phewww ladies that was some big read all in one go took me awhile to get round to it as i am not american, wearas the question/title about racisum in america. I guess i came in to be nosie lol.

someone asked a question about americans and alluded to them being white but question was more to do with how americans are treated percived abroud and would it overshadow race. The americans i know heer are seen as american regardless of their race. That includes an asian lad he's not seen as asian just american when theirs a negative comment about him. Based on that one incident then being american outside america is the dominant factore.

Its endless ise't it? its about race, couler, class (i know most don't get it mountain ash or think of it as the big issue it is as, big as race anyway)but its their. then over and above race theirs cultures, monie issues devides.

It startes as one thing an ends up eating into everything. Its been stated before as the us and them devide to my mind its still about that as theirs a hundred diffrent ways to make the us/them devide. Oh and the gays, transexule, bisexules all of it comes into play.

If people can't see past what differents them from the other then as a whole we are lost or doomed. Unless we accepted the racist tendansies and biases we inherited from our owen culture and set to work on them to remove them then we will remain lost.

I enjoyed the part of the descusion that talked about power but who is willinglie gonna give that up? As americans would you give up the power america has and its statise over other countries? Or would the american tag bind you all together and have you as the us to the rest of the worlds them? I trying to use that as an example that most of you would feel like the included group (a few canadians within this descusion but mostlie american)

Even in the name of inclusion it won't be done as the power struckter exists to maintain the power within the chosen group thats got it Be it about countries, race, sexualitie gender whatever the catigorie is.

I have several subdevided cultures to identifie and chose to belong or not to becouse of my familie and mix within it. The flipp of that coin is not belonging in the mixed culture or the white culture or belonging any weer becouse of the lack of puritie of any ONR culture. It makes life a bit more difficult at times but who ever said it be straightforwared anyway lol.

it good to know that your all doing your indivduel bits to stop or confront racisum or stereotype whenever its encountered, imo its all we can do and have a moral rightand responsicibilitie to actulie do towards other people and also within ourselfs when we dectect it, not if but when we find it.

dose this happen within your countrie that one group of people due to influx of imigrants get targeted and blamed for everything, then people get used to them they get assimulated and the focus of racial hatride gets targeted at the next group that influxes the countrie? Logicalie this would come to an end when enough people from all types of races and cultures are established within a countrie, hopfullie i will see that day


overall listening to this descusion it seemes like very little has changed given all the negative examples of racial and cultural descriminasion. Is it reallie like that?

celtic . . . where are you located and what is your experience in your country with racism? what did you learn? are there different stratas of purity in terms of your ethnic make-up?

on the issue of american power, i believe my view would be in the minority. i would be happy to give up any "super power" title. i am against nationalism. i am not proud to be an american because i believe being an american is an accident of birth (or at least i had nothing to do with being affiliated with anything "great" so i don't try to affilate with that or take any credit for it).

and i think america has a lot to be ashamed of . . . from the slaughter of native peoples to slavery to atrocities around the world. i don't think americans are any better than any other people. but like i said, my view is a minority view. there is lots of hype that people buy into re: america the great . . . such a great country. i don't identify with it at all. i would be much happier to be a canadian or a swede . . .at least those countries are not war mongers.

i value peace between countries and i wish the united nations was a strong entity. it would be awesome.

that coke commercial in the early seventies . . . "i'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony . . . " that was a beautiful time because a corporate giant was embodying (even if for material gain) this beautiful message and it was going out all over the airwaves. i really think that kind of thing is so powerful. we have nothing moving like that now. at least the hippy movement of the sixties had some short term impact on the planet.

my apologies to all of the patriots out there for what is probably an offensive viewpoint.


at one time america was equated with freedom of speech and critical thinking was taught in schools. those days are practically over. everything is super politically correct.

oh, i see you are from ireland. if from northern, do you feel discrimation against southern, and vice versa? do you feel discrimation towards scots or english or americans or you-name-it? just wondering how it might be similar or different from american bigotry . . . (not that you are a bigot . . .sorry . . .i am tired. i am meaning to ask about your personal experience if you are willing to share it or the experiences you note that are common in your culture). i have some irish blood coarsing through my viens. do irish identify at all with their american relatives or do they feel they are fake irish? just some crazy questions. please take what you like and leave the rest as they say in 12 step programs.

celtic: i just responded to you again in the non-traditional woman thread in welcome. i read there that you are a scot. i also have scottish blood. i am very ignorant of the ethnic make-up of people in other countries.

i did find it interesting that you said you see an american asian as an american first and asian second. i would like to hear more about that.

are americans generally disdained in ireland?

Glad you submitted your post Anno. I love the candid honesty here.

I just want to add one little observation. Being a grandmother of a mixed grandchild, has opened my eyes to humanism. Haha..is that a word?

