One Reason Why I Speak About Racism (page 11)

serenitynow!

oh, the documentary. do the babies do anything in the movie?

agonus

yeah, you know, they hang out, order pizza, day trade their way to wealth, typical baby stuff...

Seriously though, it's just 75 minutes of typical adorable babies doing typical adorable baby things, eating, sleeping, pooping, playing, crawling, etc. What's interesting about it is how the various geographical locations and cultures of the babies' home countries (U.S., Japan, Namibia, and Mongolia) are juxtaposed. It's nothing groundbreaking but it's incredibly charming. There's a scene where the Japanese baby tries to figure out a toy and throws up her arms in despair after about 5 seconds, kicking her legs on the floor and whimpering, and damned if it isn't the cutest thing I've ever seen.

mrsjones5

I so want to see the "Babies" movie. I saw a preview and it was the cutest thing ever. I love babies, so glad I can't have anymore and that I don't have one in the house. I'm like a grandparent without any grandbabies, I will hold and play with a baby but I'm ever so grateful to give that baby back to it's parents.

OnTheWayOut

Say you are a white fireman. You have seniority. There is a black fireman in your department there with less seniority, but you are both going for the same promotion. The black man gets the promotion based on RACE. (Affirmative Action)

Now tell me, how the hell is that fair or correct?? How is punishing this white fireman NOW for the actions of some British Colonialist Plantation owners fair or just?

What ever happened to actually EARNING your way to the top? No one wants to hear about that, and everything is whitey's fault.

I have to agree with that. I will say a few things on it, though.
The general consensus is that the pendulum swung too far to the right (against minorities), and now the pendulum needs to swing too far to the left (for minorities) to make up for that. Of course that perpetuates hatred between the groups and doesn't solve the problem.

Same example above, but go back to the beginning- the hiring process.
A city has a better tax situation in neighborhoods where professionals live and tends to spend more money in those neighborhoods for education. That means that blacks who were oppressed in the past have had a harder time educating their children in comparision. They crawl out of poverty very slowly, if at all, because the kids in the better neighborhoods had a better chance of graduating. (That, and the neighborhood felt safer, so they could focus on school and athletics instead of fear.)

So the city might feel justified in hiring the minorities for the fire dept. I could go along with that. The whites have more opportunities so they will recover and go to college if there are no more jobs for them on the fire dept.

Colleges giving a break to minorities could also hurt some whites, also. But that pendulum is almost certainly done looking at race and mostly looks at income now, so that it would only take away free (or discount) opportunities from people whose family can afford to send them to college without the break. It's not totally fair, but it is getting closer to fair. Still, it perpetuates some of the hate.

We should never hate the minority who takes advantage of the break given him or her. Most of us know good and well that if we were offered an advantage to get into a better school or get a better job or advance in our job, we would take the advantage. If you hate the advantage, then advocate for change and don't advocate for hatred of the people who took advantage.

Once they are hired, they should be on an equal playing field for advancement. Same would be true in a law firm or minimum wage plant. In your example, firefighters that advance are in charge of others. The very lives of their team depends on them. You want the guys in charge to get there because they dedicated themselves to learning how to be in charge and spent a longer time learning how to keep everyone safe. Still, don't hate the guy who takes advancement, hate the system and advocate for change.

AK - Jeff

I did not read all 6 pages of this.

This I know: In my high-school, in my workplaces since school, I have never seen a legitimate case of 'discrimination' against anyone for race, except against my group - middle aged white males! I was offered no funds from the United Negro College Fund since I am white. I have seen far less qualified women or racial minorities, promoted or hired instead of white middle aged males who applied for the same positions -because the government's affirmative action requirements.

I do not discount the terrible oppression that was leveled against blacks, Chinese, Japanese, Italians, and women over the years in this country. But - and this is a big but to me - I DIDN'T OPPRESS A SINGLE ONE OF THEM - my dad did not oppress them - my grandfather did not oppress them. Now - in this day - not 46 years ago - I compete against AA rules, intentional promotion of women over men, United Negro College funds are available to my black neighbor's kids, but no such funds exists for my children or my grandchildren.

I would fight and die for the rights of these minorities to compete on level playing field with anyone - I HATE PREJUDICE - but it is totally turned from making the playing field level to making it advantageous to be black, female, or both in this country. I don't deny that there was a time when this was not the case - but those days are mostly over from my seat. Granted, it will never be totally 'fair' - but the pendulum has swung way past center on this one.

Jeff

BurnTheShips

I can understand the point Sylvia and Josie made on names. I go by an anglicized, shortened version of my first name. Of course, my last name is my last name. I won't change that. My children also, have first names that are in English, or are spelled the same in both languages. Their middle names, however, remain Spanish.

BTS

mrsjones5

I named my youngest Joshua to which my MIL responded that Joshua wasn't a black name. I found that highly amusing due to the fact that my MIL named her youngest son Brandon.

Since the naming of my son I have noticed quite a few black boys with the name of Joshua.

ohiocowboy

An interesting thread which may relate...

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/197786/1/POOR-ME-Would-some-crybabies-feel-sorry-for-themselves-no-matter-what

someone said: Everyone is different so it may take longer to heal up to a point.

One Reason Why I Speak About Racism

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