Dear Jaga,
I had quete a few discussions about race, ethnicity, religion, racism, discrimination and xenophobia during the summer with colleages and friends. Maybe because it was less crowded due to the holidays (vacation period), that we had more time for conversation. I talked with white people, black people and colored people. Frank and open discussions without taboo's or political correctness. We discussed the situation in the USA (Fergusson/Louisiana) and the situation in Europoe. You have racism, discrimination in the USA, Europe, Australia and other places where white people and non-white people live. Due to colonialism, social darwinism, Eugenetics, and the fact that there is a (unspoken) hierarchy between races there is unequality between people. In the world for centuries the white race was seen as superior, smarter, brighter and the number one (master) race.
Due to the abolishment of slavery in Northern-America, the Carribean and Southern-America in the 19th century and the decolonization of the 20th century things began to change slowly. But due to the fact that the ancesters of the Afro-Americans were kept as slaves for generations, they had a disadvantage in wealth, education, housing, job opportunities and social upward mobility. Slavery was gone, but not the racist mentality and the inequality behind it. Free slaves in the South were seen as a threat by the poor whites who did the same work on the cotton fields, factories (Industry) and agriculture. The Blacks who went to the North were seen as intruders and competitors by the white working and middle classes over there. Especially the Irish-Americans and the Italian-Americans, but also the WASP's (White Anglo Saxon Protestants) of the North. In Chicago, Detroit and New York they did't get a warm welcome, and their poor living standards continued.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_draft_riotsOther cases of race riots:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Campos_Torresen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_McDuffie#Riots- 1980: Chattanooga Riot (Chattanooga, Tennessee)
- 1984: Lawrence, Massachusetts Race Riot: A small scale riot centered at the intersection of Haverhill and railroad streets between working class whites and Hispanics; several buildings were destroyed by Molotov cocktails; August 8, 1984.[46]
- 1989: Overtown Riot (Miami, FL) In a reaction to the shooting of a black motorcyclist by a Hispanic police officer in the predominately black community of Overtown in Miami, residents rioted for two nights. The officer was later found guilty of manslaughter.
- 1991: Crown Heights riot (Crown Heights neighborhood, Brooklyn, New York City)
- 1992: Los Angeles Riots (Los Angeles, California): In a reaction to the acquittal of all four LAPD officers involved in the videotaped beating of Rodney King and the murder of Latasha Harlins; riots broke out mainly involving black youths in the black neighborhoods and shop owners in Korean neighborhoods, but overall rioting was mainly to get out the frustrations of the racial groups over the racial tensions that were building in the South Central neighborhood for years[citation needed].
- 1996: St. Petersburg Riots (St. Petersburg, Florida): After Officer Jim Knight stopped 18 yr. old Tyron Lewis for speeding, his car lurched forward and Knight fired his weapon, fatally wounding the black teenager. Riots broke out and lasted for about 2 days.[citation needed]
- 2001: Cincinnati riots (Cincinnati, Ohio): In a reaction to the fatal shooting of an unarmed young black male, Timothy Thomas by Cincinnati police officer Steven Roach, during a foot pursuit, riots broke out over the span of a few days.
- 2003: Benton Harbor riots (Benton Harbor, Michigan)
- 2005: 2005 Toledo Riot (Toledo, Ohio): A race riot that broke out after a planned Neo-Nazi protest march through a black neighborhood.
- 2006: Fontana High School riot (Fontana, California): Riot involving about 500 Latino and black students[47]
- 2006: Prison Race Riots (California): A war between Latino and black prison gangs set off a series of riots across California[48][49]
- 2008: Locke High School riot[50] (Los Angeles, California)
- 2009: 2009 Oakland Riots (Oakland, California): Peaceful protests turned into rioting after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, Oscar Grant, by a BART transit policeman.
- 2014: Shooting of Michael Brown, later riots break out after the shooting was believed to be racially motivated.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/colorism-discrimination-iyanla-vanzant_n_4588825.htmlThe change in your heart is good. Racism, colorism, discrimination and stereotypical thinking is ingrained in our 'white identity'. We are white, they are black, brown, colored, Asian, Indian, Indo, Mulatto, Mestize, Latino or whatever different racial or ethnic kind of human being. I come from a country with a heritage of colonialism, slave trade, and due to that facts racism, white superiority thinking and racism in a society where white, black and colored people live side by side. The racism and other forms of discrimination (like islamophobia and anti-semitism) are very subtle, multi-layered, sophisticated and hidden here. Segregation due to ethnic or racial background unfortunately exists in Europe, America, Canada, Australia and Southern-America. (where in certain countries the white race stil dominates over latino's, blacks, and people of mixed race)
I talked a lot with people from Suriname Jaga, and what struck me that after Suriname got independent (stopped being a Dutch colony) the racism and discrimination continued, but without white Dutch colonial presence. Racism exists within the black and colored creole community over there. The whiter skinned the colored creole is the higher his standard and position in society. Suriname is a complicated ethnic mixed society of people who are direct descendents of the Black African slaves of Ghana and other West-African states they came from. Maroons (from the Latin-American Spanish word cimarrón: "feral animal, fugitive, runaway", lit. "living on mountaintops"; from Spanish cima: "top, summit") were African refugees that escaped slavery in the Americas and formed independent settlements. The term can also be applied to their descendants. The same root word also gives us the English verb "to maroon". In Dutch and also in Suriname they are called Bosnegers, which means Forest negro's.
