It depends where you live.
The whole line of argument “My culture is better than yours!” is about as close to kindergarten antics as one can get. Talk about cultural relativism! It would be exceedingly laughable if so many had not suffered at the hands of the whole “Gott Mitt Uns” outlook.
Dr. Goebbels would have been proud of his continuously festering intellectual offspring.
It depends where you live.[/quote]
That doesn’t answer the question.
[quote=“Mawvellous”]TC
I always knew where you stood. A racist and a bigot who thinks that any insult against the “darkies” is acceptable.
But if anyone even criticizes the USA or Israel suddenly everything changes. You start to whine that people are “insulting”, "belittling, and “isolating”, you claim that it is just another trick from “Rules for Radicals”, and you refuse to engage in any debate claiming it is “off topic”.
So not only a racist and a bigot, but also a hypocrite.[/quote]
I don’t think that’s fair. Tainan Cowboy was probably the most enlightened and educated person in the trailer park where he grew up.
I’ve always wondered why blacks/Africans are always the examples of the worst of the worst on f.com. Is it that bad to be black?[/quote]
It depends where you live.[/quote]
That doesn’t answer the question.[/quote]
I don’t think anyone said it was bad to be black. The argument was regarding culture. But seeing as you ask…
It’s not bad if you’re black, your name is Barack Obama and your dad managed to do a runner from Kenya. I guess it would be better to fly to Kenya and ask his brother who he’d rather be.
Pres. Obama is black, but he doesn’t have a shred of African culture in him. Having an African father from Kenya doesn’t equal being African in culture. I’ve always found the term “African” American to be laughable. Aren’t you just American, Nama?
Come to where I grew up and ask them who’s African. Me or you?
Being a born and raised African, not European, I can guarantee you it may not be bad to be black, but it sure as shit isn’t all that hot to be African. Unless your name is Rob “Senile old Fool” Mugabe or Jacob “I got away with rape and massive corruption” Zuma.
Does that answer your question?
[quote=“bismarck”]
I don’t think anyone said it was bad to be black. The argument was regarding culture. But seeing as you ask…
It’s not bad if you’re black, your name is Barack Obama and your dad managed to do a runner from Kenya. I guess it would be better to fly to Kenya and ask his brother who he’d rather be.
Pres. Obama is black, but he doesn’t have a shred of African culture in him. Having an African father from Kenya doesn’t equal being African in culture. I’ve always found the term “African” American to be laughable. Aren’t you just American, Nama?
Come to where I grew up and ask them who’s African. Me or you?
Being a born and raised African, not European, I can guarantee you it may not be bad to be black, but it sure as shit isn’t all that hot to be African. Unless your name is Rob “Senile old Fool” Mugabe or Jacob “I got away with rape and massive corruption” Zuma.
Does that answer your question?[/quote]
No, because I really pointing to why is it on F.com is African culture/people/diaspora plus black Americans always held with disregard/disgust. That’s the point I was getting at. But it will never be answered and I at this point have one of my own…
Now, does it really boil down to having a certain level of culture within you to have ownership of that label? I would hope not because then I should be able to say I’m more “White” American than “African” American. And I would certainly say a lot of posters here could say they are Taiwanese-American… Yea, in my mind I’m American, but tell that to US census and other people who define more by color.
And I’m certain that there is more to Africa than a few fools who’ve destroyed it. And I’m not talking about the “beautiful” safari parks and its lovely little animals. 
I never see much “positive” conversation about African culture history on the boards…
[quote=“Mawvellous”]TC
I always knew where you stood. A racist and a bigot who thinks that any insult against the “darkies” is acceptable.
But if anyone even criticizes the USA or Israel suddenly everything changes. You start to whine that people are “insulting”, "belittling, and “isolating”, you claim that it is just another trick from “Rules for Radicals”, and you refuse to engage in any debate claiming it is “off topic”.
So not only a racist and a bigot, but also a hypocrite.[/quote]
I have better things to do with my time that get into a pissing contest with a ponce like yourself, so for now, I will offer the eloquence of another Forumosa member. It appears apropo to your laughable fantasy driven drivel.
[quote]That kind of hatred comes from personal insecurity. Happy, well-adjusted people don’t hate people they belief to be inferior to themselves; they simply ignore and avoid them. Spewing insults implies jealousy and dissatisfaction with one’s own station. As I said - probably bullied at school and can’t get a woman and has issues about his own sexuality.[/quote]from: I have a fan
Maybe this section could be moved to the TEMP thread for further amusement.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”][quote=“Mawvellous”]TC
I always knew where you stood. A racist and a bigot who thinks that any insult against the “darkies” is acceptable.
But if anyone even criticizes the USA or Israel suddenly everything changes. You start to whine that people are “insulting”, "belittling, and “isolating”, you claim that it is just another trick from “Rules for Radicals”, and you refuse to engage in any debate claiming it is “off topic”.
