Why can't people understand that there is no such thing as race?

reply to post by alfa1

What an impressive list! Yes, the superiority of the white man is clearly demonstrated by the invention of the biscuit-cutter and the golf tee.

Now here’s another list of achievements the white race has brought to the world.

• The guillotine
  
• The rack
  
• The thumbscrew
  
• The Iron Maiden
  
• The wheel (as in the kind they break people on, that is)
  
• The electric chair
  
• Waterboarding
  
• Hanging, drawing and quartering
  
• Lethal injection
  
• Heroin
  
• Morphine
  
• Zyklon-B
  
• The gas chamber
  
• Arbeit macht frei
  
• The Holocaust
  
• Totalitarianism
  
• Fascism
  
• Nazism
  
• Soviet-style Communism
  
• The gulag
  
• The concentration camp
  
• The dum-dum bullet and all its progeny
  
• The rifle
  
• The cannon
  
• The crossbow
  
• The ballista
  
• The knout
  
• The cat-o’-nine-tails
  
• Mechanized warfare
  
• The firestorm
  
• Biological warfare
  
• ‘Total war’ (meaning attacks on civilian communities and infrastructure)
  
• The dive-bomber
  
• Carpet-bombing
  
• ‘Scorched Earth’
  
• The fragmentation grenade
  
• The Claymore mine
  
• Napalm
  
• The A-bomb
  
• The H-bomb
  
• The neutron bomb
  
• The ballistic missile
  
• The multiple re-entry warhead
  
• Blitzkreig
  
• La terreur
  
• The Spanish Inquisition
  
• The Hundred Years’ War
  
• The extermination of the entire native population of the West Indies
  
• The extermination of the Incas
  
• The near-extermination of the native population of North America
  
• The extermination of the native population of Tasmania
  
• The North Atlantic slave trade
  
• The Congo Free State
  
• The Cheka, the NKVD, the KGB
  
• The OSS, the CIA
  
• The Cold War
  
• Propaganda
  
• Brainwashing
  
• Apartheid
  
• Genocide as an instrument of state policy

I could make my list longer than yours quite easily, but frankly I haven’t the heart.

To acknowledge that race exists – as even the OP was tacitly obliged to do in his last post – is not to invite racist comparisons between them. Shame on you.

Originally posted by Astyanax
To acknowledge that race exists – as even the OP was tacitly obliged to do in his last post – is not to invite racist comparisons between them. Shame on you.

This goes back to what I said at the bottom of my previous post.
The simple mention of what white people have done, even without mentioning any other race at all, is in itself RACIST.

Originally posted by Domo1
Be proud of your race...

Actually, I think its bordering on illegal in most western countries.
Political correctness, you know.



Edit - note also that making a large list of bad things that white people have done, as Astyanax did, is NOT racist.
A list of bad things that any other race did, would of course be very racist indeed.

Racism only works one way.

reply to post by alfa1

The simple mention of what white people have done, even without mentioning any other race at all, is in itself RACIST.

That is correct.

It is also racist to say things like 'black people have a natural sense of rhythm' or 'Chinese people are admirably hard-working'. Racists always fail to see this.

Not one of the things on your list (or mine) was actually invented by 'the white race'. They were invented by individuals. Those individuals happened to be fortunate (or otherwise) in having the vast corpus of Western culture to draw upon as a resource. That some of them were white themselves is merely incidental to the story.

By the way, the resource they drew on would not even exist if it were not for the Arabs.

reply to post by IEtherianSoul9


An interesting question... Ive thought about this topic for some time and I see a few scenarios possibly coming out of it.

First and foremost, is it concievable that maybe Earth is a testing ground so to speak? We all share the same planet, we live behind borders, labels, nationalities, titles, etc. If we are ever to advance to a level where we make it into deep space, its going to be acheived by becoming a "one people planet".

If we cant see past our own shortcomings, then how can we get along with non humans should that day ever come?

We have a massive test bed of life on this planet, going from highly organized all the way down to the microscopic. Not only are we having issues living with ourselves, we are having issues living with the other life forms on this planet.

