Uncomfortable topics: Let's talk about race

[The Good Reverend Roger]

What about groups that are trying to end what they term "Israeli Apartheid"? Though it is also a political topic I think it has large implications for race here and into the future.

That is a purely political topic.

[Faust]

The UK has a very similar thing when it comes to Poles.  Most employers I have spoken to, especially in the services or manufacturing industry, prefer to hire Poles when possible, even if they are only going to be temporary staff, because they're generally see as having a superior work ethic and positive attitude when compared with English workers.

I can't say I'd disagree with that general outlook, either.

We had a lot of that here too, but what I saw in retail was "won't complain about illegal conditions" and "will leave with out a fuss when not wanted" as opposed to positive attitudes.

[Freeky]

Very true.


I heard some talk today about how somewhere, at some restaurant, the people who do the cutting and the chopping and all the prep work are called "Mexicans" and to do this work is to "mexican it."  You slap an ed on the end to make it past tense. 

Now, I really wouldn't like to start making this thread into "Hey, is this racist?"  but that one kind of offended me enough that I would say anything at all to anyone and I'm not sure if I'm being overly sensitive, what with all people gotta work no matter their ethnicity or nationality.

I do not know if there are any surrounding in jokes or circumstances, or even if it continues to happen, only that it did and it was brought up and used in a circumstance where I was aware of it.

Interestingly enough, if it's a good restaurant with serious cooks there's a pretty good chance that's meant as a compliment within the context of professional kitchen culture. Everything else being equal, I'll hire a latino over a white person every time and I know I'm not the only chef who feels that way.

Oh, really?  Huh.  Thanks for clearing that up, ECH.

[Triple Zero]

The thing I thought was interesting on the part of those two friends was the assumption that he was white and racist. One of them went so far as to say that he made that assumption "because of demographics", and when I asked him what he meant he explained that because blacks are underrepresented in teaching (true) and on the internet (true) and also in "outdoorsy" type jobs (sounds like made-up bullshit), his assumption was that the teacher was most likely white. There is some validity to that line of thinking, but it requires a lot of assumptions and it seems silly to me to get all fired up thinking someone's being racist without actually knowing anything about them at all.

Are these by any chance the same people that took part in the iPad-for-school discussion? Because I'm detecting a pattern here.

(granted, it's pattern of thinking that is common to a lot of people and I probably am occasionally guilty of it as well--though I try really hard not to because--well not even because I loathe it so much but rather because I enjoy puncturing such beliefs watching people deflate while the pus spills out)

It's about making up bullshit rationalizations to hide behind because you don't like what you really think or feel, both from others as from yourself.

In this example, it really seems that they perceived their own inner reactions to these kids quotes as racist and felt bad about that. Whether they actually were racist or not does not matter, maybe they just felt the quotes were hilarious but felt bad for laughing at black kids. "So I'm being racist! ONOZ That can't be, I'm not racist! It's the author's fault! Therefore, the author must be racist." From this conclusion they work backwords making up whatever bullshit rationalisations to make it work ---> QED

(btw in case I happen to be absolutely wrong about your friends, my apologies, but there's people that do think like this--often in the flash of half a second--and then it's about those people)

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Also wolfgang, semitic is not synonymous with jewish. Arabs are also semites.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The thing I thought was interesting on the part of those two friends was the assumption that he was white and racist. One of them went so far as to say that he made that assumption "because of demographics", and when I asked him what he meant he explained that because blacks are underrepresented in teaching (true) and on the internet (true) and also in "outdoorsy" type jobs (sounds like made-up bullshit), his assumption was that the teacher was most likely white. There is some validity to that line of thinking, but it requires a lot of assumptions and it seems silly to me to get all fired up thinking someone's being racist without actually knowing anything about them at all.

Are these by any chance the same people that took part in the iPad-for-school discussion? Because I'm detecting a pattern here.

(granted, it's pattern of thinking that is common to a lot of people and I probably am occasionally guilty of it as well--though I try really hard not to because--well not even because I loathe it so much but rather because I enjoy puncturing such beliefs watching people deflate while the pus spills out)

It's about making up bullshit rationalizations to hide behind because you don't like what you really think or feel, both from others as from yourself.

In this example, it really seems that they perceived their own inner reactions to these kids quotes as racist and felt bad about that. Whether they actually were racist or not does not matter, maybe they just felt the quotes were hilarious but felt bad for laughing at black kids. "So I'm being racist! ONOZ That can't be, I'm not racist! It's the author's fault! Therefore, the author must be racist." From this conclusion they work backwords making up whatever bullshit rationalisations to make it work ---> QED

(btw in case I happen to be absolutely wrong about your friends, my apologies, but there's people that do think like this--often in the flash of half a second--and then it's about those people)

Actually, I think you're absolutely right. Some of these are people I've known for 20 years, so they're an ingrained part of my social circle, but they aren't all particularly good at critically examining their own reactions. One of them is currently butthurt at me for "misrepresenting what he said" because I couldn't resist making fun of him a little for the whole "black people are underrepresented" thing.

[Wolfgang Absolutus]

Also wolfgang, semitic is not synonymous with jewish. Arabs are also semites.

Many of the pro-Israel people however do accuse these groups who call Israel an apartheid state of being antisemitic though.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Also wolfgang, semitic is not synonymous with jewish. Arabs are also semites.

Many of the pro-Israel people however do accuse these groups who call Israel an apartheid state of being antisemitic though.

That's because they - and many other people - are fucking retarded.

[Wolfgang Absolutus]

Also wolfgang, semitic is not synonymous with jewish. Arabs are also semites.

Many of the pro-Israel people however do accuse these groups who call Israel an apartheid state of being antisemitic though.

That's because they - and many other people - are fucking retarded.

Just because the mentally handicapped don't really know what you are talking about isn't a reason to sully their good name.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Also wolfgang, semitic is not synonymous with jewish. Arabs are also semites.

Many of the pro-Israel people however do accuse these groups who call Israel an apartheid state of being antisemitic though.

That's because they - and many other people - are fucking retarded.

Just because the mentally handicapped don't really know what you are talking about isn't a reason to sully their good name.

NO.

Mentally handicapped people have BRAIN DAMAGE.  People with fully-functioning brains that do really stupid shit are RETARDS.  There is a rather large difference.

[Wolfgang Absolutus]

Then in that case they aren't all retards. Some of them are probably being paid to say things that stupid, which makes them prostitutes.
Actually maybe crappy actors is more precise. Prostitutes provide a valuable service for this country. They are patriots; heroes even.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Also wolfgang, semitic is not synonymous with jewish. Arabs are also semites.

Many of the pro-Israel people however do accuse these groups who call Israel an apartheid state of being antisemitic though.

That's because they - and many other people - are fucking retarded.

Just because the mentally handicapped don't really know what you are talking about isn't a reason to sully their good name.

NO.

Mentally handicapped people have BRAIN DAMAGE.  People with fully-functioning brains that do really stupid shit are RETARDS.  There is a rather large difference.

Damn straight. I would never insult a mentally handicapped person by comparing them to a fucking RETARD.

[Salty]

As in: "His potential for mental prowess and acuity was retarded by his obsession with objectivism."

[The Good Reverend Roger]

As in: "His potential for mental prowess and acuity was retarded by his obsession with objectivism."

Or:  "He was a straight A student, but was retarded enough to text while driving.  They buried him in a coffee can."

[Freeky]

The latter is pretty much motorcycle.