race matters

[HR-Student]

as a black African myself, i have come across whites who sometimes pissed me off to the extreme. On the other hand ive also come across blacks, indians and coloureds who pissed me off to the same extent as those whites did. Who knows who was being racist? All i know is that i got pissed off and i didnt like it and i dealt with the behaviour until the problem was solved. I realized its a human tendency to just piss others off whatever race they are. Its nothing personal, differences are the biggest signs that we are individuals. Robots dont have differences. Yet we let power hungry politicians use them to divide us instead of learning from one another, because at the end of the day amid all our differences and perceptions, all humans whether black, white, indian or colored are united in one common pursuit of love, appreciation and a good laugh...

[adrianh]

all humans whether black, white, indian or colored are united in one common pursuit of love, appreciation and a good laugh...

You are very naive (maybe very young) if you believe this.

[Blurock]

I think too often we define normal reactions as racism. If you go to a picnic spot and a number of people pitch up, behaving badly and littering. Do you get mad at the littering or do you just resent having those people around?

If they happen to drive a GP car, you may say damn Gauties, or if they are from a specific race group, you may say damn whites or blacks or whatever. Is that racism?

If we really define what we are mad about, it should be the litter, not the specific race or language group . My experience is that we all get along fine, but we should refrain from name calling and also from being too sensitive when things do not go our way.

[HR-Student]

You are very naive (maybe very young) if you believe this.

adrianh would you please give a reason for your statement

[adrianh]

The pursuit of love, appreciation and a good laugh might be what you learn in the HR handbook but I do not believe that that is the basis for what we do. If this was the case then we wouldn't have wars over land and religion not to mention the so called Democratic ideal (as per the US). I believe that people pursue freedom, power & comfort (which mostly equates to MONEY) (The only thing that sets people apart is the extent to which they would drive this pursuit) Some would do it legally and some would do it to such a degree that the illigal activities affect others very badly.

I couldn't give a toss about love, appreciation or a good laugh. I would be quite happy living on my own if I had the money to choose my lifestyle.

[HR-Student]

I couldn't give a toss about love, appreciation or a good laugh. I would be quite happy living on my own if I had the money to choose my lifestyle.

these are exactly the differences i was talking about. I just wanted to demonstrate to you how humans presume to know whats in the minds of others without even asking.
First of al you didnt ask me what i meant by love and appreciation. You probably just assumed i was talking about that misguided fuzzy feeling when you see the woman you infatuated with, which some call romance, or when you playing with your children. Those are just chemicals working within your body to preserve life.

Secondly can a man provide power, wealth, health for himself if he hated himself and those around him? Isnt it true that you give yourself such things because you want the best for yourself, because you love yourself? You want to wealth, power and health because you love yourself. But you realize to achieve all that you have to provide something to people that will enable them to also give themselves the best in life and give you money as a sign of appreciation and gratitude for your service. And business provides a means to do just that. Its a give an take proces. Now apply that to me and all other 7billion people on earth.

One of the reasons we fight is because we dont realy bother to find out what our diferences are and how we can use these diferences to offer each other what brings us love and appreciation as individuals, as races, as countries etc. Because individualy we are diferent, racialy we are diferent, but as living beings we one.

[adrianh]

Secondly can a man provide power, wealth, health for himself if he hated himself and those around him? Isnt it true that you give yourself such things because you want the best for yourself, because you love yourself? You want to wealth, power and health because you love yourself. But you realize to achieve all that you have to provide something to people that will enable them to also give themselves the best in life and give you money as a sign of appreciation and gratitude for your service. And business provides a means to do just that. Its a give an take proces. Now apply that to me and all other 7billion people on earth.

This idea of love and hate - what is it exactly - The reason I ask is because you seem to base your argument on the notion but I want you to define it. I say this because I am emotionally flatline. I can't say I am overcome but a particular feeling on way or the othr for people. I like some people and I dislike some people, from an intellectual point of view, but that's about it. I want freedom to choose my life simply because I do not want to deal with other people's $h1t all day long.

I think that it is a very serious mistake to look at the world through lenses colored by emotion. Yes love is nice for a while but when the chemical reaction in your brain wears off what then?

One of the reasons we fight is because we dont realy bother to find out what our diferences are and how we can use these diferences to offer each other what brings us love and appreciation as individuals, as races, as countries etc. Because individualy we are diferent, racialy we are diferent, but as living beings we one.

Life isn't that simple. That fact that all humans have 2 legs, 2 arms and look more or less alike doesn't make them the same. I, like many people don't want to offer each other love and don't care too much for the differences. We simply want to be left alone to live our lives as we choose (and by that I don't mean to step on anybody else's rights).

Why is it that people think that evolution & genetics apply to animals and not to humans? Why is it that people believe that even though Chinese and Japanese and all sorts of people look totally different that their mental make up and capabilities are exactly the same. We are told not to have children with our brothers, sisters & cousins (forget about the moral issues for the moment) exactly for the reason that the genetics select the worst combinations and create flawed children. No my friend, people are vastly different, genetically, physically (outside and inside including wiring of the brain) and then of course mentally (from nature & nurture)

This country tries to toss a net in the sea, catch all sorts of different fish and then force them to cohabitate in a fish bowl that isn't quite suitable for all the fish. Unless the government provide a platform where the guppy and the shark get to stand shoulder to shoulder, the shark will eat the guppy (sooner or later) (if the guppy is clever he might pre-empt the situation by getting his buddies the pirhanas to eat the sharks). It is simply nature's way.

[Newretailer]

HR-student, I agree with you. When we (very general we) have negative emotions against someone and that person happens to be of a different race, we tend to generalise that feeling for all people of that race group, in stead of confining our reaction to the offending person only.

