Can we PLEASE talk about Racism?
- Thread starter Skarekrow
- Start date
I think "Racism" goes both ways and as long as it does, nothing will change.
Personally I refer to it as "discrimination" because when people talk about racism it suddenly does not seem to matter anymore if both peoples skins are the same color.
As [MENTION=5045]Skarekrow[/MENTION] indicates through his posts, "racial" motivated crimes are committed by people of all descents, and personally I feel that just featuring it on the news when the victims of such crimes are of a specific descent makes the news bias and unreliable. We cannot presume to be able to fix something, when we don't acknowledge that its an issue on a multitude of sides. It is discrimination and it happens everywhere in the world and usually its not just bound to ones skin color.
Personally I refer to it as "discrimination" because when people talk about racism it suddenly does not seem to matter anymore if both peoples skins are the same color.
As [MENTION=5045]Skarekrow[/MENTION] indicates through his posts, "racial" motivated crimes are committed by people of all descents, and personally I feel that just featuring it on the news when the victims of such crimes are of a specific descent makes the news bias and unreliable. We cannot presume to be able to fix something, when we don't acknowledge that its an issue on a multitude of sides. It is discrimination and it happens everywhere in the world and usually its not just bound to ones skin color.
I think about racism a lot and I find it unfortunate that it is so heavily focused on Black vs. White. Yesterday on the radio they were talking about our Aboriginal People's and that the system that they have them in is akin to Genocide. That is a very, very strong word.
I went to a town called Lilooet in British Columbia which is an absolutely breathtaking little town in the Mountains. It is tucked right in with some Reservations. I remember on my visit there thinking about how quaint the town was. However, driving in you could see the reservation houses and how vacant and in a state of disrepair they were. In the town I remember it was welfare day and as soon as the liquor store opened there were a bunch of people who barely made it out the front door of the store before they cracked open their booze and were standing outside sipping from their paper bags. I knew a teacher there well who did all of her schooling around native people and she was an educator. She spoke to how absolutely tragic their situation was. Many people feel that they have "everything handed to them" and yet the corruption among the band leaders is well documented and the people suffer. They have their own school system and while I think it is exceptionally valuable to stay in touch with ones culture, the opportunities are few and far between for them. They often are in such remote locations it would be exceptionally difficult for them to escape. Their access to everything we take for granted is so limited.
Addiction rates, suicides, poverty... It's so prevalent in these communities. I don't think we need to be giving them hand outs but assisting them in having greater access to resources. Focusing on the black vs. white issue casts a shadow over other groups of people who are truly suffering. Not to say that racism is not running rampant in subtle and not so subtle ways, but I think it is important to see who is suffering most, who has the least access to resources, how they can be supported instead of letting them die off and become "irrelevant."
But those who shout the loudest are heard and unfortunately we are faced with racism every day in every media outlet and it's all black vs. white and if it's not that, it's illegal immigration, or judgement against the intellectual superiority of Asians, blah blah blah.
There's a lot of judgments about a lot of different people and I think that white people are hated and despised as much as any other group, it's just that we've set ourselves up for success from the get go and now other groups have to play catch up, but I do not think we can continue to play the same game because we are all losing.
I went to a town called Lilooet in British Columbia which is an absolutely breathtaking little town in the Mountains. It is tucked right in with some Reservations. I remember on my visit there thinking about how quaint the town was. However, driving in you could see the reservation houses and how vacant and in a state of disrepair they were. In the town I remember it was welfare day and as soon as the liquor store opened there were a bunch of people who barely made it out the front door of the store before they cracked open their booze and were standing outside sipping from their paper bags. I knew a teacher there well who did all of her schooling around native people and she was an educator. She spoke to how absolutely tragic their situation was. Many people feel that they have "everything handed to them" and yet the corruption among the band leaders is well documented and the people suffer. They have their own school system and while I think it is exceptionally valuable to stay in touch with ones culture, the opportunities are few and far between for them. They often are in such remote locations it would be exceptionally difficult for them to escape. Their access to everything we take for granted is so limited.
Addiction rates, suicides, poverty... It's so prevalent in these communities. I don't think we need to be giving them hand outs but assisting them in having greater access to resources. Focusing on the black vs. white issue casts a shadow over other groups of people who are truly suffering. Not to say that racism is not running rampant in subtle and not so subtle ways, but I think it is important to see who is suffering most, who has the least access to resources, how they can be supported instead of letting them die off and become "irrelevant."
But those who shout the loudest are heard and unfortunately we are faced with racism every day in every media outlet and it's all black vs. white and if it's not that, it's illegal immigration, or judgement against the intellectual superiority of Asians, blah blah blah.
There's a lot of judgments about a lot of different people and I think that white people are hated and despised as much as any other group, it's just that we've set ourselves up for success from the get go and now other groups have to play catch up, but I do not think we can continue to play the same game because we are all losing.
They have actually been listening to some stories about this this on NPR…they have like a Canadian news hour at 1pm or something like that.
That is such an incredibly sad situation…one of the stories I heard about it was how the children were taken from their tribe and parents in some situation to reform schools where they were punished for speaking their native tongue…anyhow, I think reparation were going to be paid to these kids subjected to this.
So sad.
Per the usual…The United States is probably the least aware (save for some rainforest tribes) of what is happening in the rest of world.
Our news focuses mainly on our country, and so the black/white issue is what we get in our (and probably yours as well) news stream.
You are correct…we should shine a light on the subject in every aspect.
