Termyn8or
Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
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LaM, I am surprised you haven't rung in to "Are WE racists ?" thusfar.
TreSwank, now you're keeping me up. I am a type of racist, or racialist the likes of which you will seldom meet.
The first mistake most people make it to base anything on skin color. You simply can't. Dark skin is only an indication of a certain lineage, not the background, or specific ancestry of the person.
I am not better than anyone else, but my heritage is dear to me, I am Polack. Now to start with, that means that I am different than an Irishman, an Italian or who knows. The differences are subtle, I mean preferences in music, cars, Women and a whole host of other things. The trends are there but they are not etched in stone.
Because Euro-Americans make up most of the White population of this country, and many of them kept their heritage alive, at least in past generations, we have alot more diversity then others. Unfortunately Blacks being brought here by force have lost the ability to trace their geneology the way Whites can. Some can do it, but look at Roots. The guy traced his lineage back until they were taming Kunta Kinte. That happened here.
No mention of 'Toby's' former land, country or tribe. My family can be traced back to Jaslow, Poland, which means if I were there I would be considered their version of a hillbilly. Kunta Kinte had no such luxury.
Now there are many factors here. Let's say you're Irish. We are likely to have different views and tastes. Simple fact. White people have also lived usually in larger accomodations than many minorities.
Now Black people having experienced living in close quarters over the generatrions have some things in common. They feel like an underdog and this brings some degree of solidarity. Even those who, if they had not been taken by the slavers, would be enemies in 'the old country'. They have a common purpose. Even if they don't show it, there is an underlying connection.
It is the same with Hispanics, Arabs and Orientals and whoever. When people find people like them they like them. Then they go on to be friends and tend to listen to the same music, have discussions and arguments and finally agree on a few things. That is life.
Take the situation with Black people, some are skinny, wear wire rimmed glasses and do cancer research, others are 300lbs. and play football. Same with any race.
What I think happened is that through living in close quarters and being more close knit to peers, minorities' tastes and preferences have become less diverse within the group. While probably true, your statement indicates that your observations were made in one geographical area. Therefore I would say your statement is a bit overgeneralized.
I see what you see, yes. That people's tastes and preferences seem to have been aggragated to their group, and that the White race does not seem to do that. But when you say White, you are talking about one hell of a diverse people.
I think the perception of being an underdog and other factors give minorities more of a sense of solidarity, and what you said it just an outgrowth of that. On the other hand, White people run the gamut from Scandinavian to Spanish. From French to Jewish. That is a pretty big spread. Different peoples seperated for generations, it's no wonder we don't all think alike, act alike or have the same preferences.
That's my $20 worth (writing this is probably going to make me an hour late for work tomorrow).
LaM, I want to hear from you on this. Not only on my choice of words, and not being incorrect in some way, but the content. Our differences should not be ignored. These societal factors are extant, even though the OP may have overstated them.
T
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Why Are White Americans Overly-Factionalized? - 
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