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Racial Microagressions
- Thread starter Joe Nerve
- Start date
I cleared things up on my profile. 'Here' is Scotland.
There are few things that get me annoyed quicker than American white power guys claiming some sort of European genetic superiority because their great great great great Grandfather was turfed out of his croft in the Highlands of Scotland and decided to take a boat trip. Attempting to claim membership of a culture you understand so little about, in a country you never intend to visit, which is also happens to be fairly absorbed in its own racial tensions (hello sectarianism!!), is deluded and naive at best.
Does this clear up my post sufficiently?
I cleared things up on my profile. 'Here' is Scotland.
There are few things that get me annoyed quicker than American white power guys claiming some sort of European genetic superiority because their great great great great Grandfather was turfed out of his croft in the Highlands of Scotland and decided to take a boat trip. Attempting to claim membership of a culture you understand so little about, in a country you never intend to visit, which is also happens to be fairly absorbed in its own racial tensions (hello sectarianism!!), is deluded and naive at best.
Does this clear up my post sufficiently?
Turfed out of...who what now??
+1. Being Scandinavian, seeing white supremacist dillholes with Thor's hammer tatoos and necklaces makes me want to hurl bricks.
But hey, at least they're not ashamed to let the whole world see just how far they've managed to cram their heads up their arses...
Time for me to be a history teacher, via the medium of the Wikipedias.
The Highland Clearances (Scottish Gaelic: Fuadach nan Gàidheal, the "expulsion of the Gael") was the forced displacement of a significant number of people in the Scottish Highlands during the 18th and 19th centuries, as a result of an agricultural revolution, that resulted in enclosures, largely carried out by hereditary aristocratic landowners. The changes were seen to be supported by the government, which gave financial aid for roads and bridges to assist the new sheep-based agriculture and trade.[1]
There was mass forced emigration to the sea coast, the Scottish Lowlands and the North American colonies. The clearances were particularly notorious as a result of the late timing, the lack of legal protection for year-by-year tenants under Scots law, the abruptness of the change from the traditional clan system, and the brutality of many evictions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Clearances
...because it usually is. IME, most people who claim white pride usually hold some sort of racialist view, whether it's separatism, national socialism, Christian Identity, etc. There may be some people out there who claim white pride who want to sing songs and hold hands with everyone from a different ethnicity; they just somehow take pride in their background. I haven't come across any of those people, but I am open to the idea that they exist.
The idea of white pride is rather absurd to begin with, though. Since when is there any type of homogenous white culture? I'm supposed to be proud of what people have done who have the same basic amount of melatonin in their skin that I do? I think pride in my own personal accomplishments makes a little more sense - not what some dude or dudette in Portugal or Germany or Norway did just because they have some similar genetic makeup that I do.
is there a homogenous black culture? would black pride be equally as absurd?
Time for me to be a history teacher, via the medium of the Wikipedias.
The Highland Clearances (Scottish Gaelic: Fuadach nan Gàidheal, the "expulsion of the Gael") was the forced displacement of a significant number of people in the Scottish Highlands during the 18th and 19th centuries, as a result of an agricultural revolution, that resulted in enclosures, largely carried out by hereditary aristocratic landowners. The changes were seen to be supported by the government, which gave financial aid for roads and bridges to assist the new sheep-based agriculture and trade.[1]
There was mass forced emigration to the sea coast, the Scottish Lowlands and the North American colonies. The clearances were particularly notorious as a result of the late timing, the lack of legal protection for year-by-year tenants under Scots law, the abruptness of the change from the traditional clan system, and the brutality of many evictions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Clearances
OK thanks for that, but I had to google "tufted" and "croft" to see how what you said had anything to do with this event
Ya'lls talks funny
Also on the topic of Stormfront, I also have perused those forums once in a while, usually to get a chuckle out of the mental gymnastics people will jump through to affirm their ideology as being correct. IIRC, there's a music subforum on there, and I once came across a thread about favorite bassists or something like that. Talkbass was actually mentioned in a post, and I must admit that I felt really weird seeing this site mentioned on a racist forum. Funny enough, everyone talked about their favorite bass player, but there was nary a mention of James Jamerson, Victor Wooten, Larry Graham, or Marcus Miller.