Trying to find a base where everyone recognizees we are one people will be difficult, but will eventually come. What I find interesting is how Humans consider themselves to be the most advanced life form on the planet, yet the animal kingdom doesnt show signs of prejudices towards its species.

reply to post by alfa1

This is the way things have become after years of brutal White Guilt conditioning and mass Multiculturalism.

If you happen to be White you are forbidden from taking pride in the achievements of your ancestors, but you are encouraged to feel shame for the past negative actions of those who had pale skin.

If you happen to be non-White, you are encouraged to take pride in the achievements of your ancestors, but you are discouraged to feel any shame for the past negative actions of those of the same race.

We live in strange times.

Originally posted by Dark Ghost
reply to post by alfa1

 

If you happen to be White you are forbidden from taking pride in the achievements of your ancestors, but you are encouraged to feel shame for the past negative actions of those who had pale skin.

Why would you be proud of feats achieved by people who you have no link to other than the colour of your skin? It seems like pathetic glory hunting to bask in the achievements of people who have absolutely nothing to do with you other than being born in a similar geographical location. Seriously, skin colour is the most tenuous connection. You might as well take credit for the achievements of people who had a similar hair cut to you

reply to post by john_bmth


You are missing the point. It's due to Double Standards that something like Black History Month can exist, whereas White History Month would be seen as racist.

I agree that "race" alone should not be used as a connection to celebrate or mourn the past actions of one's ancestors. Neither should gender or sexual orientation for that matter.

OP, you are right and wrong.

Race does not physically exist, it only exists as a concept held in the mind of humans. Race is just a meaningless invention by humans that does nothing but divide people into categories.

Categorizing people by the color of their skin is much like trying to categorize people by the color of their eyes. It's likened to saying people with brown eyes are a different race than people with blue eyes, and that is absurd.

Believe it or not, many people in this world pick and choose who their mates are by physical traits. If a woman has a big nose, she might look for a male with a small nose so their offspring could possibly have a medium sized nose. It's called "selective breeding", and it is how most breeds of dog were created.

The diversity of the physical traits of the human race is caused by years and years of localized breeding. A few families with specific traits in a local area would breed, and those traits were passed from person to person, and shared among them all. That processes happened in different areas of the world, so humans from different areas of the world had different traits. They are all human, and the only difference between them all is who their ancestors are.

Race does NOT actually exist. If it did, then every different physical trait would have to be labeled a race, and there should be millions of difference races... People who have brown hair should be one race, and people with red hair another race. People that are tall should be one race, and people that are short should be another race. People who have big noses should be one race, and people with smaller noses should be another race. However, that is absurd. Just like the idea of race is absurd.

Uhmmm... Yes it does exist.

Human are a species. NOT a race.

Inside the human species there are different races marked by physical differences. Like blacks, whites, asian, etc...

reply to post by IEtherianSoul9


Great thread and i personally wish that people would see that fundamentally, we are all the same. Please note that i say fundamentally rather than exactly.

On the flip side, it can be argued that from a technological viewpoint (which is how modern man is evolving) it is the differences that have been important. These differences have led to conflict and all of the great technological advances are on the back of military inventions (which started by focusing on the differences and now revolve around greed!). This is the same throughout history, unfortunately, which to me shows that we are always likely to focus on the differences until we reach a point of supreme evolution (where we cannot go any further).

However, as a species, we ARE the same. I would thoroughly recommend that people check out the excellent BBC programme "the origins of us". This will answer most questions

Why don't you take your logic a step further? In reality there are no species, only living organisms. We should all stop discriminating against our fellow organisms by enslaving them, eating them, breaking there will, poisoning them or stomping on them with our feet.

Or even further. There are not even any organisms, just masses of atoms clumped together and operating as a kind of system. But are they even clumped together? Seems like they keep switching places with one another. Looks like there are not even masses of atoms clumped together. Anything is just everything.

People (human people, at least, of whichever race) run around and place things into _categories_ to differentiate one thing from another, different thing. They also use _words_ to describe these categories. I'd say it has been pretty useful as a whole.

reply to post by Astyanax


I beg to differ with you on a few points, weapons of war were originally invented, in Africa, where the first hominoid specimens have been found, let us not forget that their weapon was the spear and the shield for protection.

