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You said that there were advantages created for being white. Did you not?
I've been alive since 1972, and I have yet to experience them. Ok, ONCE some jerk said something about me having an Irish last name. The guy was from Ireland, so it gave me the feeling I was being considered because of my heritage. I turned down the position. Other than that ONE time, with an obvious immigrant, NEVER have I had something happen because of my heritage, and it certainly has never happened because of my skin color.
Aren't you the one that gets annoyed when people think you can speak spanish? LMAO.
You just told me my whole life was handed to me because of my skin color. I guess I should just shrug that off? lmao. Si habla espanol?
So many minorities today are just something else. You're holding all the cards, but you still can't win the pot because you keep folding every hand waiting for a royal flush. Here I am with a busted straight and a short stack and I blame nobody for my issues. I just play the hand I was dealt.
5 to you.
-TT
First of all, let's return to the original post before we begin to jump to conclusions or what I am 'basically saying'.
Those statements were not my own and I clearly cited the PBS website. As far as I could tell, the website did not imply anything about the advantages of whites today. The line that states 'Our government and society have created advantages to being white.' does not imply a time period (as you have) other than that it has happened sometime in the past. Therefore, all of your assumptions about how whites don't have advantages TODAY are kind of moot points, no? You've taken the quote beyond its context and tried to apply it to anecdotal evidence that supposedly suggests otherwise.
What does my being mistaken for a Spanish speaker have anything to do with the relation between race-culture or the quoted text in question? Right, nothing.
No, I did not tell you [that] your whole life was handed to you because of your skin color. FYI, 'si habla espanol?' is not a coherent statement in either language within the context you have created.
As imaginative as your metaphor was, I don't see its relevance.
actually Joe Bob Richardson from BackYondeer, TN who is white has a better chance of making it in white collar america than Deondre Thompson from Baldwin Hills,CA who is black even though Deondre comes from a wealthier, more educated family. outside of Deondre starting his own business and networking with his well to do dads friends. but if we are talking sucess by the bootraps Joe Bob has a better chance not by ability but because of his "likeness" in relation to his boss.
There is no "white" culture in America or in Europe. If it were so, then German culture would mirror English culture and Dutch culture and Norwegian culture and Italian culture and Spanish culture, etc. They don't mirror each other despite similarities.
White culture is the norm of all these mentioned. Europeans have been in close contact with each other for a very long time, which is why there are a great deal of similarities in culture from one European nation to the next, and the similarities are very discernable when European civilization is compared to say, Sub-Saharan Africa.
This is why, for example, the same general archetectural styles may seem different from one European nation to the next, but moreso the same when juxtaposed with, for example, achetectual "styles" indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa.
Roman, though inspired by Greece and imitated by all during the Enlightenment period:
Sub-Saharan architecture, on the other hand, bears no resemblance at all to European design:
I guess I'll restate my point again-- race is a figment of society. Race and culture are not dependent on each other. I've quoted PBS (http://www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRace/001_00-home.htm) to further establish this fact.
"Race has no genetic basis. Not one characteristic, trait, or gene distinguishes all members of one so-called race from all members of another so-called race."
"Most variation is within, not between 'races'. Of the small maount of total human genetic variation, 85% exists within any local population, be they Italians, Kurds, Koreans, or Cherokees. Two random Koreans are likely to be as genetically different as a Korean and an Italian."
"Human subspecies don't exist. Unlike many animals, moden humans have not been around long enough, nor have populations been isolated enough, to evolve into seperate subspecies or races. Despite surface differences, we are among the most similar of all species."
"Skin color is only skin deep. Most traits are inherited independently of one another. The genes for skin color have nothing to do with genes for hair texture, eye shape, blood type, musical talent, or athletic ability."
"Race justified social inequalities as natural. As the race concept evolved, it justified extermination of Native Americans, exclusion of Asian immigrants, and taking of Mexican lands. Racial practices were institutionalized within government, laws, and society."
"Race is not biological, but racism is still real. Race is still a powerful social idea that gives people different access to opportunities and resources. Our government and society have created advantages to being white. This affects everyone, whether we are aware of it or not."
"Colorblindness will not end racism. Pretending race doesn't exist is not the same as creating equality. Race is more than stereotypes and individual prejudice. To combat racism, we need to identify and remedy social policies that advantage some groups at the expense of others."
This is nothing more than Marxist liberal claptrap, without scientific basis. For example, by the first point there's no difference between an Alaskan Huskie and a French Poodle.
