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It is delusional, while they were mostly Europeons it was far from homogeneous or any kind of White ethno-national wonderland that White racists/nativists want to believe it was. People weren't too happy when Germans started immigrating here in mass, or when Italians, Irish, and Jews were getting off the boats in the late 1800s. Anti-Catholic and Anti-Semitic sentiments used to be widespread. Heck, even what were essentially racist laws to curb immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe were passed in the early 1900s. America didn't have a large degree of White cultural homogeniety and acceptance till the 50s.
You make some good points, but I still agree with LuckyGem that there was an overall homogeneity to the European immigrant flow. I say this because, as you point out, we didn't have a fairly homogenous white population until about one or two generations after the mass immigration from Europe was drastically reduced - a virtual shutdown in some respects - in the early 1920s. So, for forty years afterwards, with low immigration, the whites had time to "homogenize." This was made possible because the disparate European immigrants had an underlying genetic and cultural similarity.
There is no such underlying similarity among the millions of non-white, non-European immigrants today. And there is no forcing mechanism, like a strong belief in the melting pot or assimilation, to at least try and make them culturally American, in the way there was at the beginning of the 20th century. These beliefs have been replaced by the doctrines of multiculturalism, which hold that all cultures are equal, and deny the legitimacy of any attempt to force immigrants to assimilate to an existing American culture.
This makes for a diverse nation (if one can still call it that) but not a strong one.
As an Asian, I can't do anything but support integration even though I do see the issues with forced bussing. I went to school with Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and other Asians. Italians, Chinese, Irish, Poles, Russians, and Puerto Ricans. Jocks, Artsy types, nerds, and all around jerks. Catholics(mostly), Protestants, Atheists/Agnostics, Muslims, Jews, Jains, and Hindus such as myself. Diversity is a part of the American experience imo.
And what did you notice about these diverse schools? Did the whites mostly hang out with whites, blacks with blacks, Asians with Asians, etc? Self-segregation also seems to be a part of the American experience.
I'm happy that you admit that there are many blacks, who are smarter than you. Why blacks would want to live anywhere near you or go to your kids' schools is beyond me.I'm an old white man and would rather live in the 'worst' black or Mexican community than live in the same neighborhood as you. And I have. There are some of the most loving and caring folks there. And many of them appear to be much smarter than you. You obviously don't know anything about U.S. history or its founding documents. Every comment you make is asinine and vile. You're lucky you live in a country that allows you to express this filth. Your views are much closer to Hitler's than those of real Americans. But I'm glad you've put all this vomit out there so we can see what some of America used to be like. BTW, do you call yourself a Christian?
Thanks for the kind words. I believe you are what is known as a bienpensant. You wound me by saying I don't know American history. I have actually read a few books on the subject - even Howard Zinn's. But maybe they were the wrong ones.
Though I was raised, more or less, as a Christian, I confess to being a skeptic on religion. Some of my best friends are Christian though.
What we have today is a reversal of the forced integration of the 1950's-60's. There is absolutely no denying the culture clash that the United States is undergoing in 2011. There are more Spanish language networks than 20 years ago, every product in the grocery store is in English and Spanish. Press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish. English as a Second language education in public schools. 20,000,000+ non citizen illegal aliens competing for housing, jobs, education, etc.
What we have today is the forcing of Spanish/Latino culture on United States society. This is the MODERN version of forced integration, only this time it's reversed. The minority is attempting to usurp the majority. Not like what happened in the 50's and 60's when it was the OPPOSITE.
In 2011 it isn't racial it's CULTURAL. And Americans are being FORCED to integrate.
Dubeaux, I think you are wrong in every point you made. I think it's down to culture, and the fact that the average IQ of blacks is lower than whites, I doubt it's down to genetic differences than the fact that the majority of blacks tested probably have much less education and common sense than whites. Black Americans, as a culture, don't value education as much as Asian immigrants and whites.
WHen I was in school, I was an A student and I'm Puerto Rican and speak English correctly with no accent and I have good manners. What did the blacks think of me? According to them, I was "acting white". So I seriously discount that genetics plays the role as high as you make it out to be. Environment and culture are the biggest two reasons, in my opinion
Dubeaux, I think you are wrong in every point you made. I think it's down to culture, and the fact that the average IQ of blacks is lower than whites, I doubt it's down to genetic differences than the fact that the majority of blacks tested probably have much less education and common sense than whites. Black Americans, as a culture, don't value education as much as Asian immigrants and whites.
WHen I was in school, I was an A student and I'm Puerto Rican and speak English correctly with no accent and I have good manners. What did the blacks think of me? According to them, I was "acting white". So I seriously discount that genetics plays the role as high as you make it out to be. Environment and culture are the biggest two reasons, in my opinion
LMAO @ "Speak English with no accent and i have good manners."
Why did you care what blacks thought of you if you were so sharp?
Dubeaux, I think you are wrong in every point you made. I think it's down to culture, and the fact that the average IQ of blacks is lower than whites, I doubt it's down to genetic differences than the fact that the majority of blacks tested probably have much less education and common sense than whites. Black Americans, as a culture, don't value education as much as Asian immigrants and whites.
WHen I was in school, I was an A student and I'm Puerto Rican and speak English correctly with no accent and I have good manners. What did the blacks think of me? According to them, I was "acting white". So I seriously discount that genetics plays the role as high as you make it out to be. Environment and culture are the biggest two reasons, in my opinion
Unbrainwashed,
I would agree that culture accounts for part of the differences - a big part. But not all. And probably not the majority. The extensive research in this question which was surveyed in The Bell Curve found that the differences in IQ between individuals and between ethnic groups and races was attributable both to environment (including culture) and heredity (genetic differences). The authors estimated that 40% of IQ was based on environment but 60% was based on heredity. Charles Murray, the surviving author of TBC, has since revised this estimate to about 80% heredity. Maybe that's too high. I don't know. But I'm pretty sure heredity plays an important role. Consider this: the SAT scores of working class white students are higher than those of professional and upper class black students. (The SAT is considered as a rough sort of IQ test.) If culture and environment is as important as you say, those scores should be reversed.
Also, the adoption studies which were surveyed in The Bell Curve showed that adopted children had IQs far closer to their biological parents than their adopted ones, even when they had been adopted from birth. This indicates that the most important component of IQ is not one's immediate family environment, or cultural upbringing, but heredity.
You didn't say your race. Puerto Ricans can be all white or all black or anything in between. As I've said in a previous post, with 30 million blacks in the USA, there are bound to be many who are quite intelligent, just not nearly so many, proportionally, as whites or asians. But the bulk of the black population is at around 85 on the IQ scale, compared to the bulk of the white population at around 100, and this means there are huge differences in all sorts of outcomes for the two groups, especially economic, because there is a strong correlation between IQ and success in our society.
The upshot of all this is that blacks need to stop blaming white racism and face up to the fact that it's their culture and also their heredity that accounts for their lack of success versus whites.
Having said that, there are lots of successful blacks in today's society. But if you look at their IQ scores, you will find that many of them score at or above white norms.
LMAO @ "Speak English with no accent and i have good manners."
Why did you care what blacks thought of you if you were so sharp?
You're mistaking me with someone who cared of what they thought. I don't give a damn of what others think of me
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Reply to Mr. Bien Pensant
