<p>The party was a birthday party themed "south of the border" thrown by a latino student. (for his own birthday) He chose the theme.</p>
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What if someone doesn't think that? What if someone thinks that the negativity and positivity are unequal sorts of qualities.
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<p>Can you clarify what you're saying? I have no idea what you're talking about.</p>
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If these young people truly were racist and chose these costumes because they felt superior to those of Latino race, then every one of these comments, directed in anger, is right on. However, what the students did, was celebrate with a Latino friend, best friend, whom they love, by roasting him. I think this dialogue back and forth is extremely healthy. Believe me, they never dreamed they would hurt someone and that the news would be carried as far as it has gone, they have learned something great from this experience. I hope, as a Catholic Youth Worker, that we don't continue to alienate one from another, but embrace this as a learning experience for all. They, each one of them, have sent their apologies, from the first second that someone was told it was offensive. They removed the photos immediately, and attended a meeting to try and communicate that this was a mistake. The internet is something we will all learn to use with much more discretion, compassion, and responsibility to a global community. These are not racist students, but young people of all nationalities, including Latino, that love each other, perhaps too much, and I hope that one thing that comes from this is that each of them will branch out and meet more students from various backgrounds. In order to do this, the rhetoric needs to be forgiving and understanding. As Fr. Locatelli mentioned in his state of the school address, if we do celebrate, theme party or no theme party, drinking or not, we need to first be respectful and think things out, think of the ramifications, this process is part of maturing. Enoy life, it is short, forgive, learn, and dialogue in a constructive manner. What can Santa Clara do that is positive to bring us all together with respect for our ancestors, their sufferings as immigrants, and their great contributions to the United States of America.
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<p>Okay, given that context, I can see how this party is not an egregious insult to racial equality everywhere. I can appreciate the difference between a group of friends having some fun in honour of their Latino friend, and a bunch of homogeneous non-Latino frat boys exposing their lack of empathy and ignorance for all to see. </p>
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I don't know about them other coloured folk but I praise the infinite mercy of the white man every for every piece of freedom they give me.</p>
<p>Yep, the white man's infinite wisdom has allowed me to attend their high quality educational institutes and for that, they can denigrate my culture all they want.
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<p>Excellent point. I think too many White people with decent intentions see themselves as good and benevolent for being open-minded and daring to show minorities the same respect they show to fellow Whites. I wouldn't call a non-racist a good person, I would consider him not to be a bad person. I don't know, sometimes it's like White people are so busy congratulating themselves on giving Black folks the vote that they're oblivious to the disgraceful fact that large sections of the population were disenfranchised for the majority of the existence of this so-called democracy. You didn't do anything great; you just stopped being evil. Big whoop, really.</p>
<p>ICrisis...it's good that you have generalized white people in a negative light. I guess that would be alright if I said something of that nature about black people or latinos?</p>
<p>^ i agree. Why are minorities allowed to portray whites in any way they want because they are "oppressed" and "discriminated against", and every time whites do that, people raise hell?
And what do you think latinos and blacks think about whites? Do they love them like brothers? Do they refrain from judging anyone of different race?
It works both ways.</p>
<p>Respect and proper human treatement is a two way street my friends. As long as folks from either side of the divide continute to perpetuate a divide we will continue to have problems. Equal IS equal.</p>
<p>I wouldn't call a non-racist a good person, I would consider him not to be a bad person. I don't know, sometimes it's like White people are so busy congratulating themselves on giving Black folks the vote that they're oblivious to the disgraceful fact that large sections of the population were disenfranchised for the majority of the existence of this so-called democracy. You didn't do anything great; you just stopped being evil. Big whoop, really.
