tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post861423036914110800..comments2023-10-31T06:01:54.153-04:00Comments on Pretty Lady: Come the StonesPretty Ladyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00342833918614545778noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-2938835830327876012007-10-08T01:34:00.000-04:002007-10-08T01:34:00.000-04:00If we lived in integrated communities I think we w...If we lived in integrated communities I think we would be more racist.<BR/><BR/>It's easy to hate racism when one does not have contact with and have to deal with the 'other'.<BR/><BR/>T.L.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-62607174156802185442007-09-26T13:00:00.000-04:002007-09-26T13:00:00.000-04:00I have trouble believing that everywhere isn't the...I have trouble believing that everywhere isn't the same. Or that at least all major American cities are like this.<BR/><BR/>One of the benefits of never traveling anywhere is never being disappointed.Chris Rywalthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15766746064219235983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-30327448900348421972007-09-26T12:08:00.000-04:002007-09-26T12:08:00.000-04:00DuckMan: Too late. The gentleman who is currently...DuckMan: Too late. The gentleman who is currently sharing my living quarters is Italian.<BR/><BR/>Chris: It is amazing, isn't it. New York City and its environs is, I believe, a blueprint for what the rest of the world will someday look like.<BR/><BR/><I>i don't understand your point, PL.</I><BR/><BR/>Okay. <BR/><BR/>Point #1: The world is a big, big place.<BR/><BR/>Point #2: People have developed many, many different societies and cultures in this big place. <BR/><BR/>Point #3: When people from different societies and cultures interact, there are bound to be problems.<BR/><BR/>Point #4: This makes people wary of differences.<BR/><BR/>Conclusion: Denying the differences and excoriating openly wary individuals does not help people get along better. <I>Acknowledging</I> both the differences and the wariness <I>does</I> help people get along better.<BR/><BR/>Is that clearer?Pretty Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342833918614545778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-75034774847666747072007-09-26T11:19:00.000-04:002007-09-26T11:19:00.000-04:00My favorite diversity story comes from the school ...My favorite diversity story comes from the school district where my kids went to preschool. In Clifton, New Jersey, the school district wanted to serve their students better, so they sent out a questionnaire to find out what languages were spoken at home. This being 21st century America, you'd expect to find most non-English speakers using Spanish at home, or anyway that's what I'd expect. What they found out, though, was that the largest group of non-English speaking Clifton residents speak Polish, closely followed by Spanish, then Korean, followed by a list of languages that looks like the membership of the United Nations: Farsi, Japanese, Thai, Russian, Turkish, Arabic, you name it. I don't think Navajo was on the list, but that's about the only one missing.<BR/><BR/>That made me look around at the diversity my kids live with. I grew up in Staten Island, which is part of New York City -- the most homogeneous part. Almost all of Staten Island was Italian Catholic. What was left was good old American black. (My father occasionally hired a handyman we only knew by the name "Nigger Charlie.")<BR/><BR/>But my kids here in New Jersey are in constant contact with Turks, Poles, Irish, Italians (actual Irish and Italians from Italy, not from the Bronx), Brazilians (a lot of Brazilians it seems lately), Indians, Afghans, Persians, Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Cubans, Guatemalans, Lebanese, Palestinians, and one French-Canadian. And Puerto Ricans, of course. Lots of Puerto Ricans (it is still New Jersey, after all).<BR/><BR/>It's really quite amazing.Chris Rywalthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15766746064219235983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-21997979249175423232007-09-26T11:18:00.000-04:002007-09-26T11:18:00.000-04:00i don't understand your point, PL.another anoni don't understand your point, PL.<BR/><BR/>another anonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-4387747347992055292007-09-26T10:45:00.000-04:002007-09-26T10:45:00.000-04:00If we did not live in such segregated communities ...<I>If we did not live in such segregated communities in our formative years, it wouldn't be the case that "everybody is racist".</I><BR/><BR/>A thought: Let's go forcibly desegregate India, and Africa, and Thailand, and Russia, and the Middle East (oops, that's happening as we speak) and all of South America! Come on! Who volunteers?Pretty Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342833918614545778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-32641526703280883562007-09-26T10:42:00.000-04:002007-09-26T10:42:00.000-04:00Other anon: Yes, indeedy. Exactly. So why are al...Other anon: Yes, indeedy. Exactly. So why are all these stones flying all over the place?Pretty Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342833918614545778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-45140052748610120102007-09-26T10:34:00.000-04:002007-09-26T10:34:00.000-04:00I think it's true that we are naturally wary of "f...I think it's true that we are naturally wary of "funny-looking strangers", but if they are not strangers, if we grew up with them as neighbors, colleagues, friends and family*, they are not strangers. If we did not live in such segregated communities in our formative years, it wouldn't be the case that "everybody is racist".<BR/><BR/>I think what you're calling racism is more of a class issue than a race issue. When a group of young black men who are all dressed in business suits, checking their blackberries and reading the Wall Street Journal get on the train, you have a completely different reaction than to the group of thuggy-looking and -sounding guys, one of whom just stole your wallet.<BR/><BR/><BR/>* your theory ignores the experience of multi-racial people; they have parents who look different from each other, so maybe neither of those two parental types/races will be funny-looking to the kid. And the ripple effect goes out from there; multi-racial kid, multi-racial community, cross-cultural understanding.<BR/><BR/>another anonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-36792154085114375942007-09-25T23:44:00.000-04:002007-09-25T23:44:00.000-04:00PL, I totally agree with the last statement you ju...PL, I totally agree with the last statement you just made. "Sweeping it under the rug" has never done any good for anyone. In fact, it has made things much more difficult for some who choose to take this attitude when an uncomfortable subject comes up, or any subject for that matter. Why are people so afraid to talk about things, uncomfortable or not? I hold the position that discussing things can only benefit those involved. My parents raised me to be open about all kinds of ideas and to question and discuss. We TALKED about things at the dinner table and most of the time we never agreed with each other. We still don't some 20 years later. Racism exists, period. Are we as human beings prone to racism on a daily basis? Of course, but I think it's mostly based on stereotypes and not necessarily the big word RACISM.<BR/>L.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-55842808074357618062007-09-25T23:15:00.000-04:002007-09-25T23:15:00.000-04:00Why is this post disturbing you, D? It is profoun...Why is this post disturbing you, D? It is profoundly optimistic in its perspective. It is also not remotely about evolutionary biology. <BR/><BR/>For if we acknowledge that it is an innate human tendency to trust the familiar and be suspicious of the unfamiliar--if we acknowledge a universal tendency toward racism--then we are <I>unable to cast stones.</I> We bring the negativity, the complexity, the ambiguity and uncertainty of human interactions into the light, and examine it for what it is, free of defensiveness and shame. <BR/><BR/>And then we can discover which fears are groundless, and which are based genuinely in fact. We transcend our racism by removing the fear of being stigmatized by it.<BR/><BR/>Surely you cannot argue that we are doing a good job of eradicating racism by sweeping it under the rug.Pretty Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342833918614545778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-23072604567630133992007-09-25T22:46:00.000-04:002007-09-25T22:46:00.000-04:00I don't like casting stones, but I profoundly disa...I don't like casting stones, but I profoundly disagree with you and find this post deeply sad and disturbing. "Deep down, we are all racist, for the very good reason that survival of the species demands that we be wary of funny-looking strangers." I know that evolutionary biology is often twisted in various ways to "prove" various social ills, but for someone like me, who has studied evolutionary biology, this statement is meaningless and disappointing.<BR/>D.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com