Culture, race, religion

[Jumi]

How can we overcome the perpetration of discrimination and rise above it?

At which point in history did race start to become an issue?

Did racism mainly start from religions or cultures or do you think it's more innate to humans?

Is the big picture more important, ie. philosophical lines of thought or are individual interactions more important?

If you feel it's important why is there a need to have pride in a "race's" accomplishments when they're not our own anyway?

 

[Enoch07]

How can we overcome the perpetration of discrimination and rise above it?

At which point in history did race start to become an issue?

Did racism mainly start from religions or cultures or do you think it's more innate to humans?

Is the big picture more important, ie. philosophical lines of thought or are individual interactions more important?

If you feel it's important why is there a need to have pride in a "race's" accomplishments when they're not our own anyway?

I think the Morgan Freeman approach would work best.

And he is consistent.

Skip to 3:40 for my favorite part.

All that being said. Racism and racist will always be a thing. There will always be a very small percentage of people who for whatever reason hate people different than them. That is just something we have to accept. But we can move past most of it, by stop labelling each other as different and everyone just treat everyone else as what they are, just ordinary people.

 

[Brickjectivity]

How can we overcome the perpetration of discrimination and rise above it?

#1 is to deal with the fear of interaction. Break the ice, somehow. Establish a protocol for breaking the ice. Some people don't get out much and don't have a lot of sense, so have some books or something that explains what to do.

Where are the 'Etiquette' authors? Why aren't they writing about these things? Are they writing about these things?

 

[Nakosis]

If you feel it's important why is there a need to have pride in a "race's" accomplishments when they're not our own anyway?

I never felt much need for racial pride since I have nothing to do with all them folks anyway.

The only time I think about race usually is when I hear it on the news.

 

[Nakosis]

#1 is to deal with the fear of interaction. Break the ice, somehow. Establish a protocol for breaking the ice. Some people don't get out much and don't have a lot of sense, so have some books or something that explains what to do.

Where are the 'Etiquette' authors? Why aren't they writing about these things? Are they writing about these things?

How about make it illegal to marry someone of the same "race" as you.

 

[taykair]

How can we overcome the perpetration of discrimination and rise above it?

I'm assuming you're talking about unwarranted discrimination (due to things such as race or religion) rather than ordinary discrimination, which all of us have (a "do I want to buy this brand of soda or that one" kind of thing). The answer is that we cannot control the minds of others. All we can do is recognize any unwarranted discrimination within ourselves, and seek out those whom we have discriminated against and try to understand their point of view.

At which point in history did race start to become an issue?

See next answer.

Did racism mainly start from religions or cultures or do you think it's more innate to humans?

Although we aren't "born racist", we do have a part of our brain which is a holdover from our primitive ancestors. They feared the unknown. (With good reason, there were lots and lots of things out there that could have them for supper.) It is still that "fear of the other" which is the root of racism. However, that fear alone is not enough to make one a racist. Racism is a learned behavior. If racism is dominant in your religion, or culture, or region, or family, then it is far more likely that you would become racist - although this is not guaranteed.

Is the big picture more important, i.e. philosophical lines of thought or are individual interactions more important?

Not quite sure what you mean by this. I think both are important, but if I had to choose, I would choose individual interactions.

If you feel it's important why is there a need to have pride in a "race's" accomplishments when they're not our own anyway?

I don't believe there is such a need.

As always, please preface my remarks with "in my opinion" and end them with "but I could be wrong". Take care.

 

[Brickjectivity]

How about make it illegal to marry someone of the same "race" as you.

That's an oldie. I think the Babylonians and Greek Empire have already thought of it. Its very effective, but somehow I don't think it will pass in congress!

 

[Epic Beard Man]

I think the Morgan Freeman approach would work best.

And he is consistent.

Skip to 3:40 for my favorite part.

All that being said. Racism and racist will always be a thing. There will always be a very small percentage of people who for whatever reason hate people different than them. That is just something we have to accept. But we can move past most of it, by stop labelling each other as different and everyone just treat everyone else as what they are, just ordinary people.

False....

When we contract cancer do we simply ignore it?

