Is it racist to hate a culture?

[emilynghiem]

Thanks for your thoughtful responses.

I do indeed hate the problem no matter the source of the problem. If any person (be he white, black, hispanic, asian, etc.) moved in and trashed the neighborhood I would dislike it as strongly. My dilemma, and possibly some small feelings of guilt, comes from the fact that it is overwhelmingly one race that is moving in and acting in this manner. The separation comes from the fact that it is not all Hispanics that act in this manner. It is not a racial thing, it is a cultural thing. The people who are trashing the neighborhood are only doing it because that is the way they were raised. They grew up in impoverished areas where it was the norm to not respect their own or other people's property. They are fine upstanding people in every other way as far as I can tell.

So it is a group of people who are acting in this manner that I dislike. It is specific to this group of people only in this specific time and place.

Dear Here: Is it the separation from this group that makes you feel bad?
Is there a way to include you and Hispanic community or church leaders equally in a civic group that can address this issue without feeling divided but working together?
Can you ask help from a pastor or youth group to address this in a positive way?
Again if you approach with forgiveness for cultural differences in upbringing then you focus on these factors as reasons, without assigning judgment. If you dont forgive the problems first, then it comes across as blaming a group instead of evaluating the causes which still remain the same. Nobody wants to feel bad for problems that can be solved. Is there a way to ask to work together to fix up the neighborhood for the kids as a positive goal?

 

[Billo_Really]

Yes that's part of the process, too, which is greater than us and any of our intent.

Even to perceive and state things, starts to change things.
Even the energy we apply by observing things has an effect.
So as long as we are not projecting negative energy,
examining things in the light of truth and understanding
and sharing is going to move our consciousness more in that direction.
We don't need to be consciously choosing or intending this
to vote in the direction of sharing truth and growing in understanding.

A big part of it is us not lying to ourselves. Which we all do at least once a day, trying to convince ourselves of something we know isn't true. But the more concious one is aware of that, the better chance of looking at things with clear vision. Because unless you can see things as they are, your ability to reason, is fatally flawed from the get go. That's not to say it will definately lead to a wrong conclusion, it just increases the chances of one.

 

[editec]

I'm color blind (or color challenged if you prefer.) I'm talking actual colors here. Red and green to be specific. I noticed it in elementary school when I constantly had to read the labels on crayons to get the colors right.

This is similar to what you could call my "racial vision." I am not very good at identifying people based on a "race." Most of the time someone has to "label" someone as being a particular race for me to know.

And really what difference can "race" make anyways? I mean it's just a wrapper right? Transplant my mind into a body of any kind you like and I would still be me.

Culture on the other hand...

I was dropped into the Philippines with almost no preparation. For the first month I might as well have been on another planet. I could barely understand anyone. The culture was such a shock that I wondered if I would ever be comfortable there. I got used to it eventually. In the end it was as much of a shock returning to the US as it had been going there. I loved the people that i knew in the Philippines. Some of them I hold to be the finest examples of humanity that I will ever encounter. Some aspects of Filipino culture on the other hand still make me cringe. It is common practice, for example, to simply toss trash on the ground in many areas of the Philippines. Its a habit that I find disgusting. It doesn't devalue the people who do it. It is merely a habit that has been developed by living in a specific environment.

When you get used to living a certain way you develop habits that are simply a part of the way you live. It's unavoidable. When you transplant yourself into a different culture and bring those habits with you there will be conflict. Is one culture more valuable than another? That's not for me to say. But when you bring that culture into my neighborhood with all of its differences can I really help it if those differences are hard for me to swallow? And if your culture does have value does not my own culture have value of its own? Am I responsible to change to accommodate your culture? Are you responsible to change to fit in?

As with the Filipinos I can hate an aspect of a culture without hating the people who practice that culture. Is it wrong for me to hate even that much though?

xen·o·phobe (z n -f b , z n -). n. A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.

What is unduly contemptuous though? Certainly as Unkotare pointed out there are some things that are cultural habits that it is entirely reasonable to object to.

And yet the people in that other culture that cherish those things.

What is right depends on the presuppositions of the perciever.

Usually those raised in a culture believe in the values of that culture.

To those outside that culture, their values might be abhorent.

If a cultural habit infringes on the rights of others is it not rightly contemptible? There is nothing undue about that.

What culture does NOT infringe on the rights of others, Lad?

Ours?



Evry society infringes on individual rights. If the culture did not limited peoples' behaviors, there would be no culture other than anarchy.

