Michael Richards has lost it

[Carcass]

While socialisation certainly plays a major role in the development of our personalities, biological factors play their part too. Human beings are not unscribed tablets that can be arbitrarily manipulated in the desired direction. Not every single aspect of our personalities are learned. I don't claim this to be my field of expertice, but I dare to say that DNA has a role.

I don't know if we are actually born as hypocrits, I'll give you that. But I certainly do not know anyone 100% rid of racism or hypocricy. This include myself too, before anyone gets smart. But that doesn't mean I couldn't have black people as my friends. Not at all. I consider myself anti-racist. If I wasn't sincere on this point, my girlfriend would not be Spanish.

I'd like to recommend a book for you: Sociology by Anthony Giddens. Something tells me you might love that stuff.

[browneyedgirl]

While socialisation certainly plays a major role in the development of our personalities, biological factors play their part too. Human beings are not unscribed tablets that can be arbitrarily manipulated in the desired direction. Not every single aspect of our personalities are learned. I don't claim this to be my field of expertice, but I dare to say that DNA has a role.

I don't know if we are actually born as hypocrits, I'll give you that. But I certainly do not know anyone 100% rid of racism or hypocricy. This include myself too, before anyone gets smart. But that doesn't mean I couldn't have black people as my friends. Not at all. I consider myself anti-racist. If I wasn't sincere on this point, my girlfriend would not be Spanish.

I'd like to recommend a book for you: Sociology by Anthony Giddens. Something tells me you might love that stuff.

I should. I have a minor in Sociology from a major University in Alabama.
HEHEHE That comment about your girlfriend was said by Miditek(about his GF) verbetom on the Tolkki forum. Well, you could not have said Czech or German,etc. because it would not have had the same implications.(That you are not racist, I mean)I don't think anyone has said you are racist, Carcass. Although using the "N" word is up for grabs. I have seen celebs&musicians use the "N" word in interviews and they say about themselves that they are not racist. People say words are cheap, but if you call the wrong person the "N" word you'll find out hospitals are not so cheap!

Thank you, Carcass&Stealth, for your recomendations. I'll see what I can do after I read Kalevala, Le Morte De Arthur, Thelema,and The Turner Diaries.

[Stealth]

What about Cultural Anthropology by Serena Nanda and Richard Warms? That could also help!

[Carcass]

Wow, you're reading Kalevala! Do you like it? I tried to read it some years ago and thought it was quite boring. It's not that easy to read in Finnish, the language is kind of archaic.

One thing about that Sociology book, it's big as a brick, don't let that scare you. I read it from cover to cover, but each chapter can be read independently. Just pick the ones that interest you. This book is very all-round educating.

[miditek]

I don't know if we are actually born as hypocrits, I'll give you that. But I certainly do not know anyone 100% rid of racism or hypocricy. This include myself too, before anyone gets smart.

Your honesty is very admirable on this topic, Carcass, and not many people at all would actually admit to this. In this area, many people are hypocritical and are a bit full of shit.

But that doesn't mean I couldn't have black people as my friends. Not at all. I consider myself anti-racist. If I wasn't sincere on this point, my girlfriend would not be Spanish.

Nor should anyone avoid black folks, only because they are black, although it's a good idea to steer clear of those gangster wannabes. I had black friends when I was growing up, some of which are still good friends to this day.

However, I believe that it is highly unlikely that Barbra Streisand, for instance, would be inviting Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, or 'Lil Jon over for a dinner party anytime soon. (They would probably smoke her out of house and home, at any rate)

Two of my favorite political columnists happen to black- both of which have Ph D's in economics. Drs. Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell are both geniuses at taking complex economic concepts (and how they affect us socially) and making normal folks understand them. Their columns both appear and can be read at the website townhall dot com

[browneyedgirl]

Wow, you're reading Kalevala! Do you like it? I tried to read it some years ago and thought it was quite boring. It's not that easy to read in Finnish, the language is kind of archaic.

One thing about that Sociology book, it's big as a brick, don't let that scare you. I read it from cover to cover, but each chapter can be read independently. Just pick the ones that interest you. This book is very all-round educating.

Well, Kalevala is kinda boring&tedious, but many great books are. Leo Tolstoy books are like that. But, good movies from his books! I like Wuthering Heights, for example, but many people find it stupid--the plot&all. I like to read books online when I can find them&the time to search for them.

@Miditek, the real test for people who says they are not racist is when their son or daughter brings a date home(from another race) and says,"This is the person I am going to marry!" I saw that first hand in my own neighborhood!

