Cradle of Civilisation - Whites and Blacks

[scorpio86]

If people are purple or sillver then i suggest visiting a doctor.

[Nuriho]

the only ones you have to watch out for are the ones without souls.

like zombies, or evil, soulless puppets, or gingers.

everyone else is cool with god, it seems.
If god is okay with them, why should i not be?

[scorpio86]

You probably do not care but that joke upsets me mate, i do have a soul and i a a spiritual person, however i am not concerned about being'cool with god' that is for certain.

My point is that skin colour should not matter, i suppose that you are simply an example of the foolish majority of humankind.

[Korp]

You are missunderstanding him, hes sayin hes cool with everyone who has a soul.

[Wilbert Smithonian]

This train of thought has been bubbling away in my mind for over a decade since my foolish teachers tried to teach me about 'sorry day' to the aboriginals. :-) yes i am so so so sorry that two hundred years ago somebody none of us knew shot somebody else that none of us knew - that is totally my fault - not! Apparently white people aren't even allowed to go to Ayer's Rock anymore, and we aren't even supposed to call it Ayer's Rock, apparently it is Uluru. Bugger that, i have always wanted to go to Ayer's Rock and if i am ever driving past (albeit not very likely) i am damn sure taking a tour - spear weilding aboriginals or not :-)

This paragraph bugs me. I'm assuming your being sarcastic when your talking about being sorry to the Aboriginals. No one is asking you to put the responsibility of what British settlers did to the Aboriginals 100+ years ago onto you, but you should at least respect the Aboriginals by understanding what happened to their ancestors.

I don't remember and I don't even know if it's still relevant, about this "Sorry Day" but I do remember when Kevin Rudd made an official apology to the Aboriginals. Now, Sorry Day and the apology isn't supposed to make you feel bad, but it's a way to better the relationship between the Australian government/people and the Aboriginals, to advance in hopefully an equal society between the two societies. Which is supposed to be what you believe in?

Just re-read that paragraph and I can't believe how ignorant you are.

"I don't care if it's called Uluru, I'm gonna be a dhead and call it Ayers Rock just to piss the Aboriginals off. Oh and I'm not supposed to go there? Well colour me rebel because I'm going!"

I don't think you understand how sacred Uluru is to the Aboriginal tribe. You yourself said that your a "spiritual" person, so how do you not understand what Uluru means to them?

Aboriginal's are actually Indigenous Australians, which means they were here LONG before your ancestors or the British settlers came. And do you think they want thousands of tourists coming to their SACRED place? No, but they have no control because the area is not owned to them.

You call them "spear wielding Aboriginals", well if you think people are racist now how do you think they were 200 years ago? And remember, the British settlers had GUNS and as you said, the Aboriginals had SPEARS.

I think you should have paid a bit more attention to your teachers.

[scorpio86]

Wow.

I call it Ayer's Rock because i was brought of thinking of it as such. I am spiritual, a rose by any other name shall smell just as sweet. To me, it is Ayer's Rock, and in my opinion i have as much right to go there as anybody else. That is like saying that only native englishpeople can visit Stonehenge because it is sacred to their people.

Don't 'put words in my mouth' that i didn't say/type.

I understand what sorry day is about, it is about a half hearted government gesture to try and sweep certain aspects of history under the rug. I have learned about Aboriginal history, as well as all types of history. I have no more 'sorry' feelings for Aboriginals than i do for anybody else.

I think you should just take a few minutes to figure out what your arguement/debate actually is.

I really think you missed the emphasis of what i was trying to say.

[Bishop]

To me, it is Ayer's Rock, and in my opinion i have as much right to go there as anybody else. That is like saying that only native englishpeople can visit Stonehenge because it is sacred to their people.

I agree - public property is open to each member of the public equally.

[scorpio86]

Indeed

If anything i wish i had paid less attention to my teachers, as an adult i can now see how foolish alot of their teachings were.

