RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Human beings really do not change very much despite all the wishful thinking and social engineering that is done to them. Please review four thousand years of recorded history, and you shall discover, dear reader, that race has always mattered, and unless we have a quantum leap in the evolutionary scale in the next few years, it shall matter into the unforseen future. Thousands of years show that people do not change that much!

I don't really know how to "rate" this. The whole concept of race needs rethinking. We are no longer a black/white nation. The non hispanic white population has gone from 89-90% to about 65% in a half a century. It continues to drop and whites will relatively shortly be a plurality and not a majority. Inter marriage rates between whites/hispanics/asians/native Americans which include all the various combinations are not the least bit uncommon and getting more numerous all the time. Blacks marry the above mentioned at a lesser rate. I won't live to see it, but before the end of the 21st century "race" will be virtually irrelevant in the US. It's already happening and that fact seems to escape those who still follow a seriously outdated paradigm.

There are several reasons for racism. One of them is xenophobia, another is plain immaturity (because it looks different, then it must be different therefore it is inferior, or they fear it). But one of the major things which does it is our eccentric nature. We only like people who are the same as us and anyone who is even slightly different is not accepted. Plus I also think it is our inherent leaning towards sin which makes us racist. In the future, I believe that xenophobia can be overcome, and cultures can mature and learn to accept other people. But America will never be colour blind because of evilness in human nature, and because the people in these KKK things or whatever, have been taught from birth to hate. It is hard breaking old habits, therefore the adults will also teach their children to hate and the cycle will continue. There is a similar story with the Australian Aboriginals. Originally, the Aboriginals minded their own business and the white English colonists forced them out of their land and treated them like animals, even shooting them for 'sport.' These colonists simply didn't accept anyone different to them. So they birthed a generation of hatred. Therefore the Aboriginals quite expectantly hated the whites. Then since the Aboriginals felt like they were prisoners and hated the whites, they fought them and purposely rebelled against society, committing crime. As time grew on, the whites gradually learnt to accept the Aboriginals to the point where there isn't as much of a problem. But there is still a lot of racism and that racism is fuelled by the fact that some Aboriginals still hate the whites (even though the whole thing happened over 200 years ago) and refuse to forgive them, and just teach their children to do the same thing. As long as you have unforgiveness, you will have hatred between two cultures, therefore you have racism.

You can blame the entire country for that.

True, too bad but I do not see a world where everyone is going to band together and love each other. it would be nice if we all could. Prejudice is world wide.and will not go away anytime too soon.

My sense is that Soul Junkie will never really be color blind.

You know what I find very interesting? Most young children are colorblind. You would think, knowing how "kids say the darndest things", they would be more curious and up-front about noticing someone has different skin colors or features than them; but they don't. I live in a town where minorities make up less than 7% of the population. So you would think that the younger kids would really notice the difference between the one or two black or asian or hispanic children they see in school, or at the store, or anywhere. But they don't. We could all learn from them.

Why single out America? The whole world is this way, and any country who tries to deny that is in denial.

Probably not. People are too damn stubborn, and they need to feel "special". Some people just need that sense of "superiority", even if it's all in their minds. I've finally come to accept that some people are going to see me as an Asian person first (even if I know just about as much about Chinese culture as anyone else in America). They're going to ask questions, mostly not out of ignorance, but out of curiousity. I can deal with that. All I'm asking is just don't be an ass about it, that's all.

Nor will any nation, city or town on the globe. And so what? Discrimination is part of the human condition. It cannot be legislated into extermination. Laws can be made to prevent or remedy some of its more unjust results, as they should, but to expect it to be entirely absent is to plan to do away with Homo Sapiens. Anyone who genuinely believes that racism in the U.S. is a large problem is either a non-traveller or an idiot (or both). Signs of racial parity and considerable opportunities that transcend color-lines are omnipresent in American society.

Not in mine or my childrens lifetimes anyway. There are still too many "chosen leaders and voices" from all races and creeds who live to perpetuate race issues. The Al Sharptons, the Quanell x's and the KKK just to name a few will not be letting up soon. Its a shame and a monkey on the countries back.