Comments on: Racism — Challenge yourself http://brightonreiki.co.uk/blog/racism-challenge-yourself/ Rifa Bhunnoo: Reiki Master Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:22:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Anastasis http://brightonreiki.co.uk/blog/racism-challenge-yourself/comment-page-1/#comment-54 Anastasis Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:57:30 +0000 http://brightonreiki.co.uk/?p=459#comment-54 Thanks for the post - really appreciated it, and it made a few things hit home. The issue of subtlety was definately key throughout the text. It doesn't matter if it is racism level 10 (i.e. blatant racism such as discriminatory names) or level 1 (e.g. just by making it apparent such as "He's Japanese American or he's Afro-American" etc), the fact of the matter is that if race is made apparent, then it is racism. The whole point is that it does not matter and should not matter where we come from and what colour our skin is, but that is still the case today. Nobody can tell where I'm from. Seriously, if it was down to others, I'd come from every continent. There was a situation on the tube a few months back where someone asked if not if I was from Spain but if I was Spanish. I said no. "French - no - Indian - no - Iranian - Israeli - no - What are you then?" WHAT ARE YOU? Unbelieveable! I told him my name and continued that it was more about who i was rather than WHAT I WAS! Going back to the subtlety issue, it would be interesting to work out where it comes from, what the root and motive of subtle racism is. In my eyes, it's just cowardice. Subtle racism occurs because people know it is wrong and don't have the balls to be blatant. Blatant racism comes from fear leading to anger and the old chestnut; IGNORANCE. Thanks for the post — really appreciated it, and it made a few things hit home. The issue of subtlety was definately key throughout the text.

It doesn’t matter if it is racism level 10 (i.e. blatant racism such as discriminatory names) or level 1 (e.g. just by making it apparent such as “He’s Japanese American or he’s Afro-American” etc), the fact of the matter is that if race is made apparent, then it is racism.

The whole point is that it does not matter and should not matter where we come from and what colour our skin is, but that is still the case today.

Nobody can tell where I’m from. Seriously, if it was down to others, I’d come from every continent. There was a situation on the tube a few months back where someone asked if not if I was from Spain but if I was Spanish. I said no. “French — no — Indian — no — Iranian — Israeli — no — What are you then?” WHAT ARE YOU?

Unbelieveable! I told him my name and continued that it was more about who i was rather than WHAT I WAS!

Going back to the subtlety issue, it would be interesting to work out where it comes from, what the root and motive of subtle racism is.

In my eyes, it’s just cowardice. Subtle racism occurs because people know it is wrong and don’t have the balls to be blatant.

Blatant racism comes from fear leading to anger and the old chestnut; IGNORANCE.

]]> By: Michelle http://brightonreiki.co.uk/blog/racism-challenge-yourself/comment-page-1/#comment-37 Michelle Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:31:10 +0000 http://brightonreiki.co.uk/?p=459#comment-37 Brilliant post. I was also at that Herring gig and this has made me think about it in a different way - thank you. Also agree with zenbullets - racism has become more 'subtle' for some sections of society which makes it more insidious and difficult to counter. Brilliant post. I was also at that Herring gig and this has made me think about it in a different way — thank you. Also agree with zenbullets — racism has become more ‘subtle’ for some sections of society which makes it more insidious and difficult to counter.

]]> By: zenbullets http://brightonreiki.co.uk/blog/racism-challenge-yourself/comment-page-1/#comment-35 zenbullets Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:45:08 +0000 http://brightonreiki.co.uk/?p=459#comment-35 Well said that lady. I'm way too straight, white and anglo-saxon to possibly comment really, but I suspect that racism (and other forms of intolerance) probably never went away, they are just deeply unfashionable at the moment. While it is currently socially unacceptable to speak such things, it doesn't stop people thinking them. You now hear it expressed in more subtle ways, e.g. "a lot of my best friends are asian" (well, why wouldn't they be), or "I lived in Liverpool for 4 years and wasn't robbed once" I really don't think we've come that far from the 70s/80s, and don't think it would take much of a societal swing to go back there. Well said that lady. I’m way too straight, white and anglo-saxon to possibly comment really, but I suspect that racism (and other forms of intolerance) probably never went away, they are just deeply unfashionable at the moment.

