Racism

[Ryadn]

Oh, I dunno. These guys?

http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs ... ilitia.jpg

Or... these guys?

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2007 ... aweed3.jpg

How about these guys, or these guys? Or maybe you mean these guys.

[Ryadn]

My. That's a very small gene pool.

The vast majority of my family tree is northern European, but, being an American, there was the inevitable Native woman that couldn't be resisted.

How so? I come from one of the densest populated parts of Europe, the Ruhr and it's surroundings. Near the same amount of people live in my region (State) as Sweden, Denmark and Norway put together. Doesn't sound like a small gene pool to me. Even if. Apparently it didn't cause too much harm since we in this region along with the Dutch are the tallest in Europe, also are second in the highest average IQ per population spread in Europe (Slightly higher in the Dutch side which borders this region). I personally possess a 141 score. But that is somewhat of a sidepoint, since the concept of "IQ" and it's meaning is very controversial and not universally accepted.

...dude, I wasn't calling you an inbred. Relax. I've just never met someone whose ancestors for the past 4 centuries were virtually all from the same country. It's surprising. You don't have to throw IQ scores at me.

[Ferrous Oxide]

How about these guys, or these guys? Or maybe you mean these guys.

I have no problem with any of them.

[Cabra West]

How so? I come from one of the densest populated parts of Europe, the Ruhr and it's surroundings. Near the same amount of people live in my region (State) as Sweden, Denmark and Norway put together. Doesn't sound like a small gene pool to me. Even if. Apparently it didn't cause too much harm since we in this region along with the Dutch are the tallest in Europe, also are second in the highest average IQ per population spread in Europe (Slightly higher in the Dutch side which borders this region). I personally possess a 141 score. But that is somewhat of a sidepoint, since the concept of "IQ" and it's meaning is very controversial and not universally accepted.

I know I might be taking this entirely out of context, but "German" is about as mixed up as it gets in Europe. Everybody and their mothers came through at one point or another, and rather messily left their genes behind.
Germany, being situated smack in the middle of the continent, had countless armies marching through it, tradesmen, sailors (the Rhine being one of the busiest rivers), as well as whole groups of people moving to and fro for various reasons (Hugenots being kicked out of France settling in Prussia, Polish coming to work in the Ruhr area, it's a long, long list).
Genetically speaking, Germany has a fairly good gene pool to draw from.
And I know what I'm talking about, I came to Ireland about 6 years ago. Now, there's a country that wasn't invaded nearly enough in its history... and boy, does it show in some folks.

[Cybach]

How so? I come from one of the densest populated parts of Europe, the Ruhr and it's surroundings. Near the same amount of people live in my region (State) as Sweden, Denmark and Norway put together. Doesn't sound like a small gene pool to me. Even if. Apparently it didn't cause too much harm since we in this region along with the Dutch are the tallest in Europe, also are second in the highest average IQ per population spread in Europe (Slightly higher in the Dutch side which borders this region). I personally possess a 141 score. But that is somewhat of a sidepoint, since the concept of "IQ" and it's meaning is very controversial and not universally accepted.

I know I might be taking this entirely out of context, but "German" is about as mixed up as it gets in Europe. Everybody and their mothers came through at one point or another, and rather messily left their genes behind.
Germany, being situated smack in the middle of the continent, had countless armies marching through it, tradesmen, sailors (the Rhine being one of the busiest rivers), as well as whole groups of people moving to and fro for various reasons (Hugenots being kicked out of France settling in Prussia, Polish coming to work in the Ruhr area, it's a long, long list).
Genetically speaking, Germany has a fairly good gene pool to draw from.
And I know what I'm talking about, I came to Ireland about 6 years ago. Now, there's a country that wasn't invaded nearly enough in its history... and boy, does it show in some folks.

Yeah I know. Hence I was very specific about my region. For those not German. Germany, is pretty much a federation, that would be the equivalent of the US/England/Australia/Canada becoming one nation because they share a similar language and culture and because at one point they were all part of the British Empire. This is the same for Germany where Bavarians, Saxons, Frisians, Hessians, Prussians, etc.. formed one nation out of a shared linguistic history and for being part of the Holy Roman Empire at one point.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

Let me see if I can, coherently, tackle these questions.

Race, sadly, defines us. It has the characteristics that makes an Asian person different from a Caucasian, and Caucasian different from Black. The only meaning I give to race is this. What differentiates an Asian from a Black: physical characteristics like hair, skin color and geography, nothing more.

