Cultural stereotypes

[Jaga]

I just went to see what is going in politics and it seems that the Fox News guy was joking to a black woman and a reporter of not doing a cool-aid. It was a racial stereotype.

Here is more about stereotypes against African-Americans:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_African_Americans

From the colonial era through the American Revolution ideas about African-Americans were variously used in propaganda either for or against the issue of slavery. Paintings like John Singleton Copley's Watson and the Shark (1778) and Samuel Jennings' Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences (1792) are early examples of the debate underway at that time as to the role of Black people in America. Watson represents an historical event, while Liberty is indicative of abolitionist sentiments expressed in Philadelphia's post revolutionary intellectual community. Nevertheless, Jennings' painting represents African-Americans as passive, submissive beneficiaries of not only slavery's abolition, but knowledge, which liberty has graciously bestowed upon them.
and more..

[karl]

Jaga

This is something I do not nor have not, understood about America in specific, the Pacific Northwest of America. That is after all these many years, still exist racism against Black people. Although the area is for the most part, very liberal, but non the less, even though racism is taboo not to be spoken, it is felt between white and black people.

The time of slavery in the US is only remembered through history books, it would at least at the present, be just history of early America to be read, but not acted upon.

But then, black people have not the ability to hide in a white crowd of people and so, will always stand out. But then, to take this in to prospective of the past and present human trait of survival that nature instills in to the survival of the species, perhaps this is a natural prospective of reaction.

Karl

[pieter]

Dear Jaga and Karl,

My belief, hope and conviction is that in the 21th century equality between people will grow and that racism will fade away. I simply know a lot of very intelligent black people in the Netherlands, but also in Great-Britain (the UK), Germany, France, the USA (met them in New York and LA; saw many documentaries about them), South-Africa, Suriname, the Dutch Antilles and etc. Personally I have a zero tolerance policy towards racism. If I eat in a Dutch restaurant an encounter a racist waiter, owner or audience I will immediately act in the sense of leaving under protest immediately.

I have had conflicts at my work with a racist administrator. He is gone. He humiliated and racialy attacked a co-worker of mine and I had to act immediately, and did it the official way. I filed a complaint via e-mail and the racist was adressed. Thank god after a while he left. Silence is as bad as racism itself. Decent, brave, honest and fair people have to speak out and act. It doesn't matter if it is a black, colored, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist or in Western-Europe a Eastern- or Central-European who is wrongly labeled, insulted, humiliated, harassed or attacked. Good people have to act, by speaking out or leaving a café or restaurant immediately and don't return there as long as the racist owns the place or when racist waiters serve there.

That is the only way to root out racism.



This is a very sophisticated beautiful black woman, but still she is racially harassed. Good experiment. She is targeted because she is black.


Cheers,
Pieter

[Jaga]

Karl and Pieter,

I think that there is still too much division in the US. Black people live separated from the whites often - in poorer districts. Remember New Orleans disaster?
Here in Idaho we have almost no black people, and if we have - they are very educated and well fit in the society. They have too. We have problems of poor whites in Idaho, with no perspectives. But there are areas that are very backward. I would not only accuse white people for prejudice, it goes both ways sometimes. There are some people who do not try to change although they could, and they chose crime instead. Black families are notoriously run by single mothers. Hope this would change. Pres. Obama gave a good example of black man, president and a good family man. But his upbringing gave him some advantage, since he lived in different cultures, although it was no easy, not to have a father and mother that died so young.

[pieter]

Dear Jaga,

We have to be intolerant against racists wether they are white, black or colored. Good that you mention it. I have heard racist colored people too. Surinamese people. And one of my black friends suffered and was enraged by racism he received from migrants with a muslim background. Turkish and Moroccan people who looked down on him as if he was a lesser migrant than them, because they witnessed that he was not white like them.

So, you are right, racism is not only a white think of whites against non whites. It is also blacks against coloreds (South-Africa and Suriname), Hindu's of white color against Hindu's with a darker skin, and West-Europeans vs Eastern-Europeans. North-Europeans vs South-Europeans. North Italians (Lega Nord) who look down on the South-Italians. Northern-Dutch and Western-Dutch with the hard G accent vs the Southern Dutch and Felmish with their Soft-G. Hard G general Dutch speakers see themselves as more sophisticated, superior towards the Southern-Dutch with their Soft-G accent. (In the past it was the richer, superior Calvinist Holland vs the poorer Catholic Limburg and Brabant.) Racism and discrimination sometimes lies close to each other.

Cheers,
Pieter

[Jaga]

Pieter,

I guess, racism comes also with majority rule. When I was in Maryland, I was afraid if we stayed to send my daughter to the public school there, since they were run by African American guys who were really corrupted and white kids were in the minority. We all are a bit discriminatory towards others, the worst is - when we don't even see it.

At my work some guys discussed recently posts that "smart people made dumb decisions" or articles about smart people being bad employees. This type of working environment is not easy. You almost need to pretend you know less in order to fit in....