Racism - Come on down & Splain yourself Eh.

[damngrumpy]

In find it difficult to hate people I don't know. In our family, through marriage and a
host of other extended family arrangements we have a united nations as it were. I
think every group with the exception of Indo Canadian and Muslim.
I don't hate the Muslims, but at the moment our Country is at war with them. Oh we can use the fancy phrases about being at war with insurgents, or whatever. In fact we
are at war with Muslim fundamentalism. I don't hate them but I think we should
declare every measure possible to defeat them, even if it means using unpopular
weapons.
Some people attempt to define everything as racism, for example profiling. Not so
fundamentalist bombings come primarily from one community unless we are in
Northern Ireland. I don't have friends that use derogatory names or labels for
people, too many of my friends are in those groups. Besides if you have nothing
more than names to call people to make you feel better, it demonstrates how
shallow some people are. Racism in many cases isn't about hate really, it more
about fear, inferiority complex leads to feelings of superiority, in order to feel
better about yourself. I already like who I am thank you.

 

[countryboy]

I'm curious about something...would "Americans" be considered to be a race of people? Does anyone have a thought on that?

 

[damngrumpy]

Americans, like Canadians or British, are a nationality made up of several different
races.

 

[countryboy]

Americans, like Canadians or British, are a nationality made up of several different
races.

Hey Grumpy, thanks for that. Quite interesting as I've never actually given this much thought (never thought it was that important, I guess).

So, in my own particular case, my mother was a second generation Dutch person (parents were immigrants from Holland), my father was 3rd generation Scottish (grandparents were immigrants from Scotland), sooo - I'm thinking my nationality is Canadian with a mixed racial background? Do I have that more or less correct? (I don't have an identity crisis or anything..just trying to define all this stuff a bit more clearly...thanks!) :smile:

 

[countryboy]

PS to above...what actually defines a race vs. a nationality? Another casual curiosity on my part...

 

[Cliffy]

Holy Bat Guano! Cliffy. You must have mucho grande cojones! Bravo! :lol::lol::lol:

Or no sense of self preservation.:roll:

 

[SirJosephPorter]

In find it difficult to hate people I don't know. In our family, through marriage and a
host of other extended family arrangements we have a united nations as it were.

Interesting, Damngrumpy. Some people find it easy to hate people precisely because they don’t know them, because they have not walked a mile in there shoes.

I remember reading about a woman who was staunchly prolife, wanted to ban all abortions, no exceptions. She had nothing but contempt for women who got abortions; she used to be very active in demonstrating against abortion clinics.

Then one day, she suddenly stopped coming to demonstrations, ceased to be active in prolife movement without any explanation. It turned out that her daughter was raped and she got an abortion for her daughter.

I suppose when she realized the torment, agonizing decision women face when they decide to get an abortion, how the women get abortions are not total monsters, it gave her a new empathy, it decreased her hatred towards women who got an abortion.

But at least she had the honesty, the integrity to stop being active in prolife movement. Many prolifers would get an abortion and continue to campaign for banning of all abortions.

 

[lone wolf]

Abortion and racist are the same thing?

 

[Johnnny]

i was out drinking with my black friends and i was called the " white N%&^^$#" once, i didnt know what to do...

 

[darkbeaver]

In a vaccumn one can say that he is not racist Goober, you are not in a vaccumn, you have left a trail of your own racist tendencies here in cc. I have seen your support for the racist apartied state of Israel many times here. Maybe I'm incorrect but that is my opinion of you and your contributions. Just to make myself perfectly clear, anyone who supports the state of Israel, is a racist.

 

[lone wolf]

In all fairness DB, Israel/not Israel isn't a race. In fact, many of then are cast from the same spawn.

 

[karrie]

What a pointless thread.

Sorry Goober, but, it's essentially an intellectual circle jerk.

"Racists are bad!"

"Yeah racists are bad!"

"I'm so glad I'm better than them!"

"Me too... we're better than them!"

"Let's sit and pity those people we're better than."

"Yeah. Let's pity them!"

While I'm sure someone said something specific that you felt to be racist, and you want to poke at that and find its source, the argument it came up in is probably the best place to find that out. Dragging it out of context, and wanting people to label themselves, will never work, and you know it. If you want to start a conversation about racism without context of specifics, then the only way to truly explore it is via your OWN shortcomings in that area.

