When I was a kid , around 12 years old we flew into JFK from Europe . I was told by my mother to go find my uncle who I never seen before. He was supposed to meet us to take us where we were going to stay . During my wandering around I came across a man talking to a Customs Officer . The Customs Officer is asking the man what his nationality was . The man replied " I'm French" . Where the Customs Officer said " no I need your Race before you can enter the U.S. . The man looked and said " I am a French Doctor going to the U.N. . My Passport says I am French , I was born in France , my parents were born in France so That makes Me French and nothing else . " The Customs Officer looked puzzled and said " I have to check one of these boxes and French is not an options " The french man explained that, that was not his problem just before men from the U.N. whisked him away , but not before giving the little guy standing by watching a wink with a smile
Later when we went through the same station with the same Custom Officer the question was never asked to my mother .
The French man had dark skin and spoke with a French Accent . The only conclusion that I could come up with was that French people cannot have dark skin . But why , I've been all over Europe and some of Africa and know for a fact that It doesn't make a damn the tone of your skin in where you are from .
When I was signed in school I was given a card and one question on the card were what ethnic group we belonged to . Eventually they would send me home and not allow me back in school until the card was returned and filled out properly . I could go on and on with story after story like the one above .
I do believe in nationalities . I am American People should take pride in where they are from . The town they live in and their home . The problem we run into is when the discussion turns to . How tall I am or color of my skin, what political party or any other box you try and put me in. It will not work . The only outcome will be that you just got your feelings hurt .
What is the purpose of all these categories ? Why do you participate in them ?
I would like to know what your opinion is . We discuss Facebook and how our personal information is used . But aren't we supplying the information willfully . Being placed in small groups opposed to each other then complaining about being opposed to each other . Stating let's get along . LOL Who's the dummy .
Freedom is not free . It is paid for by blood . At some point people have to grow up and form their own opinion . No matter what position you take at least it yours . Your opinion will change over time , that's because you have grown . That's a good thing . Freedom is generally not lost . It is given away freely one piece at a time.
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I don't know if making this statement is right or wrong but I honestly don't believe in nationality and religion. I mean how can you label a person the day they are born. Discrimination on the basis of color, caste or sex is intolerable. How can we call ourselves humans, if we don't qualify on Humanitarian ground. We need to commit ourselves to the basic deeds of being a human, humanity is what we require and it's what we have lost.
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no, you said it right and got your point across and by no means wrong :)
We have to belong somewhere and take responsibility for our part of the world . Just like our home and community . we need to keep it safe for all . keep it small . We can't do that right now so to move to a bigger worldview/government would make things worse and more tribal .
My point in the post above is that the powers in place now use categories against us . keeping people divided and quarreling amongst ourselves instead of focusing on the real issues . Why the ethnic division ? for what purpose ?
You will always have some prejudice people but at the scale and formation of groups is unprecedented .
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Your point is correct @wolfhart. But I don't think this problem can be solved. It's all power play and we act as mere pawns in a game of chess. But maybe if we reach at the end of the board we can win the game and do what's needed to be done. Ethnic divisions have caused wars for years but the matter never ends. We keep revolving around over and over and never reach our true destination.
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yes we have been doing the same thing over and over . It's a shame . I do see here and there people with the right attitude especially with the young . more so with the people and not so much at the leadership level
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I identify myself a million other ways, but never as the color of my skin/hair/eyes... Because it doesn't matter to me. I always find it odd when people DO care what their own skin color is. Being proud or ashamed of it are both totally crazy things in my opinion.
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I can't rap my head around it and don't understand it . And in one form or another it's all around us
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Labels are wrong on a great many levels. Governments do put them in place but it is the people, society that keeps them. The world of social media has turned the world of labeling to a whole new level. An example, on Facebook you are defined by the number of friends you have, social label. You are defined by what you post. If you are right or left depends on the commenting and brutatilty of it.
There is no freedom of speech. That is long gone. If you try to use your freedom of speech and you are not part of the accepted version, you are trolled and brutalized into silence.
Labels are permanent until you fix the mindset of the public who believes in them and uses them for their own agenda. If there was no strife in the world there would be no need for government. Hence, why they use labels.
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That's about it in a nut shell .
I watched the hearing with Diamond & Silk in Ref: to free speech and the Congressmen and woman bashed them . The fact that free speech was being violated by FB did not matter. They were put in one of those boxes in order to hurt them .
People want to be equal and in the same breath they jump into a box that contradicts equality
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Yes, it makes me think of what my daughter and I were talking about this past weekend. She is in college and she was having a political discussion with girls who considered themselves "feminist." They said they want to have equal pay, equal distribution of the household workload, and well equal everything. They believe that more men should stay home with the kids, women should get the hire paying jobs because they are women, women should hold more powerful positions because they are women. So , I said they want to be what they are supposedly fighting against. That makes a lot of sense. My daughter said she said that and they laughed and said yup.
Most people today join rallies and such, to join, not because they believe or care what it is about. They want their 15 minutes of youtube fame. It is crazy the mindset of young adults today. I really do worry about the future.
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They believe that they are entitled to something . And so many are giving in to this view instead of standing up for what is right
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That is why they are called the "entitlement generation." They believe it all should be handed to them. It is crazy.
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Great post. I enjoyed reading your experience and opinions of race. It is a strange thing to need to compartmentalize people so much.
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yes it is , and then to use the data to keep deverity going . Its nothing more than a control mechanism
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Nice article :)
To my mind you are whoever you identify with.
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I strongly agree with this my teacher, someday we are us and it must be paid handsomely, freedom is not free but you also do not have to pay dearly, as time goes by the real freedom we will be in life
Great Post My Teacher 😊
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