Morgan Freeman is go to card when there are some Caucasians unwilling to address racism, considering that racism at least in America, was brought about through Eurocentric colonialism. I mean, hey if I had a history like that I'd want to avoid discussing it as well. Racism exists and you cannot simply ignore it simply thinking that it will go away. Racism is a behavior that must be addressed in society. Because of racism and the history of white supremacy in the United States, many black Americans cannot trace their ancestral lineage of the Africans who arrived on the shores of west Virginia. So no, I disagree with Morgan Freeman, but not surprised why some whites would quote him.

 

[Frater Sisyphus]

Fear of the unknown (and lack of actual knowledge about the unknown, being race in this case) and socially-learned stigma are huge parts of it.

 

[Enoch07]

False....

When we contract cancer do we simply ignore it?

Morgan Freeman is go to card when there are some Caucasians unwilling to address racism, considering that racism at least in America, was brought about through Eurocentric colonialism. I mean, hey if I had a history like that I'd want to avoid discussing it as well. Racism exists and you cannot simply ignore it simply thinking that it will go away. Racism is a behavior that must be addressed in society. Because of racism and the history of white supremacy in the United States, many black Americans cannot trace their ancestral lineage of the Africans who arrived on the shores of west Virginia. So no, I disagree with Morgan Freeman, but not surprised why some whites would quote him.

Mr. Freeman said nothing about ignoring racism.

He is talking about moving past it by no longer thinking of people as black, white, jewish, or whatevs. Instead of recognizing people by their ethnicity, recognize them as just plain old people. He is correct in his thinking. So long as people identify other people by their ethnicity, the majority of racism will persist.

Racism existed long before European colonization. While European sugar cane farming did increase the demand of slaves. The Arab and African slave trades existed thousands of years before Europeans ever stepped foot in Africa. Enslaving any and everyone including their own people. In fact, the african slave trade still exist today in various forms.

Slavery in Africa - Wikipedia

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Mr. Freeman said nothing about ignoring racism.

He is talking about moving past it by no longer thinking of people as black, white, jewish, or whatevs. Instead of recognizing people by their ethnicity, recognize them as just plain old people. He is correct in his thinking. So long as people identify other people by their ethnicity, the majority of racism will persist.

Racism existed long before European colonization. While European sugar cane farming did increase the demand of slaves. The Arab and African slave trades existed thousands of years before Europeans ever stepped foot in Africa. Enslaving any and everyone including their own people. In fact, the african slave trade still exist today in various forms.

Slavery in Africa - Wikipedia

I don't know why you had the need to bring up slavery which has nothing to do with what I said but alas, in discussing racism that is something some white folks I've discussed this subject with, tend to do. "AH I DIDN'T OWN SLAVES!!!!" when I made no mention of the subject of slavery. Back to Morgan Freeman....

He said to get over racism is to stop talking about it, which is akin to ignoring the issue. How can we collectively stop talking about racism when White Nationalists and Neo-Nazis have parades throwing the issue in our face all the time? Or when white college girls from Alabama University making racist videos (see:Alabama Sorority Sister, 19, Expelled From University After Posting Racist Videos on MLK Day) so sorry Mr. Freeman, as a black man there are always some whites willing to remind me that I'm still a black man and a "n***er."

 

[Enoch07]

I don't know why you had the need to bring up slavery which has nothing to do with what I said but alas, in discussing racism that is something some white folks I've discussed this subject with, tend to do. "AH I DIDN'T OWN SLAVES!!!!" when I made no mention of the subject of slavery. Back to Morgan Freeman....

He said to get over racism is to stop talking about it, which is akin to ignoring the issue. How can we collectively stop talking about racism when White Nationalists and Neo-Nazis have parades throwing the issue in our face all the time? Or when white college girls from Alabama University making racist videos (see:Alabama Sorority Sister, 19, Expelled From University After Posting Racist Videos on MLK Day) so sorry Mr. Freeman, as a black man there are always some whites willing to remind me that I'm still a black man and a "n***er."

You did make mention of slavery. By bringing up European colonization. Which is when the Europeans started purchasing slaves to work sugar cane fields in the colonies.

We don't stop talking about racism. We need to stop participating in it. Which is what he is talking about. To stop thinking in terms of ethnicity. We fight any kind of ethnic supremacy by having discussions like these. Where people like us look for solutions. I think Mr. Freeman has a viable solution. This will overtime, theoretically, reduce the amount of racism.

Honestly though your rhetoric and tone remind me of Gazi Kodzo on YouTube. This does nothing but fan the flames of racism and makes it worse.