Regarding the second point, the same metrics for DNA analysis find that humans and dogs have 90% of the same DNA, and humans and bananas have 50% of the same DNA. In other words, that small difference in genetic DNA is actually quite significant.
Regarding the third point, you can breed an Alaskan Huskie with a French Poodle, and in effect ruin both bloodlines; why would you want to? What purpose is served? Furthermore, would you have French Poodles pull your Alaskan sled? Why not exactly?
Errrrr, actually, most scientists in the field of geonome research would argue the opposite. The complaint, as I understand it, is that "race" is too imprecise, from a purely biological, scientific standpoint.
Errrr, actually, that's what they say in order to keep their jobs! If they say otherwise they'll be fired for being "racist" and hence politically incorrect.
I still haven't had someone give me evidence as to how anthropologists can distinguish an African skull versus an Asian skull if there is no such thing as a biologic/genetic differences in race. Please enlighten me.
Ho do you think forensic investigators do it...ouija board?
Ho do you think forensic investigators do it...ouija board?
No, I think it's a little more scientific than that. They do it via bone density and look at facial structure, because these are different in different racial groups. This is because there is a biologic/genetic difference between races. Another example: hair. It can be distinguished between general racial groups, they could take a hair from a black person and know that it came from a black person, same as if they found a blonde hair they would know it came from a white person. That is just one small example. Disease is another such category. Different racial groups are more susceptible to certain diseases and is this because race is a figment of our imaginations, rather than biological or genetic? I think not. An exerpt from an article that was recently in the NYT regarding the disparity between whites and blacks with identical cancer treatment:
"Black women with uterine cancer are more likely to die than white women, even when the progression of the disease is equal and they are given identical treatments, researchers report. The reasons for the disparity are unclear.
...
Even after statistically adjusting for overall health, disease stage, cell type, tumor grade, and surgical or medical procedures received, black women were 26 percent less likely to survive for five years than white women."
Now if we were all 'equal' on a biological/genetic level, why would such disparities exist in different populations compared to others? Working in healthcare, I tend to see trends in particular patient groups that are not really present in others and when you look at risk factors for certain diseases or disorders, race is also a factor because in certain groups the probability for certain diseases are higher. How could this be, if race is a figment of our imaginations? Seems to me that someone is blowin' smoke up our arses.
Last edited by WazzuCoop21; 01-25-2007 at 09:07 AM..
I still don't get why it's such a bad thing if we are biologically/genetically different from one another.
It's not a bad thing. It's just simple fact. The problem arises when people like some here assign race to culture. There's a misunderstanding of what culture is.
Race is a fact. Clearly we're all one human species. If it weren't so, we couldn't procreate with any and all humans. There are no other species of humans. We are one species.
There are racial differences however that are more common to specific races within humankind, although, there is no delineated line between us. We blend into each other as races and always have, no matter what our "race" is.
But culture is not race and race is not culture. That's where some go off track and making a stand on defending culture from a racial stance, such as the supposed "white" culture some are claiming exists. Those who strenuously make this assertion take a stance that to me reveals someone who has issues with non-whites.
If blacks or anyone else were to make the same claims of "black culture", he or she would be standing on the same fallacy.
They confuse socio-economic class characteristics with "culture" which they then simplistically assert is racial.
Culture is not tied to race.
It's not a bad thing. It's just simple fact. The problem arises when people like some here assign race to culture. There's a misunderstanding of what culture is.
Race is a fact. Clearly we're all one human species. If it weren't so, we couldn't procreate with any and all humans. There are no other species of humans. We are one species.
There are racial differences however that are more common to specific races within humankind, although, there is no delineated line between us. We blend into each other as races and always have, no matter what our "race" is.
But culture is not race and race is not culture. That's where some go off track and making a stand on defending culture from a racial stance, such as the supposed "white" culture some are claiming exists. Those who strenuously make this assertion take a stance that to me reveals someone who has issues with non-whites.
If blacks or anyone else were to make the same claims of "black culture", he or she would be standing on the same fallacy.
They confuse socio-economic class characteristics with "culture" which they then simplistically assert is racial.
Culture is not tied to race.
Thank you for pointing out this clear distinction. There definitely are class differences. But, I don't think when people assign race to culture that they necessarily have problems with people outside their race and I believe as well that this is also confused with socioeconomic status. I think in 'general' there are cultural differences between the black community and the white community, and the same could be said for the asian and latino community as well. This appears to occur in all levels of social status, but less apparent in the highest class individuals. But, we can't generalize these cultural or subculture differences outside of this country in racial terms and instead realize that these cultural differences lie within our country and not the world.
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