I avoid anything to do with the news as much as I possibly can. I just don't want my view of the world to be warped by what other people are telling me to think. The news tries to paint a very specific picture of how the world is but it's such a small aspect of it that so much good gets lost in the mix. For as far behind as we're made to feel by the media, I think if we tuned out of that and actually connected with real people we'd realize how far ahead we actually are from what they've sold us.
I usually watch the local news, but avoid the major news channels.
Even the national news, I rarely watch. I have a few trusted news sources online that I follow, but you are correct, it does warp the viewpoints of people.
The news here is very manipulative…but this is what happens when the same folks who line the pockets of our elected officials also own the majority of the media.
I agree with everything you wrote.
I live very close to the USA/Canada border and used to live seconds away from the border crossing so a lot of our news/weather/television growing up came from the USA side. I don't remember it being so bad years ago, but as I became more aware of the world I noticed how awful the media is down there. It is a lot of flashy headlines and fear mongering. I think it roots people in place... almost like strapping them to a chair and taping their eyelids open so they see ever horrible thing that they can squeeze in to a short space of time. I think people are getting programmed by this stuff and it ruins their ability to appreciate and enjoy their lives and by extension appreciate and enjoy other people. I guess when you are constantly told that X, Y and Z race/person/country/etc is the enemy you just start to believe it. A belief is a thought you keep thinking, or an idea you are continuously exposed to I guess. Very sad.
Here is a prime example (if you can stomach it) of the nonsense that people here are bombarded with daily….and they fucking believe it all, hook, line, sinker, WMDs, etc.
[video=youtube;ZINbdls7EjQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ZINbdls7EjQ[/video]
As far as I am concerned, this Muslim group is more “American” and what America is supposed to stand for than the stupid fools defended the Confederate Flag that never was.
They should be proud.
Young Muslims Raise $30,000 To Help Repair Black Churches Destroyed By Fire
Full story - http://www.theladbible.com/articles...-help-repair-black-churches-destroyed-by-fire
They should be proud.
Young Muslims Raise $30,000 To Help Repair Black Churches Destroyed By Fire
Full story - http://www.theladbible.com/articles...-help-repair-black-churches-destroyed-by-fire
starting this thread was like starting a thread titled "lets talk about how the earth is round". it's pretty obvious that racism continues to exist, you are just asking the crazy "earth is flat" people to come out of the works and argue with you about something that is obvious and proven.
Since my original post is now buried in this thread:
http://www.infjs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29762&page=2&p=811548#post811548
I think most people who deny racism take issue with the word and its implications as do I to a certain extent. The idea that systemic racism is inherent in society doesn't resonate with people when they sincerely don't feel anger towards a person simply for being a certain ethnicity. I feel like the word itself is an unnecessary distraction likely perpetrated by those who do not want the issue to get the legitimate focus that it needs.
It is quite simply a byproduct of class and socioeconomic conflict. Policing and the legal justice system in society has become a business in which the focus isn't on crime prevention or amelioration, but rather the processing of criminals and the prejudicial labeling inherent in identifying them as criminals rather than persons who may or may not have committed any crime.
I'm reminded of the folk tale of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham in how biased our criminal justice system has become. We are profiting from a modern day slave institution that is intended to criminalize being poor in America.
http://www.infjs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29762&page=2&p=811548#post811548
I think most people who deny racism take issue with the word and its implications as do I to a certain extent. The idea that systemic racism is inherent in society doesn't resonate with people when they sincerely don't feel anger towards a person simply for being a certain ethnicity. I feel like the word itself is an unnecessary distraction likely perpetrated by those who do not want the issue to get the legitimate focus that it needs.
It is quite simply a byproduct of class and socioeconomic conflict. Policing and the legal justice system in society has become a business in which the focus isn't on crime prevention or amelioration, but rather the processing of criminals and the prejudicial labeling inherent in identifying them as criminals rather than persons who may or may not have committed any crime.
I'm reminded of the folk tale of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham in how biased our criminal justice system has become. We are profiting from a modern day slave institution that is intended to criminalize being poor in America.
The Great American Outlaw: A Legacy of Fact and Fiction
Source Material
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_forfeiture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States
I can post stories to the contrary and create a pattern too….your point was voided by your illogical statement.
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I find that all media news outlets have their own spin. Fox is right leaning, and the rest are left. I can't say I know of one that's actually independent, because in all honesty, money fuels them.
I don't believe that any of them report the news out of the GOODNESS of their heart. Really? I don't buy it. Money fuels them all and so they have their own spin.
Stastics? Pfft, the numbers can be worked to display a desired result. And since when has an INFJ cared about the majority's opinion in polls?
Personally, if I see a headline with this format, "[insert flashy headline], But is it really [fill in the blank]?" I completely avoid it. Nope nope nope. You're trying to sway my opinion already or make me arrive at a certain conclusion. That's not reporting, that's trying to influence (manipulate) me.
Journalism was not supposed to be about influence, it was about information. It crossed that line a long time ago.
I don't believe that any of them report the news out of the GOODNESS of their heart. Really? I don't buy it. Money fuels them all and so they have their own spin.
Stastics? Pfft, the numbers can be worked to display a desired result. And since when has an INFJ cared about the majority's opinion in polls?
Personally, if I see a headline with this format, "[insert flashy headline], But is it really [fill in the blank]?" I completely avoid it. Nope nope nope. You're trying to sway my opinion already or make me arrive at a certain conclusion. That's not reporting, that's trying to influence (manipulate) me.
Journalism was not supposed to be about influence, it was about information. It crossed that line a long time ago.