You guys think you have to do everything that someone from Cornell tells you to?
[quote=“Richardm”]You guys think you have to do everything that someone from Cornell tells you to?[/quote]Are you going to argue with someone who looks like this ?
If you separate African Americans from the U.S. economy proper, the U.S. would become safer and more prosperous.
I am so happy to live in a country that wisely chooses not to have affirmative action.
I am ashamed to live in a nation that thinks that it needs affirmative action to make up for the horrendous discrimination it has committed in the past against anyone who was not a healthy, rich, white male and yet still continues to keep anyone who is not a rich white male from achieving while people bitch about how well blacks (and women and handicapped people who they neglect to realize also benefit from affirmative action) have it.
How about seeing Black History Month as a way to help people feel better about their heritage when it seems like the world shits down on them at every possible chance? Half the posts on this thread are proof positive that it’s something that people, even non-Americans, need to see since they are under the impression that black americans are responsible for the demise of the US and cannot see one thing positive that blacks have done for the world. You might want to unplug your fridge and see how long you live riding your scooter and ignoring traffic lights (and forget about getting a blood transfusion when you inevitably get hit) before you try to convince me that acknowledging blacks for their achievements is racist while some of the other bullshit posted here isn’t.
What do they call White History Month in the US? January, February, March, April, May, August, September, October, November, and December (I never had to study “American” history during the summer). The only blacks ever mentioned in my primary school education were Martin Luther King, Jr (my mother joked that we could claim to be family since we knew so much about him) and Crispus Atticus, the first person shot in the Revolutionary War (229 years later, and it would have been a police officer instead of a Tory). And to top it off, Asians have a much bigger absence in “American” history despite all their positive contributions to the country.
And if you separated foreigners from the Taiwanese economy, there would be a whole lot more jobs, women, and money staying in the country, but here we are. So what’s your point?
I would wonder how many African-Americans SJ knows personally to be able to make assumptions that the US would be better off without them, but I’m not going to waste my time trying to argue with people who have the mental capacities of brick walls. You can’t change people who are dead-set on stereotypes and generalizations and then regurgitate them as if they were their own original thoughts. SJ, you bore me.
I’m halfway through The African Trilogy by the outstanding Chinua Achebe, which gives a fascinating account of Nigerian history and the destruction of village life by the onset of colonialism.
If you were to remove Screaming Jesus from Forumosa it would become a more interesting and worthwhile website.
Black History Month is just that. Why not have a Black history month. They make up a good proportion of US citizenry. I think it’s a good idea.
We could definitley do with Black History Year in Australia or perhaps even a Black History Decade. What’s wrong with it?
What is threatening about another ethnic group being handed the historical reins?
What most of you posters do not understand is that the most racist population in the US is not the whites, Its the blacks. Thats why the US has things such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored (black) People AKA NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucas, special placement programs at schools and government work places to replace higher qualified whites with less qualified (but more deserving) blacks, Black History Month, ETC, ETC, ETC. I’m a little tired of someone always trying to make me feel guilty about something I had nothing to do with (slavery). It seems like the slave owner who provided for everything has been replaced by big brother government who is providing for everything (the difference is that work is no longer required). As the years have gone by, most of my (white) aquaintances have been becoming increasingly irritated with the situation. After all, if such a thing as a NAAWP, or the Congressional White Caucas, or favored treatment (officially) for whites over blacks, or White History Month (irregardless of the erronious perception that all other months of the year but Feb qualifies), the RIOTS would never end! The BS will never end untill true equality starts and favoritism ends. PERIOD.
You still don’t get it. Maybe you yourself are a bit thick in the head?
WE ARE NOT ALL AMERICANS HERE.
As such, the sanctimoniousness and ignorance of the original poster imploring us to remember black history month was annoying. Hence the vitriol.
Maybe an analogy will help you to understand. What if the original poster had said, on July 4, “Let’s all remember to celebrate Independence Day.”
Now do you see what we’re talking about?
To address your point anyway. Acknowledging blacks (African-Americans) for their achievements is most definitely racist. How could it not be? If this is not self-evident, than I don’t know what is. Whether it’s a negative thing is another question, though I would think that ideally, in a meritocracy, you would celebrate the achievements of citizens regardless of their colour, and not have special months for different races.
Screaming Jesus is a shit disturber, to be sure, but he hasn’t said anything on this thread that is not demonstrably true. Claiming that the United States would be safer and richer if its African Americans were not there is racist, but the numbers plainly support this. Then again, this is an unpleasant topic, and I’m not sure what is to be gained by throwing it out there, other than evening up the score in your tit for tat.
Odd how this one discussion has brought out so much hatred and bigotry.
In the US these organizations are not needed. There is no poor downtrodden descriminated against white minority.
US minorities have learned the hard way that the only way not to get trampled on is to organize and actively promote yourself.
well…the originator of this thread did well.
people who never heard of black history month looked it up.
there were some discussions. discussions are better than stony silence and mutual apathy.
“blacks” are all over the world. taiwanese, as you know, are quick to term anyone with a little melanin “black”. from where i stand (and burn) melanin is a good thing. “black”, like “beauty” is in the eyes of the beholder.
recognizing “the other” (whatever such is perceived to be) and how such has contributed to the mutual progress is but part of a thoughtful life.
well…sorry for the quaint simplicities. feel free to return to arguing past each other using preprogrammed biases.
