Racism and Racists

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Capt Lightning said:
So who was it that massacred the native American Indians, stole their land and placed them in reservations ? Or is this just something people don't like to talk about?
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We talk about it incessantly.

By the way, who was it who colonized and subjugated the Indian subcontinent and much of Africa? Who occupied Ireland for 900 years and kept Irish Catholics downtrodden and starving? Who brought slaves to the West Indies to work on sugar plantations? Who stole so many of the world's treasured artworks and jammed them into the British Museum? For that matter, who waged brutal war on the people of Scotland and denied them their independence?
 
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Capt Lightning said:
So who was it that massacred the native American Indians, stole their land and placed them in reservations ?
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Our ancestors, same as did a lot of other things horrific by today's sensibilities. But those folks are all dead and gone, leaving us to manage the aftermath.
Capt Lightning said:
Or is this just something people don't like to talk about?
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As others have said, we talk about it all the time, no effort to keep it secret.
 
JaniceM said:
Kinda like this book, huh?
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Thanks, I just ordered the book!

It is easy to demonize people who do racist or evil things. I don't mean to defend those actions, however understanding where people's heads were helps understand what happened and why. Most southern supporters of segregation were not bad people, they were just wrong. And their wrongness did a lot of damage.

I had a second cousin in Louisiana who owned a restaurant. When faced with being forced to integrate he decided to close it down rather than let black people in. A stupid action that cost him his business for no gain. I sure can't defend what he did, but in many other ways he was a nice man. He was amongst the people who honestly believed that black people were an inferior race, that was once the majority belief in the US. I know how stupid it sounds today, but it was reality. I believe even Abraham Lincoln thought that way, he just opposed slavery.

We have a complicated history, really understanding it is useful.
 
Lavinia said:
I do know my history and what you say is only partly true. Why do you think the Romans were so determined to control Britain? Because the country had resources...fertile land, minerals to mine. The Christian religion was established in Britain before the Catholic church. This country was a major player on the world stage before we had our own empire. It is even mentioned in the Old Testament!!
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Where in the Old Testament is Britain mentioned????? These are the only places mentioned:

Babylon (Books of Kings II 21:12, 24:1, etc.)

Egypt (various times) Ethiopia (referred to by the Hebrew name Kush)

India (Esther 1 "Ahashverous was the king of Persia... ...

Lebanon (various times, mainly referring to the famous cedars) ...

Syria (referred to by its capital, Damascus)

Cannot see Britain anywhere.

Next thing, you will be telling us, the Garden of Eden was in Kent, England

:eek::eek::eek:
.
 
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Alligatorob said:
I agree that it did not go well. But other than sooner how do you think it could have been better handled?

It went against generations of strong feelings, reversing that is not an easy thing to do. I was young back then, but I remember the angst of thinking about black kids going to school with us and the like. And I came from a relatively liberal and educated home.

Many people really did see it as an end of the world thing...
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I really don't know how it could have been handled better. It was a bit like "tearing the Bandaid off". It surely had to happen at some time but it seemed at the time it just made the various cultures more resentful of one another. I'm just glad we have moved past it.
 
dseag2 said:
It was a bit like "tearing the Bandaid off"
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I always appreciated Thomas Jefferson's quote on slavery:

"we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other"

I think that is how a lot of white southerners felt... Today we now know tearing the bandaid off or letting the wolf go should have been done right away, much sooner than it was... but it did not seem that way to people at the time.

I agree I am also glad the legal enforcement part of segregation is long over.

We are the last generation who will remember those days. Not sure if that is bad or good, I find myself telling more and more younger people what I saw and remember. Some seem to listen, some are surprised it really happened.
 
Alligatorob said:
Thanks, I just ordered the book!

It is easy to demonize people who do racist or evil things. I don't mean to defend those actions, however understanding where people's heads were helps understand what happened and why. Most southern supporters of segregation were not bad people, they were just wrong. And their wrongness did a lot of damage.

I had a second cousin in Louisiana who owned a restaurant. When faced with being forced to integrate he decided to close it down rather than let black people in. A stupid action that cost him his business for no gain. I sure can't defend what he did, but in many other ways he was a nice man. He was amongst the people who honestly believed that black people were an inferior race, that was once the majority belief in the US. I know how stupid it sounds today, but it was reality. I believe even Abraham Lincoln thought that way, he just opposed slavery.

We have a complicated history, really understanding it is useful.
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The book has numerous examples like you mentioned about your cousin. Un-freakin'-believable!!!
 
hollydolly said:
yes I didn't mean you personally, I meant your generation... It's not something we ever had to deal with when I was growing up.... so I've never witnessed it.. albeit that I've heard anecdotes about No Black and No Irish signs on boarding house doors back in the 40's.. but in my lifetime of 66 years I've never witnessed segregation of any type in the UK

I'm going to Add to this, that there has been segregation between Catholic and Protestants, in Northern Ireland, which of course caused all the terrible irish troubles from the 60's for decades.. but aside from watching it on tv, and having our sons , father, and brothers over there peace keeping, we really weren't aware of what was occurring anmong the segregated religions
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There is no forced segregation in the U.S. today. If it exists, it is by choice.
 
Everytime this subject is broached, there are references to biblical times, various conquering empire times and our own slavery times. Frankly, with our history of never learning from past experiences, one might just as well put this topic to bed. It's not going to be resolve in anyone's favor in the near future and a lot of negative energy is wasted on it. It is a personal issue, let it lie there.
 
terry123 said:
How do we know that God is white?
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JaniceM said:
Because white people say so? :ROFLMAO:
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This is my understanding from the Angels:

The God is the underlying presence in all creation. The part of the God who appears as a Being is of no distinct color.
God is in any form he directs.. No other living being exists anywhere equating the intelligence, the love, the complexities of the one Holy God of all gods and of all that exists.
The God appears as all love, all light , all power and all energy. This is beyond energy and beyond matter. This Being appears as no color. This is all pervading and all knowing.. Even a breath of God lifts the soul to a depth of more feeling than can be expressed. This is all perfection.
This is the finest, most delicate stratum of existence. This is spirit and light in the most tenderness in existence.
 
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rgp said:
Why is that ? .......... not that I care .......... but I am curious.

Why is it that I cannot have an opposing opinion to yours without drawing your asinine remarks & personal attacks ? Are you just so ignorant that you cannot think of a better responce ?
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Before calling someone ignorant, learn how to spell "Response." :giggle:
 
Lewkat said:
There is no forced segregation in the U.S. today. If it exists, it is by choice.
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Well, yes and no. Merit based education, or lack thereof, can look a lot like race based discrimination (although it is not) and is a big issue for some, particularly Asian Americans who support the practice. For instance, San Francisco has a high school, Lowell High, focused on college admissions and the best students in the city. Admissions were merit based without regard to race. This resulted in a heavily Asian student body. The Black community was outraged. The reaction was to switch to race based admissions focused on increasing Black membership. This resulted in a lawsuit filed by Chinese parents. The parents won, but similar issues abound around the country, much to the dismay of an Asian community that is feeling discriminated against - perhaps with good reason.
 
win231 said:
Before calling someone ignorant, learn how to spell "Response." :giggle:
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Again your asinine reply shouts your ignorance. Mine was a mere type-o .

Yes I know .... you've never made a mistake ........ Must be a huge burden , to go through life being the only perfect one ?
 
rgp said:
Again your asinine reply shouts your ignorance. Mine was a mere type-o .

Yes I know .... you've never made a mistake ........ Must be a huge burden , to go through life being the only perfect one ?
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Nope, not perfect. But I wouldn't justify anything as ignorant as racism.
 

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