

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

Race is still a biological classification. Are you saying there is no such thing as race? That finding would end a lot of the world's problems. What would you say a race is?

You can't define race using "biology" (genetics), that's what I'm saying. There is a spectrum of skin color and other visible features such as eye shape, hair texture, etc. There are no place to draw the lines. People blend into each other (like if you go from northern India to southern, there is a gradual darkening of the skin. Some people in southern india are very, very dark-skinned; while the northerners are pale.) The few genes that code for skin color do not define the whole spectrum, and actually would put people who are less related to each other overall together, if you just look at those genes. So it doesn't make any sense.

Race is a societal construct. There are no "genetic definitions" of race. Yes it should end a lot of the world's problems, but do you think telling people that there is no genetic definition of race will make a difference?