tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12582622.post113250457486575182..comments2007-04-15T13:40:26.804-04:00Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241416669348960693noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12582622.post-1165484374804784272006-12-07T04:39:00.000-05:002006-12-07T04:39:00.000-05:00You're right, I believe in the blank slate theory, that indeed all men (and women) are created equal. <BR/><BR/>I don't believe in intuitive truth as such truth can't possibly be absolutely true. Those who use "intuitive" truth to foundation belief are kidding themselves into thinking that they're dealing with a truth when it's merely what they believe and beliefs have no requirement to be predicated upon any truth. Objective truth is the only truth, and objectively I have no reason to believe that any race of men or women on this planet is any more or less than I am. <BR/><BR/>But without resorting to objective truth in this case as this would require references, etc., let's use "intuition". In this movie Po Han was racially inferior by virtue of the determination of the men who he worked with who themselves would have been treated as social inferiors in the society they came from in the U.S. at the time. Indeed, the movie makes that very point in the relationship between Holman and the missionary woman, a woman clearly believed by everyone but themselves (though Holman had his doubts) to be above him in station. The fact is that Po Han's predecessors running around this country right now dominate the upper tiers of learning institutions, i.e. they are consistently the better prepared and performing students in our schools. So how the Po Hans of the world went from being lowly, inferior coolies 100 years ago to what they most certainly are now in this society, and their own, is clearly a reflection of racism in the past and blank slates being given an opportunity to excel today.<BR/><BR/>Differences between men and women are cultural, not racial. Basketball is no more racist than boxing, though both are populated by blacks in large numbers. That's due to cultural influences, for the same reason that boxing was by and large an Irish endeavor 100 years ago in this country. There are certainly large cultural differences between people of different races, but that does not speak to inate ability or capability where, all the evidence that I see anyway, tells me we're all equal.<BR/><BR/>"Homogenization" is happening all over the place, in this country especially. Can it "save" us? Well likely not as I doubt it's happening fast enough. Being passionate or decent surely are virtues to be encouraged and practiced, but being exclusionary on the basis solely of race falls into neither category and in fact is quite antithetical to either.Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09641654384333154926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12582622.post-1165482512837196712006-12-07T04:08:00.000-05:002006-12-07T04:08:00.000-05:00Amen. <BR/>Hey, I'm a sailor too. Pass the dittos with one exception. This is in your reference to your mention of racism.<BR/>Your belief in the blank slate theory, which says that all races of men were gifted equally, and that all races of men are endowed with the equal drive to pursue their gifts, -if only given the chance, is misleading.<BR/><BR/>Possibly, I'm being too hard on your use of a word which many now use, if only to advantage for qualifying themselves among a growing world of alleged commonalities.<BR/>Which goes to show, that if you say it long enough, you can remove the intuitive truth out of the very ones capable of recognizing it. But they will lose their minds trying to prove just what, if anything that they learned in return. And their creativity, which is deeply rooted in their ablility to perceive and act wisely upon reality, is destroyed.<BR/><BR/>Yes, I am race conscious, much as you are conscious of predominately associative matters. Have basketball teams become racist? After all, white men have the same genetic makeup to jump and run just as high. <BR/>"Where a man will not be judged by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character" -M.L. King.<BR/><BR/>Let us look at character. But were you to do it with your eyes closed, your choice in certain individuals would have someone calling you a racist, simply on your own preference in character, which is always defined by actions, and the sacrifice to values seen or unseen.<BR/>Say what you will, but I know the last of the shouts, once empty of meaning, will continue to use the word which cannot be defied in the "logic" of today's convention: You racist!<BR/><BR/>Knowing what can and can't happen can very well save us.<BR/>Homogenization cannot take place. Respect and decency and borders and cooperation can take place. The most giving, compassionate nation of people ever known to exist on earth will require certain people to sacrifice to this and it always will.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com