While it is currently socially unacceptable to speak such things, it doesn’t stop people thinking them. You now hear it expressed in more subtle ways, e.g. “a lot of my best friends are asian” (well, why wouldn’t they be), or “I lived in Liverpool for 4 years and wasn’t robbed once”

I really don’t think we’ve come that far from the 70s/80s, and don’t think it would take much of a societal swing to go back there.

]]> By: R.William Barry http://brightonreiki.co.uk/blog/racism-challenge-yourself/comment-page-1/#comment-34 R.William Barry Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:12:14 +0000 http://brightonreiki.co.uk/?p=459#comment-34 Very well put. Anyone who thinks racism is no longer an issue obviously didn't pay too much attention to the American presidential election - yeh, sure Obama won, but that doesn't erase the fact that McCain and Palin basically spent the whole campaign touring the south going "he's black! He's black! He's black!" Nor does it erase the habitual way Fox News reporters would emphasize Obama's middle name. And that was an election where the racists lost. Now if we turn to the UK and our recent European election, the ease with which the BNP were able to appropriate Gordon Brown's own phrase, 'British jobs for British workers' shows how close mainstream politics in Britain is to the far-right. David Cameron's cosying up with the far-right parties in the European Parliament being another example. And then there is the row over the veil in French public life - a thinly coded expression of a more or less open fear of Islamic people that has given plenty of fire to Le Pen - and the still recent scandal over Chanel's "Bleu Blanc Rouge" employment practices... I haven't seen Herring's show (although I did read his recent Guardian article and blog post), but I do think it's interesting that simply addressing these issues head on, lead him to branded a racist by a Guardian journalist. There is a definite desire on the part of the white bourgeoisie to brush these issues under the carpet and pretend they're not there. Boris Johnson's scrapping of anti-racism free festivals in London because, apparently, racism doesn't exist in London anymore, being a case in point. But I wonder where is the line that separates these liberal deniers of racism from the, shall we say, more overt racism of Holocaust denialists? Very well put. Anyone who thinks racism is no longer an issue obviously didn’t pay too much attention to the American presidential election — yeh, sure Obama won, but that doesn’t erase the fact that McCain and Palin basically spent the whole campaign touring the south going “he’s black! He’s black! He’s black!” Nor does it erase the habitual way Fox News reporters would emphasize Obama’s middle name. And that was an election where the racists lost. Now if we turn to the UK and our recent European election, the ease with which the BNP were able to appropriate Gordon Brown’s own phrase, ‘British jobs for British workers’ shows how close mainstream politics in Britain is to the far-right. David Cameron’s cosying up with the far-right parties in the European Parliament being another example. And then there is the row over the veil in French public life — a thinly coded expression of a more or less open fear of Islamic people that has given plenty of fire to Le Pen — and the still recent scandal over Chanel’s “Bleu Blanc Rouge” employment practices… I haven’t seen Herring’s show (although I did read his recent Guardian article and blog post), but I do think it’s interesting that simply addressing these issues head on, lead him to branded a racist by a Guardian journalist. There is a definite desire on the part of the white bourgeoisie to brush these issues under the carpet and pretend they’re not there. Boris Johnson’s scrapping of anti-racism free festivals in London because, apparently, racism doesn’t exist in London anymore, being a case in point. But I wonder where is the line that separates these liberal deniers of racism from the, shall we say, more overt racism of Holocaust denialists?

]]> By: Twitted by LegionAOD http://brightonreiki.co.uk/blog/racism-challenge-yourself/comment-page-1/#comment-33 Twitted by LegionAOD Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:48:57 +0000 http://brightonreiki.co.uk/?p=459#comment-33 [...] This post was Twitted by LegionAOD [...] […] This post was Twitted by LegionAOD […]

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