What color is your blood?

Belsidus and all of you others, yes, it is very true that we humans do classify everything with our very own classification system. A system we developed for ourselves that seems to work very well for ourselves as we move about in our lives. We like our systems because we believe that they are very good systems to follow. In other words, we with our system believe that that system has formed the best person that we could ever possibly be. Of course, we realize we cannot very well judge ourselves objectively because there is no way we can remove ourselves completely from whatever it is we are judging ourselves against. We are always in a pickle; in that, we can classify anything as we see fit but we can never know for a certainty that how we classified that thing was a good classification or a bad classification. What is worse is that we convince ourselves that our classification though flawed cannot have missed the mark by too much because aren’t we the best at using our classification system, after all? And, isn’t it very true that when it comes to judging or reading people that we are very good at doing that? And, isn’t it also true that when others judge us and try to read us that they actually do suck at doing both? Isn’t it also true that we don’t have to know that much about someone before we can make our choice about him or her? But, on the other hand, don’t we all feel that if those other people that disagree with us or feel that they do not like us that is they would give us a chance and get to know us for what we really are that they would soon change their opinion of us in very short order? How often has it happened that someone you know that you hate or you dislike that after getting to know them and know their challenges and their shortcomings have we felt that we can of like that person after all and vise versa? If this has never happened to you, well, you do have a problem and the answer to that problem is as close to you as it and you could possibly ever be.

I think that it is our duty and should be our privilege to right wrongs and to alleviate people’s troubles wherever they exist. However, before one leaps about correcting other people’s wrongs and trying to eliminate cultural troubles for other people, one must first correct his or her own wrong thinking and be sure that he or she knows what his or her own cultural troubles are before we start taking bows and accepting peace awards and polishing up on our humble sounding speeches for everyone to hear.

I am always internalizing my own thinking to myself because I have discovered that whenever I externalize my thinking around other people I am soon found alone with myself as me being the sole listener.

Whatever we each decide to do to help us all to get along better in this world we should not give up our hope on doing because in our doing and in our hoping lies a world that could be a better place for every single one of us everywhere!

(I wrote this post back on December 6th 2005 but for some reason it appears above in a link that does not function, so, I am reentering now.)

Tracy, I am glad that you are still out there and that you remain a colleague of ours whenever you can be. What you wrote here is all pretty accurate. As you say we are predisposed by many specifics that are attributable to our very own human natures, many of which we can hardly be expected to change completely from, however, with some effort and with some fortitude we can try very hard to mix with or change or, at the very least, moderate our inborn and instilled classifying systems that we each of us has.

I find it very difficult to see the other person’s view point when it come to something that seems to be a critical component to my makeup. Political, religious, patriotically associated views differences are nearly impossible for me to accept fully or even partially accept most of the time, but what bothers me the most is my shallowness when I form a dislike for somebody because of some seemingly trifling thing like they don’t like to eat the same foods as I like to eat, or they don’t like animals, or they don’t like my favorite sports teams, or they don’t like golf, or they don’t like the same music or the same movies as I like. Yes, I think that the hardest thing for me to do is for me to overcome the smallness of my own mind. If I could just do that, perhaps, some of the really big things in my life could be brought to change for the better in the way I now categorize people and the plight that they might be in. I have been trying to overcome this shallowness of mine and I think that I have been having some success, too!

By Tracy on Monday, January 02, 2006 - 07:15 am:

Hi all;

I haven't written for awhile as I haven't had access to the internet until recently due to various circumstances. I hope everyone is well. It's good to hear that you, Jess, are settling in. Hope you're not working too hard, Belsidus. Hope you are well, Carlan, and I also wanted to mention that I had no intention of excluding you. I haven't responded in detail mainly due to lack of time and access to the internet (esp. since changing jobs--no access at new job). I have a little time today, so I thought I'd write a bit.

It does seem that humans are inevitably predisposed to classifying things and people, and unfair stereotyping occurs when we have only a bit of information and a lot of assumptions, perhaps based on fear, influence of opinions around us, and a need to feel "control" of the world around us. It also seems easier for the mind to make quick assumptions rather than question its own tendency to assume. I have also thought of how everyone, including myself, has this tendency to "judge" or condemn other people, perhaps subconsciously, based on various differences (or alas, similarities to myself!). For me, it might be their personality, personal habits, lifestyle, political beliefs, etc. I am not always aware of why I feel a liking toward one individual and not another. It could also be my perception of whether that individual will like me, or perhaps be a threat to me in some way. Again, I think a lot of prejudice is based on some kind of underlying fear (or imagined fear). Educating people on how the stereotypes are not necessarily true, or even completely incorrect may be helpful in diminshing them. It does seem to take a lot of time over history, and, unfortunatley, it may indeed be the case that there will always be new prejudices to take the place of old ones. And maybe there is an aspect of being human which impies we have to choose between following or resisting a tendency or abiltiy to be evil...

