Forums > Social Chat > Racism is alive and well in the USA.

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Arcmember
17 posts
Location: San Diego, CA, USA


Posted:
I am a Canadian transplant from Vancouver Canada, living in San Diego. I first lived in Los Angeles but I had to get out of there. Too big too much for me. I've been reading the threads and I have to say that there are truths said in everyones postings. The first thing I would say is it's not safe to throw rocks in glass houses. I can say that racism is alive and well in Canada too. It is, it's there but it's not the same. Everyone falls to some type of discrimination or prejudice. Like "Women are poor drivers or Japanese can't drive or White men can't dance/jump, etc... The difference here in the USA is time, history, and population. The scars of racism are deep here. Americans tend to take things to the extreme. Like the drug war for instance. Logically we know that legalization will eliminate the crime and provide safe clean product but there is just no room for such thought here. More control will just have to be added on. Strip away more civil liberties and someday we will prevail. The average American welcomes these atrocities so that they can feel safe again. Take the "American way of life". Like there is no other way of life in the world. It's our way or the highway. Your just stupid and ignorant if you don't see it our way. The idea is that since we (USA) have the best level of life in the entire world then how can you even question our claim to being the only way to live. My fellow American workers berated me and insulted me and my county(Canada) for weeks after the Sept. 11 incident. Laughing at the efforts of Canada sending booties for the the search dogs whose feet were being sliced to shreds. Hahahahaaa is that all Canada can do hahahaha. The news annouced that Canadian intelligence sent word of an impending bomb threat and all they could say was "Canadians have intelligence. hahahahahahaaa". Or my favorite "Canadians only show up to war when peace breaks out." We've fought in ever World War, years before the Americans ever showed up. Americans only react when something bad happens to them. Otherwise it's status quo. Do you think the race issue would have ever been addressed if it wasn't for the riots and gangsters killing white people.It will take generations to weed out prejudism here. Overall, my experiences here have shown me that in fact a large, not all, majority of the white society does want the black community to succeed. They just don't want them in thier neighborhoods. Slowly this is changing. In the east, Dallas way, the christian baptists are probably still the biggest racists left in the USA. A large number of the black community still hate the white man. You feel it in thier eyes and body language. Justifyably so. Years of mistreatment have created a deep mistrust of white people. Now the focus is on the Muslim populations of the world. On the day of Sept. 11 happened not a person in my office new anything about the plight of the Afghanis or other Middle East issues such as the Palistinians. I do believe that the USA is an isolationist country. The USA lives in the "effect" not the "cause" state of mind. Everything is good until the shit hits the fan. I am not sure if it is extreme wealth which is the catolyst or the media or both. I goes something like this. The average person doesn't have a desire to know what is happening around the world because the world is truly good to them here. I get up in the morning, I have an enormous breakfast, I kiss the wife and kids and I'm off to my job where I make tons of cash which I can spend on my hobbies over the weekend. So what's the problem. Oh there are splashes of bad things from around the world on the news but really what's more important, Bill Clintons blow job, Oprah's fight with weight, or celebrities drug addiction battles. I have met people here who will not read the bad bits because it brings them down. So what's the net effect. Big busines and government doing what they need to do without the interest of the citizens and pissed of citizens when things go bad. The world reacts to the USA in a negative way because they see thier way of life being shat on or manipulated and changed to support the American dream. While the vast majority of Americans know abosolutely nothing about what these other countries want out of life or thier culture. I want to finish this by saying that I have met many absolutely wonderful and fascinating people in America. The vast majority of people here really are wonderful caring individuals. It's not as if the individual is schooled to be this way, it is part of a superpower mentality which I think any nation would face if the only neighbors it has a are Canada and Mexico. It's isolation by proximity not design.

tallicaburtonmember
51 posts
Location: Troy, NY for school (Austin, Texas for life)


Posted:
Your N*gger example was a poor one. In the US n*gger is a "bad word". They bleep it off of both television and radio. I hate to resort to an MTV Show, but RoadRules (the MTV show in question), had some episodes about this. A white participant on RoadRules who was from Europe heard some of the black participants calling each other niggers. Hell, why am *I* bleeping it out..., anyways.... This white guy then calls one of the black guys a nigger, then the black guy got upset and hit him. My impression is that black people can call each other niggers. And any other ethnicity can't call them that. In my eyes I would parallel it to calling my male friends f*ckers, or b*tches. I'm not about to, but some people do that, and I'm cool with that. If I don't know you, I wouldn't call you that, because you don't know that I'm just saying that because we are that close. That doesn't quite paralell right, I don't know how to explain my perspective, which is correct in that I look vanilla white in the U.S., doesn't matter if I'm a minority if I look white. This is confussing. When I hear nigger I do get an empotional response, the same response I feel when I hear f*ck. Thats because I've been taught not to use it. If I use it, it is a racial slur. If I call a black friend that, some would be okay I think, but some would feel that since nigger was the prejorative term that whites used when referring to blacks when they were in slavery, that I am calling them something bad.It sounded like you were using the fact above to illustrate advanced US racism. This is just like calling Spain racist because if I hold up my index finger and pinkey, I'm flicking people off. Maybe I didn't understand. I agree with Fire though, there is racism and nationalism being exhibited now as well. If we can't even get along on a message board, how the hell can we get along in real life. Hope I cleared up the mystery, please write back and clear up the mystery of your perception for me. We can never reconcile ourselves with each other's perceptions, but we sure can try, right? Oh wait, you don't quite understand cause you can't reconcile yourself with my perception, sorry.... Love you, maybe we should close this thread soon? I feel guilty not writing about poi, and having so many people feeling badly, making acusations, or getting defensive, blinding themselves to truth (like me, sorry, i'm blind, that's just who I am. we all are. lets search for some laser correction surgery or something...i meant that metaphoricaly of course). Okay, PLUR. -love john