12 days and a wake-up til i return to the most segregated city in america:st.louis.
[quote=“Richardm”] There is no poor downtrodden descriminated against white minority.
[/quote]
Obviously you’ve never been to West Virginia. Quick, what ethnic group constitute the majority of Americans on welfare, in poverty, and out of wedlock children?
Yeah, they got lots of poor white folks, too.
But I agree with the point otherwise. Rich and upper middle class white people don’t need government-mandated affirmative action - they’ve had their own kind of affirmative action for years. It’s called the Good Old Boy network. At prestigious universities the biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action are rich white kids - the “legacies” program wherein kids whose parents went to the same Ivy League school (or just donated a lot of money to the institution) are given preference for admissions. Scrap stuff like that first, and then let’s talk about scrapping affirmative action for minority groups.
Of course, the problem is, like someone I know once said: Rich white people have got their affirmative action. Black people have their affirmative action. Poor white people are screwed, and no wonder they’re pissed off about it.
Excellent points, ML.
Either you make it on your own, or you don’t. Asians and Hispanics have proven that hard work pays off and have gained a respected place in the US society. Based on their hard work and contributions, there should be a Asian history as well as a Hispanic history month. Black history momf? What a f*cking joke.
Its almost over, lets not forget!
Kobe Bryant
Rodney King
All those black criminals on COPS!
Chocolate
Ebonics (ha ha ha)
Don’t make me use my Glock beaoch! Yo yo yo! Homee! I’m all up in your face N*ggah!
Just for the record, I’m quite horrified by the ‘blacks are bad’ comments here.
Some bad people are black. So are some poor people.
Some white people are bad. Some white people are poor.
And if there is some demonstrable correlation between skin colour and criminality any smart person would ask what other factors are involved instead of just saying that blacks are naturally criminals.
Differentiating on the basis of race, even if you try to do it positively, reinforces a cycle of discrimination, lack of opportunity, frustration, crime, stereotyping, discrimination. Identifying black people as the villians creates villains.
Identifying black people as victims creates a victim culture which people who don’t do any victimising feel very uncomfortable about.
Identifying your fellow human beings as fellow human beings, and recognising their INDIVIDUAL contributions, will do far more for them as individuals than identifying them according to skin colour. And identifying yourself as a human being, rather than as a black or white person, would do a lot more for your case than insisting that everyone else recognise how ‘your people’ have suffered at the hands of people who happen to share my skin colour.
[quote=“Bob Marley”]Until the colour of a man’s skin
Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes -
Me say war.[/quote]
'tis you making the war my friend, not me.
“There are black people and there are nggers. I hate nggers”
- Chris Rock (African-American actor, director, writer, comedian)
The rant during his comedy performance where I took the quote makes many whites and blacks quite uncomfortable yet is closer to the truth than any crap spewed out during black history momf.
How’s the weather out there in fantasy land?
The weather’s fine.
I prefer to live in my mad little fantasy that we can all get along if we stop blaming each other for the sins of people we resemble. It’s easier to deal with than hatred and blame. I’ve encountered enough of the latter in my life that I’ve decided not to participate.
And with that, I shall withdraw from this thread because some people clearly have axes to grind and I’m never going to change their negative view of the world.
You know what “Black History Month” reminds me of? One of those Taiwanese sound trucks they drive around during the elections. If you’re a member of the political party in question, I suppose it must be comforting and inspiring to hear that. But it makes outsiders wonder how long they have to put up with it.
I don’t mean “put up with” this thread–obviously people can click on it nor not, as they like. I mean, put up with this kind of mandatory political reeducation in the wider society (in the U.S.–I imagine that European liberals probably have their own reeducation agendas). This is probably why this thread is getting so many responses–it touches a nerve.
I actually have no problem with American blacks forming societies or whatever for mutual help or self-improvement or to study their heritage. In fact, if this was what it was all about, I’d say it was about damn time. But no, the general thrust of all these efforts is to blame everything on whitey, and try to get more government money thrown their way. Not only do I resist footing their bill (for example, by living in Taiwan where taxes are lower), but for their own sake they’d better realize that this money won’t keep raining down on them forever.
Somebody brought up imperialism in Africa. Well, how long is Africa today going to be imperialism’s fault? They’ve had half a century to get their act together. Other excuses offered on this board were, you have to look at them as individuals (so would this mean we can’t blame whitey anymore? and what if group characteristics really are salient?), or that it’s their environment rather than genetics (then why do they end up living like this no matter what country they’re in, and other oppressed peoples don’t? And anyway, why should this make a difference to whether I’m willing to throw money at them?)
White people at Harvard are actually not doing so well. These days Harvard admits mostly minorities, and the “white” population is probably at least half Jewish. “Yacht club” legacy types may well benefit from connections that blacks lack, but I don’t see how this applies to ordinary white people. In fact we are discriminated against, since minorities with similar qualifications (whether or not they earned them) get preferential treatment. I think we have a legitimate and serious complaint here, though some of us here would prefer to look the other way in order to maintain social harmony.
Is this a “negative” view of the world? I think it is a realistic view of the world. Of course I could be wrong.