I think you have overly parsed LiquidMidnight's post to come to conclusions he didn't, to try and highlight a discrepancy that wasn't there in the original post.
Or maybe its just me?
Black pride is not absurd, because traditionally it appears that black pride exists in the face of adversity. It is the pride of a minority, or group of people treated as second class citizens. White pride seems ridiculous because firstly it is in the majority of cases it is synonymous with, or serves as, the 'concern' arm of racist organizations such as Stormfront, or the National Front in the UK. For example, any outfit in the UK that begins to talk about the 'indigenous white population', in the UK at least, is already on dangerous ground. Secondly, white pride in a majority white society just doesn't serve a useful purpose. I'm surrounded by white architecture, white music, white art, a white society built upon a white economic system, white food... why do I need to take time out to recognize my 'pride' for all of this? Pride develops in the face of (real or perceived) adversity, not in the status quo surely.
If there isn't a homogenous black culture in North America, then white politicians such as LBJ appear to have deluded themselves into thinking there was. Again, maybe it is just me.
I cleared things up on my profile. 'Here' is Scotland.
There are few things that get me annoyed quicker than American white power guys claiming some sort of European genetic superiority because their great great great great Grandfather was turfed out of his croft in the Highlands of Scotland and decided to take a boat trip. Attempting to claim membership of a culture you understand so little about, in a country you never intend to visit, which is also happens to be fairly absorbed in its own racial tensions (hello sectarianism!!), is deluded and naive at best.
Does this clear up my post sufficiently?
Actually no. Despite a desire to check out the old roots thing, mostly the whiskey to be honest. I feel no connection to the place.
I've seen enough Ken Loach films that I really would rather be looking for a fun place.
In fact most Americans probably couldn't find Scotland on a map if they had to.
Sectarianism is generally the result of the old divide and conquer. If you can find out who is attempting this and bring them down that might solve your problems.
I hasn't worked here. I mean the bringing them down part.
Divide and conquer works like a charm. Pretty much every time.
Good Luck.
Glad I could somehow hit a nail on the head in a country I've never visited (though I plan to!).
The Internet is an odd place perhaps. If you've never seen "when will we get white history month?" or "Why isn't there a NAACP for white people" then you can count yourself lucky.
yeah,.. i get sort of confused when i hear that angle brought into an otherwise "smart" discussion on race. i've also heard people say MLK Day should only be observed by minorities,.. lmao. i mean, is it that bad that they don't want an extra day off in the name of a black man!
too silly for me. BTW,.. wasn't the phrase "reverse discrimination" first coined during the beginnings of the "affirmitive action" debates?!! from a black perspective that "speak" made us both laugh & cry, IMHO. at the same time women of all colors were also fighting for equal opportunities. that led to "creative thinking white men" to kill two birds with one stone. hire or promote a "black" "woman"!!! was everyone appeased,... hell no, BUT IT MADE PERFECT SENSE.
Good point. I think the same could be said for many forms of pride. My Dad's partner is always talking about how proud she is to come from her town of birth. It just sounds silly to me. Nobody can affect the place they're born in, so why be proud about being born there? I could understand if she was talking about the some sort of character trait of the residents or the things they've achieved in the past. But she isn't. She's just "proud to be born there."
It makes little sense to me to be proud of an accident of birth, and a whole lot more sense to work at being justifiably proud of the person you've since become as a result of your own choices. We're on the same page there.
That would make sense. 'Reverse racism' as another phrase that, when I see it, usually drags all the legitimacy out of an argument.
"I couldn't get into university because they gave all the scholarships to minorities. Reverse racism!!!!".
I think both phrases basically boil down to people not wanting other people to ever have a bite at the apple. When it comes to equal rights, I often see those at the top whining about when it will be their turn to get more rights. "You've given homosexuals and women more rights, when will you start caring about us straight men again?". Some people are just hard-wired with a whole chunk of privilege blindness. In fact just mentioning the word 'privilege' would get you branded as a member of the "PC brigade" in many quarters (including my Grandparents' house, but that is for another time)....
Liquidmidnight, I do know people who have a sense of "ethnic pride" who don't necessarily let it carry over into "My guys are better than your guys." One of my best friends has an "Irish Pride" tattoo; he's a little bit of a history nerd, and loves learning about his heritage and ancestry. Not a racist bone in his body.