Bendymember
750 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
No country, race, religion in the world is racist. Noone can justify the generalisation and say: "this country/race/religion etc is racist" (or any other form of "ism")*Individuals* are racist.There are groups of individuals who fit an "ism". For example: the Klan, Nazi, some religious extremist/fundamentalist groups. However, the group only fits this description because the members must fit it for inclusion.Prejudice has been around forever. Unfortunately it will remain with us until most likely forever too. Some people will always hate what is different or what they don't understand. Ignorance and intolerance go hand-in-hand all around the world.The best we can do is try not to help it spread.

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut


Raymund Phule (Fireproof)Enter a "Title" here:
2,905 posts
Location: San Diego California


Posted:
Actually SmokyBowl I think that just living day to day broadens my perspective, knowlege and understanding of the world. Now serving my country gives me the oprotunity to see the world literally. Heck right now I am writing this form Kurat, Thailand. IMHO I think the general public here likes having Americans here. We give the local aconomy a temperary boost. I for one have spent several thousand Baht since I have been here.Now to your brain washing comment... I am very very close to being offended by your slanderous remarks and we all know that, that is not generally good. I have the tendoncy to shoot my mouth off.How old am I? 20Am I brain washed? Umm no.Are kindergardeners brain washed? I seriusly doubt it but then again I havent been in kindergarder for16 years. winkNow lemme ask you some questions Smoky.How old are you?Have you ever left your own country?Have you ever served your country let alone any cause?Here are my guesses for your answers.You are between 20 and 30You have left your country but only on a short vacation.and you have never and will never serve your country but you believe you have served a cause by sanding up to egotistical Americans.How close was I?

Some Jarhead last night: "this dumb a$$ thinks hes fireproof"


Itsgottabmember
244 posts
Location: NZ


Posted:
nice one ray, your agro is spot on the mark. but what the fuck were you trying to say with all that anyway.our veiws are 'constructed' by our experiences, am not to sure if you can get around that one. maybe brainwashing is a strong term, but it sort of expresses the idea that from day one where ever you come from certain ideas become accepted as 'normal' and others as, well slightly fucked up.everyday your're severing a cause, your own. how you serve that is up to you, so don't get all heated up because your're cause is seen to be by some (maybe alot people all over the world) as a very worthy thing to do, everybodies cause is essential to us all, it makes the world don't you think.why are you serving your nation in this way?is your nation under attack? i don't think so, sure last year some guys had a go at your nation, but as for serving in thailand, thats interesting, what are you serving. (just some of my own brainwashing showing through here) maybe you guys (americans) should stay at home, things would be so much easier for the rest of us!!racism is (along pause) well a problem isn't it, but maybe after we get this expression of the situation out, we should start coming up with nice ideas on how to give each other hugs!!like maybe one of you guys could send me a whole bunch of poi gear and then i'll send some on to someone else like a chain letter thing. i know its probably not appealing to all of you, but i challege you to come up with something better. love and kisses daniel

Raymund Phule (Fireproof)Enter a "Title" here:
2,905 posts
Location: San Diego California


Posted:
I do my job here in Thialand and actually we are part of a training mission called Cope Tiger. Our pilots are out flieing mock (pretend) missions with and against the Thia air force and and their army. War games.Is my country under attack. I do believe it is every stinking day it is. Now are there bullets and missles flying overhead no. We are attacked by words of slander forigners buring our flag in front of our embasys. I would consider that an attack of sorts.An answer to the original post. Yes some Americans are racest not all in fact a majority of Americans do everything in their power to not be racist. But America not unlike every other country has its biggots. I am sorry and applogise for those of you affected by these people that should not even be allowed to call themselves human beings.

Some Jarhead last night: "this dumb a$$ thinks hes fireproof"


Raymund Phule (Fireproof)Enter a "Title" here:
2,905 posts
Location: San Diego California


Posted:
I look back on the things that I said on this topic and I see that some things were not written correctly. Now Arc and I have settled our differences outside this board and are actually looking forward to meeting eachother and spinning together in RL. I apologise for some of the things I said. I typed faster than I thought and now I see why some of you came off after my first post like you did. I look back at them and think that just came out totaly wrong. I can not go back and change what I wrote before people read it now but I can try to make it right by doing the only thing I can and that is to say that I made a mistake and I am sorry for that.

Some Jarhead last night: "this dumb a$$ thinks hes fireproof"


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