It really boils down to judging each person as an individual and not as a part of a group.

[Dave A]

Great OP, HR-Student

Now if only there was an easy way to get people who don't "get it" to see the light.

[wynn]

In soccer terms you may rag, insult even smack a supporter of the other team 'Pirates/Bucs' but you both love soccer, so you have more in common than most.

When it comes to race I believe the vast majority of people have more in common than differences, its just that they dwell on the differences instead of the commonalities.

I remember growing up the Afrikaans and English kids used to ignore one another, mostly because of language and a little because of religion, but once we got older and got to know one another we became more friendly, the problem was with the older generation who were still fighting the 'Boer War'.

I'm sure it is the same with black kids, Zulu, Xhosa etc.

The racial divide is because of history and prejudice, I have found I get on better with younger blacks because i find the older generation are a lot more patriarchal same with older Afrikaans guys I don't agree with that.

The next thing is culture, then class, man it is complicated, then there are other religions besides Christianity, why will a Hindu parent want their kids to marry another Hindu from the same social class?

There is a sales technique called mirroring, where you act and talk like the customer you are selling to, the reason is people like people that like and are the same as them. Trouble is who mirrors who?

[Dave S]

It really boils down to judging each person as an individual and not as a part of a group.

I don't believe we should be judging anyone, when we judge others by behaviour, race, religion, etc. Do we consider that they may be judging us in the same manner? We are all capable of making mistakes and judging someone based on a mistake they have made is a bias (I'm not talking about serious crime, etc.). We all tend to jump to conclusions of individuals and group behaviour, maybe we should just accept people as they are and look for anything we consider (personal bias) to be good in them, that way we will overlook the negative and be more supportive of our fellow-man, and they of us.

[Blurock]

When it comes to race I believe the vast majority of people have more in common than differences, its just that they dwell on the differences instead of the commonalities.

A great manager once taught me the benefits of diversity. If you employ only people that talk, think and look like you, you will never be challenged and you will never grow as a person. We have a lot to learn from each other and that is why I love South Africa so much.

Our food says it all, with influences from Malaysia, Greece, Italy, France, Germany, India, Africa and other countries. And braai can really get things going; souties, boere, blackies, whiteys and all.

Imagine an Afrikaans guy introducing an Indian from Durban to traditional Cape Malay cuisine on a Cape wine farm! We had a selection of Cape curry, bobotie, sosaties, samoosas, waterblommetjies, ox tail and tamato bredie. Dessert consisted of small helpings of milk tart, koeksisters and other delicacies. Finished off with a good KWV brandy (beats a French conjac any time!).

[Newretailer]

I don't believe we should be judging anyone, when we judge others by behaviour, race, religion, etc. Do we consider that they may be judging us in the same manner? We are all capable of making mistakes and judging someone based on a mistake they have made is a bias (I'm not talking about serious crime, etc.). We all tend to jump to conclusions of individuals and group behaviour, maybe we should just accept people as they are and look for anything we consider (personal bias) to be good in them, that way we will overlook the negative and be more supportive of our fellow-man, and they of us.

Dave, you are right. Judging is the wrong word. I was thinking along the lines of if a white person sees another white person laughing and being loud, they may just think the person is having a good time. If they see a black person doing the same thing, they may think the person is loud/obnoxious.

I agree with accepting other people as they are. I know from experience that I spent years trying to change other people to be the way I wanted them to be. Did it work? Heck, no! Accepting others for exactly who they are is a good way to happiness.

I don't always succeed in that though lol.

[tec0]

Race is not about right or wrong, it is not about racism at all. Racism is a negotiation tool, it is a tool to predicate with. It is all it ever was and all it will ever be. There are no racial challenges, there is only the populace. If the populace cannot maintain a healthy economy and maintain population growth, the effects will be over population and a poor economy thus allowing for poverty. Why because the economy can only support so many people.

It is about numbers do the math and you will find that the supper rich exist only because of bad legislation, corruption and the lack of laws. IF wealth was properly allocated with a failsafe system along with personal responsibility race will no longer be a factor.

[adrianh]

Race is not about right or wrong, it is not about racism at all. Racism is a negotiation tool, it is a tool to predicate with. It is all it ever was and all it will ever be.

A definition is in order: race

1. A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
2. A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the German race.
3. A genealogical line; a lineage.
4. Humans considered as a group.
5. Biology
a. An interbreeding, usually geographically isolated population of organisms differing from other populations of the same species in the frequency of hereditary traits. A race that has been given formal taxonomic recognition is known as a subspecies.
b. A breed or strain, as of domestic animals.




So if Racism is not about race but only a negotiaton tool then how come the Germans killed the Jews, the Isreali's kill the Palistinians, the Hutus kill the Tutsis, the Serbs killed the Croats etc

supper rich exist only because of bad legislation, corruption and the lack of laws.

Interesting, so you are saying that Richard Branson, Raymond Ackermann, my brother and a multitude of other super rich people got there because of bad legislation, corruption and a lack of laws - I always thought they got there through education, luck, planning, hard work, making the most of oppertunities etc. I am quite sure that a person like my brother, who worked his butt off his entire life, would just to her this view.

IF wealth was properly allocated with a failsafe system along with personal responsibility race will no longer be a factor.

Ok, so we should all become Communists and have the state give us our daily allocations - we all know how that turned out in the USSR. Fascism won't work with 11 languages and all, We could try Socialism but I think we would all then sit on our Collective butts and do nothing.

You live in a capitalist democratic country, you have the right to choose your leaders and your lifestyle, you have the right to choose to work or do nothing, you have the right to become filthy rich or be dirt poor - the choices are in your own hands. The law cannot protect people from their own stupidity & laziness.