A Forum For Race, Ethnicity and Culture

To the Three Amigos,

Thank you very much for building a very informative and wonderful board in which allows the insights of all of its members. I appreciate your work from the bottom of my heart. And since I've joined, I am a very loyal member of ATS who wants to see the best that this board can offer.

In light of this, I would like to make a suggestion to you to include a Forum on Race, Ethnicity and Culture.

You see, my latest threads on the subject matter could be also an experiment to see how it could fly on this board. And although sometimes the talk about race is rather cantankerous, other times we have shared the most unique insights and observances of this very vital issue.

This forum would focus on conspiracy, of course, because there are a lot conspiracies surrounding the issue of race. Some of which, I have read on the PTS and ATS boards, respectively.

Furthermore, it would be a forum in which people can start threads and bring up their concerns about racial, ethnic or cultural issues in which we all can be informed about. IT WILL NOT BE a forum used for hate speech, hatred or prejudice. IT WILL BE a place for people to learn about one another and freely express in honesty their insights about race.

Here are things that I thought that such a forum would do:

1)It will focus on all races, ethnicities and cultures in the world. No one race, ethnicity or culture will take supremacy over the entire forum.

2)It will have issues related to race-relations and eradicating racism. This is a topic that people have expressed within my threads about race and culture that they want to see happen.

3)Consolidate all the issues about race made on this board. There have been many threads concerning race made every day on this board. People are always making observances of race. A forum would be the proper place to put all of these observances together.

4)It would have mods and a FSME who is sensitive, well-versed and caring about all races, cultures and ethnicities. On a board like this, there is no room for condescension and belittling of others because of their views.

5)It would be best suited to either PTS or BTS. There, people will have the chance to not only deal with other aspects and subject matters, but also put any questions about race, ethnicity or culture that they want.

This is only a humble request that I have made. And I have put it forth so that perhaps you or others might have an opinion about it.

For those who think to attack me on my suggestion, I have this to say:

If there are any personal attacks made towards me, a complaint will be made to the people upstairs. And yes, I mean it very explicitly and clearly.

And no, I do not want any leadership role in this forum. I do want to be a willing participant.

I just would like to hear some input since the last past weeks have shown a steady progress of participation for this subject matter on the board.

Thank you for your time in reading this post. I'll be waiting to hear what you all think about this.

Take good care,

Ceci


[edit on 16-9-2006 by ceci2006]

New forums are created out of necessity when both:

a) an overwhelming number of threads on a specific topic are being posted,

and

b) that topic does not fit neatly into the topical range of an existing forum.

A recent example is the Middle East Conflict forum, which was created in response to the huge flood of threads on the topic after recent events in the Middle East, and because the topic does not quite come under the War on Terrorism and its related forum on ATS.

While your recent thread may have continued for a large number of pages (truth-be-told with the same few members involved) it does not meet the above two requirements. There does not exist anywhere near an overwhelming number of threads on the subject, and moreover the aspects of the topic which are usually addressed on ATS fit quite neatly under the Social Issues umbrella (or Slug Fest when things get catty).

An exception to the above would be an overwhelming and demonstrable demand from the membership, so perhaps if you're really committed you could start a petition thread like this one: www.abovetopsecret.com...

JM$0.02C






[edit on 2006-9-16 by wecomeinpeace]

Thanks for telling me that. I appreciate it. I'll keep on asking others about it. And when there is enough response for a petition, I will try to formulate a thread to do so. We definitely need all the voices we can get.

But right now, if it is all right, I would still like to ask about whether this is viable or not. I would especially like to know if it could stand apart from the Social Issues thread.



[edit on 16-9-2006 by ceci2006]

Excellent Idea! I am for it

Due my journey through Southeast Asia I would love to contribute in this forum!

I posted "Asian behaviour patterns" a while ago. It's now in the BTS Chit Chat. But it would fit perfectly in a "Culture" forum!

Ceci,

Your own forum? You have a multitude of threads going about the exact same thing and none of those who post in response to you have offered you any satisfaction so far.

Originally posted by dgtempe
You have a multitude of threads going about the exact same thing

Apparently thats what you need to have a subject qualify for it's own forum.. it shows demand.

The thing is threads are suppose to be from a mulitude of posters to warrent a new forum.. one person flooding the board wouldn't really count..

One can only imagine the horror .. just in time for Halloween.

Wecomeinpeace has said the request doesn't fit the criteria. And as Riley said, Ceci flooding the forums with race threads doesn't mean there is an overwhelming interest from members.

It's a strange request considering that Ceci just said on the 'race relations' thread that it would be best for her to be banned.

politics.abovetopsecret.com...



[edit on 9/16/2006 by FlyersFan]

Okay, the topic of the thread is whether or not a Race, Ethnicity and Culture forum would be a valuable and needed addition to ATS. Lets focus on that and not on other members or member personalities, and lets not dig up things from other threads, please.

I don't see that this would be a needed forum. Grady has specified that Social Issues covers race, civil rights, culture, ethnicity, racism, classism and many other... Social Issues.

PTS Social Issues
Other Social Issues

And I think if people can discuss these subjects civilly, that's where the discussions should be. If they can't, which seems to be the case, they can go in Slug-Fest. So, my suspicion would be that the threads in this proposed forum would probably end up in Slug Fest anyway. So this new forum would sit there empty... with the race threads in Slug Fest where they are now.

A forum on Race, Ethnicity and Culture is too broad, imo. Depending on what aspect and issue your talking about the thread could easily fit in to one of the many existing forums.