 

[Augustus]

At which point in history did race start to become an issue?

Did racism mainly start from religions or cultures or do you think it's more innate to humans?

Race in it's modern sense only appears around 16th C. Modern concepts of racism have a greater grounding in scientific concepts (many of which have since been debunked) than religion.

That's not to say there was no racism prior to this, or that people were always tolerant of diversity. Prior to this 'race' was more closely tied to culture/nation than ethnicity. Many great empires absorbed people of diverse ethnicities into their systems.

Prejudice against those different from us is likely, to a degree, hardwired into us. We are coalitional animals and many cognitive forces have developed to enable us to be this way. These create in/out group ways of thinking which then self-perpetuate. We didn't evolve to live in modern, complex societies after all.

Ultimately, our identities are as not just about who we are, but about who we are not.

Race and ethno-culture are always going to feature in at least some people's sense of identity, meaning such issues will always exist to some extent.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

You did make mention of slavery. By bringing up European colonization. Which is when the Europeans started purchasing slaves to work sugar cane fields in the colonies.

We don't stop talking about racism. We need to stop participating in it. Which is what he is talking about. To stop thinking in terms of ethnicity. We fight any kind of ethnic supremacy by having discussions like these. Where people like us look for solutions. I think Mr. Freeman has a viable solution. This will overtime, theoretically, reduce the amount of racism.

Honestly though your rhetoric and tone remind me of Gazi Kodzo on YouTube. This does nothing but fan the flames of racism and makes it worse.

European colonialism is not just about slavery, but about purposeful systemic erasing of a culture's history, language, and people. You made the assumption thinking I'm merely talking about that. Apparently you're not very knowledgeable on world history. I don't fan nothing I'm just keeping it real.

 

[siti]

Humans are social animals and group identity is a natural feature of that. In human social groups we call these features 'ethnic', 'racial', 'national', 'cultural', 'tribal' identities (etc.). For most of human history and pre-history, ethnocentrism and tribalism were probably essential survival strategies that prevented most group members from wandering off into extinction or (heaven forbid) assimilation into an opposing group. We can't help it - but I don't think ignoring our cultural heritage (and baggage) is realistic either - maybe movie stars can rise above all that (???) but most of us are not movie stars. What we need to do is develop a mature way of viewing and handling human ethnic and cultural diversity - pretending it is not there is not a genuine option I don't think.

 

[Enoch07]

European colonialism is not just about slavery, but about purposeful systemic erasing of a culture's history, language, and people. You made the assumption thinking I'm merely talking about that. Apparently you're not very knowledgeable on world history. I don't fan nothing I'm just keeping it real and you're just too much of a coward to address the issue.

No, I didn't make that assumption. But it is relevant to the discussion of racism in America. As far as the systemic erasing of a culture and it's history goes. Honestly, I have no idea what your talking about.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Humans are social animals and group identity is a natural feature of that. In human social groups we call these features 'ethnic', 'racial', 'national', 'cultural', 'tribal' identities (etc.). For most of human history and pre-history, ethnocentrism and tribalism were probably essential survival strategies that prevented most group members from wandering off into extinction or (heaven forbid) assimilation into an opposing group. We can't help it - but I don't think ignoring our cultural heritage (and baggage) is realistic either - maybe movie stars can rise above all that (???) but most of us are not movie stars. What we need to do is develop a mature way of viewing and handling human ethnic and cultural diversity - pretending it is not there is not a genuine option I don't think.

Exactly but I want to extend off what you're saying concerning tribalism is that human beings especially with the growing population shouldn't be tribalistic anymore considering we are much closer to each other. Given the increased small amount of space because of population growth, and the advent of the technological age, we are closer to each other than what we realize.

You're right however, that is not to say because of this we should not embrace our individual heritage. There is nothing wrong with that in fact I am an advocate of those who want to embrace their heritage. But there is a fine line in embracing one's heritage and promoting it in supremacy.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

No, I didn't make that assumption. But it is relevant to the discussion of racism in America. As far as the systemic erasing of a culture and it's history goes. Honestly, I have no idea what your talking about.

You know, I don't like to spell things out for people because if I do, it is disrespectful of their intelligence. So, let's try this again. Going back to Morgan Freeman in his interview about "stop talking about racism," it is akin (meaning the similitude) to ignoring it. You cannot stop nor ignore the subject of racism since it is still systemic in our U.S society.