Why not just teach kids that Australia is a cultural utopia where people from all over the world live in peace and it doesn't matter what your skin colour is because we are all equal?

[BiGs]

There is a fundamental flaw in western education institutes. Inherent controls of hierarchy and subordination are embedded into years 1-12 of school, almost unconsciously and without any say or active decisions made my the students. How can an institute that has these unequal measures preach about equality?

The problems you talk about are inherently taught to us and are embedded in the western social model. An alternative that you could consider taking your own kids to is a steiner school, where they learn what they want to learn, where they can disagree with a teachers thoughts and not be punished for it, where they are truly taught that people are equal, that you do not have to obey anyone, you can wear what ever you like and think however you like.

[scorpio86]

That is what i said. Apart from the social conditioning.

Although i have no idea what a steiner school is?

[Flair]

Things like the sorry day show the real reason why there are still alot of issues between people of different races.

I'm English. Born and raised in london. I've never owned a slave. My parents have never owned slaved. Thier parents, have also never owned slaves or plantation. And neither did thier parents.

And yet we are still regularly beaten with the slaver stick. We owe people a debt because they were slaves. But they werent. No black british person has been a slave... yet that are brought up to believe that.

Personally, I feel we put far too much important on our "racial culture and identity". Black people shouldnt be brought up with the impression that they are a victim. White people shouldnt be brought up with a sense of guilt. All races and creeds have committed horrific acts of brutality over the eras, no-one is any better or worse. The only difference is enviromental factors gave certain geological areas development advantages that led to them being able to commit these attrocities further away and more efficently.

Had the Aboriginals devloped guns and ocean faering ships first they probably would have found an island on the other site of the world and turned ireland into thier own prison.

If Africa had been better suited to aggricultural spread, it would have developed larger cities faster then europe and it could have been europeans loaded onto boats back to africa to work as thieir slaves.

[scorpio86]

I think the world should develop an Earth flag and unite under one banner and identity.

[Jo3MoMMa]

As a multicultural person, I've dealt with stuff like this all my life, especially since i currently stay below the bible belt. Most will say color doesnt matter or whatever, but in the right situation it comes out. People tend to drift towards people with similar characteristics, whether its looks or interests. I believe its a natural thing. Whether that makes it right to think negatively of another person or grouping is wrong though.

As for those who "didnt do anything" and dont quite understand; Of course none of us in our current time did anything to anybody(assuming your not a racist), but what needs to be understood is that through years of using this simplistic conception of race, social constructs have been developed. And yes i understand that these are not are fault either, but normally if your not part of the solution your part of the problem, there is no in between. And I believe all here, young, old, white, black, racist, or tolerant can agree the constructs have major effects in housing discrimination, in the legal process, in policing practices, in education, and etc.

[stoffi]

Had the Aboriginals devloped guns and ocean faering ships first they probably would have found an island on the other site of the world and turned ireland into thier own prison.

If Africa had been better suited to aggricultural spread, it would have developed larger cities faster then europe and it could have been europeans loaded onto boats back to africa to work as thieir slaves.

Actually, China had a huge fleet in the Indian Ocean just a few decades before the Portugeese first came and took over trade with gunboat diplomacy. But then the emperor died and the new one was Ron Paul and they closed their country and that was the beginning of the end for China.

But just imagine what would have happened when the small Portugeese fleet of 7 ships would have met China's armada of several hundred ships.... Or if the Chineese fleet had gone around Africa....

Europeans timed it right, plus some other factors.

Sorry Day in Australia is important because new generations must be made aware of their common past in order to not do the same mistakes over again, or do other ppl's mistakes over again, like USA might end up doing when they choose a new Ayatollah President. Sorry Day is a silly name though...

[scorpio86]

Each to their own opinion.

Regardless of expansion of various nations, my point is simply that it shouldn't matter what colour our skin it as we are all the same species.

As far as 'sorry day' goes - i think it is better to teach equality for all earthlings.