 

[American_Jihad]

MAS Islamist Hugs for Hatred and Terror

January 28, 2014 by Joe Kaufman

It’s said that you wouldn’t want to wish serious illness on your worst enemy. Well, in December 2010, such an illness did indeed come to one of America’s worst enemies, Muslim extremist Mahdi Bray. Bray, then-Executive Director of the MAS Freedom Foundation, the former activist arm of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood front, the Muslim American Society, suffered what was described as a “massive stroke.” Now, three years later, he is back doing what he does best, embracing hatemongers and getting involved in the pro-terror cause.

Johari Abdul-Malik is the Outreach Director of Falls Church, Virginia’s Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center. He was brought in to head the mosque, after his predecessor, Anwar al-Awlaki, left the United States to become al-Qaeda’s leader in Yemen. Since Abdul-Malik has been employed by al-Hijrah, he has supported and/or defended a number of convicted terrorists, including one that plotted to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah; one that plotted to assassinate President George W. Bush; and one who instructed his followers to wage war on the United States.

Abdul-Malik has a YouTube page, where he actively uploads videos. On September 25, he uploaded a 28-second one featuring himself and the Executive Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), Salam al-Marayati. Marayati, who is close to the Obama White House, is a defender of Hezbollah and has previously suggested that Israel be named a suspect in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

However, the main event of Abdul-Malik’s video short was Mahdi Bray and Louis Farrakhan, the controversial leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI), hugging and professing their love for one another.

Farrakhan is known for his inflammatory rhetoric against whites, Jews and homosexuals. He has called whites “potential humans [who] haven’t evolved yet.” He has referred to Jews as “satanic” and “wicked.” And he has called gays “degenerate.” Farrakhan’s group currently publishes a number of anti-Semitic books and DVDs for sale on its website, including such titles as ‘And the Jews Planned’ and ‘Jews Selling Blacks.’

...

It is fair to say that most people in civilized society reject the radical views and hatred which Louis Farrakhan and Ramy Jan espouse. They also realize that terrorist leaders such as Mohamed Morsi are antithetical to democracy. But Mahdi Bray, Ahmed Bedier and their ilk exist in a parallel universe where good is evil and evil is good. The fact that they live and prosper in the West makes their world view all the more perverse.

It is this sociopathic lack of conscience and any vestige of morality which makes the Islamist a menace to society and the greatest danger facing Western civilization in our time.

MAS Islamist Hugs for Hatred and Terror | FrontPage Magazine

 

[Mojo2]

The purpose of these forums is to mock people that don't think exactly like you do. You'll figure it out sooner or later. The wide eyed, I'm open to other points of view only works in educational environments and only then if it has a liberal/progressive slant to it. Then you have to be open to new things.

Anything GOP, white, male, or hetero is bad. So, here we are. Your side sucks and so does mine. Still doesn't answer your question, but you already have your answer.

It's a little sad that you are so cynical about this place. Maybe you're right, but I prefer a little optimism. There is no reason humans cannot engage in meaningful discussion no matter the forum.

I've been participating in internet forums for about 15 years. I've never ever seen anyone on any side of an arguement convince someone on the opposing side of changing their opinions. Not. Once.

Discussions can happen, but not on any sort of hot button issues. You have two sides shouting down the other, snark and smileys, hand waves and dismissive rants are the norm.

Save your optimism for children and nature and real life interactions. You'll find nothing but classless tough wannabe's and shifty liars extrapolating personal experience out to large populations to make a point in most internet forums.

And yes there is a reason why we cannot have meanigful discussion in any forums. And what's really fucked up is that there is not one thing anyone can do about it, ever. That reason? We're human.

They may not ADMIT their opinions were changed because of what they read in a thread, but believe me, it happens all the time.

The reason you haven't recognized it is because you are hard wired to be a Liberal and you miss a lot of stuff.

HereAmIAmMe, aplcr0331 may sound dispirited because he, being a Liberal (I guess...never heard of him before now) has to endure having his ass handed to him by Conservatives, on a regular basis.

It makes him cranky, I guess.

 

[Asclepias]

But to make it clearer for everyone let me put it in simpler words:

I am bothered by the cultural habits that many immigrants bring with them to my community. I hate that it seems to be a cultural thing for them to not take care of their property. I hate that my property value declines because those around me don't have the same standards for organization and cleanliness that I do. I don't hate the people but I hate the culture.

Is that the same as being racist?

You hate what you fear. People, culture, habits etc. I've been to many different places and people are the same in the areas where it counts. You pointed out the existence of habits and how it affects culture. Anything that is a habit will cause discomfort when confronted by a new way of accomplishing the same goal. Thats why habits are so hard to break. Your habit is just different. That doesn't make it worse or better unless it just does not achieve the desired goal