So not only a racist and a bigot, but also a hypocrite.[/quote]
I have better things to do with my time that get into a pissing contest with a ponce like yourself, so for now, I will offer the eloquence of another Forumosa member. It appears apropo to your laughable fantasy driven drivel.
[quote]That kind of hatred comes from personal insecurity. Happy, well-adjusted people don’t hate people they belief to be inferior to themselves; they simply ignore and avoid them. Spewing insults implies jealousy and dissatisfaction with one’s own station. As I said - probably bullied at school and can’t get a woman and has issues about his own sexuality.[/quote]from: [forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … 0#p1004190](I have a fan
Maybe this section could be moved to the TEMP thread for further amusement.[/quote]
TC you first defend racism and bigotry and then insult someone by calling them a “ponce” (not for the first time).
And then you quote Buttercup’s eloquent words about hatred.
Do you see the irony?
[quote=“Mawvellous”]TC
I always knew where you stood. A racist and a bigot who thinks that any insult against the “darkies” is acceptable.
But if anyone even criticizes the USA or Israel suddenly everything changes. You start to whine that people are “insulting”, "belittling, and “isolating”, you claim that it is just another trick from “Rules for Radicals”, and you refuse to engage in any debate claiming it is “off topic”.
So not only a racist and a bigot, but also a hypocrite.[/quote]
Well, at this point I have to ask if leftists/extremist liberals need to ‘tone down’ their rhetoric. This attack is a good example of shrill and polarizing tones that does nothing to contribute to a dialogue.
It borders on what might be construed as “hate speech” in its ferocity.
Its not fair to equate all liberals with the fringe element extremists that engage in such vitriol as we see here, but their acceptance of this sort of hate message does contribute to an atmosphere that is condoning of it.
There has always been an extreme left, just as their has been extremists on the right. But its come about that the fringe extreme leftists have been incorporated into and accepted by the classic or traditional liberals in a disturbing manner.
This bodes badly for free discussion of topics.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]
Well, at this point I have to ask if leftists/extremist liberals need to ‘tone down’ their rhetoric. This attack is a good example of shrill and polarizing tones that does nothing to contribute to a dialogue.
It borders on what might be construed as “hate speech” in its ferocity.
Its not fair to equate all liberals with the fringe element extremists that engage in such vitriol as we see here, but their acceptance of this sort of hate message does contribute to an atmosphere that is condoning of it.
There has always been an extreme left, just as their has been extremists on the right. But its come about that the fringe extreme leftists have been incorporated into and accepted by the classic or traditional liberals in a disturbing manner.
This bodes badly for free discussion of topics.[/quote]
TC, do you think that the comments quoted in the original post might be construed as “hate speech”?
viewtopic.php?p=1003124#p1003124
Since you posted a reply implying you believed the comments to be true and insulting “the pc easily-O-ffen-ded crowd” for pointing out the obvious bigotry in the comments, I assumed that you hold similar views. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
“I may not want to antagonise these mouth-breathers, but that doesn’t mean anyone should consider them worthy of respect. It’s not an either/or situation. It’s like you don’t walk up to your five year old kid and punch him in the face, but you also don’t give him the weekly grocery budget and tell him to go shopping for you because he’s going to come back with a bag full of ice cream, chocolate and potato chips.When the Muslim world can show that it’s collectively of a higher intellect than the five year old kid above, then maybe we can sing a different song.”
“Further, the problem is Islam. Whereas other parts of the world are rapidly coming into the 21st century, in much of the Islamic world, as Robin Williams put it about Afghanistan, it’s a case of: “Bombed to the stone age? Upgrade!”. I agree that we can’t force this upon them (and I don’t want to anyway – if they’re too stupid or lazy to demand a better life for themselves, then they deserve all they get),”
"estern civilisation belittles and debases itself by 1) pandering to these cretins for money/oil, 2) treating them like they are equals. Like I said, three Nobel Prizes for 1.2-1.5 billion people. If they didn’t have oil, they wouldn’t be even remotely important. If we got off oil, a large part of this problem would go away and we could let these idiots go back to their great contribution to mankind – cutting each other’s heads off in the desert "
I’m not really sure what to say about that except that I don’t spend much time on the IP forum because I only end up getting furious or frustrated with a lot of it. I spare myself the frustration and avoid it for the most part.
However, generally speaking, African culture has about as much to do with you or is about as much a reflection of you as say Polish culture is of me. Sure, they’re white and so am I, but apart from skin colour we share nothing in common. To call me a European South African, or European African would be absurd.
I’m not sure if black/African Americans have been held in disregard on the 'Mosa, but as I say, I avoid the IP for the most part. But I would think that singling people out with stupid titles like African American Chinese American, ABC, CBC, etc are stupidities inviting division, highlighting superficial differences and (IMHO) encouraging mental segregation or the concept of “otherness” and even inferiority. And it’s not like Americans of European descent are classified as European Americans, right?
