The original poster said us in reference to African Americans, who because of white people were removed from the African continent. So they aren't the ones on the ground committing the crimes you mentioned. Also, if you weren't previously aware, the civil unrest seen in many of Africa’s nations was caused as a fallout to either: colonisation or the exploitation of their land for highly sought after natural resources. That’s not to justify the atrocities these people now wage on each other, but to give an understanding that the chaos was instigated by agents from elsewhere on the globe. Now may I ask you; what prompted the white Americans, whose decision it had been to acquire the slaves, to then oppress them for generations ?
Pointing out institutionalized racism isn't ever racist. I think that whenever people feed into and support racial theory and try to blame a race of individuals for something and say something like "They're really racist", "They think they're superior", etc. You feed division. Being blind to race is better than trying to constantly talk about race, and to try to come out with the conclusion that they're all the same because people don't do that. People end up call the whities racist, they internalize racism against themselves, and often just make things worse. We gonna talk about the bustling internal slave trade in African nations such as Mauritania? Over 1% of people in Mauritania are proper slaves. Not indentured or sex slaves, but people who make no money and aren't free to work for others. People who can be bought or sold and forced to do anything. That's 1 in 100. "The country has jailed more anti-slavery activists than slave owners, rights groups say." Nationality and Mauritian culture are more important than the race of the people. You have to look at information about more than 3 types of people to understand this kind of thing.
What makes sex slaves or indentured servants "improper slaves?" I don't think I've ever heard that distinction made before.
Except no one is actually blind to race and pretending to ignore racial differences makes it harder for people being oppressed to speak out
People being taken from their home country and forced into slavery is a whole different subject honestly. I can do my part in my life time to treat everyone I come across the same and set an example to my child that the color of ones skin doesn’t matter. I can’t say I know why Americans did what they did when they did it, but going against popular opinion here I don’t think that by being an American I should have to ever apologize for someone I never knew, doing something terrible long before I was even born. I mean shit my family migrated here from Spain 2 generations ago. I believe racism is something that needs to be handled within our own time, because you can’t change what already happened. And if OP doesn’t want people to disagree with him then he should keep his opinions to himself and post nothing. No ones here to kiss your ass.
Racial theory is a, mostly outdated, scientific theory that you either believe in or don't. Attempting to homogenise and make generalizations about many genetic subgroups of people based on their physical appearance while totally ignoring specific geneltics and culture. Are you blind to race, or to the stupidity of race theory? Cause that kind of discourse gives it credit and tries to keep it relevant.
I believe that race is a social construct. However, people that utilize the term "blind to race" and "I don't see color" usually ignore the impact that racial constructs have had -- and still have -- on our society. Race doesn't exist in a scientific matter (in my opinion, at least, and it is a semi-popular opinion) but ignoring how societies have been built and maintained, and how socieities function, on racial dynamics is harmful. We can talk about race doesn't technically exist once we dismantle the power dynamics that comes with races. Majority of people that say they ignore race don't appear to be doing anything to reach that goal -- in fact, many of them seem to dismiss the necessity of reaching that goal or act like that goal was reached when formal American segregation ended.
I agree but it can also have negative consequences by keeping race relevant. I don't like the frame. None of us are doing anything except Jaco who is just mudslinging on racial grounds, keeping that shit relevant and making things toxic by calling people things they're not based on their race... Which is 100% racist and which he should be ashamed of. That's all that's happening here. We can talk about it now. We can prohibit anyone from making judgements about employability based on race, not patronising and tokenising progress. But simply moving into a place where equality exists and people are judged on their merits.
I agree that discussions about race can often heighten friction. It's an uncomfortable topic to be had, and one that is very personal to a majority of people. Criticisms (valid or invalid) can be seen as a personal attack on one's identity and/or one's character. Unfortunately, I can't think of a way to reach true racial equity to the point where we can actually shed the need for racial identification. Certainly avoiding these discussions for the sake of people being more comfortable does nothing, and it is difficult to try to tone police others when entertaining the discussion. Tone policing typically increases the anger of the party being scolded -- and this isn't just for race-related discussions. Tone policing in general doesn't help at all. On the other hand, opening a discussion like this on PIMD forums kind of handicaps the ability for anything to be accomplished. Even if Jaco had written the most mature, unbiased take on race relations, it would fall on deaf ears. And someone would still probably be offended. Cuz that's the internet baby!
Wealth inequality is heavily racialized, at least in the U.S. The two overlap! Fighting one assists in fighting the other. Source: U.S. Census data provided in Sept 2019
If you weren't aware: 10-20% of their population is enslaved. Mauritian slavery involves lighter skinned individuals(arabs\berbers) enslaving darker skinned individuals(sub saharan africans). "The ruling Arab-Berbers have higher paid positions in jobs and government, while the darker-skinned Haratines and Afro-Mauritanians are under-represented in leadership positions and face many obstacles in society, from access to education to well-paid jobs." Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/global-...unspeakable-truth-about-slavery-in-mauritania http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2012/03/world/mauritania.slaverys.last.stronghold/index.html
I don’t know what’s funnier: the fact that y’all are still arguing about race on PIMD like it’s going to do anything or the fact that y’all took the time to research sources to argue on PIMD 😮