Most Surinamese people live in the narrow, northern coastal plain. The population is one of the most ethnically varied in the world. Each ethnic group preserves its own culture and many institutions, including political parties, tend to follow ethnic lines. Informal relationships vary: the upper classes of all ethnic backgrounds mix freely; outside of the elite, social relations tend to remain within ethnic groupings. All groups may be found in the schools and workplace. The Surinames Creoles are descendants from slaves from Africa and were 18% of the total population in 2004 (down from 35% in 1964, although in that census, mixed-race people were counted as Creoles). Their ancestors were brought to the country in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Maroon are descendants from slaves from Africa that escaped to the interior of Suriname. The proportion of the Maroon has increased considerably during the past decades, from only 8% in 1964 to 15% in 2004 and even 22% in 2012. Part of this increase is probably caused by interchanging identities of Creole and Maroon, causing a decrease in the proportion of Creole and an increase in the proportion Maroon.
Suriname has one of the most ethnically diverse populations in South America, with groups of East Indian, Indonesian, Chinese, European, Amerindian and black (Creole and Maroon) origin. The Maroons' ancestors were African slaves who escaped from coastal Suriname between the mid-seventeenth and late eighteenth centuries to form independent settlements. They settled in interior parts of Suriname, and gained independence by signing a peace treaty with the Dutch in the 1760s.
I believe that poor, black people in any society dominated by white people have much less chance than white people there for any change in their lives. If they are the minorotiy in a country, society, economy and culture with a white or non-black majority (that could also be Asian or Indian [hindu]) like in Suriname (where the Asians are dominant) they have a difficult life. Jaga, I believe that our societies have to change, and that white people have to stop accepting and endorsing racism by being indifferent, xenophobic, anti-black and afraid, rejectionist, arrogant and superior to blacks. Why does a black human being has no perspective for a future in the USA or Europe? Is it because of the WHITE FEAR OF BLACKS, the fact that 'we'don't accept them because they are different in race, ethnicity, culture, history and economical (financial) status? Yes, I think we should care about it, because we white and black people have a shared future, a shared responsibility for our society and enivornment (neighborhood, town, city, muncipality). The reality is that there are black, colored and Asian people in our environment. We live side by side with them. They are colleages, neighbors, friends and compatriots of mine. Unfortunately it is easier to kill a black guy than a white guy in the US. First of all the most likely cause of deaht of young black males in the USA is homicide. From all deaths of 15-19 year old African American males 50.4% die due to homicide. In the same cathegory 22.3% of the boys and young adolescents die of Unintentional injuries; 6.7% due to suicide; 3.6% due to a Heart disease and 2.8% due to cancer. In the cathegory Afro-American males from 20-24 (years old) 49.2% of the deaths of these black males are cause by Homicide. Black adult men in the USA in the age of 25-34 also are a high risk group in the sense of the chance of dying as a result of homicide. 35.1% of the black men in the USA die, because they are murdered. In the age of 35-44 11.2% of the deaths of black males in that age group are caused by homicide. Shocking is the fact that 15.6% of the deaths of black male children in the ages 1 (babies), 2 and 3 (toddlers), and 4 (little children) is caused by homicide. I am thinking, what could be the cause? Domestic violence, abuse, gang related violence (I know that little children die in black neighborhoods due to gangwars, drive by shootings, and as collateral damage during targeted assasinations), car accidents, gun related accidents at home and due to accidents? 11.2% of the deaths of black male kids in the age of 1-4 is a very high amount. Very worrysome.
How can a culture exists that systematically targets an ethnic minority due to the color of their skin, their facial appearances, culture and ethnic background. This is a serious defect in our culture, society, political culture and Western civilization. I watched a Dutch tv show in which a colored (in the US black) Dutch woman tells about the experiences of her black male partner in LA, California, USA. In the program she told the reporters and audience about the constant harassment, humiliation, targeting, and nearly arrests of her black African (Afro-American) partner. He is a civilized, educated, sophisticated middle class or high class black American male. She told the Dutch tv audience about his Perfectionism and pragmatism in trying to be a good citizen and no offender (lawbreaker). He doesn't drink a drop of alcohol when he goes out. He checks if he manages all the traffic and safety rules correctly. He drives safe, correct and precisely according the American law. Still he is stopped and harassed by American cops dozens of times because he is black and drives in a fency car. (He has a good income, but in the USA driving in a fency car while being black makes you a possible suspect) Being a Dutch black woman she couldn't believe her eyes. Her husbant or boyfriend can't live a normal life over there due to constant police harassment.
This was the show:
www.eo.nl/tv/knevelenvandenbrink/aflevering-detail/knevel-van-den-brink-594e400c93/I hopw Jaga that you have contact with these black people in Idaho, and can speak/communicate with them about the situation in the USA. How do they experience their life in Idaho and the news of the recent shootings? You say that all of them are decent and intelligent human beings. So it must not be difficult to make contact with themn. The first step to change things is to make contact, communicate and interact. I have the luck that I can communicate with black and colored colleages, and black compatriots outside my work and social circle (group of friends). I think that only 'we' and our kids can change things.
Cheers,
Pieter