In the case of people or groups of people who are really a threat to others because of extreme prejudice (like the KKK), it appears society has to take control of them until the individuals involved are able to recognize their own error. I could be mistaken, but I feel that strict contol needs to be taken with people who are out of control.

Well, that was probably more writing than I will be able to do for awhile. Hope everyone will be having a fortunate and happy new year...

Tracy

By Jess on Thursday, December 01, 2005 - 03:14 am:

Hello Belsidus, Tracy and Carlan

Good to hear you are all still around, I havn't been able to get back on the internet for a while, but now have a bit more time to do so. I guess life is busy for all of us.

Yes, I am enjoying my new home and environment, it's good to be back.

By Jess on Thursday, December 01, 2005 - 11:15 pm:

Hi everyone

I hope you are doing ok, I wrote a comment recently, but it did not appear. Hope this one is printed. Nice to hear from you again.

By Belsidus on Sunday, October 30, 2005 - 01:08 pm:

Hey Carlan,Tracy, all,

I appreciate your posting too! There was no attempt to make you feel excluded. I think there is something more fundamental to racism than "blood" or "skin" as well. One thing is that humans are biologically disposed to classify things in the world.

But when it comes to human individuality the classifications break down, and when it comes to social justice the classification invoke social injustice.

But I think if people don't buy into simplistic classification systems and begin to adopt a mindset that recognizes the nuances and always changing nature of others that is a start.

I would prefer not to think of some human cultural sins as impossible to fight. Though in the large scale it's not easy to imagine a world without such evils at the same time it's more disheartening to not try because they are "innate." I think that awareness of the problems and their subtleties makes a huge difference. That's why these conversations are so important. We can internalize this type of thought where we listen to and try to understand each other as easily as people internalize racist, bigoted, etc. views.

Thanks for sharing Carlan and Tracy.

By Carlan on Saturday, October 29, 2005 - 12:23 pm:

Tracy, you are welcome for whatever it is that you are thanking me. I am also thanking you for recognizing me here. For a while there I thought that you and your friends Jess and Belsidus were purposely excluding me from your communications here. I am use to not being included in groups and I must tell all of you that I don’t enjoy that feeling of personal rejection but like most things in life I try very hard not to get down too very much over such things. Anyhow, Tracy, I appreciate your letting me know that I am a little more than just a few words easily loss in the overwhelming mass of information printed daily on our computer screens.

I hope that your busyness decreases or increases or remains about the same whichever you prefer in your daily life and may I say that I hope that the best things for each of you out there are happening to each of you on the most of your days and on those other poorer days I hope that that time go by very, very quickly!

By Tracy on Friday, October 28, 2005 - 08:27 pm:

Hi Jess & Belsidus;

Hope you both are well, and that you (Jess) are settling in your new home. I'm still around, although been a bit busy lately. I hope to have a chance later to check any new entries (Thank You, Carlan) in more detail.

Best to all;

Tracy

By Belsidus on Saturday, October 15, 2005 - 06:18 pm:

Dear Jess,

I am glad to hear that you have completed your move. I hope you are happy in your new location and are settling in.

I've been doing very well, just working a lot these days. There hasn't been much of anything interesting on this website these days -- though I have only checked on occasion.

Do you have any more thoughts that you want to share? Anything that you have noticed in your current location that is different than the U.K.?

It's great to hear from you again! I send warm wishes! Are you around too Tracy? I hope that you have also been doing well.