What that means is there are still sectors in society where you cannot get a job based on a name (as research has shown), or those who have negative stereotypes of people of color. You , the ect of racism and the behavior thereof is learned and with that being said every year white nationalists hold a parade in Alabama.

So Morgan Freeman wants us to stop talking about racism? Perhaps he himself wants to make a trip down there and speak to the white nationalists about their behavior. In other words regardless how you feel in the United States and parts of the world, racism will always be in our faces. Humanity has yet to universally accept each other as members of the same species.

I have yet to feel like a complete human being amongst my white peers as I harbor the pain of my parents and grandparents of the residual harmful effects of segregation. I believe there are some whites who are too afraid to look in the mirror of their own ancestral history of the 13 colonies. This is why multiculturalism exists because there is not one successful empire who built itself with its own people.

This is why I tend to laugh at white nationalists who believe in their own revisionism when they believe that the "white man created the U.S" again, going back to my original point these people these nationalists will continue to throw their views in our face and the only way to combat racism is to confront it.

 

[Jumi]

Where are the 'Etiquette' authors? Why aren't they writing about these things? Are they writing about these things?

We have multiculture classes where I live, how to approach people from minorities and how to be sensitive about things. I hear they are something folks wanting to get into management or business like taking. Personally I've never had any problems talking to people from any cultures, but I'm a weird guy anyway, I only see individuals when I talk to people.

I never felt much need for racial pride since I have nothing to do with all them folks anyway.

That's right. Although some of them were people who could own land, most of my ancestors were probably serfs and before that they were hunting with bow and spear anyways...

How about make it illegal to marry someone of the same "race" as you.

I don't think this is a good idea, even with statistics, it's not going to work... If I believe a documentary I watched two years ago, China has some areas with tensions, where they give money to couples that are a mix of minority and majority.

How can we overcome the perpetration of discrimination and rise above it?
I'm assuming you're talking about unwarranted discrimination (due to things such as race or religion) rather than ordinary discrimination, which all of us have (a "do I want to buy this brand of soda or that one" kind of thing). The answer is that we cannot control the minds of others. All we can do is recognize any unwarranted discrimination within ourselves, and seek out those whom we have discriminated against and try to understand their point of view.

Yes.

Although we aren't "born racist", we do have a part of our brain which is a holdover from our primitive ancestors. They feared the unknown. (With good reason, there were lots and lots of things out there that could have them for supper.) It is still that "fear of the other" which is the root of racism. However, that fear alone is not enough to make one a racist. Racism is a learned behavior. If racism is dominant in your religion, or culture, or region, or family, then it is far more likely that you would become racist - although this is not guaranteed.

Of the people I've known who were racists at one time, most of them had some emotional wounds relating to something about another race. Sadly many in my country still have hate for Russians for Soviet Union/Russian Empires conquering parts of our land, genocidal acts on our culture, forcing our hand to ally Germany in a war no one here wanted.

Is the big picture more important, i.e. philosophical lines of thought or are individual interactions more important?

Not quite sure what you mean by this. I think both are important, but if I had to choose, I would choose individual interactions.

I'm thinking that personal interactions between members of different races or cultures will have more effect on mindsets than just having a philosophical idea about better relations.

 

[Enoch07]

You know, I don't like to spell things out for people because if I do, it is disrespectful of their intelligence. So, let's try this again. Going back to Morgan Freeman in his interview about "stop talking about racism," it is akin (meaning the similitude) to ignoring it. You cannot stop nor ignore the subject of racism since it is still systemic in our U.S society.

Again he is not talking about ignoring it. He is talking about refusing to participate in it. So long as prejudice exist, racism will exist with it.

Since your so much more intelligent, then answer this question.

Barack Obama was President for 8 consecutive years. Why did he not change the system? There is only 4 possible answers.

1. He did not about systemic institutionalized racism. So therefore did not make the changes needed to end it.

2. He knew about it. But let it stand for unknown reasons.

3. He knew about, tried to change it but could not change it, yet remained silent and never spoke of it.

4. It does not exist. It is a figment of a paranoid imagination.

I'm going with 4. Because I believe if Obama believed in systemic racism. He would have at the very least try to put a stop to it.

Yes various ethnic supremacist exist all around the world. This is an evil we will probably always face. But we can reduce it by refusing to participate in it, and teaching our youth that it is wrong to participate in it.