chris:
What would you like us to do Chris? Please enlighten those of us who truly care.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>If someone like me could solve the problem of racism, then it would've been a non-issue long time ago.</p>
<p>But for starters, people could at least display some form of sympathy towards minority groups that are constantly excluded and ridiculed, and see no way out in the near future.</p>
<p>I'm sick of hearing about how hard it is to be a minority. It's quite difficult to get away with discrimination in the United States. If you do anything remotely racist, the media and the NAACP is down your throat. If anything, minorities are looking for examples of racism where it doesn't even exist. Plenty of other minorities have it just as bad (jews, gays, etc.). The world is not a perfect place and it's unfair to put the blame for racial inequality all on white people. The Turkish government heavily discriminates against Kurds. Are Turkish people technically white? No. </p>
<p>"But for starters, people could at least display some form of sympathy towards minority groups that are constantly excluded and ridiculed, and see no way out in the near future."</p>
<p>No one on this thread can solve racism. With the billions of people in the world coming from different ethnic groups and religions, it will always exist to a certain extent. Racism has existed for thousands of years. Stop blaming it on white people. Not every white person has a perfect income and not every black or latino person is struggling to get by. To be honest, I wouldn't mind being of an underrepresented minority for the sake of law school admissions.</p>
<p>Maybe if people like you stopped bringing up racism so much, it wouldn't be an issue. Accusing people of racism when it isn't there only divides our country and makes things worse.</p>
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Plenty of other minorities have it just as bad (jews, gays, etc.).
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<p>Those minorities usually aren't immediately visible. Many people can keep their Jewishness or gayness low-key, but if you're Black, Latino, or Asian, you're wearing potential discrimination on your sleeve.</p>
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Maybe if people like you stopped bringing up racism so much, it wouldn't be an issue.
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<p>It wouldn't be an issue for whom? If you're White, then probably for people like you who despise hearing about things like White Privilege and think that because Blacks got the vote a mere 40 years ago, everything is nice and even. No matter who talks about it, racism will still be an issue for minorities with police racial profiling, anti-Mexican immigrant walls, and constant newsfeeds about how dangerous China is becoming.</p>
<p>I hate hearing things about white priviledge because it is simply untrue. I spent my summer interning for a black congressman this summer (unpaid). I spent last semester working at the State Department, which is run by a black woman. I really am sick of being hated by minorities simply because of something I didn't do 40 years ago. </p>
<p>I took a class last semester on oppression of Native Americans in Central America. Latinos shouldn't be too proud of their actions against indigenous people, but that doesn't mean I can't stand people from Guatemala. </p>
<p>Also, look at Asians, who generally have fared much better than latinos and black despite very difficult circumstances. Why should they be discriminated against in affirmative action simply because as a whole, they have done better than other minorities?</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>Just because there's Black congressmen or a senator (note the "a", because there's only one Black senator) doesn't mean that everything's all hunky dory. Are you White? Because if you are, you really can't comment on whether or not there's White privilege or not. In fact, the ability to deny White privilege is the very essence of having White privilege. Peggy McIntosh wrote a good essay about this very issue: <a href="http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/%7Emcisaac/emc598ge/Unpacking.html%5B/url%5D">http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~mcisaac/emc598ge/Unpacking.html</a></p>
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I took a class last semester on oppression of Native Americans in Central America. Latinos shouldn't be too proud of their actions against indigenous people, but that doesn't mean I can't stand people from Guatemala.
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<p>You do realize that the Ladinos who oppressed the Mayans were mostly of Spanish descent (though some would not consider Spanish to be White). These Ladinos weren't the taco-eating lawn-mowing Mexicans of the American stereotypes if that's what you're implying.</p>
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Also, look at Asians, who generally have fared much better than latinos and black despite very difficult circumstances. Why should they be discriminated against in affirmative action simply because as a whole, they have done better than other minorities?