A thread should not be in a "Race, Ethnicity and Culture" forum just because it deals with Race, Ethnicity and Culture. That covers too much ground....it should be in a forum that deals with the specific issue; education, ancient civilizations, religion, social issues, etc....


Sporty

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I don't see that this would be a needed forum. Grady has specified that Social Issues covers race, civil rights, culture, ethnicity, racism, classism and many other... Social Issues.

PTS Social Issues
Other Social Issues

Then why are these forums on Politics @ATS?.

Everybody who is interested in cultural questions and storys, should have the change to talk about it on BTS. Not everything has something to do with politic. On PTS I am forced to add a political related story in my post, no?

Originally posted by dacruz
Everybody who is interested in cultural questions and storys, should have the change to talk about it on BTS.

As far as I know, people DO have the chance to talk about culture on BTS (Chit-Chat, Relationships, People, Rant, Television, Movies, Music, Literature) and ATS if there's a conspiracy angle.

Read Sporty's answer if you haven't. It makes good sense to me.

But I don't want to argue whether or not the forum should exist, that's up to the staff. I just wanted to add my view.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
But I don't want to argue whether or not the forum should exist, that's up to the staff. I just wanted to add my view.

I don't want to argue either.

If the amigos would like to have the boards sorted then they should do what they think what's the best. I stop complaining now.

Originally posted by dacruz
On PTS I am forced to add a political related story in my post, no?

No! Politics is permissible in the Social Issues forum, but it is not required. Many social issues do become political, especially in today's climate, but the subjects of race, class, and culture are exactly what Social Issues is all about, regardless of whether or not a particualar topic has been politicized. But, like I said, that's usually just a matter of time.

Oh yes it is! And there are other issues of race, ethnicity and culture that are not politicized topics. They are topics that simply introduce another's race, ethnicity and culture with the utmost wish to educate other ATS posters about them. I've participated on two threads like that.

And we need to have a FSME who is knowledgable about Race, Ethnicity and Culture who is sensitive to everyone that can answer questions and make insights without condescension. And we need someone who will not think of these issues as one of hostility. We need a FSME that will treat these issues with dignity and respect, especially when it comes to diversity. And we also need someone who will not differentiate and show favortism afforded to one race, ethnicity and culture.

And we also need FSME's and mods who care about these issues that will help include insights related to the subject matter. Race, Ethnicity and Culture should not be swallowed up by Social Issues.

Social Issues already has enough topics to sustain it. And there needs to be a place where people can peacefully talk about these issues without having to compete with the others. As I have been reading, people always introduce different topics and news stories that relate to race, ethnicity and culture all the time. They don't need to be in Slug Fest or Social Issues. The don't need to be in "Other Ideologies" or in various forums in BTS. They need their own place where people can look at them and add their thoughts without going all over the board to search for them.

The point is that there needs to be a forum that discusses issues related to race, ethnicity and culture. It is not too broad. It is not "my own forum" (even though it is a personal attack). It is a place where all the questions about race, culture and ethnicity can be consolidated so that people can have a place to discuss these issues without them be superceded by other topics.


Social Issues is too broad. But nobody complains there.

People are asking for an Automotive Forum. That forum in itself is too broad.

And of course, some people would think it would be a "bad idea".

But, I think it's a wonderful idea. This issue is woefully needed on this board and a lot of people who introduce aspects of this subject matter (like the thread on "Falun Gong", or the thread discussing "Chinese Culture") would not have to be put in different forums. They would have a forum to be placed in so that people can have one place to read all of these different aspects that members introduce.

As far as I know, the "Falun Gong" and "Chinese Culture" threads were not in Social Issues. They were placed in other Forums in PTS and ATS, respectively.






[edit on 16-9-2006 by ceci2006]

Originally posted by dacruz
I stop complaining now.

I hope you know I don't think you were complaining. Not at all.

Well, like it or not, Social Issues is the forum of race, culture, ethnicity and a plethora of other topics dealing with human social interaction.

The whole point I'm getting at is that almost any topic someone would put under a Race, Ethnicity and Culture forum would be better suited for another forum that specifically deals with that issue. Imo, ATS already has a few forums that overlap each other (with good reason), there's no need to create more.

Sorry, you both feel this way. And I don't like it, Grady, by all due respect. Not everything should be lumped together in "Social Issues". Some issues need to have special attention apart from that forum.

I think that race, ethnicity and culture needs to stand alone on its own two feet far apart from Social Issues. Social Issues already has too many topics that it has to deal with.

Inside the Social Issues forum, the issues of race, ethnicity and culture would be swallowed up. I can think of a great number of threads posted in different areas there and across the board that could get way more attention in such a forum as Race, Ethnicity and Culture.

Secondly, as I said before, we need people who can head this forum who have a distinct and scholarly background who can be more sensitive and astute to these issues, especially in Cultural and Ethnic Studies, not to mention Anthropology. And since there are members who come from many places on the board, we do need a place to discuss these issues where they can be put together and everyone has a chance to learn about different aspects of these issues without it disappearing because of someone else's article about other events in "social issues".

We need a place that deserves to devote time to being an educative, innovative, scholarly place where people can find out different aspects of each other without having to compete with other topics in Social Issues.

It will be devoted to all races, cultures and ethnicities. And hopefully it will be a place that is caring and not condescending to others for expressing their opinions, observances and beliefs without it being bogged down by other topics trying to compete with it.


[edit on 16-9-2006 by ceci2006]

way more trouble than its worth.