And yes, even you have shortcomings. I don't know a single person who isn't prone to racist knee jerk reactions, or to stereotyping to a degree. Intellectually speaking we usually quickly overcome those reactions, but, that doesn't make their roots worth examining.

 

[lone wolf]

What is the difference between mixing bowl, racist and just plain politically incorrect?

 

[darkbeaver]

In all fairness DB, Israel/not Israel isn't a race. In fact, many of then are cast from the same spawn.

Tell an Israeli that LW. It is the Jewish state and it was the White State of SA and it was the Aryan state of Nazi Cermany. What is the saving grace of a difference I'm unable to see.

 

[countryboy]

I realize that much of the focus we see these days on racism is on the spoken word...the derogatory terms used to describe any particular race.

I have worked with people who would never utter such words (at least to me or in public), yet I've seen them demonstrate racism through their actions. Call it "subtle racism", if you will. I have seen it in cases where some people are applying for a position within a company...the boss would automatically put "certain" applications at the bottom of the pile and there they would stay. Yet, during conversations about it, not a word would be said about color or race. No subtle slurs, no "slips of the tongue". Nada. All perfectly legal and politically-correct to a "T." But alas, no serious consideration given to the applicant's ability to do the job. None. Nada.

The old expression, "You are judged by your actions, not your intentions" is a good reminder that racism can be silent and well-masked, but the resulting actions can harm a person far more than any spoken word. ("Sticks and stones...")

Once again, like a disease, all you can usually see are the symptoms while the real disease is lurking beneath the surface. Sometimes the symptoms are visible (or audible) and sometimes they're not. In fact, sometimes you can hear sounds that might be mistaken for symptoms yet there is no disease present, other than perhaps bad manners or a temporary lapse in judgement (where the mouth got ahead of the brain)...

My grandfather used to frequently use the term "Chinaman" when referring to Toy Jack, an old guy who ran a cafe in my hometown. "Let's go over to the Chinaman's place for some ice cream" would be the standard line after a hard day's work. Yet, my grandfather would visit "the Chinaman" after hours and play checkers with him endlessly. They were about the same age, shared many similar interests, and were quite close personal friends. I don't believe the "disease" was there at all. Sure, I understand times have changed and political correctness has become the norm, but my point is that racism is not always visible.

I tend to ask questions when I hear a racial slur..."Why would you say that?" is usually fairly effective...people will generally answer questions, especially those who like to talk about themselves. You can find out a lot by doing that, and that can set up a fairly decent conversation which can lead to something really worthwhile...like causing someone to think about the issue and perhaps realize that there is no logical basis to think like they do about race.

We can legislate all kinds of things, but real change has to come from within the person.

I ain't preaching here...just throwing a couple of opinions into the discussion...there are many ways to "skin a cat!"

 

[lone wolf]

Tell an Israeli that LW. It is the Jewish state and it was the White State of SA and it was the Aryan state of Nazi Cermany. What is the saving grace of a difference I'm unable to see.

You are, of course, correct in that it is a JEWISH state. Much of the population indigenous to the region is of Semitic root and only god (in the non-religious sense) knows where the imports came from. Jewish is a religion ... not a race

 

[karrie]

Precisely a huge part of my point Eagle. Everyone spends their time worrying about what other people are doing that comes off as racist. No time worrying about their own actions, their own issues. It makes a thread like this an exercise in nothing more than back patting and superiority.

"Damn I love being better than racists."

 

[countryboy]

In my business, I tend to think of customers as a group of people. I do categorize them according to different needs, locations, etc...i.e., demographics. The color of their skin has never been included.

I look at voters pretty much the same way...just a bunch of people. Interesting that some people would single out race and color as being important...I just really never thought about it that way as I've always felt that people are just people.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Seriously....lets all drop the Name Calling or this Thread will become
much shorter to get it back on Topic.

 

[countryboy]

Well, golllleee, I'm a-gittin' a mite kon-fused heer. I'm jest a simpul country boy and all this here talk about who's a racist and who isn't, jest a-gits me itchin' to ask the kweschun...

WHAT EXACTLY IS A RACIST?

Kin anyone help me with that one? Please keep it short and simple as I'm jest a liddle "word-challenged" (but pleez don't single me out an' hold it agin' me!)...if you use them big, high-falutin' terms, I could git my merds all wixed up!