Some disturbing news from south of the border
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Posted on: 23-02-04 18:37:07
Quote:
Orginally posted by biomed
Well said Mercury
Desi, I do agree with your point of view but if you have well paid and decent job why to bother about these stupids, isn't it?
Thanks and regards.
Biomed
Maybe cause self-respect might mean something to someone. And getting treated differently in a restaurant might tick off a millionaire with a great job too...
Just a maybe.
Don't know about the mid-west, DesiTiger. I lived on the East coast and it wasn't that bad. But it was still very racist compared to Canada.
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Quote:
Orginally posted by DesiTiger
Well Said BioMed. Some people think that all is Hunky Dory with the World and refuse to accept the reality and in turn tend to criticize others who do.
Never criticize a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins.
(American Indian Proverb)
DT
Chill out, guys. I don't think it was meant that seriously anyways and plus, all the Americans you've met can't be like that, are they?
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Some Funny Quotes about Americans. Enjoy
1. Americans are benevolently ignorant about Canada, while Canadians
are malevolently well informed about the United States.
- J. Bartlett Brebner
2. Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hard-
working, honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent that get
all the publicity. But then--we elected them.
- Lily Tomlin
3. An American is a man with two arms and four wheels.
- A Chinese child
4. Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel
libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans
themselves.
- Albert Einstein
5. Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic.
- Dan Rather
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Quote:
Orginally posted by DesiTiger
Well Said BioMed. Some people think that all is Hunky Dory with the World and refuse to accept the reality and in turn tend to criticize others who do.
Never criticize a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins.
(American Indian Proverb)
DT
DT...i dont know why you consider that criticism...isn't is sad that you have met so many stupid people?. Maybe sarcasm
is the word you were looking for. Its in the interest of a good debate. However, If biomed is in the same I'm out of here . Just kidding!I would consider things like calling a whole country of people 'stupid' as criticism and being prejudiced. Even without considering that a good # of people there are proud of being American and are of Indian origin. Would those people be stupid too?
Some Canadians once told me with a superior air that Americans are stupid and dont know anything beyond America. They also pointed out that some of them think Canadians still live in igloos. I asked these learned Canadians what the capital of India was and -Calcutta,Madras and Bombay were among the assorted replies. Not that Canadians are stupid either.
The point is that an Indian is as likely to be ignorant about countries like Tibet, Bhutan and Niger...as an American is about Canada or India.
I think that generalisations are the recourse of a mind that does not seek to understand and seeks the easy way out.
An explanation:
Someone once told me that south asians 'stink'. I realised that he was talking about the strong aroma of spices from our cooking that permeates the clothes that we wear. Especially during winter time when all the doors are closed and the smell lingers in the house/apt. Many people find this smell offensive and thus his comment. I tried to explain the source of the smell to him and hopefully he and the people who were listening learned something that day. I learned that I had to keep the closet doors tightly shut while mouthwatering menus were being prepared in my kitchen. However, one cannot deny the persons observation that a lot of our people are unaware of the fact that our cooking does have this side-effect that some consider unfavourable. However he now knows the reason and maybe he will not be very harsh with his judgement.
Also the qoutes you have provided...dont you find it Ironic that Einstien and Rather had/have also chosen to live with the people they talk about.
I'm all for an objective debate but when a whole country or people is painted with the same brush...it ceases to become so. Doesnt it? Dont you think we can learn from each other?
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Jake3D,
Thank you for bringing up the very important point of "educating" other people about different cultures, as you tried to do with your Canadian friend who finds the aromas of Indian cooking offensive. I'm sure that when you must have done that, your friend would have listned to what you had to say and would have evaluated it against what he believed was right. Hopefully, he changed his views and then again maybe he didn't. But I'm sure that he let you say your piece without declaring that he was a "Canadian" and hence knew best.
Ever tried educating an American in a similar manner? Obviously you haven't.
And for the record, when I say "American", I mean that from the "Gora American" point of view. In case you haven't heard, most Gora Americans don't consider Blacks , Native Americans and Asians to be true "Americans", regardless of their nationality and heritage.
Obviously you have strong views regarding the subject, and so do I. Hence I don't see any point in our wasting time over such an argument. This will be my last post on the subject.
Thanks
DT
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...And one more thing, imagine a world without America today, just take it out of the picture and then try to visualise the eventual shift of global dominance.
Don't know about you, but looks a pretty scary picture to me.
I think with all its flaws, it is still the greatest country in the world and the bottomline is the world needs America and Americans. And I'm saying this despite the fact that I love Canada or India way more than I do the states.
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DT,
The topic, from my pov, was not if bigots exist ...from all that I have heard America has surely has more than its share of bigots. But are all of them bigots/stupid? I know quite a few(of all colors) who I work with and am proud to be associated with.
I know quite a few Indians who are bigoted.
e.g: A brahmin cook who wont let the lady of the house enter the kitchen because she is of a lower caste.
A fair-skinned bride has better chances of getting a groom than a dark-skinned one.
Good-looks are associated often with lighter skin
Even here, I occassionaly find desis who think that they are better than blacks( from some subtle references made in some earlier posts by some, I think there are some on this board too and I really hope they keep their opinions about this topic to themselves...or I will end up spending too much time here)
etc etc
That does not make all Indians bigoted does that? I know quite a few who dont think that way too.
You have every right to hold on to what you think is right based on your unique experiences. Ultimately one has to be true to ones-self and be satisfied that one has really tried to analyse the situation to the limit of his/her faculties(which are unique to each individual too). We all owe that to ourselves dont we?
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