Racism... we try, many, try not to be racist. To discriminate against someone because of skin color or because ethnicity is despicable. That this the crux of the matter. When we get past the pigmentation of someone's skin, when we get past the blonde hair or the slanted eyes, one finds that a black person bleeds and bleeds the same blood an Asian or a white person does: red. When we continue deeper, we realize that we all breathe the same air, cry the same, laugh the same, loose the same, live in the same planet, we are born, we grow and then we die. Same cycle. We are all the same, a mass of ganglia and bones that feels and exists.

Will racism ever disappear? I surely hope so. I can't say anything else.

Is the US still a racist nation? I won't venture to state my feelings on this, it may take several pages. It certainly's improving and I commend that.

[Risottia]

Racism will never go away as long as more that one race of people exist.

The point is that there is only one human race on the planet, as we Homo Sapiens Sapiens already exterminated the Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis.

Is America still a racist country?

On the average I would say not, but, as the Americans seem to think that the affirmative action and indian reservations are still needed, well, some elements of a racist country must still exist.

For international views does racism affect your country?

Yes. Both internal racism (between Italians from different regions) and external racism (mostly against poor immigrants).

[American Pit Bulls]

So this is what I think, Racism will never go away as long as more that one race of people exist. Is America still a racist country? What is the most racist state. For international views does racism affect your country?

I believe as long as there are two different races in this world, there will always be some sort racism. Same goes for war, as long as there are two humans living on Earth, we will always have wars/feuds.

"Is America still a racist country?" I don't think it's appropriate to classify an entire nation as a whole as being racist. America is a huge country with more than 300 million people within the borders. Yes, we do have racists among us but as a nation as a whole, No we are NOT racist. We are NOT a racist country. How can we elect our first black president and even be considered to be racist?

In my opinion, the biggest racist legislation is 'Affirmative Action' The entire thing is race based. It should have never been put into Law. Qualifications should always apply.

I, personally, am tired of hearing the race cards being played. Hell, it's 2009 already. People need to get over whatever it is they have issues with and move on and move towards the future and stop living in the past.

[Cybach]

My. That's a very small gene pool.

The vast majority of my family tree is northern European, but, being an American, there was the inevitable Native woman that couldn't be resisted.

How so? I come from one of the densest populated parts of Europe, the Ruhr and it's surroundings. Near the same amount of people live in my region (State) as Sweden, Denmark and Norway put together. Doesn't sound like a small gene pool to me. Even if. Apparently it didn't cause too much harm since we in this region along with the Dutch are the tallest in Europe, also are second in the highest average IQ per population spread in Europe (Slightly higher in the Dutch side which borders this region). I personally possess a 141 score. But that is somewhat of a sidepoint, since the concept of "IQ" and it's meaning is very controversial and not universally accepted.

...dude, I wasn't calling you an inbred. Relax. I've just never met someone whose ancestors for the past 4 centuries were virtually all from the same country. It's surprising. You don't have to throw IQ scores at me.

Ah. Then I misinterpreted it. However why should it be rare that the majority of one's ancestors all come from one area? I realize that in melting pools such as the US or Australia this might not be the case. However regionally here in many places in Europe it's still mostly the local ethnicity except in large cities. And even then, many still tend to marry into their own group more than in the US. Mostly because probably the difference is bigger. In the US everyone is an American more or less. This would not be the case here in Germany. I'm a German, that Turkish girl there is a foreigner. To cut the clean of it. Whereas in the US, she and I'd be socially seen as being the same. Both immigrants in the US.

Also from my Hessian line in the Westerwald, I can trace my ancestry back to the 14th century by virtue of my last name. Since all marriages and children were noted in the local parish, and if for centuries your family never left that village....makes it fairly easy to assume that there would be no non-local blood in that line due to the distinct lack of foreigners in isolated villages in the forests.

I'm not really saddened that I don't have a very diverse lineage. A Hungarian great-grandmother from Budapest on my father's side is the only thing. It makes things simple. I'm a German. Clean-cut and pure so to say. The worst "intermixing" in my family history was how scandalized my paternal grandmother was when my Catholic father married my mother, who was a Protestant. That only got her blessing with the promise that my brother and I would be baptized Catholic. It helps keeps things simple, I have no identity issues and know exactly what I am.

However I personally don't begrudge who others choose to get married and start families with. My own 2nd cousin married a Caribbean African from Jamaica, to which my opinion honestly is if he is the one that makes her happy, she should definitely marry him and stay married with him. Similarly I'm not going to castrate myself later in search of a life partner, if I fall in love with an Asian woman. I'd marry her and have children with her. I harbor no perverse ideology of somehow being obligated to keep my bloodlines "pure" or similar bullshit. That the blood in my veins at the moment is white as the snow is merely a coincidence, I couldn't choose the ancestry I was born with.

