Mixed Races Gaining Ground
- Thread starter Bar Sinister
- Start date
I came up with it when I'd read an article once about how we had to get rid of the root 'man' in various words, especially those related to profession. So I had come up with this twist in the theory to see how it would go. Instead of getting rid of 'man', re-introduce 'wer':lol:
It does'tseem to have taken off though. Bunch of sexits:lol:
You need to consider other factors too. I remember hearing of one poll about 99% of Canadian police officers saying they were't racist. While that sounds impressive, it's scary when you really think about it, since that means 1% of police officers are racist, know they're racist, and have no issue with admitting that they're racist. Either that or they saw how ridiculous the poll was and so decided to say they were racist just to mock the silliness of the poll question. In reality though, such a poll would say little about the real level of racism in the police force owing the the 'I'm not racist but...' crowd. In Victoria BC, there was actually a local police officer appointed to attend all inter-cultural events in the city. He was their PR man essentially. A friendly man, and I'd had a chance to speak with him. He'd go around to various meetings and chat with people to get a feel for what was really going on. Certainly if 99% of police officers in Canada weren't racist, they'd have no need for this kind of PR. Your poll reminds me of the same thing. Even from my own experience, before announcing we were going to get married, everyone seemed to be our friend. Any hint of racism was totally out of sight. It's only once we made the announcement that all hell broke loose. That was probably the "I'm not racist but...' crowd rearing its ugly head, for whom interracial marriage isn't an issue at all except under conditions A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I , J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y , and Z. They would certainly have voted positively in that poll, but would react when the interracial marriage isn't to their liking, like when it's OK to be black, but not too black, or it's OK to marry a Hispanic because they're Catholic too... Oh, wait, there are Hispanic Muslims... now that's a different story. Black? No problem. He's nicely assimilated already... Oh, you mean he's not... Hmmm...
I'm sure you get the picture. From my personal experience, the number of racist incidents was so high there is no way it was just coincidental that it was focused on us... not to mention that it was similar in Victoria and Montreal, hardly neighbouring cities. So your statistics do not match my experience. I would say it probably has to do with other factors such as NIMBYism (i.e they see no issue with it as lng as it's not within their close nit community), politeness (seeing that Canada is also more politically correct than the US, it's more likely that many who do see a problem with it would still vote positively even if it is a secret poll, as a psychological means to deny they're racist, because it seems to be the right box to check). Did that poll take all of these factors into account, how they understood interracial marriage, whether they voted positively as a politically correct feel good tactic despite the poll being secret and confidential? Did they take all of these cultural, psychological and other factors into account? I doubt it very much.
I'd say you might be correct. from my experience, Canada's openness and political correctness is a very thin public veneer behind which hides much racism.
And just to add to the list of potential flaws with JSP's poll. If it asked whether we supported interracial marriage, what about other kinds of marriage? I remember one man tell me flat in my face that as far as he was concerned, our marriage was illegitimate not because of my race, but because I didn't profess Islam... and he wasn't even a close friend or member of the family! He was friendly otherwise, but simply voiced his sincere opinion. Many others had also told me they thought the marriage was illegitimate for the same reason. yet Muslims are quite open to different races. Go to most mosques, and racially they're quite mixed, everything from Hitler's dream-come-true blue eyes and blond hair, all the way to black as night, and everything in between. Certainly such a distinction would not show up in such a poll. After all, racial and religious prejudice are not the same.
"While it may be true, it cannot be used to draw any sort of conclusions."
I draw conclusions from things that are true.
I draw conclusions from things that are true.
Quite so. I myself am not racist, unless I'm talking to one of my immigrant neighbors, in which case I make sure I support their racism, so they don't feel uncomfortable.
Now, I would be careful in accepting a poll like that at face value. If you ask people if they are racist, hardly anybody would admit to being racist, most will answer no That is like asking people if they are happy, or if they are going to go to heaven etc. Most will answer yes.
However, when you ask people if they approve of interracial marriage, that is a specific question, and the answer would be much more reliable than to ask the general question, if people are racist.
Besides, what does one mean by ‘racist’? Somebody may hold the view that blacks are inferior to whites, but must be treated with compassion and understanding. He may not consider these views to be racist, and may answer that he is not a racist.
I would disregard any poll which asked people if they are racists. A specific question, like if the approve of interracial marriage would be much more reliable.
Exactly, something like 4 million years ago when Australopithecus Afarensis was scooting about looking for berries and stuff. Or 2 million years ago when there were about 5 or 6 different branches of humans. Nowadays there is only 1 branch; homo sapiens sapiens.
Last edited:
How do you know that. Perhaps Canadians only say they are ok with interracial marriages?
Your stats showed approval rating and the ones I showed were actual marriages. Yours showed that Canadians had a higher approval rating than the Americans, but the actual stats of real mixed marriages showed the US as having almost twice as many mixed marriages (on a percentage basis).
So much for statistics. It just helps to read the parameters of what the stats are supposed to display.
Last edited:
Again, you can't know that. All you can reasonable say is that that many Canadians SAY they are ok with mixed marriages.
Precisely.
"Hey, I have no problem with my son Jim marrying Jane, that brown-skinned girl down the street from us. She's a thoroughbred Canadian, Canadian accent, goes to church, etc. Canadian through and through."
"But John, she doesn't go to church. She just went that once because a friend invited her. She's a Muslim I think, and she does speak with a funny accent, eats funny food, etc."
"Oh, well now that's a whole different story. I won't have my grandkids raised in some funny religion and getting Indian curry breath, and speaking some funny lingo at home. No way."
Hmmmm... so how might he vote in a poll asking whether he sees anything wrong with mixed race marriages? He sees nothing wrong with it, as long as they're well assimilated.