Letters to the Editor
-
live and let live..
what ever happened to 'love thy neighbor' or 'treat others the way you'd want to be treated' or 'live and let live'? too many "critics" and not enough 'constructive criticism', too much "opinion" and they forgot 'objective opinions'; why don't people talk to one another anymore? i guess the kids today won't have to worry! the 'smart ones' found the 'internet' doesn't talk back and they shouldn't talk so everybody listens. teach them safety with respect for "that thing", like the phone, like strangers, like tv; let's keep them safe! can we talk about sex, religion, politics, or business without an arguement? how about 'equal rights'? how about the 'right to be safe'? how about choices? if you want to learn about others, then by all means, visit where they live..harlem, for instance. maybe they have 'tour buses' that can take you around to see the sights and visit the 'local color'! my friend that's like a brother to me , lived there and would still if it weren't for work..by the way, he's white! we are all 'human' just in case you forgot..let live and let live alone! learn it, earn it, deserve it, respect!
-
@ Deering
All due respect, but, by your responses, you have refuted nothing that I wrote...you simply wrote a litany of "well, white people do blah, blah, blah".
Sorry, deering, I stand by my posting.
-
if you want to see the original article
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~axe/research/AxHamm_Ethno.pdf (search:|axelrod ethnocentric evolution|)
axelrod specializes in the evolution of cooperation and hammond does the computer modeling.
hammond is racially ambiguous http://www.brookings.edu/experts/hammondr.aspx while axelrod ( http://www-personal.umich.edu/~axe/ ) is most definitely not. lateagain(7) you can test yourself at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ (search: |harvard prejudice test| ). i was raised in the usual segregated surroundings but have been happily married to my Jamaican wife for 25 years and that made me (according to the test) neutral as to race. i tested positive for jewish - probably because you can't help but feel beleaguered at salon.
Cow Head Soup, Sambo was originally Indian (the tigers) but (from wiki) the illustrations were racist african.
snarlingcoyote(1), i agree, color is incidental - perhaps the author was using it generically. but when you think of it, why would there be tanning salons if race were color? and Indians(from india) are not treated like blacks, though the color may be similar. i think it has far more to do with hair - and from blond wigs and straightening and curling and millions of TV ads, you might guess the same. whatever the case, there is one racial marker that's very rarely remarked upon, so i'll do it. the facial type of most caucasians and (whatever is considered proper for orientals nowadays) is orthognathous - a straight line from forehead to chin. there is another type with some africans - prognathous. that is, jutting chin. this gives a dazzling smile, but no respect. the only actor with it was jimmy Walker of Good Times (Dyno-mite!). NONE of the politicians have it, but if you go on any inner city bus you'll see plenty. i think it goes straight to people's amygdala and says, "ghetto". yes, totally unfair. i hope by mentioning it, the route from amygdala to denial of employment can somehow be short-circuited. -
@AnaHadWolves
I raised any number of points that were addressable. But since you 1)know nothing about black people besides "It's all those savages' fault they live in poverty." 2) are more interested in spreading your racist preconceptions than actually debating anything, it makes sense you wouldn't want to learn anything or discuss the situation rationally. And your stance is an admission of your ignorance and fear-driven hate, so your cowardice in this regard is actually a good thing all around. Toodles, babe...:)
-
Bias is based on fear
What the article does indicate is that bias is based on fear. The root of racism is fear. We are naturally inclined to fear what is different and unfamilar.
Traditional religion and politics use that fear to increase power and influence. That is evident in most sermons or politcal speeches we hear today.
Fortunely there is help. That help is not the repression or denial of fear , but rather addressing it directly. Fear resides within us, not outside of us. What we fear outside of ourselves is the reflection of fear within us.
Spirituality helps us to face our fear. A belief in something greater than ourselves makes it easier. Religion at is best helps us to find our own power in Spirituality, at its worst it attempts to take our power away and control us with our own fears.
In some empowering philosophies it is said that Fear is the false belief that there can be an absence of Love.
-
The Veneer of Life is only skin-deep --- shallow, very shallow
At least 50% of the population of this society spends billions in an industry whose sole purpose is to make the subject look like .... what she .... doesn't look like.
Some women are seen on the streets with gold rings dug into their lobes, lips and nostrils -- not unlike Cows to be led about ... as Slaves to Fashion, one imagines.
In more recent times we've found that the American male species has increasingly become fixated on the Superficiality of his appearance, his "veneer" (..vanity).
And one might wonder what he sees when he looks into the mirror in the a.m. to set his Ear Ring in place (note: never 2 rings, such would be 'unfashionable' -- unbalanced).
Perhaps he fancies himself as a Pirate !! ... to match the silly cartoon tatoos he paid somebody to carve into his flesh --- dunno -- can't imagine.
From the day the girlies spend their first $$ allowance $$ on a "cosmetic" kit --- they plunge themselves on that long road toward obsessing on the natural decay of the human face and body. Nausiating TV commercials merely highlight for us all this peculiar affliction.
An earlier reader comments on Little Black Sambo's characterization in a small kiddie book as being "racist" art --
Is it so ?? -- With that line of logic --- I guess we could all agree that Warner Bros. depicting of that fat, stupid bald white man who is made the fool by every creature under the sun, is also "racist" ---
Elmer Fudd (& his Pal Yosemite) Sam I suppose ought to be expunged from the American Canvass .... in order to prevent the Thin-Skinned, neurotics from feeling so sad about the raging racism being fed to the poor little white boys ....