By Carlan on Friday, October 07, 2005 - 01:37 pm:

Is it racism that keeps us separated from one another or is it something else entirely that does it? Is it something more basic, perhaps, something born in us at birth, something that is both sinister and yet self-satisfying at the very same time and something that we cannot eradicate from our human thought processes? Is it something that we find that we don’t want but that we cannot resist our wanting it very badly? Is it something in us that wants us all to be the same but at the same time wants us all to be different from one another? Is it that we are all born to be individuals in a world that forces us to be communal from our childhood through to our individual deaths? Perhaps, that “individual ness” at our birth is the culprit and the bad seed that grows us into the racist and the bigot and the hater of other human beings different in any way from us that is the real cause of why we hate or dislike certain people. Could it be that if we were all born of one birth that we would, naturally, be of one mind and, therefore, would no longer hate or want to be separate from one another? Could it be that if, instead of coming from a father and a mother, we came from God as the one and the only human child that that oneness would have been the only way we could have prevented bigotry and racism in this world? But, if one other child was born from that God wouldn’t that indicate to us that at that same moment not only was another child born but racism and bigotry and all other human sins were born, too?

What I am suggesting is that in my world where we all live there will always exist racism and bigotry and separateness of all kinds and human sins and, therefore, human failures of all kinds will and shall exist. We can deny these things and we can hide these things and we can hate these things and we can fight these things but at the end of each of our days we will see on the news and we will see in our own lives all of those bad things because though most of us say we don’t like these things, at the same time, we are a significant component of all of these hated things. We are the ones that dole them out and we are the ones that receive them!

So, I cannot see what the color of your blood or the color of your skin has got to do with any of it because what it is is something indefinable and lies in each of our brains and has been there since we were born and until we die will always be a permanent part of our psyche whether we like it or not.

What I try to do in my own life is to get along with everybody everywhere and what I hope for is that everyone everywhere is trying to get along with me, too. I try to keep in mind that even in this getting-along-with-one-another world of mine that racism and bigotry and human sins and human separatism are all around everyone of us and that you and I must never forget it!

By Jess on Tuesday, October 04, 2005 - 10:41 pm:

Hi, Belsidus and Tracy

I'm finally were I'm suposed to be. How have you both been?

By Tracy on Saturday, August 13, 2005 - 01:25 am:

I will miss hearing from you, Jess--but do hope your move will go as smootly as possible and have greatly enjoyed your thoughts.

Belsidus;

Sorry I haven't had a chance to visit my computer lately. I know how it is being busy! It can sometimes get hard to fit everything in timewise. I did want to mention I saw an article in the July 11th issue of TIME about DNA testing that is interesting. It is about some different types of DNA testing used to discover ancestry. It is called "Can DNA Reveal Your Roots?".

Hope all is well with you both, and also hope to continue the conversation in the future...

Tracy

By Belsidus on Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 02:16 am:

P.P.S.

That P.S. above was to Tracy!

By Belsidus on Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 12:05 pm:

Dear Jess,

I'm sorry that we won't hear from you for a couple of months. I look forward to your return and I wish you a safe and happy move. Thanks, as always, for taking the time to share.

Belsidus

P.S. Thanks for your well-wishes and for sharing your thoughts as well. I've been really busy recently so I haven't had time to post as much but I hope we can continue the dialogue in the future!

By Jess on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 07:26 pm:

Dear Tracy and Belsidus (and anonymous)

Hope you are both doing well, nice to hear from you again Tracy.

It is sometimes hard to figure out which race a person is nowadays. Take my kids, they all have slightly different colouring, the variations in hair and eye colour are interesting as well. Two of my kids were born with blue eyes, which gradually changed to greenish, gray and then brown, which they stayed. I wonder what my grandchidren will look like?

Anyway, You probably won't be hearing from me for several months now, as I am finally moving! I will for sure look up this site again once we settle in. Wish you all the best.

Jess

By Tracy on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 03:51 am:

Dear Jess & Belsidus;

I also had posted a message awhile back, but it did not get posted for some reason.

Hope you both are well. hope your move will be a positive life experience, Jess. Oh, by the way, I am not the "Mountain Woman", but I wonder who she is?

It can feel strange to think of who our various ancestors were and what they were like. After seeing my DNA testing results, I wondered a lot about the possibilty of some of my ancestors having been slaves (African decent) and their "mixed race" children learning to hide their ethnicity (as did the part Native American ancestors) to protect themselves from the awful consequences of racism. On the other hand, it is very likely some of my other ancestors were slave owners, and/or practiced racism.

