JerrySeinfeld Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 Let's get something straight here. I think the Liberals and the left like to hold an antquated view of race. "Immigrants and their families are all nice peaceful groups of who simply want to settle and make a little life running a corner store or driving a taxi cab. Only white people are capable of hate. There are no immigrants or their families that hate us, our belief systems or what we stand for." This old fashioned Lib take is accidentally racist in it's tone and makes some pretty generalizations. Can unassimilated populations of immigrants and their families hate us? Is it possible that there are vast groups in our society that don't align their beliefs with ours? That would see harm to us? That don't buy into being "Canadian", whatever that is? That actually identify more with societies thousands of miles away than Canada? Wll the factual answer is "yes". Otherwise, why would a group of Canadian born or British born Muslims plan to blow up innocent people? And why would 10,000 Muslims march down mainstreet in dearborn michigan waving Hezbollah flags? And why would London Muslims march down mainstreet carrying "behead to the enemies of Allah" signs? Why? Because they hate. Is it possible to tolerate the intolerant? Given the Danish cartoons, the Mustafa Shag Blow Up doll fiasco, the Burger King Chocolate Swirl incident I'd say our spineless society is certainly making a go of it. Is it possible that someone OTHER than a white person could hate other races or cultures? Of course it is. It's happening all around us every day. My question is: why is it racist to point out this clear and obvious hatred? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbg Posted September 2, 2006 Report Share Posted September 2, 2006 My question is: why is it racist to point out this clear and obvious hatred? I'll flip your post around by saying it isn't. I'll explain the reasoning below. Let's get something straight here.I think the Liberals and the left like to hold an antquated view of race. "Immigrants and their families are all nice peaceful groups of who simply want to settle and make a little life running a corner store or driving a taxi cab. Only white people are capable of hate. There are no immigrants or their families that hate us, our belief systems or what we stand for." This old fashioned Lib take is accidentally racist in it's tone and makes some pretty generalizations. Can unassimilated populations of immigrants and their families hate us? Is it possible that there are vast groups in our society that don't align their beliefs with ours? That would see harm to us? That don't buy into being "Canadian", whatever that is? That actually identify more with societies thousands of miles away than Canada? Wll the factual answer is "yes". Otherwise, why would a group of Canadian born or British born Muslims plan to blow up innocent people? And why would 10,000 Muslims march down mainstreet in dearborn michigan waving Hezbollah flags? And why would London Muslims march down mainstreet carrying "behead to the enemies of Allah" signs? Why? Because they hate. My ancestors on my father's side came from what was then loosely defined as Hungary (now in the Czech Republic), part of the Austo-Hungarian Empire, somewhere between 1890 and the outbreak of WW I. His mother and father's side arrived at different times. Allegedly, his mother's side left behind a large house, which employed many servants. The ancestors on my mother's father's side came from what's now Poland during the same period; tancestors on my mother's mothers side came from what's now Ukraine during this time. The telephone had been barely invented, and I estimate that a three minute call would have cost well over $200 in today's money, enough, even at current incomes, to make keeping one foot in the "old country" prohibitively expensive. Of course, initially they all barely scraped by. Travel back and forth, in the absence of non-stop and safe air travel was also impractical and expensive. The net result of this was that people who came to the US, Canada or Australia then were severing all ties, with the exception of sending back money for their relatives to join them. Thus, they had no choice but to learn English and assimilate. CUrrently, people who come over can call home for pennies per minute, "instant message" for free, and even travel back and forth with relative ease. Even a cab driver can afford to, psychologically, "straddle the ocean". Thus, the institutional pressure to assimilate is far lesss. When governments ease the pressure on immigrants to learn English, in the case of the US or Australia, or English or French, in the case of Canada, this makes assimilation even less likely. Thus, while my ancestors, and other assimilated, white, affluent people don't even know of or care about whatever rivalries or hatreds existed or still exist back in the land of their ancestors. today's immigrants continue to live the daily struggles of those they left behind. Thus, if the imams in Pakistan are fomenting hatred of the West, that hatred spreads like greased lightning back to Canada. In the case of the US, this happens, but somewhat less, since the US basically lacks a social welfare system. Thus, "JerrySeinfeld", pointing out these obvious facts is not at all racist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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