Welcome back everyone. We had a great reaction from week 1: Children's Discipline. We only really had a couple of people post comments on the argument, some for and some against, so people's opinions on the smacking ban was a draw. However, it was fantastic to see people so passionate about their children, and I think that as long as we all use consistant, firm discipline balanced with love and affection, our children will be fine. Just remember that if you would like to have your opinion counted towards the argument, you need to leave a little message here on the blog page. Please ensure all comments are mature and on the topic.
So that brings me to this weeks topic. "Has racism become acceptable?"
I know that pretty much everyone who reads that question is going to frown, shake their head and say 'of course not', but please, hear me out. Once upon a time, white man ruled the world, with black man as his slave. Eventually, white man came to his senses and saw the black man as his equal. It is now very offensive to treat someone differently because of the colour of their skin. Or is it? I personally do not care what colour someone's skin is. I think people are stupid no matter where they were born. But, the attitude from other races towards the white man has become one of loathing. (I am going to generalise quite a bit, and I am aware that individuals can vary extremely) For example, if two children at school were misbehaving, one black and one white, quite often, the black child will say something along the lines of "it's 'cause I'm black!" Where as a white child would not say "It's 'cause I'm white!" Not to mention that if a different race is offended by... Christmas for example, we are expected to remove it from our schools just to appease a small minority. I am sorry, but I was under the impression that this was an Anglican country (for the majority)(This is based on Australia). Why are we so quick to roll over and change our own traditions and beliefs to appease a few complainers. What did our grandfathers fight and die in the war for, if we are just going to give away our beautiful nation. Why is it okay for people to burn the Australian flag, but they cry 'racist' if we burn theirs. I am happy to welcome any colour of people into my country, but they have to be willing to become an AUSTRALIAN. They do not need to follow our religion or customs, but they should not make us change ours! To quote a bumper sticker I saw once, "If you don't like it, leave!" But white man does not defend himself against these racist acts. I think maybe they are trying to compensate for the years of racism against other races, but enough is enough. Equality involves BOTH sides being treated EQUALLY. The sad truth of the matter is, that it has become acceptable for other races to be racist towards the white man. And quite the opposite to a hundred years ago, the middle aged white male has become the least powerful demographic in the world.
So, if you also can see that racism has become acceptable (not that you agree it should be or not), please let me know. If you disagree, I would love to hear why.
-T.J.
First off i would like to say i am really pleased to see you speaking your mind so eloquently and openly, if everyone had the courage to talk honestly and openly about topics it would be a much better world.
ReplyDeleteAs to racism i would have to say that while i can see why it would appear that way (the media likes to make a big deal about even the slightest hint of controversy) the sad truth (at least from my perspective) is this is not the case.
White man still hold pretty much all positions of power both in government and in corporate institutions. While it might be true that our society is willing to look the other way at some questionable acts, that hardly compares to almost a thousand years of hate and persecution (and don't forget there is still plenty of hate directed at ethnic groups today).
It is the sad truth that in my opinion both sides are wrong, hate only leads to hate and if we could all get past petty differences and see each other for what we truly are, human beings, then we would be much better off.
So while i do agree with your final statement, i would have to say that we will never get there if all anyone looks at is how we are mistreated. Someone needs to set an example and treat everyone equally irrespective of how they are treated in return.
-Matt
While I do agree with most of what you say Matt it boils down to a question of degree with me. While most positions of power etc. within Australia are held by whites it would be different in African countries naturally. What would you expect to be the case in Australia where the vast majority (not sure on the statistics) of Australians are caucasian. Having said that, I would probably agree that whites still hold proportionately more positions of power then blacks. However, reconciliation is a slow process and the other side have to take a major part of the responsibilty for change.
DeleteOk - we are supposedly a Christian Country not Anglican (which is a branch of catholisism)mmm did I say Christian well - now we aren't allowed prayers in school, we can't have any talk of Easter, nor any talk of Christmas mmm why don't we do what the American's do - say prayers in school, celebrate Christian feasts etc they haven't bowed down to the noisy minority. Reverse rascism is rife everywhere - no such thing as reverse racism I hear you say - sure there is, just go bush and walk into an Aboriginal camp and see how you feel. You can really understand how other nationalities feel when they walk into an area that is predominately white, with everyone staring - the same happens to disabled people or anyone that is different - racism isn't just about the colour of your skin and your beliefs it is about treating someone who is different to you differently, you might call it racism but if the shoe fits. . . .
ReplyDeleteSlightly off topic TJ but I’d first like to affirm that I believe unequivocally that racism is wrong. Coming from a Christian worldview I believe everyone was created equally under God. The concept of racism has a lot to do with the current widely held view of evolution. After all, if we are just ‘modified pond scum’ and we’ve been struggling against our fellow creatures for millions of years and we are directly evolved from ape like creatures it makes sense. Anyone who accepts evolution can clearly see that aboriginals look closer to monkeys and therefore less human than we are. Any evolutionist who denies this is just doing so to be politically correct. In fact however, scientists now believe that all human beings can be traced back to a single woman they’ve termed ‘mitochondrial eve’ (Loewe, L. and Scherer, S., Mitochondrial Eve: the plot thickens, Trends in Ecology and Evolution 12 (11):422–423, 1997.), surprise surprise! However, during the late 17th and early 18th centuries the view was rife. Margaret Sanger, eugenicist and founder of what is now called ‘planned parenthood’ believed that aboriginals were one step more evolved than chimpanzees and just under Blacks, Jews and Italians (Flynn, D.J., Intellectual Morons: How Ideology Makes Smart People Fall for Stupid Ideas, Crown Forum, New York, 2004.). So while we will never actually get rid of racism, evolutionary dogma is certainly not helping.
ReplyDeleteHaving said all that, I do completely agree with TJ that the tables have turned somewhat. My wife is a teacher and can vouch for this fact. A certain ‘coloured’ child in her class would constantly accuse the white kids of being racist against him when it clearly had nothing to do with race. He even accused one kid of being racist for simply saying something about a black pen. My wife pointed out to him one day that by assuming that every white person is racist, he is actually being racist himself because he is making a judgment about someone based solely on the colour of their skin. At the same time, we whites have become so sensitive ourselves to the plight of the blacks that we dare not make any tongue in cheek jokes about them or even identify the culprits of a crime with any race. Part of this has to do with the amount of whining they do about the ‘black’ holocaust and slaves etc. However, Jews, Christians, Protestants, Slavs and many others throughout history have been subjected to much more and you don’t hear them whining. The blacks need to take some responsibility for themselves, get jobs, stop drinking and start becoming productive members of society. They are really without excuse in this day and age. Yes, I do agree that there is still a significant degree of racism towards blacks and aboriginals in particular but whining will not change anything. We already give them handouts far in excess of any white person. A particularly like your final statement TJ but would add that the middle aged Christian Heterosexual white male is the least powerful demographic in the world.
ReplyDeleteWhile Australia is not an Anglican country it was certainly built on Christian principles and I for one would like it to remain that way.