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Racism...

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rudeguy said:
LOL!

Wait....wait.....

Are there really people in the world who hate left handed people?
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Historically, YES, many. Fear more than hate, but yeah, entire cultures.

Edit:

Although Gooch says that "the left is universally unlucky in the classical world", in "The Oxford Companion to the Mind" by Richard L. Gregory (1987) the author says that "this symbolism has pervaded nearly all cultures (except the Chinese)".

"Ancient Greeks and Romans regarded the left side as inferior and profane, and in medieval times use of the left hand was associated with witchcraft" [Gregory 1987]. In New Zealand the Maoris considered the right side to be godly, representing life; the left side is dedicated to demons and the devil, representing death. Muslims believe good spirits speak into peoples' right ears, but evil spirits speak into the left. In medieval Europe the Devil is drawn with its left hand outstretched. Amongst North American Indians the right represents bravery and virility but the left signifies death and burial. In China you must eat with the right hand. The Nuer people of Africa, the Dutch Indies local native populations and many other old cultures bind the left arm to put it out of use 'for long periods', especially in the young and with left-handed people. Throughout the African continent the right is good and the left is evil. In some places wives should never touch their husbands' face with their left hand. The same patterns persist in South America: The right is good, is life, is divine but the left is female, bad, evil and morbid. Pythagoras set out in his Table of Opposites that the right hand side, male; lightness, was the opposite of the left hand side that was female, and darkness. Schools until recent decades used to "correct" (meaning: 'with the right') left-handed pupils.

Catholic Schools until surprisingly recently used to punish those who dared write left-handed because they were presupposed to be working for the devil - such children were "corrected" - a word which itself means "with the right".
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rudeguy said:
LOL!

Wait....wait.....

Are there really people in the world who hate left handed people?
Click to expand...

I know my dad was "trained" not to use his left hand as a child when in school. He'd get smacked with a ruler or was forced to have it lashed behind his back. This was in the 60's and 70's
 
Numenorean said:
What does online vs. offline have to do with describing a black man as a black man?
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You aren't getting it or purposely playing dense.

Why would someone have to describe a friend as a black friend. I can get the 'black guy over there' for ease of pointing someone out...but as soon as you begin 'coloring' your friends that is when others begin differentiating them based on a race. In using a color to describe them, your are also denoting there must be something different than just being a friend.

It's like saying "oh he's my one-legged friend"
 
alkemyst said:
You aren't getting it or purposely playing dense.

Why would someone have to describe a friend as a black friend. I can get the 'black guy over there' for ease of pointing someone out...but as soon as you begin 'coloring' your friends that is when others begin differentiating them based on a race. In using a color to describe them, your are also denoting there must be something different than just being a friend.

It's like saying "oh he's my one-legged friend"
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Well if I had to describe someone and they were black, what's wrong with saying they were black? It's descriptive and could help the other person picture what they looked like.

I'm not saying that I would necessarily use it all the time, but it could be appropriate. So I don't see any reason to castigate someone just because they used a description that included the word "black" as part of it. It's not racist at all to me.
 
Perknose said:
Historically, YES, many. Fear more than hate, but yeah, entire cultures
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Actually, now that you mention it, my girlfriend did say that back in her homeland children were "encouraged" by their family and school to "fix" their problem of not using the "correct" hand.
 
rudeguy said:
not with groups of people that hate people because they aren't like them.

You're trying a bit too hard in this one Alky...
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Not trying at all. This is all well proven if you read much.

As soon as people start using 'color' especially to describe someone where that color would not be visible is the first sign that that person places a value on that color making the person different.

This difference is not the color itself.

Things like 'is he athletic?' responded with "yeah he is black" or 'is he smart' responded to 'yeah he is asian'

they aren't necessarily derogatory, however; it's indeed being racist.

No one denies that (except here it seems)...it's when that racism becomes hateful and directed at harming is when people start to notice.
 
alkemyst said:
Not trying at all. This is all well proven if you read much.

As soon as people start using 'color' especially to describe someone where that color would not be visible is the first sign that that person places a value on that color making the person different.

This difference is not the color itself.

Things like 'is he athletic?' responded with "yeah he is black" or 'is he smart' responded to 'yeah he is asian'

they aren't necessarily derogatory, however; it's indeed being racist.

No one denies that (except here it seems)...it's when that racism becomes hateful and directed at harming is when people start to notice.
Click to expand...

Color does make a person different. I am different from a black person in that my skin color is white. Different doesn't mean worse or better. Differentiating between people does not mean that a person places a specific value on certain differences.
 
rudeguy said:
I don't think I will ever understand it.

I grew up as culturally diverse as one could. I had friends of many different races, colors and religions. I never knew or understood that there were actually people out there who honestly hated others simply because of race or religion. And now that I'm older and have lived a little more, I have found that there are indeed some small minded people out there who not only judge other but seriously hate them for no good reason.

Here is where I end up confused. The first thing I notice about someone is their race. Not because there are certain races I don't like...its just the first thing I notice. If you ask me to describe the guy who sits next to me at work, I'm going to say "he's a big black guy." But some people seem to get offended by that...and its usually not black people. As a matter of fact, me and the big black guy talk about this a lot. Neither of us can stand small minded people but we also talk about different races and how many do follow certain patterns. These are never negative things, its more just making jokes. Of course the first people we insult are each other. But that's the way I grew up. Messing around with my friends of different colors, picking on each other and not really caring at all about race.

So why is it that people are so concerned about race, color or religion? Why are some people so offended when people talk about someone's race or color? Why do some people hate just because of those things?

I don't think I will ever understand these things. Hell...I honestly thought people hating Jews was just a joke until I came to this forum. Now I see that there are people that hate the Jews just because they are Jewish.
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I'm pretty sensitive about racism. More than most. Perhaps because I'm more sensitive about things in general than I should be or perhaps because I'm of mixed racial heritage, 1/2 Chinese. But simply talking about someone's race or noticing it? That's not only not racism but not something that I have come across as being labeled as racism either.

However there are somethings that do bother me that are talked about by, usually whites, from a reverse racist perspective that I don't agree with. For example many whites would like to see an end to affirmative action, black history month etc... The idea being that these are racist because they focus on race, make a deal out of being black etc. The idea that we can't have a white history month, etc... I don't agree with this and feel that those who would like to see an end to these are often, though not always, racist themselves.

How do you feel about the above topics?
 
Numenorean said:
Color does make a person different. I am different from a black person in that my skin color is white. Different doesn't mean worse or better. Differentiating between people does not mean that a person places a specific value on certain differences.
Click to expand...

Right, but when people put other values on that color and use that color when it can't be 'seen'.

I don't expect you to get this.
 
Locut0s said:
I'm pretty sensitive about racism. More than most. Perhaps because I'm more sensitive about things in general than I should be or perhaps because I'm of mixed racial heritage, 1/2 Chinese. But simply talking about someone's race or noticing it? That's not only not racism but not something that I have come across as being labeled as racism either.

However there are somethings that do bother me that are talked about by, usually whites, from a reverse racist perspective that I don't agree with. For example many whites would like to see an end to affirmative action, black history month etc... The idea being that these are racist because they focus on race, make a deal out of being black etc. The idea that we can't have a white history month, etc... I don't agree with this and feel that those who would like to see an end to these are often, though not always, racist themselves.

How do you feel about the above topics?
Click to expand...

those are subjects for P&N.


But yes...there are a lot of people (see Alky's posts) who see simply noticing someone's race as racism.
 
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