I did some googling after I wrote the previous post. Evidently this group is nothing new. I found page after page on the web, each more frightening than the last. This one is an index of topics, followed by their proclamations on each.
http://tinyurl.com/dvaql
They don't just want to take over; the most extreme among them want to kill us. Stoning, hanging, anything goes. Slavery is fine. Enough. You all know how to read and it's out there for anyone to see.
Roger, thanks for all the information. It helps and yes, your link was correct. I drifted over to one of the sites you mentioned to find a man talking about sopapillas and Austin, TX. Instant nostalgia and the first time I've thought much about Albuquerque where I lived briefly when I was 20 years old. The only thing I miss about that place is the sopapillas. Haven't had a decent one since; even living here where one would think they'd be all over the place. They evidently don't travel out of the southwest very well. Or I just haven't looked in the right places. I found one place that had them on the menu but they weren't what I remember.
I think I understand what you're saying about making a production about black accomplishments as if it's an anomaly. It is right up there with "some of my best friends". On the other hand, I'd like the girls to know that there were many blacks as far back as the Revolution and before who made important contributions to the country and who haven't received the acknowledgment they deserve. It seems to be a balancing act doesn't it. So, I play a dvd of Jessye Norman and mention that she reminds me of royalty. Or I talk about Marian Andersen who quietly broke down the walls of the Metropolitan Opera. Or Paul Robeson who sent his kids outside the U. S. to be educated rather than have them subjected to the Jim Crow laws here. And I try not to make a big deal or a lecture out of any of it, I just let things come up in conversation.
When Elcie was much smaller and not sure of what she would be able to do, I found a video of Izaak Perlman on stage with his violin in his hand and his crutches beside his chair. I told her he always walks on so people could see what was possible. Maybe that's what I'm trying to do now with race. Hold up examples of the finest and that includes families raising kids, teachers, doctors, truck drivers as well as celebrities. I don't know - I'm just rambling and trying to make some sense out of it.
I think it makes a difference in the reason for mentioning race. Roger, in the case you mentioned, you're absolutely right. When I was writing about our Bishop a couple of posts ago, it would have been wrong of me to say our black, female Bishop without a reason for mentioning it. In that case there was, we were talking about discrimination and her race and sex were pertinent.
Sometimes I'm at a loss so I just wing it and hope for the best. I can't and wouldn't want to ignore their heritage and I wish I were better equipped to handle whatever may come up as they grow older. I can't walk in their shoes; I'm a WASP. All I can do is love them.
Roger, we were following each other on BB again. I like your idea for the holiday. When I cook here (and I'm still not sure about going to my son's), it's an open house and the whole neighborhood know to drop in.
Andrea, just got your comment. I had the same reaction. I go back to his blog because of his current postings and had read enough of the past history to know what had happened. Now there seems to be much more joy in his life and I'm glad for him.
It's 2:00 a.m. and why am I up? Because I was afraid I wouldn't have a chance to write this or in the morning I'd talk myself out of it.
By tomorrow, I'll be back to talking about kids and all the trivia that surrounds three kids, several cats, a husband, a daughter, and me.
Oops - Alice just surfaced. I've been following her around too or she's been following me. Alice, just read your comment - it comes into my mailbox before it gets here and I sent you a long email. Welcome - I was beginning to think we'd spend the rest of our lives chasing each other around Zero Boss and Blogging Baby without direct contact. Much better now. This makes 2 commenters living in the U.K., 1 in Japan, 3 in Canada, and all the rest of us. I think that's right; at 2:00 a.m. my counting skills become fuzzy. If I missed someone, I'm sorry.
Now I really am going to bed.
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3 comments:
I will find the book and mail it to you. But there are no promises on when. Likely before 2005 is over! Trying to be realistic here.
The race stuff is so odd for me.
Not that we are perfect here in Canada - oh my no, not a bit of it - just that even where I live, which is considered the most red neck part - race just isn't a part of daily life. The word itself isn't.
Why? I'm not sure.
Hope you have a good day.
hope you had a good night's sleep... :)))
here the biggest racial minority isn't Afro-Caribbean minority, but Asians, which here means people from India, Pakistan and that region of Asia.
but, interestingly, all restaurants, including any kind of takeaway are closed on Christmas. it's celebrated here as not only a religious holiday, but a national one as well. in fact everything is closed on Christmas, all shops, movie theaters, everything.
and most things are also closed on 26 December, Boxing Day...
digressing... sorry!
I try to ignore groups that are so full of hatred and ridiculous ideas. not because I want to bury my head in the sand. (I can't, if I don't know aleady, then because Spencer is very informed, and tells me all the latest he's heard on the net) but mostly because I feel that giving attention to those so determined to cause uproar and controversy is like rewarding a naughty child during a tantrum. however, that is not to excuse their fallacies, but one thing I have learned is that the best way to fight these kinds of prejudices and bigotries is with love.
However, those bent on power will use whatever means necessary... then some kind of intervention is needed.
so, there is a fine line between allowing people to have their opinions and allowing them to have power over a great number of people. Look at Nazi Germany. or Zimbabwe, Sudan, and North Korea, just for a more current perspective. but, did it help for Bush to call Iran and NK an 'axis of evil'? (minus Iraq, after Saddam was overthrown) I don't think so. a big stick never really solves anything...
keeping people informed is paramount, so that really nasty groups can be neutralized, or at least kept small. the more we know, the more we can keep these kinds of hatemongers on the outer fringes. I'd like to think that the USA is still a country of freedoms and rights, and that if a kind of movement that chooses to usurp those rights tried to amass power, they would be soundly defeated.
Remember David Duke? Or Pauline Hanson? See this link...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Hanson
I think it just takes enough media coverage... maybe the press is quiet concerning these people right now, but I can't see it staying that way, if they continue...
sorry about the long post. there is a recipe on my blog, to make amends... :)))
Race?
When I grew up I never considerd it as part of life. I hosenstly never really noticed people of other colour or had a concept of the whole idea of foreigners. In Canada everyone comes from somewhere else and we are all Canadians. I had friends of all colours and creeds and never throught anything of it. That was before moving to Japan. Here race and colour are a big deal. I can spot a foreigner a mile away now and I honestly do not like this ability. I noticed myself using it when I visit back in Canada and pray that the ability goes away after I return. I dont like it, it doesnt feel right.
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