It does often happen that people of certain ethnic backgrounds (or "mixes") are perceived as having a totally separate ethnic background. People have actually guessed my backround as one or more of what I have known my ancestry to be, including Irish, English, Spanish, Italian. Yet occasionally people have come up with unusual ones like Russian. It is interesting that a couple of people who have Native American descent thought I probably did too, even though I didn't know it at the time. However, no one has ever even hinted that they see any African descent in me. That is what makes me wonder how many people have ancestors that neither themselves or others would even imagine. This goes back to the beginning question "What color is your blood?", and also, in my mind, aren't we all more alike than different even if surface appearances might deceive us? And the differences we do have should be seen as gifts rather than reasons to separate humans into categories of better or less than.

Until later, best to you both, and Thank You to Anonymous for the positive feedback.

Tracy

By Jess on Monday, July 18, 2005 - 02:08 pm:

Dear Belsidus

It looks like one of my messages is now posted, (thanks Admin). I don't know what happened, it could be a fault on my computer or something.


Anyway, I hope you and Jess are both doing well. Hope to speak to you again soon.

By Editor (Admin) on Monday, July 18, 2005 - 12:46 pm:

The following message posted on July 9 was found on system but it appears to not have posted. It is posted now.
------

By Jess on Saturday, July 09, 2005 - 09:56 pm:

[The following message was submitted to the message queue --
to post the message to the board, you must log in to
administration and approve the message]

Belsidus

Nice to hear from you again. I did write a reply to you a
few days ago, but it never got posted for some reason. Oh
well.

I notice that too, it is very hard to pin point many
peoples nationality/race from just looking at them nowadays.
England has many different kinds of people also. And I
find it interesting how they all vary in so many different
ways, even people who are 'white' have a whole range of
'whitness' about them. from brown to extreamly pale white.
Same with Indian and other people. The varities are
anormous really.

I myself have been mistaken for other nationalities too,
form Spanish to black and in between. And depending if it's
summer or winter! As I go really dark in the sun.

In the end the only important thing is the person inside
that skin, not what they are wrapped in. Speak to you later Belsidus.

By Anonymous on Monday, July 18, 2005 - 12:23 pm:

Deep discussions. This will help many people.

By Belsidus on Thursday, July 07, 2005 - 12:27 am:

Dear Jess,

Yes, I have mostly been away from these sites (I think I wrote one short reply to someone), just got a little busy these days. It's nice to hear from you and thanks for asking.

Your comments about DNA testing are very interesting. I suppose if I could have the testing what I would like to try to figure out is the area in Africa where my ancestors came from. Of course there is a chance that they come from multiple places there. I know that I have Native American blood on both sides of my family, and it is not far removed at all. People mostly think I am some type of biracial because I don't have the stereotypical look of a "black person" in terms of skin tone and hair color. But whatever other blood it is that runs through these veins is farther removed than my parents or grandparents.

I remember when I was a child and we had a geneologist come to help us look up our heritages using our last names. Even as a youth I felt very strange with that. I told the little white kids about a noble heritage from Africa that my father had been telling me my whole life. But looking up my surname I came across Scotland and maybe Wales. My first name was from Scotland too. It was strange knowledge for a child, because even though I told the other kids about it, inside I felt uneasy for though I could not articulate it I knew it was the slaveholder's name.

My wife is from South India and has quite curly hair. We have read about the Dravidian base for South Indian people and an ancient connection between those people and Africa. It's very interesting.

People always mistake her for other ethnicities like Mexican or Brazilian or Native American. It is interesting, sometimes people who mixed over time ages ago can look like people who are a mixture of only a generation. For example, people in Nepal look somewhat Indian and somewhat East Asian, but someone who was biracial between the two places might look very similar. It's interesting this whole range of looks that there are in this world, dark skin and straight hair, light skin and tightly curly hair, East Asian eyes and brown skin, East Asian people with round noses without much bridges...It's really beautiful. It's a shame when humans try to put all of this into categories, and it is even worse when people try to arrange these categories into social hierarchies.

I haven't followed Live 8 much, but it seems positive and I am glad that you look at it without cynicism. Are there any artists performing that you particularly like?

So, which country are you going to move to? Are you excited? Sometimes change can be very nice.

Hope to talk to you again soon!

By Jess on Monday, July 04, 2005 - 03:47 pm:

It made me feel good watching so many people from 'Live 8' coming together for such a worthy cause. So many powerful people all with the same goal in mind, to irradicate poverty. It made me realise that people who love much outweigh the people who hate. That's gives me a warm feeling.