I see my son in my granddaughter in so many ways: her expressions, her movements. I think she has my eyebrows, and her grandfather's soft hair. She has a beautiful sense of rhythm. Music is in her genes. When she smiles, her eyes sparkle, her skin colour is a pale golden brown, and the way she embraces life with open arms;… - all that, she has from her Afro American mother. When our family observes her, and ponders what does she have from who;…my son comes up with the standard answer; she's just plain "A"…and is her own person.

Yes, we are all our own person. There are criminal whites, honest blacks, - blah blah, - We all know that. I think it's quite simple, really. Our bodies are just there to house are souls, and I don't believe souls are in any color.

that simple and consie truth is what i love about you EW and your funnies lol. i think ya got it all girl the hart and the humer so how luckie are you

i also enjoyed annos post maybee didn't make it clear enough but we all work from some stereotype and when we face and work on them thats when we get better rather than deniey their existense.

onlie i can't think that clearlie in short sentenses lol hense big rambles but i think ya all used to me thinking out loaud.

EW, I appreciate your post about A. As you know, two of our children are adopted from Korea, and I gave birth to our third. Talk about trying to figure out who gets what from whom - it's wild, because we also have the,"What's genetic and what's learned?" to consider.

I think this post makes some people uncomfortable, but in my opinion, it's a great topic because it makes us aware of what others have experienced, and that tells us why we all have different opinions on this topic. Thanks for the honesty shared.

seek hellow again in just been in welcome section so skipped dowen heer as i understood ya asked some questions lol i try hard to answere them honestie.

i am a scot living in northern ireland my experinse is that the geographical devide heer is more about religion first and locasion second. It all works the same its about the them and us or just stereotypes.

All catholicks are ira supporters all protestensts are nationalists (to britane not ireland) Thers massive changes in northern ireland in terms of legalitie but they been so bissie sorting out the religouse bigotorie that stuff like sexualitie or race or disabilitie 20 years behind the rest of the world. Thers legal protection now (onlie in last 5 years) but as usule or to be expected culture and attitudes change slowlie. It has to be that way for cultural stabilitie but i get impasiont.

poppie is irish, cheek her out in adult educasion. Mountain ash is a scot she appers everyweer lol. So was talking about class destincsion being equale to racisum in the uk, i not to sure if its understood as well in usa but its an exilent and relivent point for heer.


The predigise or racisum (is it that in my case?) was about smelling funnie lol i smelled of garlic for goodness sake, before it was fashionable to eat and having a funnie second name. It took a while for me to work out the travellor stuff waqs so bad, especallie from people who do not know my background!

my dads side is italion, french and one of the grandies was english desent. The grandparents meet she french (circuse person)him italion officer he followed her about europe till she agreed to marrie him (youd get arrested for that now lol but i think it was viewed as romantic) then they had 14 kids born litralie in nearlie every european countrie untill settled in scotland. Typicalie they became self employed as no one would employ the immigrants, their children also became self emplouyed or very very educated. I see the same pattern in imigrants today.

my mums side is spanish and traverlers or show people (gypsies but diffrent due to occupasion ie funfaires) thats the destincsion between traverlers. I understand their origins to be indian. Most are religouse (christion) hard working and decent people, some are con men/women but its the latter their knowen as, thats the stereotype. Thats also the one that attracts the most negative attension in the uk.


I think you said your italion dad was onse the most descriminated culture at a time and that also happend heer, then it moved on to blacks, asians, then indians and pakistan now currentlie its the polish thats getting the rough end of the stick. Its seemes with each cultural group the comes into the countrie in abundanse gets the hardest deal as people exercise and resite change using the same sillie questions and attitudes "ther taking our work" and how manie polish people can ya fit into a house. This seems to happen as the same roughlie similare pattern targeted at the newest group of imigrants.

Most (natonal)people do not understand the need to be self employed, or over educated or why thers a strong immigrant sub communitie, or why their loads of overcrowding, or despite their taking "our jobs" clame thers a predominance of povertie. The urbane mythes are rediculise but do direct people thinking,and are overwhelming ie "so and so is begging on the streets but they get picked up in a mercedise and live in one of the most expensive houses in the most expensive areas of towen" so i'm not gonna give them monie i hate them becouse they beg and i hate them becouse they live and drive what they do lol. Thats the stuff that gets banded about. Becouse the are the them or outsiders then they become dehumanised and expect everyone to treat them like shite so think they can get away with outragiouse behaviour.

i view it as bulling and i just don't like bullies so the local supermarket has a mild mannered women sitting outside playing an accourdian. Every day myself and my son go past her say hi, she lets my son press some of her keys, hes delighted and on we go our bussness. However she was being hassled by two 15-19 year old boys, in broken english she told me he had tried to punch her! Sounding like i'm from heer or at lest accepted within this countrie i toare into him, told him he should be asamed of himself, told him id phone the police on him not him on her beggin and verballie chased him off. I was absulutlie desgusted that this was happenin in broad daylight in the middle of the afternoon in full view of the securitie gard from the shop. that happenin to any other female would have been an outcrie BUT it was ok that this happend to her. Thats the unsutile realitie of blatent decriminasion and racisum. I hate it in its unsutle and sutle formes.

