(http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/btm/2005/img/people/ozziedavis.jpg)(http://www.aaregistry.com/eimage/OzzieDavisRubyDee(2004).gif)(http://www.simonsays.com/assets/authorkey/706297/C_706297.jpg)
David, if your grandfather looked like Ossie Davis, he was probably one handsome, noble-looking man. I always admired Ossie Davis. He and his wife Ruby Dee may have been the first celebrities I ever heard of, when I was a child, who put their fame to good use by speaking up about important things.
My grandpa was a black man. He looked a lot like the late Cuban singer Compay Segundo without the cigar. Ever heard of him? Here's a picture:
(http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/nataligv_2006/compay_segundo.jpg)
He suffered discrimination not just for being black but also for growing up poor. A lot of people think that hispanics aren't racist but a lot are and very much so. I know this is a statement not everyone would agree with, but it is the truth. There's a common say in Puerto Rico that goes: Oh you know he's... uhm... black but such a sweet person. That's a very racist statement, IMO.
My mother did her best to shield me from discrimination, and this is BEFORE she realized I was gay. Because, not only am I a gay man, but I also have Native American and African American ancestry. My mother knew discrimination, having been raised as a Native American/African American in the 1930's and 1940's. I suppose she wanted to keep me from experiencing the same hatred and injustice she was exposed to as a child.
The first time I heard a racial slur aimed at my family was when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I was shopping with my mother and her father (my grandfather, who looked quite a bit like Ossie Davis) and I remember hearing someone say "HUMPH! Now that's HIGH YELLOW if I ever saw it!" This woman was staring right at us when she said it, and later I asked my mother what "High Yellow" meant, and she told me it was a hateful word for people like us. People like us? Some people pronounced it "High Yeller" which was even MORE offensive.
High yellow meant that the person had a lot of 'white' mixed ...and it was considered to be not a good thing to be 'mixed'. It was 'better' to either be ALL black...or all white....(or all Native American).
Coloured was used by bigots so much that it began to take on a bad connotation...it is considered demeaning.
Thanks David and Jess fopr explaining.... there really is some horrid peoplel in the world.
What Jess said, Kelda.
Most of the African American side of my family still lives in the South, in Louisiana near New Orleans. Most of the French side of my family also still lives down there. And every once in awhile, people will still refer to members of my family as "colored". In addition to what Jess said, it's also offensive because it was commonly used during the pre civil rights era. To call someone "colored" suggests to African Americans that they/we haven't made any progress. It reminds us of the "back of the bus" days. Most people of African descent in America today prefer to be called "African American".
There are many choice words for Native Americans too, and people have used some of these nasty words when referring to me; words such as "Prairie N*gger" and "Injun". Terrible words! Like I said, discrimination hurts. :'(
It breaks my heart to hear that you've been hurt so badly, David. :'(
There really are some despicable people out there.
I was discriminated against all through my childhood. I grew-up in an era when men were men (even if you were eight years old!) and women were invisible! I won't get into the gay discrimination thing here, because that wasn't entirely the root cause of the discrimination I was exposed to. No, I was naturally just a delicate, effete kinda kid who hated sport and loved ballet and art - even from a very early age. This just came naturally to me. All the little butch boys at school were very threatened by me and I used to get beaten and attacked on a regular basis. Got so that I was terrified to get on the school bus and had to get public buses to and from school, just to avoid the pint-sized terrorists that made my lil life hell.
I used to hide out in the library and art rooms and in time became very religious.
Fortunately, I had loving, supportive parents. As my dear ol' Mum used to say, "They're more to be pitied than blamed."
Yep, good ol' school days weren't exactly very "good" for me.
I'm sorry to hear/read about people on here being discriminated. None of you deserve that.
When I was in Kindergarten or first grade, I moved from Chicago (I think, can't remember, we moved around a lot) to Atlanta Georgia. Everyday kids would call me cracker because I was the only white girl in a class of African American's. And when I lived in Hawaii people would call me a Haloe which is supposed to be a term for foreigners, but it was really just a bad word for white people.
As an example, I've always thought that Native Americans were respected, for their traditions and values (although one does hear the occasional story of discrimination that leaks out). I'm rather shocked by what you say, David. And, yes, ignorant.
We have heard in the past about the mistreatment of Black Americans, too, but it seems in recent years to have been promoted as just that. The past. We just don't hear about that sort of thing still happening.
The aboriginal population in Australia is not large, percentage wise, and most folk don't really get to know them at all. I have known a few who have been degraded by white society to the point where they are resentful and greedy for Government handouts. I've also had the good fortune to meet some who are determined to ignore the discrimination. Some of those keep their heads down and just survive. Some fight for their people, and that is admired here.
It is also the case, in Australia, that people of mixed aboriginal/other heritage, even with a little aboriginal blood, are deemed aboriginal. There are, officially, no 'mixed blood' people. It means that someone with a claim to even some aboriginal blood can take advantage of Government assistance, but that is a minority, and tolerated because the alternative, of a class of 'mixed' blood people, would be a more difficult problem.
The one thing I can't do is be a snob. There are people out there who think that one should soar with eagles, not walk with turkeys. And people who would give the shirt off their back. Some who follow all the 'rules', and some who are 'different'. But I love them all. They are people.
Well, I get to bed late most week nights.
Try to leave for work by 6, and home about 7 to 7.30, and get too wound up to sleep!
(sigh) I sometimes think time discriminates most of all. :-\
But I'm off to bed shortly.
Sleep tight.
:)
words such as "Prairie N*gger" and "Injun". Terrible words! Like I said, discrimination hurts.I can't believe that!!
I can't believe they even let that so called president of Iran in the country. I think it's an insult. I had to turn the channel last evening because I could not listen to his rhetoric another second.
I couldn't believe it when he said there were no homosexuals in Iran.Thats why there are no homosexuals in Iran. He kills them.
The audience openly laughed in his face for making that ludicrous observation. He deserves to be laughed at for making such a fallaciously vacuous remark.
They execute gays in Iran. Only recently, two young teenage lovers were executed together, in the open marketplace. And for what reason? Because they loved each other, that's why. It breaks my heart.
Thats why there are no homosexuals in Iran. He kills them.
Thats why there are no homosexuals in Iran. He kills them.
Rayn, I'll have to disagree. I'm listening to KGO Newstalk in San Francisco right now and they are saying that any negative publicity this guy is getting here in the U.S. is actually uniting Iranians in his favor at this point. Eventhough he is considered rather unstable even in Iran. The reputation of the U.S. is rather pathetic around the world. It would take quite a lot to change that. There are two immigrants in my family. My brother actually had a hard time getting his wife here. And this guy floats in. I know he was just here for a "visit" but I don't like it. Anyway, I don't get much interaction on this board and I don't want any to just be negative so I'll stop with this subject right here.
I don't think Wishes was insulting him or being discriminatory -
I couldn't believe it when he said there were no homosexuals in Iran.
The audience openly laughed in his face for making that ludicrous observation. He deserves to be laughed at for making such a fallaciously vacuous remark.
Kelda.... Let's look at language noting that when a person calls the legitimate postion of a president of any nation into question by calling him "the so called president" of Iran, that is an insult, plain and simple. She might as well have called him "a fake". That's not an opinion.
The President of Iran was elected by his own people. He isn't the "so called president"; he's the duly elected president of Iran. That Wishes dislikes the man is clear in her insult.
And why not allow Wishes to answer for her own statement? Perhaps if there were some reflection on language used there might also be some learning about how to write about someone she dislikes in a more respectful manner.
Learning respect for people we don't like ... hmmmm... now that is something that could help us all!
Having said that, the Iranian President IS the visible head of state for Iran, and he should be treated with absolute and total respect when he is in the United States. I was shocked, angry and disappointed by the way he was treated at Columbia University. They invited him into their "house" and then treated him like crap while he was there. I've always believed Americans to be a warm and kind hearted people; at least for the most part. We certainly didn't live up to those qualities last Monday at Columbia University. It disappoints me.he is a despot and a dictator He doesn't deserve any respect. I am glad the Prsident of the univerity challanged him.No one has yet. He can spew his propoganda to Diane Sawyer, say what he wants on all the major news channels and no one challenges him at all!
Amen!
I would think you should then not attend his meetings. That would to me be the highest form of disrespect, and at the same time preserving your own respectful way of behaving.
he is a despot and a dictator He doesn't deserve any respect. I am glad the Prsident of the univerity challanged him.No one has yet. He can spew his propoganda to Diane Sawyer, say what he wants on all the major news channels and no one challenges him at all!
My Grandfather was part of the allied forces that liberated the concentration camps. He went into Nordhausen.
After the people were liberated he was in charge of documenting the atrocities for the Nuremburg war tribunals.
My Grandfather still has nightmares today. Anyone who denies the holocost, calls for Isreal and the US to be wiped off the map, murders homosexuals and sponsors terrorists does not deserve any respect. respect is somthing that is earned and in my book he hasn't earned any. If Hitler came to speak would you give him your rspect? What about Pol Pot or Stalin? He is an evil man not worthy ofmy time or respect!
I would think you should then not attend his meetings. That would to me be the highest form of disrespect, and at the same time preserving your own respectful way of behaving.
Kelda.... Let's look at language noting that when a person calls the legitimate postion of a president of any nation into question by calling him "the so called president" of Iran, that is an insult, plain and simple. She might as well have called him "a fake". That's not an opinion.
The President of Iran was elected by his own people. He isn't the "so called president"; he's the duly elected president of Iran. That
...., the Iranian President IS the visible head of state for Iran, and he should be treated with absolute and total respect when he is in the United States. I was shocked, angry and disappointed by the way he was treated at Columbia University. They invited him into their "house" and then treated him like crap while he was there. I've always believed Americans to be a warm and kind hearted people; at least for the most part. We certainly didn't live up to those qualities last Monday at Columbia University. It disappoints me.
Just stating my point of view Rayn - which is that the statement was not an insult just an opinion that she dislikes the person - our point of views are obviously different on that! Generally I know I and many other write as we would talk on this board. And if I was to speak this statement I would not see that not as an insult just an opinion.
he is a despot and a dictator He doesn't deserve any respect. I am glad the President of the univerity challanged him.No one has yet. He can spew his propoganda to Diane Sawyer, say what he wants on all the major news channels and no one challenges him at all! My Grandfather was part of the allied forces that liberated the concentration camps. He went into Nordhausen. After the people were liberated he was in charge of documenting the atrocities for the Nuremburg war tribunals. My Grandfather still has nightmares today. Anyone who denies the holocost, calls for Isreal and the US to be wiped off the map, murders homosexuals and sponsors terrorists does not deserve any respect. respect is somthing that is earned and in my book he hasn't earned any. If Hitler came to speak would you give him your rspect? What about Pol Pot or Stalin? He is an evil man not worthy ofmy time or respect!