@ Conrad_73

Your quote :
"Why would you think my 36 years in the Westindies were negative?laugh
Pretty presumptuous! So,stop putting words in my Mouth!"

Lol ! You where the one that just made a page full of assumptions.
And what on earth made you suddenly say that you where in the Westindies ? That is totally irrelevant.
You claim to know or been exposed to the Black culture so much.

Your quote : "Before you all pile up on me,I have lived half my Life in a predominantly black Nation,seen things,heard things! "

Ah.. so you where refering to the Westindies then or ??
Sorry but that sounds totally irrelevant to me then. So you DO
have no experience whatsoever being in an area with the majority of afro americans in it. In the USA.

Don't claim your an expert on it then...

Well Zurich Zwitserland does not really sound like a place to find a concentration of Afro Americans. And if you lived in the USA before. Then maybe the place that coloured your judgement. Is in a much different state now.

Well i cannot judge over what you have witnessed in your life.
I have never lived in a society like you claim to have been on.
And it has clearly shaped your judgement. Maybe if i was in the
same circumstances as you have been. Then it would have coloured
my judgement also. But i feel very lucky that i am not. I think
that when people get exposed to things that they feel that
are bad for them. That their judgement gets "Ill". And it will be
much harder for them to judge in a more "objective" way.

Instead of pointing to people. We should be an example to them.
And letting them realise that the USA is one nation. And that there
are chances for everyone to develop themselves. Let them realise
that education is a good thing. But if society tells people that
they can only work at a Wallmart, Mc Donalds or join the Army. Then
it is not really motivating people either. No Urban renewal is not
helping either. When people live in an area with liquor stores and
gun shops. In an empoverished neighbourhood.

My initial point in this discussion is that when you put these kind of articles here. Then they will only offend people that DO want to
make a change. And that where successful in life.
And that really no one benefits from bringing these issues up.

By the way.. Why do you say on the other forum that you are active
on. That you live in Zurich Switzerland ?

I agree with you also msharmony.

Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between "racism" and "preferance"
Although i am well aware that those two things are different.
For example if someone prefers to find a partner that is only from this specific origin.
Simply because he/she thinks that person is beautifull. Then others might find this person racist. ( Although he/she just follows primitive instincts that bypass rational thinking :)) When he/she is stating his preferance.Or when someone declares that he is proud of his country and thinks it is the best in the world. But it does not neccesarily mean that this person is a racist. Same goes for making decisions based on your upbringing. You made decisions because you think they are the right ones. Psychology has altered over the course of years. So what we used to think that was good might be "out of the question" now. Although i firmly believe that some things should always remain the same. Like.. "Do not inflict on someone, that you do not want to be inflicted on you "
and "Do not hold a whole group accountable for the action of one individual"

Welcome to the forum :)

So true..

Welcome to the forum :)

1 I would love to stay out of it. But i have a tendency to respond to things that i find stigmatizing and unfair.

2 Assigning "dirty laundry" to a whole group that basically wants to build up a decent life. Is an unfair bias to my view.
If people are constantly reminded of examples of what they are not responsible for. Then they will act accordingly.
And it has nothing to do in my view, with any conspiracy theories.

Welcome to the forum :)

You know.. i think we are both thinking about this issue in the same way. There is not much that i can add to your reply. Since we both
want to address this problem by it's root. Polarisation of a group is sometimes very deeply entrenched in a society. But my point is to
avoid to bring up examples that would "emphasize" the differences between groups of people. But i am open to discuss "polarisation" as a problem that a society can have. But sometimes it is best to carry on with our lives. And treat other people equally. If everyone does that then maybe after some generations this problem is tackled. But everytime when someone says something that would polarise groups with a statement. Then we revert back to defending our point. Instead of just letting it rest and let time heal our wounds. Which in my view would be best.
I am sure you also agree on that. :)

No! Off course i do not want people to stop having discussions and share views. I just do not see the value into having this type of discussion.

Society is full of tools to label people. And sometimes they are recognized and
even invented for the purpose of labeling and controlling a population.

A good example that i find is the IQ test. It is been designed to "measure" people's
inteligence. And it has been expressed in a cold number. The problem however is that
your boss might value you for that number of iq that you "possess" And not your whole
spectrum of capabilities. So for example your boss might blame you for something that
you cannot perform. Saying that since you have this level of IQ. Then the task should
be of no problem to you. Or as opposite.. your boss might not give you the chance to
evolve in a process. Because the number of your Iq might not be sufficient enough for him
to take that risk. Eventhough you are more then capable to do so.

Or women.. Men would say women are weak. Did you as a man ever try to give birth to a baby
then ? Any idea how hard that is ?

Well there is tuns of contradictions in life. But in my view it is best not to name them
and then question a group about it. Because people will be offended and it is not of any good use.
Therefore i take a stand in these kind of discussions. By saying that they are not helping
anyone by simply giving up on a particular group of people. Or stigmatizing them.

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum :)

Are these kind of discussions helping anyone ? What does it contribute to ?
They are just fueling the prejudices against people. People should build up a
society together. Forget the extremists in society. They are irrelevant.
"Never discus things with an idiot.. They will only pull you to their level and
then beat you on experience. If you tell any part of society. That the majority
is incapable then off course they will get upset. But it is not helping anyone.
Extremism breeds extremism. People can be terrible. But it does not go for all
people. I was lucky that i was raised in a public school in a multi cultural
society. For me playing with my foreign friends was common. I never knew what
racism was until someone told me. I was.. and still am under the impression that
all people are equal in a society that treats them equal. Unfortunately most
countries are not like that. For example.. I talked to a guy from Israel. And this
person is really nice and polite to everyone. But when we spoke then he says that
all Arabs are desperately to kill him and his country. And that they are "just" like
that by nature. He did not believe the fact that in Morocco there are arabs and
jews living together for centuries. And there was never problems between them.

Extreme people are everywhere. We had a black woman in our country that started
to attack Muslim people verbally. By saying they do horrible things to everyone.
This woman just needed attention and people that sponsored her. She got what she wanted..
People with hate against Islam started to quote her. They promoted her book that
polarized Muslims. And then she ran to the USA with a big smile to go work for a
conservative think tank. From this moment more people joined the bandwagon.
Making paintings and statues that insult Muslims. Because they knew that this kind of
controversy would net them publicity and money.
Now.. before you start telling me that Muslims do the same about our culture then i
already agree with you. So..don't bother. My point is that some people just want to
keep stigmatizing people that are different from them. For a variety of reasons.
It is not helping anyone.. Communicate with each other. People are basically the same..
They want food, shelter, love, respect, safety. All people are like so.

I know that it must be hard to break away from those ideas. And i understand it too.
That when people get attacked by a black person for visiting his "area" Or when someone
tells you that you are not welcome because you are black. I just wished for those
people to see the better side. And that life can be so much more then labelling
people and putting them in imaginary boxes.

Welcome to the forum :)

I agree with Torgo70.. VHS is awesome.

Well good luck on your search here. And welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum

hey, and welcome to the forum :)

Welcome to the forum :)