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Old 05-25-2011, 09:40 PM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,756,157 times
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Genocide and colonialism have been practised by every race, culture, nation throughout history; from Alexander the Great, to the Roman Emperors, Persia, Genghis Khan, in Africa in recent years, but it seems I often hear people blaming whites as imperialist monsters when it's nothing unique to the white race. I'm not even white, but I find this PC sort of bull**** very unfair and divisive. We're all equally capable of doing evil, no race is more noble than another, and victims are not somehow morally superior. In a parallel Universe the Jews could have commited the Holocaust and blacks could have enslaved whites (blacks enslaved other blacks and whites enslaved other whites long before American slavery).

Genghis and Alexander, who while European was too ancient so he is almost admired instead of being condemned as a genocidal egomaniac who took over people's lands by the sword. Yet somehow this is more acceptable than the British taking over Indian land?
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Old 05-25-2011, 09:50 PM
 
Location: Wheaton, Illinois
10,261 posts, read 21,643,590 times
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Others are condemned; several recent genocides in Africa have been given wide coverage and Pol Pot certainly comes to mind.

So I think your premise is false.

Say goodnight Gracie.
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Old 05-25-2011, 09:52 PM
 
Location: New York City
2,745 posts, read 6,436,517 times
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I'm not sure any one race is being singled out. Mongols are known for their crimes in Eastern Europe and Russia. In the 13th century, white slaves have been found as far east as China. The Arabs traded white slaves as well. Even as far as New Zealand, the locals have been blamed for the massacre in Chatham islands. More recently, blacks have committed genocides in Rwanda and Darfur, and I'm not sure if anyone is giving them a free pass.

I think there is more focus on the Europeans because they were supposedly more enlightened, more educated than others. People simply point out the double standard and the hypocrisy of White Mans burden and the treatment of people of color.
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Old 05-26-2011, 10:44 AM
 
14,780 posts, read 43,465,675 times
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I don't think the premise that only Europeans/whites are condemned is correct. Other posters have pointed out cases where this isn't true. Perhaps some of that impression comes from the fact that European/Western Civilization seems to be one of the premier groups in identifying and policing those actions. Chances are people committing genocide in Darfur could care less about the Hague, while folks in the west hold it in high regard. The western societies are also compelled to vet their wrongdoings in order to avoid the appearance of hypocrisy.
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Old 05-26-2011, 12:56 PM
 
2,757 posts, read 5,613,796 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20 View Post
Genocide and colonialism have been practised by every race, culture, nation throughout history; from Alexander the Great, to the Roman Emperors, Persia, Genghis Khan, in Africa in recent years, but it seems I often hear people blaming whites as imperialist monsters when it's nothing unique to the white race. I'm not even white, but I find this PC sort of bull**** very unfair and divisive. We're all equally capable of doing evil, no race is more noble than another, and victims are not somehow morally superior. In a parallel Universe the Jews could have commited the Holocaust and blacks could have enslaved whites (blacks enslaved other blacks and whites enslaved other whites long before American slavery).

Genghis and Alexander, who while European was too ancient so he is almost admired instead of being condemned as a genocidal egomaniac who took over people's lands by the sword. Yet somehow this is more acceptable than the British taking over Indian land?
Wow, Trimac. I didn't expect this from you, there are so many things wrong with this post from a debater's standpoint.

-Like other have said, Westerners have a long history of claiming how refined they are (in all areas including morality)

-Oh, everyone has done this at some point right? So let's forget about it all and move forward. The problem with that is that everyone else has their dirty laundry out there for all to see so why not show off the laundry belonging to the West. That's only fair.

Everyone else in the world can speak on Western ills but it'll never have the same overall effect that the West has had when speaking on others people. Speech influences how one feels which moves a person to act...I like talking about Western action.

-PC? Please go back and see what was PC back in Western culture. Talk about divisive, it's not like people are denying Europeans their humanity or anything of that nature. Tri, you're much too smart to be bringing in the hypothetical "parallel universe" idea into something as serious as this.

-I agree, nobody is superior but a lot of people don't realize that in real life and on this website.

-If you think that European/American Chattel slavery was the same as African slavery then I should just stop right now. That would be a lack of effort on your part.

-Like what NJGoat said, the West has hid a lot of their wrongdoing while pointing the finger. I don't know about you but that's hypocritical and rewritten history.

The concept of Social Darwinism epitomizes the West perfectly. No need to elaborate (unless you ask me to).
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Old 05-26-2011, 01:28 PM
 
Location: Sinking in the Great Salt Lake
13,139 posts, read 22,705,438 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20 View Post
Genocide and colonialism have been practised by every race, culture, nation throughout history; from Alexander the Great, to the Roman Emperors, Persia, Genghis Khan, in Africa in recent years, but it seems I often hear people blaming whites as imperialist monsters when it's nothing unique to the white race. I'm not even white, but I find this PC sort of bull**** very unfair and divisive. We're all equally capable of doing evil, no race is more noble than another, and victims are not somehow morally superior. In a parallel Universe the Jews could have commited the Holocaust and blacks could have enslaved whites (blacks enslaved other blacks and whites enslaved other whites long before American slavery).

Genghis and Alexander, who while European was too ancient so he is almost admired instead of being condemned as a genocidal egomaniac who took over people's lands by the sword. Yet somehow this is more acceptable than the British taking over Indian land?
Because of all the cultures that have practiced genocide and colonialism, the Europeans did it the best...
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Old 05-26-2011, 04:18 PM
 
Location: Victoria TX
42,618 posts, read 86,565,652 times
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Maybe because only Europeans bragged about the virtue of what they did with such careful documentation. And because westerners are taught that only European history is to be taken seriously in the march of civilization.
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Old 05-26-2011, 05:36 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,829,221 times
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Several posters have already correctly pointed out that the OP's premise is flawed because in fact not only European colonialism and genocide have been condemned. Pol Pot in Cambodia and the massacre of Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda are probably the most recent well-known non-European mass murders and of course they have both been universally condemned.

However, having said that, I retain a certain sympathy for the OP's point of view even though it was not factually well-stated. If, like me, you lived through the radical left-wing anti-American hype and violence which started roughly in the mid to late 1960's, then you were nauseated (provided you were fair-minded) by the one-sided rhetoric about "American Imperialism" and the blaming of Europeans (and Americans, who are essentially Europeans racially, culturally, and linguistically) for all the ills of the world. This may be what the OP was thinking of, i.e., what motivated his post. Too bad he didn't specify better what he meant because as written, it doesn't hold up, as pointed out.
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Old 05-27-2011, 01:53 PM
 
77,676 posts, read 59,823,491 times
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Frankly, because the common person lacks vast historical knowledge and so here in the US we know about European colonization and the slave trade and that's about it. Most don't know about Japans activities in the early 20th century among others.

For example, it's amusing to hear about how the evil spainards treated the poor aztecs. lol
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Old 05-27-2011, 04:57 PM
 
Location: Victoria TX
42,618 posts, read 86,565,652 times
Reputation: 36637
One element that might be considered is that the Europeans didn't just loot them and move on, they preferred the tactic of staying and occupying all the land and dividing it up for themselves, intent on remaining the lords of it for eternity.

In the past two centuries, nearly every national independence movement had to evict Europeans in order to restore their sovereignty. Given that, it's hard to find many non-Europeans to blame.

So, only the Europeans came anywhere near instituting colonialism and it attendant genocide over nearly all the globe, and not just a part of one continent.

Last edited by jtur88; 05-27-2011 at 06:26 PM..
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