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<p>Many of those Asians are already educated and well-to-do in their home countries, and they come over to America because of the ultra-stiff competition back home. Most Asian-Americans aren't descendants of abused railroad workers.</p>
<p>"You do realize that the Ladinos who oppressed the Mayans were mostly of Spanish descent (though some would not consider Spanish to be White). These Ladinos weren't the taco-eating lawn-mowing Mexicans of the American stereotypes if that's what you're implying."</p>
<p>Excuse me, but I'm not referring to colonial oppression. I am talking about modern day government military oppression. Maybe you should research it.</p>
<p>Asian immigrants aren't all educated, and the per-capita income in most Asian countries is pretty small. </p>
<p>Also, I interned for one of many black congressmen. Yes, there is only one black senator, but I think that the house is at least fairly diverse. As for white priviledge, as long as you accuse people of being privledged I am going to tell you that they are not. </p>
<p>It's simply ignorant to place all problems on race. I haven't had it any easier in life simply because I am white.</p>
<p>Man, I'm sick of white folks using the excuse that the Irish, German, Dutch, Swedish etc. faced hardships when they first got to America (or Canada). </p>
<p>Like NBAChris already stated, those facts can be hidden or subdued (conciously or not) after a couple of generations. Children will lose their accents, girls may marry and change their last names, the society might adjust and think "Hey, these Irish aren't so bad, at least they still white!"</p>
<p>Unfortunately, not everyone has that same luxury. Shaniqua Johnson can name her son Michael, make sure he straightens his hair and take rap music away from him and there will still be a large segement of the population that will just look at as a black man first. Race is not an issue because whiney minorities thrive off welfare and like to nitpick. It's an issue because OTHER people make it an issue. </p>
<p>Do you think if Mr. Lee Hong names his next child Xavier Hong, make sure he plays football, listens to country music, wears jeans and drives a Chevy that Xavier is gonna be seen as a good ol'boy? </p>
<p>And don't even try that crap with the "See, look at this house negro here! He's fine with people trampling on his culture so by extension, so should you!" Please! There are literally BILLIONS of people in the world who are non-white and you holding up some self hating fool is supposed to legitimize the actions of a bunch of ignorant clods?</p>
<p>Edit: Apologies to any people I might have offended by stirring up the pot. If you like, I'll go back and continue to study Calculus, computer programming and eating dogmeat now.</p>
<p>Whats with this racist stuff here? Stop the hand wringing and get back to the real world. Whatever the conditions are, America is still a better place to live in than any other country.</p>
<p>^So does that mean that this country shouldn't try and improve anymore. </p>
<p>As the country is, it needs a lot of work. Sure it's better than other countries, but do you want to be known as the country marginally better than the rest or the one known for equality?</p>
<p>Friedman commented "A society that puts equality ahead of freedom will achieve neither...A society that puts freedom ahead of equality...will, as a by product, achieve high degrees of both". Wise words to keep in mind.</p>
<p>What do you guys suggest that the United States do in order to prevent racism?</p>
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Friedman commented "A society that puts equality ahead of freedom will achieve neither...A society that puts freedom ahead of equality...will, as a by product, achieve high degrees of both". Wise words to keep in mind.
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<p>Sounds like justification for Social Darwinism. What's next, letting the poor die in the winter?</p>
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I haven't had it any easier in life simply because I am white.
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<p>I understand why you would get defensive when people bring up the reality of White privilege. You didn't enslave anyone, You don't hold any overtly racist attitudes, You don't support colonialism. So why should all your accomplishments and hardships in life be trivialized by this PC concept that maybe White people have it easier in a White-dominated country? </p>
<p>It's not an easy concept to accept unless you've been a minority yourself, and everywhere you go, there's always this crippling doubt in the back of your mind that people are judging you by your race. It's perhaps the most disenfranchising (I don't know if this is the right term) thing a person can go through because there is absolutely nothing you can do about your race, and all the historical baggage that comes with it. The most you can hope for is that in your meager lifetime, you can maybe make a little change in whatever ugly stereotype is attached to your racial persuasion. White privilege absolves you of all that. It's not so much having something as it is not having to deal with something.</p>
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It's just that nowadays, they can actually get in trouble for it (i.e. George Allen, Joe Biden),
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<p>Biden didn't get in trouble (unless you count a slapped wrist as trouble). He's a Democrat, so the MSM had his back. Allen on the other hand...</p>
<p>What's the MSM?</p>
<p>Allen lost an extremely tight election probably due to the ensuing notoriety following his Macaca slip. And I think Biden's chance is all but shot now if it wasn't already before. So I think they both received the same kind of trouble.</p>