To an outsider of America, like myself, you guys are all just Americans. This is self evident by your shared core beliefs, culture and values, not to mention loyalty and love for your country. If someone on the "Mosa has ever singled out black Americans as being African in culture, that person is a moron IMHO.
[quote=“Namahottie”] But it will never be answered and I at this point have one of my own…
Now, does it really boil down to having a certain level of culture within you to have ownership of that label? I would hope not because then I should be able to say I’m more “White” American than “African” American.[/quote]
Well, that may be true in the sense that your culture (being American culture) probably has much more in common with European culture than African culture. But American culture is very much a hybrid and a thing on it’s own entirely. I would say you’re American, with American culture. Period.
lol…I’m sure some would. Perhaps I’m an African Taiwanese now. Not sure what that makes my son though. However, because I’m already well on the road to naturalization, if people call my son or I waiguoren, I correct them and say we are Taiwanese. On household registration and on future government documents like passports etc, I don’t think I’ll be labeled African Taiwanese or something. Pretty sure it’ll just say Taiwanese.
Although, even after half a century, I’m still pretty sure five year old kids will point at me an Carrefour and say, “Waiguoren…”
In the same sense, to some people, the fact that you have a black skin is probably their main qualifier. Some idiots will never see just an American, but an African or African American and all the negative connotations that go along with that. But some people are bigots. Or simply ignorant.
There the US government shares a peculiar idiocy with my government. Despite the fall of Apartheid and all the rhetoric of a Halcyon non-racial paradise, the SA government still classifies people into at least four groups; African (previously black), Coloured (previously Coloured), Asian (previously Indian) and White (previously White). :loco:
I got a perverse pleasure out of refusing to mark the White box and instead marking the African box. On religion (another classifier they enjoy using) I always marked N/A, not applicable.
In a society that proclaims not to discriminate based on race, religion, sexual orientation etc, why are these classifiers used?
You’re right, there is more to Africa than the demagogic fools who run most of the countries down there, but culture is an odd beast. When the Apartheid gvt screwed up they blamed the terrorists, the black insurgents (Swart Gevaar - Black Peril), communism, anything but there crappy policies. When the current gvt screws up, the blame Apartheid, evil racist whites, and in Mugabes case, “gay” British colonialist politicians…
Despite superficial racial differences, notice how the culture of blame seems oddly similiar?
And sure, there are many positive aspects to African culture. Concepts of Ubuntu, in it’s true form, are laudable concepts, but the problem is that the governments prefer to highlight and use the negative aspects like tribalism and chief-ism to divide and conquer and keep themselves in power. The worst thing that could happen to African governments and the best thing that could happen to African people would be if the people themselves actually got to the point where they agreed everyone that is a born and bred citizen is just that. An African. A South African. A Zimbabwean. A Rwandan. If the people themselves distanced themselves and took to refusing to mark boxes on government forms marked, White, Coloured, Matabele, Tutsi etc, and pursued true equality from the ground up with the same fervor that pass books were burned in townships in the 1970s, then maybe we could move forward.
As long as we see our countrymen as something different from us, and not as the same thing, as long as the government encourages tribalism above national unity there is no hope. We speak of racism and bigotry, but these are just words and you’ll always have an asshole with an axe to grind. You can never have a non-racist society as long as a government insists on labeling people based on historical racial lines. As long as you’re labeled African American and as long as I’m labeled White, your question will never truly be answered.
Bismarck, some people want to identify with their heritage, and not just with their nationality. You focus on division, but others who use these labels may be celebrating their ancestry, and perhaps aspects of an ancestral culture which they preserve. It’s rather rude to belittle this, IMO. Rather, we should respect their preference in such matters.
It stops being stupid when I get to check the ‘Anglo-British’ rather than ‘White British’ on forms and my culture is recognised as ‘other’, rather than the neutral way things are. It’ll never happen, though.
Sure, and with that I have no problem. I identify with my British (English and Scottish) ancestry, and as such I celebrate and I’m proud of that part of my ancestral history.
I have a problem with any government that forcibly labels people according to race or ethnic background. No good has or will ever come from it.
It depends on the means and intention. For example, one government may use such categorization to grant privileges to one “race” over others, while another government may use labels like this merely to keep track of statistical differences in poverty, morbidity, mortality, education, and so forth among different groups in order to better allocate resources to solve problems.
It depends on the means and intention. For example, one government may use such categorization to grant privileges to one “race” over others, while another government may use labels like this merely to keep track of statistical differences in poverty, morbidity, mortality, education, and so forth among different groups in order to better allocate resources to solve problems.[/quote]
If resources are going to be allocated to the disadvantaged, allocate them to disadvantaged, and be done with it.
It depends on the means and intention. For example, one government may use such categorization to grant privileges to one “race” over others, while another government may use labels like this merely to keep track of statistical differences in poverty, morbidity, mortality, education, and so forth among different groups in order to better allocate resources to solve problems.[/quote]
If resources are going to be allocated to the disadvantaged, allocate them to disadvantaged, and be done with it.[/quote]
Well said! :bravo: