posted June 02, 2010 06:33 PM         

quote:

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How am I doing the same thing BM? I've lived in the US for 24 years and can criticize when I see something isn't right in the country where I have been living. That simply means I am aware because I read the papers, period.

I am directly having experience with it myself since I LIVE HERE.
And I'm not bashing other countries, so your point makes no sense in regards to me.

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Have you not been talking about how much better and far ahead Europe is for the last 39984334 posts? That's pretty much the same thing you've been arguing against simultaneously.

And Guess what? I've lived in the U.S. for 17 years and I've stayed in the U.K. a good number of times and can make the same judgement....alot more objectively.

To be honest, I think the only Western Country that has any right to vouch for being the best is Canada, and I haven't had ties to that place since I was 4. There truly is very little that is wrong in terms of social issues there.

posted June 02, 2010 07:11 PM         

But yeah, Canada is a LOT better and wins, hands-down.

And speaking of Canada...a lot of Hollywood shooting is now going on there because it's so much cheaper.

posted June 02, 2010 07:12 PM         

just wanted to say as someone who has lived extensively in both us and uk that it's six of one half dozen of t'other...my motherinlaw blames EVERYTHING wrong in her life on "the blacks" and that means asians(especially pakistani and indian), hispanics, jamaicans and africans...e'er heard the expression "work like a black" or "tha's mighty white of you"...

we have the kkk (morphing now into the tea party) and the uk has the bnp, who by the way sent members to greater europe this spring.

but both have good points too. and both tell lies in history class!!

for the americans here, OUR bill of rights was written by ENGLISHMEN who were basically copying the english bill of rights. the english consider themselves to be the "land where freedom was born" and the americans don't understand that most of OUR ruling class, and don't kid yourself we don't have one, come from the BRITISH ruling class. at least they admit to it.

i have seen disgusting racism in both places. i have heard ridiculous "nationalist" pride in both places. and i have seen wonderful things in both too.

anyone here heard that the original american flag was basically the flag of the east india tea company - you know, the one whose tea was thrown into boston harbour?

but i have to disagree with lara about the us going down. what you fail to take into account, lara, is the enormous natural resources here. when i first was in england they were holding a referendum about going into the european market. i fantasized extensively about what a self-sufficient england would be like, and i guess the voters came up with the same idea i did...it would be bloody hard to pull off.

our economy may go down in the us but we can be self-sufficient if we have to...and therein lies our strength, though i don't think many people are considering it that way yet. they want to stay in the high-consumption world by hook or crook, and this could be our undoing.

"there will always be an england" is probably true. that "the sun doesn't set on the british empire" is patently no longer so. though if there IS a secret government the british are definitely in there and i wouldn't put it past them to be running the whole show from behind the secret passageway.

posted June 02, 2010 07:31 PM         

quote:

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I do think Europe is better for education and healthcare, BM. That's pretty much my gripe, as those are in my eyes very important things. The wars and history are another story altogether. I just don't see the US as a country without blood on its hands either is the thing.

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We never denied that either, in fact...I've been made all too aware throughout school what happened to African Slaves, Native Americans, and the Japanese at Hiroshima and the Japanese-Americans here. Heck, I know first hand how racist/Xenophobic people can be...and I also know too well what's wrong with healthcare and education in this country. But there are British people in this very thread denying that their own country has problems, where is the lecture for them?

posted June 02, 2010 08:22 PM         

quote:

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Off Topic...you guys (as in Leeds UTD not USA lol) gave us 'Le God' aka Cantona! Thanks for that

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This is off-topic? That made me chuckle.

I've lived in the UK and the US, have witnessed racism in both, and I see the good and bad in both countries. I also tend to become annoyed and protective of those in either country, when either one is bashed.

On Monday night, my sister showed me a Facebook page she'd found, concerning a boy who was in her Middle school class. He died when he was 20. She sent me these links, but I have yet to properly look at them (due to computer issues):

quote:

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They were featured in a short documentary on the subject of racial abuse.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/nov/09/race.world1
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=1202
http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/nov1999/stud-n20.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/747105.stm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgKEebEGkhs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWxMJ_-J3N8&NR=1

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posted June 02, 2010 08:42 PM         

the british have class (and i don't mean in the social strata sense) and culture. the americans have a sense of being able to accomplish the impossible. the americans call the british stuffed shirts and the british say the yanks have no sense of humour. the british have history and thousand year old homes to prove it...and america has the big sky, mountains, plains and forests...i could go on forever. love em both but like mvm that doesn't mean i won't ***** about both.

it could go on forever. sometimes i just say, bring on the one world culture, so we can stop the "my yard is better than your yard" bickering and appreciate each other...if only the one world culture didn't have to have a central govt it would be just what we need. this is just one world after all.

posted June 02, 2010 08:56 PM         

quote:

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I guess those that live in the US or the UK have nothing much to complain about. There are much more countries that are far more worse off than us.

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True that.

posted June 02, 2010 10:00 PM         

President Barack Obama is the son of a Black African man,and a White American woman.
He identifies as just Black/African American like most people that are mixed with black do. In his book, DREAM OF MY FATHER,he talked about the challenges as mixed person. He even talked about the use of drugs in pushing the questions of his racial identity.

Even though the one drop rule is no longer law here in USA, it still prevails. The law was to prevent black and white from mixing.
Until June 12, 1967, there were laws against the races mixing.

Many mixed people are constantly pushed to identify with only the minority part of them. Many mixed people are even told by their parents to identify with only the minority part of them because that's how society would see them as.

The 2000 and 2010 Census were the first 2 Censuses that allowed mixed people to identify as more than once race on Census

In both the 2000 and 2010 Census, I identified as Black, White,Native American,and Hispanic. I will keep doing that for the rest of my life too.

according to the 2000 Census, multiracial people were 2.4 percent of the population
according to the 2010 Census, multiracial people were 5 percent of the population

I am very sure that there are a lot more multiracial people than that.

Like many multiracial people, I've fought to keep my multiracial identity and refuse to let people put me in a box that I don't fit. I'd rather identify with all of myself and not just part of myself.
I believe that is probably my 2nd greatest challenge/lesson in this present incarnation after my neurodivergence.

In high school, my mother registered me as multiple races, saying "this is stupid" in referring to only one race box option.

I was given a hard time in the navy when I marked down more than one race.

A lot of people think that a multiracial person with black refuses to identify with just being black because they are ashamed of being black. It could be argued the other way. A lot of people are ashamed of multiracial people for being more than one race because it goes against the notion that you can only be black or you can only be white,etc.

In USA, race matters a lot. There is still a lot of racism,racial prejudice here in USA. It's just more subtle.

I also want to point out that the perceptions of how much racism exists in USA greatly differs between whites on the average and blacks on the average.

I believe that racism is problem for all races.

There are blacks that are racist against whites. I have dealt with them and confronted with them.

My mother experience reverse racism from blacks.
On the other hand, my stepfather and I experience reverse racism from Mexican apartment managers. One of them asked my mom, thinking she's Mexican, "Why did you marry a black man"
This same woman squirted water from a hose in my mom's friends car. There was a big fight between the managers and my mom's friends who were black.
We got evicted. We ended up moving into a predominanly black duplex neighborhood. I would say that 98 percent were black,and even more than that. My mother was bothered by it too, and she experienced that reverse racism.

I also know what it's like to be called the n'word. I was called that on my 9th birthday by a white girl that I played who was just a few weeks older than me. Ironically, she ended up with a son with a black man. I got called the n'word when I was in 7th grade by a Vietnamese 8th grader who kicked me too. I also got called an n'word by a Portuguese boy when I was in 9th grade after telling him that I am part Portuguese too. I was called the n'word back in 2004 in an Astrology chatroom by a white man who lived in Florida. The last time,I was called the n'word in 2006 by a Greek man who supposedly a psychic,spiritual healer because I refuse to send him money. I thought he and I were friends until that time. He and I were fellow Pisces Moons born on the 29th day.
In 10th grade, I went to a high school that was predominantly minority races with very few whites. In 11th and 12th grade, I ended up going to another school that predominantly white with only 4 percent being black. I was very uncomfortable, and I mainly hanged around with the blacks during lunch time. I remember telling my mom that I didn't want to be around all those white people, and my mom chewed me and reminded that I am not black. I felt guilty afterwards. The thing wasn't about me being racially prejudiced. I just didn't want to be in a school where I stood out a lot. There was racial tension in the school. I remember one time, blacks got angered when one white boy hung up a noose in reference to blacks, there was almost a fight.

any ways....being multiracial had its challenges

BTW...I refuse to support the NAACP because they don't accept the identity of multiracial people. They want us to just identify as black.

Multiracial identity is very important to many multiracial people. Many of them pushed to get recognized,and that led to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) changing the federal regulation of racial categories to permit multiple responses which made it possible for multiracial people to be identified for 2000 and 2010 Censuses and Censuses beyond.

I do support the Multiracial Identity Movement.

There isn't even a multiracial option for myspace. There isn't even one for E-Harmony.
I chose "other" category for both.

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Raymond

Supporting the Neurodiversity Movement

posted June 02, 2010 10:54 PM         

I am not at all familiar with the census this year, so I am just going on what I am hearing here.

posted June 02, 2010 10:58 PM         

Though I do think you can find what your attracted to in your natal, I think thats much easier to pinpoint then beauty.

posted June 02, 2010 11:23 PM         

no
for all people

why did you think that it was only for latinos?

2000 and 2010 Census allowed anybody to pick multiple boxes for race

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) changing the federal regulation of racial categories to permit multiple responses in 1997.

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Raymond

Supporting the Neurodiversity Movement

posted June 02, 2010 11:47 PM         

That doesn't make sense

Multiracial American http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiracial_American

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Raymond

Supporting the Neurodiversity Movement

A Different Mind Is Not A Deficient Mind.