(September 18, 2015 at 11:18 am)Rhondazvous Wrote: I was in luck and able to download audio versions of both books. so I will be able to read them along with the 0Diamond books. Did you see my replay to your post before where you mentioned Jared Diamond?
I think if we focus on specifics like this it will open the door to public discourse of what really concerns us more than if we just say we want to talk about racism. I imagine White people see that the same way a man might react if his woman just comes in out of the blue and says, "We need to talk about our relationship." He doesn't know where this conversation will go, what the rules are or what is expected of him. All he knows is his woman is uhappy and it is somehow his fault. But specific, undeniable conditions of racial inequality are something people can talk about with a view to resolution. Knowamsnae?
Yes, that's why I recommended the new books to you. I grew up with no TV and so learned to be a reader. I like readers. Just be prepared for both Diamond and Loewen to blow your freakin' mind. They know some stuff, and it's Not Good™. What upset me wasn't just what I learned, but that I didn't know it, and I can't figure out why it's not common knowledge and part of the standard curricula.
You have an excellent point about the feeling of ambush, but I also think there's a huge degree of blindness (when people say "I am color blind", I think, "no, you're just blind") going on, as well, which on some level the average Joe Whitey is aware exists, and it terrifies him to think today might be the day he's called out and can no longer think of himself as a Good Person via the colorblindness self-delusion.
The good news is that the reason Average Joe Whitey gets so nervous about it is that he associates "racist" with "really bad person", and he doesn't want to be that. That's the fundamental difference between him and his father/grandfather's generation, and it's actually a massive sign of progress, even if it does hamper efforts to repair the damage that the grandparents' generation (and those before it) did through systematic white supremacy. What I try to emphasize for them is that if they're unwilling to discuss the lingering effects of the legacy of white supremacist policies that drove this nation (and especially the state gov'ts), then they're part of the problem, no matter how they feel about other races personally.
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