[Crownstar]

I think everybody is racist inside

[Lunatic Goofballs]

I think everybody is racist inside

SPoken like a dirty... um...what race are you again?

[Grave_n_idle]

Croydon (South London).

Yeah, Croydon doesn't have any race problems AFAIK, but it's still a shithole.

Only place I ever really noticed race trouble in London, was Brixton. I lived in North London, and I lived in the East End, and I didn't notice any real noticable tension.

[Grays Harbor]

I think everybody is racist inside

I thought we were a collection of bone, muscle, circulatory system and organs inside.

[Grave_n_idle]

Since all marriages and children were noted in the local parish, and if for centuries your family never left that village....

You realise that marriage, and being the parent of a child, are very often NOT the same thing, right?

[Pope Joan]

A town in Mississippi famous for lynchings just elected a black mayor.

Times do change, albeit slowly.

America used to be predominantly Anglo-Saxon and that hasn't been the case for some time now. Look at the awful stuff the press used to say about Italians, Irish, even Swedes and Germans, 100 years ago. It's harder to get away with ethnic hatred when you don't have the numbers.

Soon whites will be a minority, and will probably confine their racist ranting to their social clubs and the Southern Baptist Church.

[Lunatic Goofballs]

I think everybody is racist inside

I thought we were a collection of bone, muscle, circulatory system and organs inside.

You put your weed in there.

[Cybach]

Since all marriages and children were noted in the local parish, and if for centuries your family never left that village....

You realise that marriage, and being the parent of a child, are very often NOT the same thing, right?

Yet often enough they go hand in hand. You'd agree with the fact that if one takes all married couples on earth, the majority possess children? That some married individuals deign not to reproduce is solely their affair, however they're still more the exception than the rule. And as long as the trend remains that way, I see nothing wrong with the way I constructed my sentence.

[Grave_n_idle]

Since all marriages and children were noted in the local parish, and if for centuries your family never left that village....

You realise that marriage, and being the parent of a child, are very often NOT the same thing, right?

Yet often enough they go hand in hand. You'd agree with the fact that if one takes all married couples on earth, the majority possess children? That some married individuals deign not to reproduce is solely their affair, however they're still more the exception than the rule. And as long as the trend remains that way, I see nothing wrong with the way I constructed my sentence.

What I was pointing out, actually - wasn't that people often go childless - but that history is full of women having children by someone OTHER than the person they are married to. (If they are married, at all).

Just because you know who married who, and who gave birth - doesn't really mean you have any idea about your ancestry, unfortunately. You are making best guesses.

[Daynor]

The United States still has racist citizens, if that's the question, but as a whole we're as unracist now as we are going to be. We will always have racists like Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton.

[Cybach]

Since all marriages and children were noted in the local parish, and if for centuries your family never left that village....

Yet often enough they go hand in hand. You'd agree with the fact that if one takes all married couples on earth, the majority possess children? That some married individuals deign not to reproduce is solely their affair, however they're still more the exception than the rule. And as long as the trend remains that way, I see nothing wrong with the way I constructed my sentence.

What I was pointing out, actually - wasn't that people often go childless - but that history is full of women having children by someone OTHER than the person they are married to. (If they are married, at all).

Just because you know who married who, and who gave birth - doesn't really mean you have any idea about your ancestry, unfortunately. You are making best guesses.

A point which I mentioned. However one can safely assume that even if the father wasn't the legal husband, living in a rural German village deep in the forests in a time when there were as good as no real roads and the best method of transportation was by horseback. I'd say yes. I could be pretty damn certain that there is no non-German ancestry there. It would be a tad bit cloudier if one's ancestors had lived in a grand city such as Rome, Vienna, Paris, London or the likes which had always entertained mixed populations.

[Ryadn]

Ah. Then I misinterpreted it. However why should it be rare that the majority of one's ancestors all come from one area? I realize that in melting pools such as the US or Australia this might not be the case. However regionally here in many places in Europe it's still mostly the local ethnicity except in large cities. And even then, many still tend to marry into their own group more than in the US. Mostly because probably the difference is bigger. In the US everyone is an American more or less. This would not be the case here in Germany. I'm a German, that Turkish girl there is a foreigner. To cut the clean of it. Whereas in the US, she and I'd be socially seen as being the same. Both immigrants in the US.

Hmm...yes and no. If your skin is a different hue than hers, it would still be noted in the U.S., but likely no one would care much because, as you said, you'd both be immigrants. And the part of the U.S. you were in would dictate how much of a stir it would cause.

German-Americans are the largest ethnic group in the States, but I don't know anyone who's "pure" German. Any given standard white person you meet is likely to have at least a little German, British Isles and Native blood, and many have Italian ancestry as well (I have all but the last in my family). You're far, far more likely to meet people of "pure" blood who are Chinese--but even then, one of my best friends is Chinese with Russian and Mongolian ancestry.

