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Posted by EDS on March 16, 2008, 5:35 pm
>
>>
>>
>> Kris Krieger wrote:
>>
>>>>Crayola color" or, if pressed, "pinkish peach"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>Having been brought up hearing that WASPS were superior and I was,
>>>according to many of the so-called "teachers" and even "guidance
>>>counsellors" despite my IQ (a number which I only learned when I was
>>>43), nothing more than a "dumb Polak" destined to work on the assembly
>>>line at the GM plant, or as a "chemical shoveller" at the refinery,
>>>well, when I had to fill out forms, I always put "SLAVIC". I had a
>>>different cultural background and a different upbringing than did the
>>>WASP kids, so I never felt that merely being pale in color (paler than
>>>most of the WASPs actually) made for any particular "affinity" between
>>>me and them. I learned very early on, becasue of that, that the
>>>entire concept of "race" is fake, nothing more than merly a stupid way
>>>for some a-holes to claim they had a right to have more (both
>>>materially and socioculturally) than others. And when the mere
>>>stupidity of color doesn't suffice for them to claim priviledge, they
>>>resort to other vapid excuses, such as "religion" or "ethnicity".
>>>
>>>And most of it is based upon nothing more than fear. A group which
>>>has most of the material wealth and social/political power fears that
>>>the other groups will take it away, wiht that dfear being especially
>>>strong if that wealth and power has been obtained through illegal
>>>and/or unethical/immorl means - so they use so-called "reasons" (which
>>>are nothing more than insults an ddenigrations) to keep the feared
>>>"interolpers" in their so-called "place", starting the indoctrination
>>>at infancy.
>>>
>>>So, I am not "white". I am Slavic.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> And I am multi ethnic. A few of us, by the way, have interesting
>> discussion from time to time, partly based on some of the publications
>> within the Human Genome studies, that there is, actually, nosuch thing
>> as a Slav.
>
> True, we ulimately are all African. But if some silly form demands that
> people be lumped into arbitrary groups, and if those groups include, not
> only "racial" groups, but also ethnic groups, it is, iMO, jsut as valid
> (and simultaneously, just as invalid) for me to write "Slavic" in the
> "Other" box, as it is for someone else to check "Hispanic", since Spanish
> peoples and their descendents are technically Causasoid.
>
> The whole "political correctness" thing just irritates me, is all.
>
>> Even the name for Slav is a misnomer. Slavite as a Verb
>> means to praise and one praises an individual, a family, even a
>> village or a saint with a Slava, i.e. a glory day. The Slvjanski
>> jezik, i.e. the Slavic langauge, means a language to "praise [Jesus}
>> with, and was indeed a somewhat related by somewhat artificial
>> constructed language.
>> From when the language was invented to this time, the people who
>> spoke
>> it stopped being referred to by other names such as Barbarian aqnd
>> became those praising people. After a while people forgot why they
>> were even named as they were names and they came to be called simply
>> Slavs and their various civilization Slavic and their related
>> languages and people, all multi ethnic, as well. For some of those
>> people are Turkic, or Turko-Mongol, and some are garden variety
>> indo-European, some Scandinavian (like those Russian Boyar ones), some
>> Celtic (like those Bosnian and some of those Serbian ones), and some
>> related to quite real people of the Caucasus, like some of those
>> Serbian, Croatian and Montenegrin ones, and some one way or another to
>> Sarmatian, Scythian and Iranian and Ugric thises and thats.
>>
>> ;To say you are SLAV - ic means you are related to someone who is one.
>
> INteresting historical info, I have to say I didn't know that.
>
>> So, are you a Slav? And if so, what does that mean.
>
> I'm half Eastern Polish (IIRC from the Bielystock area) and half Slovak
> (from a village that used to be called Svyat Ian, as best as I can
> recall). Neither of my parents had English as a first language - and
> both refused to teach us anything other than English because of the
> prejudices (at that time and in that palce, at least) against those who
> "just got off the boat" as opposed to having several generations of
> American-born ancestors. IOW, they were made to be ashamed of who they
> were, and as kids, we inherited that, were similarly defined by default.
> Then the 60's came, and quite suddenly, since we weren't melanistic, we
> were redifined as "oppressors".
>
> Which is *not* to say that non-Causasian people didn't, and don't, have
> to put up with a lot of stupid BS - they do. At the same time, however,
> I don't see why people of a given range of skin-pigments are "supposed'
> to be "all the same".
>
> THat's all. The whole "political correctness" thing has a lot of
> stupidity mashed-up into it. Much of what now gets regulated by the PC
> police (who are never defined or identified, even tho' their chill effect
> is widespread), used to be covered by "simple common courtesy, simple
> common decency, and simple human respect".
>
> True that a lot of people didn't have simple common decency, but "PC
> Police" also cannot, and certainly have not been able to *force*, anyone
> at all to magically become all loveydovey-touchyfeelie-warmfuzzy towards
> their fellow humans, especially not by pretending that all "white"
> (whatever *that8 even means...) people are equivalent, identical.
>
> THat's all, The whole "reductionism" attitude irritates me. True tht
> I'm an American, but IMO, either do away with all of th ehyphenation, of
> expand the dumbass little forms to include "Anglo-American", "Slavic-
> American" and so on.
>
>>
>> I still rather prefer "other". "Other" is already a little choice on
>> lots of forms with limited choices. "Other" makes people ask
>> questions that can sometimes become intelligent conversations.
>>
>
> The point is, why is it that we're "supposed" to accept being lumped in
> with a differnt cultural and/or ethnic group, esp. one which historically
> was not all that kind to Slavs (and Italians, and Irish, and so on)? THe
> cultural vlaues an dbackgrounds and attitudes of various groups are
> simply different, and IMO, it's not valid to claim that an equivalence
> exists merely because one has a similar melanin-concentration in one's
> skin.
>
> ALso, personally, I've yet to have any form-collector have *any*
> conversation with me, much less an intelligent one.
>
Well written. I passed it on to my wife, who is having a similar discussion
in the Knitting forums.
A genetic question, if children cannot have blue eyes unless their parents
do, how come Malcolm X had blue eyes (and reddish hair)? I lived 2 blocks
from his sister, and saw him several times. BTW she had brown eyes.
Aren't we all "Other"? My African friend can tell me what tribes he is
descended from, but he was a city boy and taught that such things did not
matter, however after living back in the Congo for 10 years, he found they
did to some as the government changed. He was on a hit list for his
ethnicity and was smuggled out as a sack of potatoes. He is now a citizen
here, and a grandfather, but still wants to return.
The mixing of races often produces the most beautiful and interesting
people, we should treasure them and not try to place each in one "approved"
group or another.
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