To say that we live in a post-racial society is pretty ridiculous. But at the same time we are making strides in social attitudes at an amazing pace. But with all the specialized support and awareness groups focused on eliminating these social imbalances, it makes me wonder if in some way we NEED things to be unfair. That without injustice, those with the genetic impulse to fight for justice will suddenly lose their identity. Basically, can an activist ever truly be at peace?
No worries, there's little chance of conferences resolving anything.
ReplyDeleteNah, there's always something to complain about. And Brian is right anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe real problem with all these conferences and the like is that if you see injustice everywhere, it hides the "real" injustices.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there is an old statement that if you believe that everyone is an elephant, you will see that everybody has something that looks like an elephant. Look for it and you will see it.
Sometimes people are racist, sometimes they are just aholes; usually the latter. They will denigrate your race, your weight, your height, the type of car you drive, whatever. They need to tear people down to make themselves look better.
The dangerous racists are hidden and deadly.
Not that I'm an expert in race relations in the USA but, in my view:
ReplyDeleteAt the moment, [I think 49% of the USA calls itself Caucasian, or maybe partly Caucasian. And maybe since 1800, 1850, 1870, most people in the USA went along with U.S. Caucasian people's traditions + their authorities].
I believe, that, when Asian people, White people, African-American people, or another race of people are [a minority of a country's population], that there will always be some, or a few, discriminatory people who do unfair things: to Asian people and/or people of a country's [not my term], minority groups.
Such as, I'm a "white guy", and no offense meant to the following city, but I might be treated by some people, as kind of an outsider or a minority, if I get a 5 year job in Seoul. Please, If you don't like me using Seoul in my fictional theory, please choose another city for my theory.
I'm not saying that Seoul is unkind, or that Seoul's people are unkind, but if I lived in a country where I'm seen as a minority, there will probably be some ignorant and discriminatory people in that theoretical country, who will treat me as someone who is [less important than the average people], because I am slightly different from the majority of the population. I don't know, maybe those people will not be there.
So, my belief is, unless I wake up someday, and the first graders in the USA all say that they are: 1/3 Asian, 1/3 Caucasian, 1/3 African-American, or 1/3 [ fill in the blank with some other group of people]-
Then there will always be a need for [ [people in minority groups] and [people in the majority group]] to try to convince or persuade the majority group, to make all social things + all job opportunities/other opportunities fair for all people].
This way, we can find ways to: [not let the country let the biggest group win all of the time, and not let the biggest group get the best of everything, all of the time].
So, I believe, whenever a country has a habit or grouping people into categories like-"minority", "minorities" and "the majority", then we will always need activists and support people to help [the minorities] or [a non-majority group], to get fair treatment from the majority group's people, and we will always need activists to get fair treatment for all people, from all of the people of the whole country.
I apologize if I have offended anyone with my above comments.
I just believe that this is how people really behave in social settings.
Hi Tak,
ReplyDeleteShoot, I hate to point it out, but do you mean "identity" and not "indentity"?
Indentity might be a noun, but I just haven't heard of it yet.