[Grave_n_idle]

A point which I mentioned. However one can safely assume that even if the father wasn't the legal husband, living in a rural German village deep in the forests in a time when there were as good as no real roads and the best method of transportation was by horseback. I'd say yes. I could be pretty damn certain that there is no non-German ancestry there. It would be a tad bit cloudier if one's ancestors had lived in a grand city such as Rome, Vienna, Paris, London or the likes which had always entertained mixed populations.

Except that's clearly not true. This idea that our past was somehow filled with people that didn't move is odd. Sure - there were not the kind of easy migrations we see today, perhaps - but we know that individuals were often displaced, groups were often displaced, and perhaps even entire cultures were displaced. Northern Slavs definitely show migratory traits, occuring everywhere from Eastern Europe, to Russia, to the Balkans, to 'oriental' territories. Germany is not a pure population that's stayed untouched for millenia. Even rural Germany.

[The Cat-Tribe]

The United States still has racist citizens, if that's the question, but as a whole we're as unracist now as we are going to be. We will always have racists like Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton.

The statement just gets stupider as it goes along.

[Cybach]

Ah. Then I misinterpreted it. However why should it be rare that the majority of one's ancestors all come from one area? I realize that in melting pools such as the US or Australia this might not be the case. However regionally here in many places in Europe it's still mostly the local ethnicity except in large cities. And even then, many still tend to marry into their own group more than in the US. Mostly because probably the difference is bigger. In the US everyone is an American more or less. This would not be the case here in Germany. I'm a German, that Turkish girl there is a foreigner. To cut the clean of it. Whereas in the US, she and I'd be socially seen as being the same. Both immigrants in the US.

Hmm...yes and no. If your skin is a different hue than hers, it would still be noted in the U.S., but likely no one would care much because, as you said, you'd both be immigrants. And the part of the U.S. you were in would dictate how much of a stir it would cause.

German-Americans are the largest ethnic group in the States, but I don't know anyone who's "pure" German. Any given standard white person you meet is likely to have at least a little German, British Isles and Native blood, and many have Italian ancestry as well (I have all but the last in my family). You're far, far more likely to meet people of "pure" blood who are Chinese--but even then, one of my best friends is Chinese with Russian and Mongolian ancestry.

But that is because the US is special as a nation to large degree. The US has been a melting point of globalization since the late 1600s. Here in Europe, or Asia and Africa. The native populations, especially in the rural areas for a large part have kept to themselves. This doesn't have to mean much. Since I am dark-haired with brown eyes, whilst my brother has blond hair and green eyes, whilst my sister actually has blue eyes. So it's not as uniform as one might think of being all similarly looking clones. Merely that my lineage is nearly to 100% from one ethnic group. But the whole thing is getting rather redundant anyways. Point is, I am what I am. I'd immediately hit on any redblooded attractive Asian girl on an instant though, I have a weakness for Asian women in traditional dress.

Except that's clearly not true. This idea that our past was somehow filled with people that didn't move is odd. Sure - there were not the kind of easy migrations we see today, perhaps - but we know that individuals were often displaced, groups were often displaced, and perhaps even entire cultures were displaced. Northern Slavs definitely show migratory traits, occuring everywhere from Eastern Europe, to Russia, to the Balkans, to 'oriental' territories. Germany is not a pure population that's stayed untouched for millenia. Even rural Germany.

Now I merely stated that in my family line with the exception of a Hungarian great-grandmother [Who was oddly enough passing through Germany on the way to the US, when she met my great-grandfather at a train station], there has been no real non-Germans, Germans from different Regions/Kingdoms/Principalities but nothing outside the modern borders of Germany and not in the ethnic German grouping. That there might have been infidelities is something no one can reasonably discern, that the infidelities were from non-Germans in the area is merely extremely, extremely unlikely as there were as good as none back then in the regions I come from. Also I am pretty damn sure that Slavs never really made it in any larger number to the Westerwald. Statistically speaking, the chances that I actually have some hidden Eastern-European [Which would still be racially white blood, making the whole point fucking irrelevant anyways when you think about it] is fairly rare, also I wouldn't give much of a damn if it did. It's merely being a stickler for "if's" and "maybe's" that are very rare.

[Milks Empire]

I found a Templar knight in my families history! Here is a picture!

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/uncyclopedia/images/2/26/Crusader_Owns!.jpg

Here's an ancestor to be ashamed of from the time of the Crusades:

Couldn't trust the sonuvabitch with shavings from a modern coin, never mind to hold an agreement.