PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT- CULTURE

by serenitynow! 113 Replies latest jw friends

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  lisaBObeesa

  I will never, ever for the life of me understand why people think that if blacks can use the N word than whites should be able to, too. Hello....because of RECIENT HISTORY. The wound is fresh. For some people it is very fresh! There are still tons of racist people who use that word in the bad way! Try a little understanding. It's hurful and uncomfortable and thoughtless for whites to use that word.

  Can't we try to CARE about other people's feelings more than we care about 'our right' to say a (horrible) word because blacks say it?
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  Broken Promises

  If the word hurts them so much, then why do they use it?
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  Paralipomenon

  This is one of my pet peeves. People are so concerned about political correctness that they make comments that serve to alienate groups even further.

  We should not be black, brown, white, yellow... whatever. We should be people. There will always be idiots who need to ridicule others. They may pick race, religion, sexuality... go ahead, just pick something that makes another person different, there will be people that do it.

  In my opinion, the challenge isn't how to act or treat "blacks" as the original post was pointing out. It is to stop seeing someone as black and it's a two way street. So long as we all identify ourselves by our color, we are drawing focus to what makes us differenent.

  Racism is such a taboo topic that it will be interesting to see the feedback to this comment.

  If you are black, could you stop seeing and refering to yourself as a black person? Identifying yourself by your color, whatever it is, only leaves the door open for others to do the same.

  Other discussions I have had on the topic show that people aren't ready to give up what makes them different, even if the outcome would be to defeat racism. It's a maddening paradox and no culture is immune.
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  Broken Promises

  Well said, Para.
• 

  transhuman68

  Maybe it's part of being proud of what you are.
• 

  cult classic

  "People are so concerned about political correctness that they make comments that serve to alienate groups even further."

  I agree. This is especially true when someone takes it upon themselves to speak for an entire group of people. To treat people with common decency and courtesy is not difficult. To get to know others as individuals takes a little more work. Those who are fortunate enough to have broad social connections whether through their neighborhood, schooling, travel, etc. quickly come to learn that there are very few rules regarding "race".

  Cult Classic
• 

  digderidoo

  Thinking about it Serenity, she had extensions, so the feel of the hair just wouldn't have been the same lol.

  Paul
• 

  Quandry

  1. Non-blacks- you simply cannot say the n-word period. Chris Rock does a really funny bit on this. Honestly, we shouldn't say it either but it's our choice.

  2. Do not touch a black woman's hair. That is likely to result in broken fingers.

  3. Do not touch black people's food. If we offer you food, please do not attempt to eat it with the utensil you've already been using.

  4. What I've noticed on this board- monkey references. With the racist history of likening blacks to monkeys, dont ever do that. I know that alot of men like monkeys and find them fun, but if you compare a monkey to someone who happens to be black, things can get ugly pretty darn quick.

  Thanks for the information. I think I have studied the list to satisfaction. I do wonder, however....

  1. Why is this something anyone would do? White people don't call each other names such as "cracker, or white bread." I guess it doesn't have the same impact, but why would two black people call each other something that is considered derogatory when it is being applied to both? I have absolutely never understood this at all. I work in an elementary school and have observed children calling each other this...yes, both black. (I suppose I must admit that there is a derogatory term white people use...white trash, and I am guilty of saying this...not to their face, of course)

  2. Go ahead and touch mine...but I use hairspray and so there won't be any getting to the roots....I wasn't aware of this, but I have observed little black girls touching white little girl's hair sometimes. Is it considered O.K. for black children but not for whites? By the way, I don't touch any adult's hair...this is an invasion of their personal space.

  3. Please don't touch white people's food either-unless it is your spouse...especially with the utensil you've been using....good manners and good health dictate this for all people, I would think.

  4. I have been aware of this one, but a reminder is good...Once many years ago, at work, a black woman said something a white woman considered funny, and she said, "Oh, you monkey.." Wow, I found out then what kind of a nerve it struck. The white woman had no clue...she just was using the word as in "silly like a monkey." I'm sure she will never say it again!
• 

  serenitynow!

  Regarding the n word issue, i didnt pull that out of thin air. There was something posted on another thread & i didnt want to hijack the thread. In all honesty I had no idea so many white people felt so strongly about being told they cant say it. to the poster talking about discrimination, i really was not talking about discrimination at all. I was trying to talk about cultural differences, and how not to offend people of my culture, as i have seen on the board at times. Yes as a black person i can give some insight into what is offensive, no it is not absolute, and there were many things i left off the list. I dont see a need to ignore cultural differences, i think the differences make things interesting.
• 

  lisaBObeesa

  broken promises said: " If the word hurts them so much, then why do they use it?"

  To take the power out of the word? Who knows? Maybe ask a black person who uses the word and find out. But really, who cares why blacks use it? That's beside the point that is being made. The fact is it is it is insensitive, rude and thoughtless for whites to use that word.

  (personally I don't think blacks should use the word either. It drives me crazy to hear kids in my classes throwing it around all the time like it's nothing. To them, when they say it IS nothing. I think they are mistaken. I think they are doing themselves a diservice using that word. But maybe I just don't understand.)

  Para said: " In my opinion, the challenge isn't how to act or treat "blacks" as the original post was pointing out. It is to stop seeing someone as black and it's a two way street. So long as we all identify ourselves by our color, we are drawing focus to what makes us differenent."

  The thing is that while blacks and whites have no human differences (there is only one race, the human race...we are all the same inside), in this country, at this time in history, blacks and whites DO have some CULTURAL differences. The differences do seem to be along color lines and it makes sense because of how separated the races have been in our receint past.

  These two races in this country have had a couple hundred years to grow their separate cultures...10 or 12 generations pretty much isolated from one another, and only 1 or maybe 2 generations together.

  Culture is a powerful, important thing. NOBODY wants to lose their culture. It's a part of a human beings identity. So I don't think most black people would ever want to stop calling themselves black, because in our society that would be denighing part of their culture...giving up a part of who they are.

  Now that we are living together, over maybe the next 10 or 12 generations our cultures will slowly blend and the differences in culture won't be as large. But it is going to take that kind of time.

  For now, today, this is how it is.