I wouldn't quite say "equally"..."black pride" movements came about as a means to unite and assist those who were disenfranchised because of their "blackness."
For the most part, "white pride" movements came about as a response to the "black pride" guys trying to get equal footing in society. One starts at 0, one starts at -5. 0 saying to -5, "Hey, -5! You stop it! You stay at -5!" adds another layer of absurdity.
I watched a spot on the news last night about a mom who's child has down's syndrome. She created a center (now centers) free of charge for kids with down's syndrome to come and play with one another, also learn via activities that were taylor-made to the way people with down's syndrome learn, and to the needs of those people. Man the look on those kids' faces...it was just about the best thing on TV I'd ever seen. Then they interviewed an adolescent girl who said "I'm proud to be down's" and I just about rolled my eyes. Thinking, "Seriously, you have to give yourself a name? 'I'm down's?' "
I had to catch myself. Hey, maybe that's a thing that's catching on. And maybe it's all part of the process of helping people with down's syndrome to find some sense of community and acceptance that they were once lacking. If it sounds a little silly to me, well that's my problem.
I wouldn't quite say "equally"..."black pride" movements came about as a means to unite and assist those who were disenfranchised because of their "blackness."
For the most part, "white pride" movements came about as a response to the "black pride" guys trying to get equal footing in society. One starts at 0, one starts at -5. 0 saying to -5, "Hey, -5! You stop it! You stay at -5!" adds another layer of absurdity.
I watched a spot on the news last night about a mom who's child has down's syndrome. She created a center (now centers) free of charge for kids with down's syndrome to come and play with one another, also learn via activities that were taylor-made to the way people with down's syndrome learn, and to the needs of those people. Man the look on those kids' faces...it was just about the best thing on TV I'd ever seen. Then they interviewed an adolescent girl who said "I'm proud to be down's" and I just about rolled my eyes. Thinking, "Seriously, you have to give yourself a name? 'I'm down's?' "
I had to catch myself. Hey, maybe that's a thing that's catching on. And maybe it's all part of the process of helping people with down's syndrome to find some sense of community and acceptance that they were once lacking. If it sounds a little silly to me, well that's my problem.
Definitely not...Black culture in the Bronx is not going to be the same as Black culture in Jamaica.
I don't want to sit here and speak for Black people, because I'm not one; and I hope this doesn't come off sounding paternalistic. But no, it's not equally absurd. It's pretty basic social psychology and sociology that group cohesion becomes stronger when that group is being persecuted by an out-group. Therefore, when a group of people have gone through institutionalized racism, the fact that group identity is strong is not that surprising. As has been pointed out a few posts earlier, Caucasians, particularly the WASPs who claim White pride, have traditionally enjoyed the better end of ethnic hegemony (with some notable exceptions, like the Irish), so having pride in that regard is not equal. It's like how people try to make the argument that there isn't a White History Month. We have a Labor Day holiday. We don't have a Corporate Raider holiday. I think it's pretty obvious why we don't.
I think you have overly parsed LiquidMidnight's post to come to conclusions he didn't, to try and highlight a discrepancy that wasn't there in the original post.
Or maybe its just me?
Black pride is not absurd, because traditionally it appears that black pride exists in the face of adversity. It is the pride of a minority, or group of people treated as second class citizens. White pride seems ridiculous because firstly it is in the majority of cases it is synonymous with, or serves as, the 'concern' arm of racist organizations such as Stormfront, or the National Front in the UK. For example, any outfit in the UK that begins to talk about the 'indigenous white population', in the UK at least, is already on dangerous ground. Secondly, white pride in a majority white society just doesn't serve a useful purpose. I'm surrounded by white architecture, white music, white art, a white society built upon a white economic system, white food... why do I need to take time out to recognize my 'pride' for all of this? Pride develops in the face of (real or perceived) adversity, not in the status quo surely.
If there isn't a homogenous black culture in North America, then white politicians such as LBJ appear to have deluded themselves into thinking there was. Again, maybe it is just me.
Thank you for explaining what I just did in more accessible language and without getting into theory.