I think it is the EXTREME expressions of racism that frighten most people.
Most races still seperate themselves from other races because actually, most people prefer to be around their own race.
But, that does not mean we cannot be friends with other races. I, also had good friends who were black, and oriental people, as well, while I went to college. Diversity in this way is a good thing because a person gets exposed to other cultures&ways of thinking.

[Carcass]

@Miditek, the real test for people who says they are not racist is when their son or daughter brings a date home(from another race) and says,"This is the person I am going to marry!" I saw that first hand in my own neighborhood!

This is good example of what I mean. I can imagine it being a bit of a shock to me if my child brought a partner from, say, Thailand to our place. But even if this would be the case, I do not call black people by names in the streets or think my colour is superior.

[browneyedgirl]

@Miditek, the real test for people who says they are not racist is when their son or daughter brings a date home(from another race) and says,"This is the person I am going to marry!" I saw that first hand in my own neighborhood!

But even if this would be the case, I do not call black people by names in the streets......

Of course not! That not only would be intolerant&impolite, but in some areas very dangerous!

[Carcass]

Just trying to explain the my ambiguous mind...

[cliff]

Michael Richards ("Kramer" in Seinfeld) went completely nuts! What the hell happened to that guy??

What do you guys think about this video? He lost it after two black guys interrupted him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sEUIZsmTOE

I hadn't seen the video and don't know that actor much, but I heard about the case.
Well... YES, the thing was really bad and everything. The guy should be ashamed for his attitude (and I bet my ass he is!).
But on the other hand, who in here has never been extremely pissed off and said horrible things that they didn't mean? People should understand that everyone make mistake. It's not because someone loses his nerves for 2 minutes that he should be labeled as a "racist" or anything. Who knows, maybe the guy just lost his nerves, or was a bit drunk and said things he really didn't ean!

And racist... Well, what does this word mean?
If I am not mistaken, racism is when you consider than a certain "race" is nothing compared to another one.
But in my opinion, people uses that "racist" word for anything. For ex, if you say "I don't like German" or "I can't stand French, they're arrogant" or "Islam is not a good religion in my opinion", many people will say "you're racist". Bullshit, everyone is (thankfully!) free to like or dislike whatever and whoever they want, as long as they "respect" those people. It has nothing to do with inferiority of race!

Someone said something about France and our zero freedom of speech. You have no idea how bad this is in here.
For ex, few days ago one of our politician said "I noticed that in the French football team, there are 9 black players, 9 on 11 players. Because a team is supposed to represent the country they fight for, or at least be "mixed", we should have 3 black people, 3 arabs and 5 white. I'm ashamed to say this, but this is because white are not so good in football.". After that, people starts to say "this guy is racist, because he said that there are too many black pp in our team!". What the hell is that? someone is racist, just because of words like this???
As a white guy myself, I would rather consider his "white people sucks in sport" as a bigger racist threat. But I'm more clever than this. I wonder what would be the thing now if the guy said "black people sucks in sport" ? Probably Riots in every corner. Ha, I love that country.

[miditek]

@Miditek, the real test for people who says they are not racist is when their son or daughter brings a date home(from another race) and says,"This is the person I am going to marry!" I saw that first hand in my own neighborhood!

Hehe- many stories come to mind regarding that, but here is one of the more amusing ones.

My sister stopped by my father's house one day to make an "announcement"- while my father, my brother, and I were spending the afternoon cleaning weapons from the obligatory Southern family arsenal.

Sis> "Hi Dad, I'm getting married to a guy that I met
on the Internet"

Dad> "?? WTF?"

Brother> "??!"

Dad> "Where is this guy from?"

Sis> "South Africa"

Dad> "WTF!"

Brother> "WTF!"

Me> Inadvertently lets go of the bolt action on the
Colt AR-15 that I was cleaning. (Sound effect
not unlike the lock n' load sound in Platoon).

Brother> "%$#@ &*%*# (*%^$ #**$!"

Sis> "He's white, but what if he weren't?"

Brother> "%^$*%$ #&^&$ *!&@# &*%$!"

Dad> "%^$^#^ ^&%$&%! *&!"

In the end, as it turns out, we actually like my brother-in-law more than my sister at times. (This is primarily due to his laid back attitude, more than anything else.)

Although both speak English, when my brother-in-law first met my younger biological brother, I actually had to translate between the two, since they had extreme difficulties in understanding each other's dialects.

Since my brother-in-law is originally from S. Africa, and is now a naturalized U.S. citizen, I wonder if he could claim that he too is now an "African-American?"

[Miguel_Ricardo]

hahah I got so scared when I read this topic hahahaha, thought you were talking about me.


Good to know that I have a similar name to Kramer