I in no way blamed an entire race for all the misfortunes of black people.
In fact, you do. You only back away from this when confronted with your own contradictions, that by stereotyping white people you are perpetrating the exact same injustice you speak of with regards to black people. Invoking distorted perceptions of 'history' or cherry-picking instances of alleged racism or personal anecdotes of same is merely pure justification on your part, 'smoke and mirrors' if you will, for what you know to be a hollow position.
I don't allow people's perceptions of me dictate the quality of life I choose to lead. However if after all of that I'm still racially profiled, proving to me personally that the system is flawed then I feel I have the right to vocalize those sentiments.
On the one hand you are right to not let others, whether racist whites or judgemental blacks, influence your sense of self. Period. This is to embrace your empowerment and to deny your victimization. Bravo!! On the other hand, to conflate personal individual experiences of racism or personal individual encounters with 'jerks' to a condemnation of the entire 'system' or an entire race of people is where your self-affirming stance turns back on itself, and you retreat to the safe and convenient position of 'victim'. This is not to deny that racism - or homophobia, misogyny, sexism, xenophobia etc. - exists. It does, and always will, to one degree or another. But one cannot deny that an overarching trajectory towards a just, more tolerant and more enlightened society exists too, no matter how flawed, no matter how halting or slow, and no matter how under siege it may seem at times. This is the bigger picture, and there are people of all colours, races, genders etc that believe in it.
What makes you think by white people I meant every Caucasian that ever lived? Or black person that ever lived? It's undeniable that it was white oppressors that abused African descents for centuries now, undeniable. Not every white, but definitely several individuals and groups of that race. Whatever techniques white politicians and clergymen used to justify slavery/segregation in their minds and in their congregations minds, those are the techniques that worked, coerced and normalized the white master/superior-black slave/servant/inferior binary. People may ask for shades of grey over bifurcations but seriously this is a message board, not a venue for a 3000 word analytical, monographic essay
Negative generalizations are never helpful or insiteful, and you have been saying as much yourself throughout your posts here: we can outright condemn those blacks who traded slaves, or objectively we can look a little deeper at the forces or motivations that caused them to do so in the first place... You yourself have also made a strong case for the power and force of language and 'words', that the ones we choose are deliberate and can sting or hurt, or debase or vilify. Applying labels on people without being specific is equally misleading or destructive.
Shows how little you know. I'm presently enrolled in a Modern European History class so you can't say I'm making this up. Most Depression-era Germans (from the working class, military to the aristocracy) elected the National Socialists (Nazis) in droves and fully embarassed Hitler's victory over von Hindenburg by enacting the largest torchlight parade spectacle in recorded history. Politicians and dignitaries from around Europe also hailed praises of the uniformed, equalizing German society Hitler was creating. Sure modern-day Germans can't be blamed for Nazism but you sure won't catch me in Berlin anytime soon.
Once again, in the same way that a little more digging can reveal more insight into the motivations of blacks who dealt in the slave trade, a more in depth picture will help to understand the rise to power of the Nazis, one that would include an understanding of the socio-historic context, i.e. the impoverished economy, the desperation and humiliation of the people (post WWI), the use of propoganda and the luring promise of prosperity. It is safe to say that very few who voted 'Nazi' were actually opting for the platform/agenda that history would come to reveal later, and that when people began to understand the truth of what was happening it was too late. Power had been lost and the machine was in motion.
But back to the larger picture of black oppression. It all stems back to slavery and event thing since is derivitive of the common shared knowledge people have in the back of their minds. Such that if a black man pisses you off you can think to yourself: "Why the fuck am I allowing this 'nigger' to act/speak to me this way? Let me vocalize the disparaging term to mentally incapacitate him!" Like I said several posts ago, if you're that immature that you have to resort to name-calling, why bring race into it? What message are you disseminating by refering to someone as a 'nigger'? This is why the security guard and Micheal Richards
were mean-spirited, because at the end of the day a poorer blue-collar white guard or a has-been washed up comedian is still of the master, conqueror race and their victims weren't
!
... or is it simply a matter of specific individual 'aholes' who are lashing out in order to hurt? There is no oppression in name-calling that you yourself don't confer! Don't give those jerks more 'power' than they deserve! What they did was inappropriate, but all they achieved was to make themselves look ridiculous in the eyes of the majority of society. If they made you feel bad about yourself, or oppressed, than they have achieved something else, but that's up to you...
As for the oppression of blacks in *Canada*, I'm simply not buying it. You have to be careful to not mix up the history of the USA or other countries with that of Canada, or Canada's mother countries. Although slavery existed in the early Canadian 'colonies' it was never very popular or widespread as there was little economic basis for it. With the Age of Enlightenment dawning in Europe, giving rise to the French Revolution and the Declaration of the Rights of Man etc. an emerging awareness of 'civil' rights was growing, keeping in mind that in feudal Europe most 'whites' were slaves or 'serfs' too, and the concept of individual freedom was little known or practiced. By 1793, Simcoe had abolished slavery outright in the Canadian colony, and since then Canada as a nation has never observed any official policy of segregation towards Blacks. Once again, I'm not denying that racism doesn't exist, but racism, however unjust or inappropriate, is not the same thing as oppression, per se.
That's true but I'm a pessimist by nature so it's easier for me to spot the flaws of society more so than the positives
!
Well, that's honest. But there is a lot to be positive about!! If you check out
www.blackhistorycanada.ca you will see for yourself
