While listening to Obama's conference in Chicago the other day I was startled to hear him say [in response to a reporter's question about the type of dog he'd be getting] that--to paraphrase--the type of new puppy was the subject of an intense discussion and that it might a pure breed but that he doubted it would be a "mutt like me" because one daughter is allergic and needed a hypo-allergenic dog. The remark was at once telling and so nonchalant that I was actually impressed. He treated the subject of his race so casually that it was no more than a simple fact, nothing more. I also notice that this comment is the subject of much discussion in various news sources. So apparently the discussion has begun, and not so subtly, and Obama really isn't afraid to call it the way it is. ~String
A lot of foreign editors have put down this quality, as well as a refusal to fall into the same social divides and structures that surround black america, as one of the reasons he was elected. That, and his non threatening nature.
Yep. I like when people treat race casually. I'm waiting for him to start telling white jokes, black jokes, Jew jokes and Mexican jokes. Then I'll be really happy. Once the black guy tells racial jokes, then you KNOW it's okay! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! ~String
Perhaps. But that's the feelings/thoughts of just a few of us. You know as well as me that the newspapers and newscasters would have a field day with something "racist" like that. Baron Max
Maybe. Look, I'm not prescient, but I'm of the opinion that with the enamoration of the MSM of the new president elect, and the general public's yearning for some racial catharsis, that if Obama were to start making little off-handed comments, it would actually start society down the right path. For better or worse, Obama is the president. While race relations isn't on his front burner (so it seems, and with the economy as it is, I can understand why), it would be interesting to have a president who refuses to treat race as some ethereal subject but one of casual humor. ~String
String, I'm not disagreeing with you. And in many ways, I think you're far more right than you are wrong. But surely you realize what a shit-storm would be raised, by "both sides", if things like that began to occur. Screams of "racism" would rock the very foundations of this nation ....and perhaps the foundations of other nations as well. Whether you want to believe it or not, racism is alive and well and still operating all over the world. Baron Max
Well, duh! All I have to do is walk down the street in my very rural, white suburban hometown to know that. ~String
I think the dream is for talk of someones race be reduced to the same value we have on hair color or on if someone's belly button is an inny or an outty. When someone can talk about their race casually and people can joke about it as irrelevant, like a blonde say "My bad, like, I'm a blonde, you know?"
Aren't we all mutts? Oh, I know, there are some out there who claim otherwise but there are very few. So he stated a common knowledge thing about humans, what's the big deal about that? :shrug:
While you're wishing and dreaming, why not wish for peace on Earth and good will towards all mankind? And why stop there, wish for manna to drop from the sky whenever you're hungry or thirsty? Or sexy, hot chicks floating down from the sky whenever you're horny? Wish in one hand, shit in the other, then check to see which one fills up first. Baron Max
Eeewww. Outties are mutants and should never be trusted. I dated a guy with one once (he did have a nice butt though), and he ended up being a total douchebag. I, therefore, assume that all outties are the same and must be destroyed. ~String
So, we should just not even consider that possibility and just put no effort into teaching kids not to hate and try to get along? What's the alternative? ~String
Yep, a perfectly valid scientific research study! You're to be commended on your scientific abilities. I'm going in to get my bigger guns! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Baron Max
As the saying goes; You teach your kids what you want, but let me teach my kids what I want. String, when we, as a society, begin such nosey practices as demanding parents to teach "proper" ethics and morality, then as a society, we're fucked big time! And I daresay, it's becoming more and more that "society" is beginning to do just that in our public schools. It gets worse as we go up the chain of education to college-level ...almost all college professors are liberal, some of them so liberal as to be rabid, and they are the ones teaching our young people. That will undoubtedly begin to show up, if it hasn't already, in our grown adult leaders in government. And soon, we won't be able to make any choices that aren't approved by the liberal government. Is that really what we want in our society? Baron Max
Parents can teach their kids whatever they want. But just because you believe something and preached it to your kids everyday of their childhood doesn't mean they will agree with your beliefs as they become teens and adults. My grandmother is against homosexuality and wouldn't hesitate to eliminate as many rights from them as possible. but both her daughters my mother and aunt are in strong favor of gay rights, despite what their mother taught them. In the end you have to make your own opinions on issues that are important to you, regardless of what your parents think.
You missed my point. I never said that society should force parents to do anything. I asked why it was wrong to teach such things and given the alternative, what should we do? We are fast approaching the point where small groups of individuals will be able to decide the fate of humanity. Right now, it takes an enormous government apparatus to do so (i.e. Nukes from the USA, France or Russia), but within fifty years it will be possible for smaller and smaller groups to hold such power. Given the alternatives, I think that your pessimism that [to paraphrase] "people have always been racist and aways will" is nonsense. People don't need to be, and it isn't moronic to require schools to teach kids to respect other people's differences. While it may be rosy-eyed to think that racism will disappear in the foreseeable future, it certainly isn't foolish to think that children who attend public schools should be taught that it isn't right. If you think otherwise, there's always home schooling and private education. ~String
