Taking Offense at everything...

Tra, in my opinion comparing affirmative action to genocide is really the epitome of offensive and insensitive.

I am a white American, and as one, I would never presume to think I could truly understand what it is like to experience discrimination and prejudice. Nor would I presume to think I could understand what it would feel like to have had my ancestors tortured, slaughtered, or owned like livestock just a few generations ago. Or what it would feel like to see the media and American culture constantly portray my ethnic group with very little dignity.

In short: no, whites do not have a history comparable to other ethnic groups in this country. Any "reverse discrimination" whites have ever "suffered" is petty compared to what other groups have lived under for hundreds of years.

You can say, "It's just a football team, who cares?" But by saying that, you're only displaying how little you understand about racism. I can understand that's it's beyond your personal scope and experience, but when someone tells you they're offended by a racist term, shouldn't you take that seriously?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">And your second line smacks of that disgusting line "but some of my best friends are ...." <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I never said it was a nice term or a term we should all start using, but I was just saying coming as someone that has Native American blood, I find the football team names to be the least of the offenses Native Americans face! I'll worry about football names after the reservations get better schools and the diabetes epidemic starts to trail off.

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Originally posted by WritersRhapsody:
I'll weigh in on this one....

1) MissCurlyCat, I think you're sweet, but I do think the tickers were excessive. But it should've stopped after you were told to take them down. Now we have all sorts of guidelines that are a little constricting. On many boards, your signature is your trademark!

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">YOU'RE MAKEING THIS SOUND LIKE IT'S
<font size="72">ALL</font>
MY FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [img]mad.gif[/img] [img]mad.gif[/img] [img]mad.gif[/img] [img]mad.gif[/img] [img]mad.gif[/img] [img]mad.gif[/img]
They made those rules so it wouldn't happen to any one again. So no one would make the mistake of putting to many tickers in there sig like me. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THE TICKERS HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF CONTROL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm still a little new and have a bit more to learn about HB, I'll attmite that much. But I will never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever..... EVER atmite the whole ticker rules were set because of me. And if you think that then I'd have to say to you, sorry but you're the one thats wrong!

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 02, 2006 09:37 PM: Message edited by: Tra ]</font>

Sorry if that sounded a little bit mean. But that post made me a little testy....

MissCurlyCat, please make the post words normal size. I understand what you're talking about, but you don't need to bold the words and make them such a large size. You can state the same words, and just as emphatically, even if they're smaller. Maybe you could italiacize and bold them, but reduce the size? I'll leave that up to you Thanks! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Voice-of-Reason...are you saying the discrimination whites suffer today is ok? Or that it is not as important as the discrimination that used to be suffered by other races?

Lemme tell you something, black people were not the only people enslaved. Native Americans were not the only people killed and put on reservations. Think about the Jews and the Holocaust. Think about the enslavement of the Jews by the Egyptians. Think about the Romans and their enslavement of ALL different sorts of races. Think about the persecution of Christians by the Romans.

Not to mention, we are all really related, as God made each race and person and we are all descended from Noah and his sons.

Nor was the enslavement of the black man all the fault of the white man. In history class we read primary documents of agreements between black African kingdoms and slave traders. THe king would provide slaves and get money back.

I think the bulk of the inequality in this world is from people wanting to be seen as better than other groups...you sound like you think all the other races are better than white. In reality we are all EQUAL. Blacks, Native Americans, etc. are all EQUAL to whites.

Plus, none of the modern people have experienced slavery. We've gotten rid of slavery. WE now need to get rid of affirmative action, reverse discrimination, and all discrimination,really.

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Originally posted by Tra:
MissCurlyCat, please make the post words normal size. I understand what you're talking about, but you don't need to bold the words and make them such a large size. You can state the same words, and just as emphatically, even if they're smaller. Maybe you could italiacize and bold them, but reduce the size? I'll leave that up to you Thanks! [img]smile.gif[/img]

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sorry, I just got a little angry at someone who clearly doesn't understand my POV, or what is going on about the siggys!

I am really shocked by the insensitivity of some who have contributed to this thread. As The Handmaid eloquently stated, reducing a horribly persecuted ethnic group down to a caricature is a very serious matter.

So, Tra (and others), you don't think "R_edskins" is offensive? Well then, while we're at it, why don't we use some other slurs from shameful and ugly periods of American history for our sports teams?
How about "The Blackskins" or "The Rioting Slaves?"

You don't need to feel guilty- but you need to acknowledge that you, as a white person, are benefitting from racism. People of color are incarcerated at much higher rates than white people- even though crime is not committed at a higher rate by people of color. White people have many privileges in life because of the way people of color were treated historically (remember, there are people of color alive today who were not allowed to vote in their lifetimes- it's not like it's ancient history) and are still treated today.

Did you see the coverage of hurricane Katrina and its aftermath? Did you see the way hate crimes against Muslims erupted after 9/11? Racism is still alive today.

Racism is privilege AND power. People of color are not in power. White people are. It is white people who are disproportionately represented in government, in business, in almost everything. Why is this? It's because white people, because of racist policies in our history (like making it difficult for people of color to get the GI Bill), have gotten many advantages others did not.

If you don't think racism exists today on an institutional level: visit my reservation.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 03, 2006 02:08 AM: Message edited by: The Handmaid ]</font>

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Originally posted by Tra:
Lemme tell you something, black people were not the only people enslaved. Native Americans were not the only people killed and put on reservations. Think about the Jews and the Holocaust. Think about the enslavement of the Jews by the Egyptians. Think about the Romans and their enslavement of ALL different sorts of races. Think about the persecution of Christians by the Romans.

<snip>

WE now need to get rid of affirmative action, reverse discrimination, and all discrimination,really.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think the racism issues that Voice-of-Reason and Handmaid are talking about are American ones. Those other racist actions were not by our society.


So, how do you plan to get rid of discrimination, snap your fingers? I know that sounds harsh, but you make it sound like it's so very easy.