The definition of citizen. If everyone is a citizen, then there are no citizens.
After Africans were brought over to America against their will and stripped of their former identities surely that would be sufficient argument for citizenship.To be a citizen means that a nation has to make you a citizen. If everyone was entitled to be a citizen simply by virtue of being human then you would cease to have a nation.
Maybe Africa wouldn't have had the same sort of problems it has now if it wasn't subjugated by colonial powers for centuries.To a black person living in America slavery was a definitely a good thing. As a result, they get the benefit of living in a nice, first-world country. I doubt any of them would have rather been born in Africa. And I doubt many of them are dying to move there.
To a black person living in America slavery was a definitely a good thing. As a result, they get the benefit of living in a nice, first-world country. I doubt any of them would have rather been born in Africa. And I doubt many of them are dying to move there.
To a white person living in America slavery was a terrible thing. It has been used to gaslight and make us hate ourselves. We fought a brutal civil war which we still feel the effects of to this day. And we now have a racial minority in our country which is taught to hate us.
Believe me, I would much rather American slavery never happened.
Race does exist, however not in the way that many people think.
As @El_Machinae said, race is a social construct. It has no basis in biology. Believing in these so-called "biological differences" between races is very racist.
Y'know I read somewhere that more white people were murdered by blacks in the last 5 years than in the entire history of KKK lynchings.We replaced slavery with Jim Crow and the KKK
Seems more of an argument for going our separate ways.After Africans were brought over to America against their will and stripped of their former identities surely that would be sufficient argument for citizenship.
You don't even believe this.Maybe Africa wouldn't have had the same sort of problems it has now if it wasn't subjugated by colonial powers for centuries.![]()
But you wouldn't deny religion exists.
Eh, I might not be grasping your point too securely
Aren't you re-enforcing racism by using the term as if race does exist?
Their own people enslaved them, and to this day they are still enslaving each other. All of the descendants black people brought to America are much better off than the descendants of those left behind.
Y'know I read somewhere that more white people were murdered by blacks in the last 5 years than in the entire history of KKK lynchings.
Why is it racist? Earlier in the thread I mentioned the fastest people on the planet are dominated by people of recent African descent and why - a biological response to their environment. Was that racist? Is it racist if I'm black and I say that? But some Africans are better runners than others. The Ethiopian highlands produce marathon runners (greater lung capacity) and sprinters come from W Africans largely subject to the slave trade (a form of eugenics). Those biological differences are why they dominate running. Should I feel like the victim of racism because I'm not fast? Its not a race...![]()
What does it mean to say race is a social construct? Seems to me race was just another categorization of people. Family, clan, tribe, ethnicity, race, humanity. I've always considered race to be the next step up from ethnicity, but race could even refer to your ethnicity. Okay, so race doesn't exist... Does ethnicity exist? Tribe? What joins these different categories? Bloodlines... An ethnicity is a more diffuse bloodline than a tribe which is more diffuse than the clan. And race is a more diffuse bloodline than an ethnicity. I dont understand why that poses a problem, whether or not the way we have categorized race in the past seems irrelevant. I believe there is a step between my Irish ethnicity and humanity, at least one step. I'd have to include the Neanderthals in there somewhere.
You can't uncook an egg, mate.Seems more of an argument for going our separate ways.
Why wouldn't I?You don't even believe this.
But you wouldn't deny religion exists.
Eh, I might not be grasping your point too securely
You mean the slave trade that existed before Europeans took part in it, and that still exists today?I dont think it was their own people doing that, the slave trade was based on ethnicity or tribalism. Thats like saying Cromwell slaughtered his own people, the Irish would disagree. And while its true many black people here have it better than W Africa, maybe it would be nicer in W Africa if the place wasn't torn apart by the slave trade.
They weren't that much smaller.Populations were smaller back then...
I know you're fond of the whole "Democrats are the real racists" schtick, but c'mon. You really believe that whites deserve to be killed by black people because of the drug war? You really think all of the problems with the black community are because of the drug war?but we reap what we sow. Maybe we shouldn't be making black neighborhoods ground zero for our drug war.
I think you're very likely to lose that bet, judging by the crime statistics.But our terrorism of black people was not limited to lynchings, do your stats show how many black people were killed or murdered via all the other means employed by the states and their 'militias'? You're comparing individual black murderers with the state and its various weapons. Wanna bet more black people have been killed by white people in this country's history? I'll take that bet...
I find your question to be disingenuous.@civver_764 I would still like to hear your answer to my question.
I mean look at Haiti, Zimbabwe, etc. - they drove/killed all the White people out.You can't uncook an egg, mate.
Because the whole "without White people everything would have been awesome" explanation is too simplistic for you.Why wouldn't I?
Point being?I mean look at Haiti, Zimbabwe, etc. - they drove/killed all the White people out.
Doesn't mean white colonialism wasn't a scourge on the African continent that left deep scars and difficulties that take a long time to rectify.Because the whole "without White people everything would have been awesome" explanation is too simplistic for you.
The point is that racism does exists (and unfortunately, we don't have to look very far to confirm that). That only acknowledges that the concept of race exists and does not make a statement whether that concept has any ties to reality. Compare that to unicorns: It is generally understood what those are supposed to be, so the concept exists, but that doesn't mean there are any.
You can call someone a racist without acknowledging the existence of race the same way as you can call someone a flat-earther or a creationist without acknowledging that there is any truth to the concept of a flat earth or creationism.
However, you are not totally wrong. Sometimes I feel that well-intentioned people who try to fight racism are buying way too much into the concept of race. I get that to help people disadvantaged by racism, you need to identify those people first. But the question "what race are you?" (or a sugar-coated wording thereof) I have encountered on a form of an American organization that was trying to promote diversity was already way too racist for me.
You mean the slave trade that existed before Europeans took part in it, and that still exists today?
I know you're fond of the whole "Democrats are the real racists" schtick, but c'mon. You really believe that whites deserve to be killed by black people because of the drug war? You really think all of the problems with the black community are because of the drug war?
I think you're very likely to lose that bet, judging by the crime statistics.
Are you defending slavery?
To a black person living in America slavery was a definitely a good thing. As a result, they get the benefit of living in a nice, first-world country. I doubt any of them would have rather been born in Africa. And I doubt many of them are dying to move there.