Before you have equality, you have to achieve equity. That can't be done by sweeping the transgressions of the past under the rug, or pretending that they're not important, because they are - the past definitely influences the present, and the present will influence the future. Regressing to the past would mean returning to doing things the way things were done in the past. Very few people are suggesting that we, as a society, do that.
Why can't we just face the fact that we ARE different because of race, that even our cultures are different.
Is it race that makes us different, or are you just stating that we are of different races? Acknowledging racial and cultural differences is just fine, and should most definitely be done, but claiming that race is the defining factor which makes human beings different (in what ways?) is, on its own merits, a racist claim. Race doesn't make one more or less human, or anyone better or worse. It's just one factor of our humanity that makes us unique.
Even so, the individual should not be subjected to the culture of their background no more than we should be subjected to being fat white Americans in other countries.
Umm... HUH?
Do you ever notice you're hesitant to call a white person white or a black person black if they're a stranger?
No, I never notice this, because I'm never hesitant to say this, if it's worth mentioning (sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't). If I'm using it as a physical descriptor in order to identify an individual, it might make sense, but it all depends on the context of my using it. If someone's a stranger, why would I mention his or her race? What is the context, and what is the discussion? One doesn't go walking around pointing at people and saying "White. Black. White. Black. White. White. Black. Black. Asian. Black. White. White. Latino. Black. Mixed. Indigenous." There's got to be a reason race is even brought up, and usually, if one can do that, one can also find out a stranger's name, so it's less impersonal. There's no need to be AFRAID of mentioning someone's race if you're just describing someone to someone else, but by the same token, why are you talking ABOUT strangers rather than TO them?
Notice that over half of the prison inmates are black when there is only 13% or so in the American population?
Yeah, but what's your point in mentioning this? We already know that systemic racism continues unabated in this society, and that statistic is proof of it. You're not actually claiming that criminality is some sort of African American cultural tradition, are you?
Facts are facts, and we shouldn't be afraid to confront them!
Agreed, but whose facts are we discussing? What one person insists are facts, another person will insist is fiction.
That is the only way to fix the problem we have with so many differing cultures.
Having so many different cultures is a problem? Why? Whose culture is the right one? Should any culture dominate, and if so, whose should do so, and why?
Before you have equality, you have to achieve equity. That can't be done by sweeping the transgressions of the past under the rug, or pretending that they're not important, because they are - the past definitely influences the present, and the present will influence the future. Regressing to the past would mean returning to doing things the way things were done in the past. Very few people are suggesting that we, as a society, do that.
Why can't we just face the fact that we ARE different because of race, that even our cultures are different.
Is it race that makes us different, or are you just stating that we are of different races? Acknowledging racial and cultural differences is just fine, and should most definitely be done, but claiming that race is the defining factor which makes human beings different (in what ways?) is, on its own merits, a racist claim. Race doesn't make one more or less human, or anyone better or worse. It's just one factor of our humanity that makes us unique.
Even so, the individual should not be subjected to the culture of their background no more than we should be subjected to being fat white Americans in other countries.
Umm... HUH?
Do you ever notice you're hesitant to call a white person white or a black person black if they're a stranger?
No, I never notice this, because I'm never hesitant to say this, if it's worth mentioning (sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't). If I'm using it as a physical descriptor in order to identify an individual, it might make sense, but it all depends on the context of my using it. If someone's a stranger, why would I mention his or her race? What is the context, and what is the discussion? One doesn't go walking around pointing at people and saying "White. Black. White. Black. White. White. Black. Black. Asian. Black. White. White. Latino. Black. Mixed. Indigenous." There's got to be a reason race is even brought up, and usually, if one can do that, one can also find out a stranger's name, so it's less impersonal. There's no need to be AFRAID of mentioning someone's race if you're just describing someone to someone else, but by the same token, why are you talking ABOUT strangers rather than TO them?
Notice that over half of the prison inmates are black when there is only 13% or so in the American population?
Yeah, but what's your point in mentioning this? We already know that systemic racism continues unabated in this society, and that statistic is proof of it. You're not actually claiming that criminality is some sort of African American cultural tradition, are you?
Facts are facts, and we shouldn't be afraid to confront them!
Agreed, but whose facts are we discussing? What one person insists are facts, another person will insist is fiction.
That is the only way to fix the problem we have with so many differing cultures.
Having so many different cultures is a problem? Why? Whose culture is the right one? Should any culture dominate, and if so, whose should do so, and why?
Reply
Leave a comment