Further apartheid, english translation separate development, was practiced in Africa long before the white man arrived in the form of tribalism where they declared war on each other if they transgressed into each other's territories.

This brings me to the next point that war was in fact their invention, their ancestors, such as Mrs Ples & Littlefoot, have been traced more than 2.5 million years ago, so I can't see how you can assume that the white man should get the credit for apartheid, war and weapons.

Originally posted by perroloco
Woow.. I was about to ask whether what the Topic Creator was saying of races not having a scientific basis true when I did a quick google search..
I always thought certain "races" would had some biological differences.. I was too wrong.

You are of course correct. So many see race because having eyes to see they see not. Hay but dont let these there is no race folks fool you. They probably have other hangups that they cant apply the same reason to when it comes to dealing with their fellow man.

reply to post by jheated5


Whilst race maybe a word used to describe a persons skin colour it should not be an insult or something tread carefully around. There are many different types of buck, dogs, cats, etc and Ive never heard anybody complain about that. I have been called a whitey and Im proud of it - it doesnt bug me in the least so why should a black feel offended if I refer to him/her as a black. It really does not matter what colour their skin is. What does matter however is how they act and react to others.

reply to post by Pixie777


OK everybody, I geuss Im a racist I think Nelson Mandela is a great man and a statesman, a man of compassion and integity.

And

Malema is a total idiot

reply to post by Pixie777


accidental double post

Your preference that people don't notice that there are geographically clustered groupings of people who show genetic distinction from other clusters of people, doesn't mean that people's brains are going to stop noticing it.

Originally posted by IEtherianSoul9
Race is only a social construct which has no scientific basis.

Of course there is a scientific basis. What on earth are you on? There are both cultural AND genetic differences. Which is why certain ethnic groups tend to do better at certain sports, why different races are prone to different illnesses etc etc.
Look I'll put it in simple terms so that you can understand.. The human race is like a collection of wooden tables. Yes they are all wooden tables but they differ as to type of wood, construction etc.
But difference and equality (if that's what you are getting at) are not mutually exclusive..

Originally posted by starchild10
Of course there is a scientific basis. What on earth are you on? There are both cultural AND genetic differences. Which is why certain ethnic groups tend to do better at certain sports, why different races are prone to different illnesses etc etc.
Look I'll put it in simple terms so that you can understand.. The human race is like a collection of wooden tables. Yes they are all wooden tables but they differ as to type of wood, construction etc.
But difference and equality (if that's what you are getting at) are not mutually exclusive..

edit on 18-10-2011 by starchild10 because: (no reason given)

It is utter nonsense that some ethnic groups tend to do better at certain occupations. Blacks play well in basketball, so does whites or any other skin color. Whites play great music, so does EVERY skin color. Whites are intelligent, and make great judges and even presidents, so too does ANY color in our world, or fail in their endevours similarly and spectacularly.

Eugenics had long been DEBUNKED as failed science. It died with hitler, and the remnants who subscribe such theories belong to the loony bin of flat earth theorists that still abounds.

We humans are all one race - the human race, EQUAL to each other. The only differences in racial lines are in the ability to think, rationalise, discuss, debate and find solutions with each others, that other races CANNOT - dog race, cat race, mice race, horse race, bug race, virus species, bacteria species, etc, etc.

And the only differences in human lines are cultural and opportunities of life, rather than genetic. That's all there is to it, but fortunately, as we are one genetic race, we do share common grounds of shared peace, progress, prosperity, equality, justice, freedom, despite our cultural differences such as religion, politics - socio-economic developements, to progress and evolve further than our blinded predecessors had been.

Great men throughout civilisation had sacrificed their lives in the hands of the treacherous whom sought to divide us, to see such unity dreams take fruit with the next generations. We are their next generations, and we must honor their sacrifices and NEVER dissapoint their monumental efforts and our innocent next generations that exist now and more yet to come......

reply to post by starchild10


You say there is scientific evidence for this. Please give me sources for this.

From what I've read, from various anthropologists, race does not exist!