How are you both doing Belsidus and Tracy? This summer I am moving to another country and although moving is stressful,I am looking forward to it. The area I live in at the moment is more racist than any other place I have ever lived in. I'v been here 2 years now, and it's shown me another reality, another kind of people than the ones I was used to in Canada. It's all in the journey of life I supose, any the best to you both.

By Jess on Monday, July 04, 2005 - 11:23 pm:

Tracy

I would love to have my dna tested to see what runs through my own viens! My dad (who has passed away now), used to say that we came somewhere from the middle East, although ofcourse he was Indian. I could believe that, his curly hair, his tall build, his name, indicated that we were decendents from the MIddle East and maybe beyond, even as far as Europe, or Africa, who knows. But I would really like to have a dna test to see where exactly my dna comes from. It is entirely possible that on my father side we may have some black, as well as European blood, so to speak, even if centeries ago, it would all be so interesting to know more about all this.


Well, I hope both you, Tracy and Belsidus are doing well. I havn't heard much from you Belsidus lately, I know we used to commuicate quite a bit on the other site, I think we both shut most of those racist people up ont he other site! Amazing what a few home truths can do!

Anyway the best to you both. Tracy, I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you also 'mountain woman' on 'thinkers net'. Speak to you later.

By Tracy on Tuesday, June 21, 2005 - 03:28 am:

Hello Jess and Belsidus;

I appreciate reading both of your ideas. For me it is quite a learning experience to hear both of your perspectives.

I'm sorry Anonynous doesn't feel the same. If it seems to you there is no point, because many things are being discussed...perhaps the main point is that we all need to learn to accept ourselves and others more in this world. If not, ugly things (like hate) will keep being ugly, or will get uglier.

It does seem that the concept of "race" as humans usually define it is really not biologically based. It seems more based on a human tendency to try to fit things into categories to make things seem "easier", or unfortunately, to make it easier to discriminate. It is interesting to me to hear that in the UK, some South Asian people are referred to as the same category as People of African ancestry. In he U.S., there was a so-called "one drop" rule which originated during slavery which stated that if a person even had one drop of African blood, they were to be considered black, and therefore be treated as unequal to "white" people. Why was one drop of white blood not considered to make a "black" person white? Due to my DNA testing results, I could be considered "black" because I have 4 percent African blood. That's fine with me. But I could by other definitions be considered Northern European, Mediterranean, Semitic, (based on what I've been told of my ancestors) or Native American, East Asian (from DNA testing) and perhaps something else if I were to do more extensive DNA testing (there's a second part which is a little spendy that I haven't taken). What am I then? What are many people in the world who are of mixed ancestry? Like you mentioned before Jess, there will be more and more people in the future who do not fit into a simple category. Like you mentioned, Belsidus, a lot of how people are defined is based on cultural and historical factors. And sadly, a lot of the history contained cruelty, such as one group of people dominating another to take their land, or to use them as slaves. The only way those things could be rationalized is to consider the victimized group as less than human, and even convincing the victims that this was so. The ripples of these events continues to now, though hopefully things will change more for the better.

There is also the question of how each individual culture may have good or bad in it. I suppose it is true that no matter what culture you ancestors come from, there may be some "old rules" that could use changing. As an example (though I may not be right to judge), it appears to me that there are some real human rights abuses in terms of how women and children are treated in certain middle eastern cultures. A lot of this has been practiced for centuries, and people may think "Oh, the women are used to it..it's part of their culture". In my mind, though, it seems any abuse of human rights is not OK, no matter what culture it is found in. Yet, it takes time to change these things, and it seems best if people from that same culture could do the changing rather than someone from the outside who doesn't understand the full picture bulldozing in and imposing their beliefs. Well, those are just some of my thoughts, and I may need to re-evaluate as I learn more in life...


Until Next Time, best to both of you, and also to Anonymous....

By Jess on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 07:31 pm:

Anonymous

Fact is a lot of people care, and it would take a bird brain to say such stuff.

Hello again Tracy and Belsidus

Both your comments were so interesting. And I can understand what you mean Belsidus, in that it takes time to construct comments in reply to such blatant racism. Not that I myself go into it like you, but I do appreciate the time you put in. And you also Tracy.

Sometimes it's hard to know what to say, to racist comments, without lowering one's self down to their level! Although, being human, I have been tempted to do exactly that. But then I would not be much better than them.

