Doofdaddy, I think the problem is we get sterotyping from the media.
After all if we don't have personal contact the only other source is the media. Barry
Are black people more emotional than white people
by barry 108 Replies latest jw friends
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NewChapter
Kay, too scared to comment on this thread! Without the benefit of smiles, facial expressions, and tone of voice, it could be a disaster.
So I'd like to say HI SILENCE! (Although you are probably gone by now).
NC
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Band on the Run
OMG! The WTBTS integrated Northern KHs. It was my only experience. I lived in a black city. My KHs were predominantly black. I believed all KHs in the world were integrated b/c integration and nondiscrimination were Christian principles. When the CO came for dinner, my parents discussed the South with him. As they were talking, I heard references to segregated halls. I was absolutely shocked. Altho I was told to keep my mouth shut during his visit, I interrupted the adults and asked for clarification. The adults looked at me as though I was crazy for believing Southern halls were integrated. I chastised the position of the Society. The CO looked at me as though I was way out of line and said that the Southern whites weuld never attend an integrated Hall. Therefore, the Society decided to segregate halls in the South. I did not know that Jesus' principles changed by geographic region.
The Society had at least two clear choices: 1. Obey the Bible. Teach through scripture and example that humans are the same. Agape love must be present in a Christian congregation. 2. Make things comfortable for whites by excluding blacks. Adopt a very bad practice Imagine the stigma towards black Witnesses of not being good enough for your sisters and brothers in Christ. Paul integrated Jews and Gentiles in Christianity.It must have been very uncomfortable at first.
I grew up in the 1960s, though, and black power was popular. Malcolm X was cool. Martin Luther King had lost a large segment of my school's students. Black Panthers and Black Muslims rejected integration. They demanded a separate black culture. Today many gays worry about becoming mainstream and losing gay culture as a result
. If you omit the colorful clothes, Appalachian whites and Pentecostals are just as frenetic or emotional in church. They actually handle snakes as a sign that the Holy Spirit is present. They have no fear. The practice is illegal. The last time I heard about it, W.Va. was the only state without a law against it. They continue to do it despite criminal laws. The point is to be fearless and ready to die. They use very poisonous snakes. The snakes are frequently deadly. Not only do adults handle them but little children. Their movements are very jerky and fast. IMO, the black churches have a much better aesthetic.
Many black American churches are as restrained as the traditionally white ones. If American had never had slavery and segregation, there might not be such a cultural difference between some black churches and the white ones. I am certain that there are technical terms for these denominations. The civil rights movement could not have happened without the shelter and patronage of the black Southern churches.
Again, I do not see it as a genetic component in a certain race. Anthropologists say there is no such thing as race. I am certain the black church members view white mainstream religion as shocking and dead.
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NewChapter
BOTR--
I knew a CO that served the black congregations in the South in the 60's. It was a difficult and dangerous time, so they did split the halls. He said it would have brought on unnecessary violence---and since all of the activities could still be carried out, that's how they did it. This was the south in the 60's---they were blowing up children in churches. They were not simply making things comfortable for whites---they were also protecting whites and blacks.
Now he told me some fascinating (albeit many disgusting) stories about being a black northerner going door to door in a tie with a brief case. He was often mistaken for a civil rights worker, and there was one run in where he thought he had bit it. He was forced to get into a truck with a guy (who showed him his pig slaughtering knife) that wanted to know just what the hell he thought he was doing down there.
I'm not into defending the WT---but sometimes, there is more to a story. Perhaps there was some racial motivation, I don't know, but I'd hate to be reading stories about people needlessly becoming victims of violence in a violent time. Everyone was treading carefully.
NC
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SixofNine
I'm not touching this with a ten foot pole
Well that kind of goes w/o saying, you're white.
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SixofNine
the jrews had laws
Oh I see what you did there. My god that's racist. Next you'll be talkin 'bout "them Jehomah Williamses".
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NewChapter
Another story:
I went to dinner with a white elderly brother from S. Africa and a young pregnant black sister from Zambia---though she had also lived in S. Africa. We left the restaurant and stood in a sunny parking lot next to a main street. Suddenly this old brother reached out and pulled this very pregnant sister into a huge hug. He had tears in his eyes and said, "For so long, I was not allowed to do that!". She was lovely, and just rubbed his back and smiled at him and said, "It's okay, we do that all the time now." Yes, I cried.
Sometimes decisions were made to keep everyone safe. It doesn't mean that it didn't hurt, but the alternative was unthinkable.
NC
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tornapart
I don't know about the 'black v white' differences, maybe there are. But living in England I see a big difference in the way people are, depending on where they come from. Us northern Europeans tend to be much cooler, less demonstrative and not as friendly than our southern European cousins.
Anyway, perhaps it would be more interesting to answer the question 'are women more emotional than men'....... or would this be opening a can of worms??? LOL
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SixofNine
If you omit the colorful clothes, Appalachian whites and Pentecostals are just as frenetic or emotional in church. They actually handle snakes as a sign that the Holy Spirit is present.
Nastay! So that's what snake handling is all about.
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NewChapter
They drink poison too.