tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16788602.post115855391736781295..comments2023-09-16T07:34:36.539-07:00Comments on Green Parenting: On Redemption and Race-MixingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16788602.post-1159025786037278172006-09-23T08:36:00.000-07:002006-09-23T08:36:00.000-07:00Oh, I meant to comment about Morton's comment as w...Oh, I meant to comment about Morton's comment as well. I recently read Life of Pi--about a boy who is Muslim, a Christian, and a Hindu...he chooses all pathsLulabellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00102329474431624582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16788602.post-1159025520236289292006-09-23T08:32:00.000-07:002006-09-23T08:32:00.000-07:00I read this in A Separate Peace yesterday, and I t...I read this in A Separate Peace yesterday, and I think it applies here also: "It seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidites, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart."<BR/><BR/>Racism is rampant the world over and the one thing we all have in common is our humanity. We should remember that. Again, great post.Lulabellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00102329474431624582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16788602.post-1158994498804259222006-09-22T23:54:00.000-07:002006-09-22T23:54:00.000-07:00Morton, thanks so much for your comment. It made m...Morton, thanks so much for your comment. It made me very happy.GreenDaddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08900051514824318419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16788602.post-1158945465379948972006-09-22T10:17:00.000-07:002006-09-22T10:17:00.000-07:00I've been wanting to comment on this post, but not...I've been wanting to comment on this post, but not quite sure how to summarize my thoughts as they are many and scattered.<BR/><BR/>I grew up in Mississippi and was subject to a lot of racism due to my Hispanic background (my father is from Peru). I got teased and into fights because of my background... but it didn't stop at the school yard.<BR/><BR/>When I was much older, I started dating an African-American woman and my grandfather (on my mother's side) wrote me a letter saying that I was no longer his grandson. It was only after we broke up (for a completely different reason) that my grandfather would speak to me.<BR/><BR/>I am a mixed breed of a person. I suspect that there will be more mixed breeds in the coming decades and people such as those who subscribe to the idea of racial purity (a la littlegeneva) will be fewer and fewer.<BR/><BR/>My favorite line from the movie Bulworth summarizes the whole concept: <BR/>All we need is a voluntary, free-spirited, open-ended program of procreative racial deconstruction. <BR/><BR/>Two comments on religion: (1) Happy Rosh Hashana! And (2) while I am a devout monotheist, I find it hard to peg my spiritual beliefs to one religion. I believe there are many paths to God with none being easier or perfect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16788602.post-1158763031783394682006-09-20T07:37:00.000-07:002006-09-20T07:37:00.000-07:00Thanks everyone for your comments.Glide, I agree t...Thanks everyone for your comments.<BR/><BR/>Glide, I agree that all kinds of people can be racist including Mexicans, African Americans, Indians, etc. Usually, the racism that gets talked about most is White racism because generally, in America, White people are in positions of authority and their racism has an actual impact on people's lives. But sometimes, non-Whites exercise enough power to hurt people with our racisms too. <BR/><BR/>I can also see why you equate America with racism. It's clearly written into our constitution. Slaves were considered 3/5 a person when counting the population for voter districts. But the American identity, more so than any other national identity, is treated as infinitely redefinable. It doesn't matter what happened twenty years ago or two hundred years ago, we can dream up a new, non-racist America right now. At least, that's what Americans usually think. <BR/><BR/>I'm not quite that optimistic. I think we need to acknowledge our history and we have to address the current injustices that are a result of that history, even as we reinvent our national identity as nonracist.GreenDaddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08900051514824318419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16788602.post-1158607229068944502006-09-18T12:20:00.000-07:002006-09-18T12:20:00.000-07:00Actually, what you've lived with and through, and ...Actually, what you've lived with and through, and apparently without quite internalizing the whole picture is that "American" = "Racist". Of course, you would never accept that term, and perhaps you aren't, but the vast majority of Americans I've come into contact with are racist, most without even knowing it. After a while, it even gets rather humourus, though not enough to make life here very pleasant. Notice the piece in Sunday's Op-Ed section about the "white" reporter woman being told to get out of a "Mexican" town in California? Yup, many if not most of the "Mexicans" appear to harbour feelings about the "Anglos" that range from outright hatred to quiet contempt. And then of course, there's the "black" politicians and their "triumph" when winning public office from a largely "black" district, which says of course that as far as the "blacks" are concerned, only "blacs" can represent "blacks". And then as you've note there's the white racists. For myself, I've resolved the matter to my complete satisfaction. I'm simply Anti-American!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16788602.post-1158598731374122232006-09-18T09:58:00.000-07:002006-09-18T09:58:00.000-07:00Wait, Raj, is your wife caucasian????I must have b...Wait, Raj, is your wife caucasian????<BR/><BR/>I must have been really drunk at your wedding.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Great post.David Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11048623008977341551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16788602.post-1158592783231927632006-09-18T08:19:00.000-07:002006-09-18T08:19:00.000-07:00This is a wonderful post, Raj. Thank you.My favori...This is a wonderful post, Raj. Thank you.<BR/><BR/>My favorite biblical source to advocate an attitude of welcome to what was seen as "unclean" -- be it homosexuality or people of a different race -- is the bit in Acts where Peter has the vision of all the unclean animals being carried in that huge tablecloth, and God saying "I'm the one who decides what's clean and unclean, and I'm allowed to change my mind." It transformed the early Christian church, to let Greeks in. That kind of transformation that comes from welcoming can be a really profound and important thing. <BR/><BR/>It's *hard* to be welcoming, to have the openness and humility to realize that your judgments of others might be wrong. You seem to have been learning how to do that from both sides -- beautiful. <BR/><BR/>That Lila is a lucky kid. :-)Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05276809374974996981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16788602.post-1158583712283649382006-09-18T05:48:00.000-07:002006-09-18T05:48:00.000-07:00Actually, you could argue that the biblical quote ...Actually, you could argue that the biblical quote "littlegeneva" uses in his final post suggests that the Bible literally encourages one marry their own sister.<BR/><BR/>Incredible read. Stay safe.David Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11048623008977341551noreply@blogger.com