I am a great observor of people, my favorite pass time in fact (not really!). But I do like to see what is happening around me and especially I guess I seek out other Indian people and the way they behave. I hear a lot about the Indian culture, being Indian myself, but in reality how many people actually follow the 'rules'? In my opinion the younger generation seem to be slowly, but surely drifting away from what was considered the 'norm' for so many years. Here in the U.k we are into the second or third generation of Indians born in this country and some of us have parents who have never seen India, let alone us. So ofcourse things are going to change. Out and about, I'v seen Indians holding hands, kissing etc. something that would have been so looked down on just a few years back. I'v also noticed many bi-racial marriages, and noone's seems to bat an eye lid. Things are changing.

However, change does not come easy, if you read through some of these sites, certain Indian people, who have perhaps got their mind-sets in India will come on trying to bash all this progress, with some lame excuse as it is against the culture, religion etc. How can happiness be against anything? How can we, who are born here, who's parents were born here, and maybe even our grandparents, still live our live according to the ways of India? How is this reality? How is this even possible?

I know I look like I'm just having a gripe about Indians, but having gone through the whole treadmill, I feel as though I have some right to have some say about it all. Not that they are all like that, some are very accepting and open minded, but they don't bother to come on and express their veiws much unfortunaltly.

Nobody's perfect I guess, we all have our own problems, no matter what colour or culture we come from. But, I really wish some would take the time to learn and accept other peoples opinions and ways of life.

Anyways Until later.

By Anonymous on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 05:45 am:

WHO CARES BOUT THIS SHIT!

By Anonymous on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 05:43 am:

UM I DONOW WAT DIS IS WHO CARES LOL?

By Belsidus on Thursday, June 16, 2005 - 06:39 am:

Hi Tracy and Jess,

Thanks again for your thoughts!

I agree Tracy that a lot of differences between people come from environmental factors. But I think that a lot of notions of race are really more arbitrary and come from social and political factors. For example,
people who look "white" proudly can declare a bit of Native American blood, but you don't really hear white people saying "well I am really 1/4 black." Those people are identified as either black or as "mixed" no matter how they look. On a lot of university applications people from the middle east are assigned the same category as caucasians, but we all know that culturally and politically these groups do not always share common interests and don't see themselves as the same ethnically. Also, dark skinned south Asian people are called "black" in the U.K. though they have cultural backgrounds far away from Afro-Caribbean people who are also called "black." In some places a light skinned black person isn't called black but is called "moreno" or some other name, and different mixes of people have their own specific names.

So my point with all of this is that a lot of racialized thought is arbitrary and only has a basis in some historical events and accidents. Calling indigenous peoples in the Americas "Indians" or "Indios" is a really extreme example of this.

I think you make some really good points about people wanting what they don't have physically. A really unfortunate issue is when people are brainwashed because of power relationships to want to look like the dominant culture. It makes sense though for the reasons you mentioned. If you only see European looking people in the best roles and represented most positively what is the effect going to be on others. That is the other side of "people wanting what they don't have." For some people it might be a small issue of seeing others as interesting and exotic, whereas for other it may be an issue about position in society, self-hate, and discrimination. Also, there is another kind of racism that comes out of seeing other people as exotic and interesting to such a degree that some people lose sight of the basic humanity of people from other cultures. So it is possible to make such a big deal about some other person's exotic beauty that without realizing it is really a kind of discrimination. Neither my wife nor I have looks that are considered "typical" in this society, so we get a lot of questions and comments, many of them positive, but still they come with a lot of prejudices and assumptions.

I really appreciate your post and I don't think you went off on tangents at all. It makes a lot of sense and I hope I was able to contribute further to your thoughts.

Tracy, it must be nice in Colorado. I have only driven through that state. I have never been to Oregon, but it must be beautiful (I have heard it is). I don't have kids yet so I'll probably make a trip up that way eventually.

Jess, I really liked it in England. My wife (then girlfriend) did too. Sometimes even the small differences stand out. For example, we were really surprised to have assigned seats when we went to see a movie! It did not rain but it was overcast a lot. But that was a very good things since we had just spend a month in the south of Spain and in Morocco where it was very hot. The cool weather was a welcome break. I think that my wife especially liked the longer history and presence of Indian people there. Many here are more recent immigrants and for young Indian people there are not a lot of defined social roles for them to take on. So many either identify with white culture or urban black culture, or pattern their own social groups after styles based on those. We liked seeing a more defined Indian youth culture and more of a role for Indian culture there in general. Of course we know that if we stayed longer we would encounter the negative sides of it and the types of discrimination that you wrote about. Also we know that the reason for that presence of Indian people is the colonial history, so that is the other side of the sword. I hope we can go back at some point and see more of the country.