i instantlie get an adrenaline rush and am furiouse it was onlie afterwards that i thought opps me and my frend could have been attaked too for defending her. My frend was quite throughout as she didn't know what to say and she not quite as fierie as me. if id have let that pass me by id of hated myself for turning my back on another humane being.

i have to jump back to read what else ya asked.

within scotland we are all scotish but their is a devision due to highland lowlanders and east or west costers lol. its not too bad but its their.

generallie thers a big dislike of english people and for most or earlist part of my life i bought this one big time.I din't know any better and just parroted what id heared from around me. If we all joine in a common dislike of someone something then we stronger as a group, we have common goals even if its to hate a whole section of people, i think thats how it workes. Rember that this stuff is hundred of years old but the legasie still exists today in the people consiousness.

Iv also lived in york in north england (a lot of scot english invasion and fighten happend their and for centuries ther was a flexiable boundrie between the countries depending on who was winning lol)
I was told that their still an old law exists today that any scot cough within an arrowes distanse of the citie boundrie walls (they still have part of the garison) could legalie be killed, obviouslie the sscot english devide goes both ways within some people.

I do make a joke that i could live in london as its not england anymore, due to the influx of cultures theirs. ( i was nearlie living in london a while back) Trust me iv done a lot of work on the english predijuse but traces of it remain

Think historicalie it comes from british imperilisum, scottish clearenses and how scots irish were treated while forced to fight to concer india and the rest to form the british empire. The same dislike is also within ireland agenst the english. Thers no one living today that was part of the clearenses or any of those battles but thers a hangover in attitude. A bit like the south north devide within the usa. Perhapps the english government is predijised agenst scotland or cares a bit less about it hence why the devolved scotish parliment is so prised within scotland.

The laughable thing is the uk as a whole is tinie, you can drive from east to west in an afternoon yet look at the stereotypical attitudes to such a short distanses.

the usa is massive i also know of your east west north south devide canadian american devide and i wonder dose it get worse becouse of the geographical distanses within your countrie? so dose distanse or miles matter, anyone can feel free to answere not just "seek" as this aint a private conversasion.

I WILL TRY TO WRITE THIS AS HONESTLIE AND AS SENSITIVLIE AS I CAN SO NO THROUGHIN VEGTABLES AT ME PLZ LOL. (unless i can use them for christmass dinner

thers a couple of americans i know and one canadian i am close too heer. if someones got a critisisum of them sometimes it comes dowen to them just being american sometimes "just people" and their nationalitie dose't come into it. Natrulie none of this gets to their ears. You asked the question but what of non white americans? and in this lad case (just call him mr a) its 95% of time focused on him being american in about 5% of time its about him being american and asian)Iv knowen him maybee 15 yrs and its still the same, hes a pest, yep hes american, he thinks he knows better yep hes american. I think ths are just his personalitie trates and not sure how accuritlie they reflect the rest of you all xxx million of you lol. Sadlie that type of stuff is typical of the stereotypical stuff thats leved at americans, also arrogant, know better, very brash and noisie, obsesed with size, capitalisum, guns and violenses. Also your out to culturalie invade the rest of us. You got to have some idea of the stereotypes that abound about your culture. If thers folks like that i don't hang out with them, well i woukld't so thats not my perseption of usa but in my very first encounters with americans i know i did have to wade through that stuff before i could see the person.

I being know as a scot i am stereotypicalie vieewd as being mean with cash, drunken, violent, hard as in tough and drink whiskie for breakfast lol i don't, its brandie for breakfast lol. Trufullie its no alcholoe for breakfast but this is getting seriouse lol. I am also viewd as trustworthie (i do hypnotheripie and my accent works for me in that case)i am frendlie chattie and sociable. thats some of the stuff that gets flung at us scotts, so i sure you might be able to add some more maybe some of other celts will chime in heer.

Id like the other americans and non americans maybee to steap in too at this point. How did you guys tackle your owen predijice within your owen countrie towards the fellow americans from diffrent geographical locasions? How dose it change when you have an american that is of diffrent race, what predominates, the race or their geographical locasion?

oh and thanks seek for not jumping on me for using the national card and taking the best meaning out of it. I thought it be something we could all identifie with regardless of race within that nationalitie, identifie in wanting to belong or not belong to our nationalitie and what we leveie agenst people from other countries

The first time someone put to me about losing my national identity i freeked inside, if i could't be scottish what would i be lol for all that was good or bad about being a scott, at lest i was sumthing lol. that was a long time ago and apart from being born heer and being steaped in this cultural environment i am not sure what part of me is a celt lol

for me it is important but not as important as it once was mountain ash alreadie talked about the european union and how we have a notion of a cultural ideantitie house within a bigger one of being european, so this culture to a greater or lesser degree is exactlie altering its idea of nationalitie, hopefullie for the better.

How would you all feel about losing your owen nationalitie, i am just thinking it workes the same way or uses the same mecanisums as the racist stuff that abounds as some of you could't relate.