In the 1965 debate at Cambridge between W.F.Buckley and James Baldwin, the content of which is still relevant today, Mr. Baldwin expressed something to the effect: that whenever a group of oppressed white people somewhere on the planet get together and demand their rights or freedom, the rest of the world cheers them on. When an oppressed group of people of color does the same thing, it begets plenty of outrage, but few cheers. Yet, lo and behold, I dare say we have inched forward a tad since 1965, for , concerning the incident that Mr. Noah has shed light upon above, by my reckoning, the kneeling down people have received much more applause and cheering on than have their detractors. The die has been cast.
America is an outlier compared to Canada and Western Europe when it comes to issues of race. That's why I found watching Bowling for Columbine so interesting to watch again. The time may be different, but the psyche of a large number of Americans about issues of race has not changed.
In the UK, there was a significant anti apartheid movement. There is a lot of support for Palestinian issues. There was support for Gandhi back in the day. The UK in the past has always welcomed refugees, less so now partly because net immigration has been huge and the country has changed very quickly as well as become very crowded. Canada is currently welcoming Syrian refugees and Germany is as well.
The thinking is that Germany is always trying to make up for the past. The UK to some extent as well because of Imperialism and the dichtomy of how a country that has strong ideas of democracy and fairness could have done such things but also because the same Imperialism created ties around the world. Europe understands the fact that they were evil when they used force and don't want to do that again.
America on the other hand has this weird group of evangelicals and celebrates how they gained their freedom through force. There is a unique psyche here that other people are potential enemies. And in the South, there is nostalgia for the good old days.
To my mind, this behavior is the antithesis of being a good Christian. Steven Colbert - a Sunday school teacher and ordained minister - is more like a Christian than many others who claim to be. The fact that a clearly godless man such as Trump could whip things up amongst so many so called Christians, speaks volumes about them.
America an outlier: yes, not only in health care understanding,and other social issues, but particularly with not having comes to grips with its racist history.To invoke Mr. Baldwin once again: America will never possess an adequate comprehension of itself if it fails to understand that racism is not just a part of its history but is at the core or center of its history. Without slavery, America would not be what it is today, and, today, we have not progressed as other countries have, due to our poor understanding of this fact. As you illustrated, most English speaking countries, as well as central European ones, have made progress in understanding their history and have learned from and attempted to rectify past mistakes. But America has a strange historical trait whereby immigrant groups are treated as deplorables for 100 or so years until they finally are integrated into America as equals: The Irish, Italians, Hispanics, etc., etc,.Yet, African Americans, to disagree with Ben Carson, were not immigrants, but slaves, and, it goes without saying, it has been no joy ride for them in America going on 400 years now, much longer than any other group, a fact in need of an explanation.
Religion and Slavery: although the major religions of the world have certainly come up short in the practicing of what they preach department, there have been in America, of all places, a notable chorus of "true" believers who knew and know that slavery was and is immoral. Abolitionists such as John Brown (whom many consider to be a nut), Elijah P. Lovejoy, and many others have risked their lives attempting to do what was right and end slavery. And, I believe, many American religions and their true practitioners carry on this tradition with regard to racial issues.
Thus I believe a new day is coming, for soon the American population descended from white europeans will have intermarried and will eventually be unrecognizable, and sometime after that I see a fully diversified and integrated America that resembles a fine Gumbo: you will never know quite what's in it, but it sure tastes good.
Longer version of the video:
Progress!
Steelers Player Who Stood Alone for the National Anthem Says That Was an Accident
Here is list of NFL SPONSORS TO BOYCOTT:
Anheuser-Busch, Barclaycard US, Bose, Bridgestone, Campbell’s Soup Company, Castrol, Courtyard Marriott, Dairy Management, Inc. DMI/National Dairy Council, Dannon, Extreme Networks, FedEx, Gatorade, Hyundai Motor America, Mars Snackfood, McDonald’s, Microsoft XBOX, Surface and Windows, Nationwide, News America, Papa John’s, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Quaker, SAP Americas, TD Ameritrade, Verizon, Visa.
I have never been a part of a boycott in the past but this past weekend was more than I could stand. I am done with the NFL and it looks like the NBA. I hope that the people get together and get their representatives to ban this monopoly and not let these for profit teams force communities to build their stadiums, tax abatement, etc. etc.
So sad that the first black president had a golden opportunity to unite but chose to divide. Truly sad that the hope and change that was promised was just like the shovel ready jobs, rhetoric.
rhet·o·ric
ˈredərik/Submit
noun
-the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.
synonyms: oratory, eloquence, command of language, way with words
"a form of rhetoric"
-language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience, but often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content.
Whatever you say.
How's your boycott going? Or is that rhetoric as well?
It was not rhetoric and it just started. I did not watch monday's game nor will I watch the game tonight.
Don't forget CBS, ABC, NBC, ESPN, Fox Sports, etc. In bed with those leagues big league.
You will need to be very careful when swiping on your Cellnuvo phone in that I believe many of the ads there have a financial connection to the NFL and NBA, ads that you might want to boycott. You could just purchase credits with a CC, but just don't use Visa, or any other card tied to boycotted companies.
Very hard to boycott some of these companies but because I'm so helpful, I want to give 112059 some help identifying all the products and brands they need to boycott:
Go through these lists carefully. You don't want to miss anything.
Also, I think the Milk sponsorship effectively comes from all the milk producers in the country, so you may need to give up all Dairy products too. What has Steve Bannon gotten you into?
Good luck!
In the spirit of celebrating America, let me say a few words in support of some of these companies and their hard working employees.
I've almost always had a great experience at Marriott hotels thanks to the people and the corporate culture.
My local FedEx store and the people there are so nice.
I'm going to move some investments to TD Ameritrade because they have a great all round offering.
Visa Signature credit cards give you an additional year warranty. I claimed once and it was so easy. They also provide better coverage than MasterCard on car rentals.
I've been boycotting America & supporting China for most of my life, as I shop at Walmart & Target. Follow my lead, will ya?
700 million Chinese have moved above the poverty line since 1980.
Maybe where you choose to spend isn't such a bad thing.
Hi Soteria ROCK ON!
Differing points of view and fascinating conversations is what makes this forum so great!!!!!
I've been out in the desert on a horse with no name,
can't wait to see some rain'
FWIW, the One Child Policy is no longer enforced in China.