Until next time I wish you both the best!

By Tracy on Saturday, June 11, 2005 - 05:16 am:

Hi Jess and Welcome, Belsidus:

There is a lot to think about, isn't there? I've often thought about how people see and interpret different physical characteristics in each other, vs. what the true purpose/origin of those differences is. It seems logical to me that the differences people refer to as "racial" are actually adaptations the human body has made to living in different environmental conditions found in various parts of the world to better survive. With increasing human mobility and technology (and adaptability) since ancient times, we see many variations, and admixtures of "races". Yet, why should we think that one type of human physical adaptation should be superior to another?

I live in the mountains and commute down to the city to work each day. I see that many of the plants, flowers, and trees at the higher elevation are different than the ones I see 50 minutes later near my work. Why should one type of vegetation be considered superior to another only because it has adapted to a different environment? Rather, diversity of life forms is fascinating, and each life form has a purpose. Some might seem less interesting to us than others because they are more common at a certain location (like crows compared to eagles up here), yet they are each important on the planet. Because we humans are relatively much more adaptable than the plants I see during my drive, and can thrive in many varied environments, there really is not a need for us to be restricted to the geographial location of our ancestors (unless by choice, or the environment is extreme for our body).

Similar to finding diversity of physical characteristics valuabe, so also also should diversity in culture and human experiences be seen as valuable.

It does seem to be a phenomenon among people that many (though fortunately not all) are not satisfied with what they have; The grass seems greener on the other side of the fence. For example, I've heard many women who have straight hair comment that they wish they had curly, and vise-versa. People with pale skin wishing they could get a tan, people with very dark skin wishing it were lighter. When I was a kid, I used to rub lemons on my face to get rid of the freckles I had. It didn't work, of course. It's crazy, isn't it?! Also, people seem to either idolize or hate what appears different than what is most common for the region. For example, the girl who sees herself as the "boring white girl" is often idolized in Mexico/South America because she looks different than many people there, just as a darker skin person may seem "exotic" in a region where most people have lighter skin. Maybe part of this is human nature, to be interested in what appears different, novel. It may even be a positive thing if it contributes to people getting to know more about another culture, and mixing of "races"/cultures. Yet it can also lead to stereotyping people, failing to see the whole of a person, and worse, putting oneself or others down because he/she/they are then considered "common/boring" in comparison to the different one. It is also a sad thing to see beautiful people seeing themselves as inadequate, unworthy because they don't fit an ideal (overt or subtle) of what another culture (usually seen as dominant) considers superior. If you watch a popular Latin TV channel, for example, how many indigenous/native people do you see represented as main characters/heros/heroins? Rather, you see more European-looking actors/actresses playing the best parts. This is not to say that there is something wrong with looking European, but what's wrong is the underlying message that there is something inferior about people who are indigenous in comparison to European.

Well, I have gone off on a few tangents again. A lot of this is thoughts I have thought for a long time, but never really expressed.

By the way, Jess, I now live in Colorado, and not so long ago, lived (for many years, actually) in Oregon (lots of rain and green). Your trip sounded like a great experience! I know how those things change once you have kids. Before mine, I visited Hawaii (my brother lived there for a time), Puerto Rico, and took some camping/hiking/backpacking trips in Oregon which are unforgettable. I've traveled through many states, mostly when I was younger with my family to visit relatives. But I haven't seen them all. I haven't made it to Europe yet, but have often thought of going some day...

By Jess on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 08:31 pm:

Hi Belsidus

Thanks for your imput. I agree that having empathy, can help us, in not only to understand a racist mind, but in turn how to overcome the feelings of anger that can result from the attentions of a racist person. If someone calls out racial slurs to me, ofcourse at first I feel angry, but that is what they want, and so they win. After all, no one likes feeling angry, it's so much nicer to feel happy. So maybe by understanding hatred, (even if not agreeing with it), we are helping ourselves not to have any, or lessen the feeling of negativity that can result.

Regarding that trip well,I travelled across the states, some years ago, before I had my kids. We left British Columbia, and travelled down to Oregon, California, across Nevada,
Texas, down to the New Mexico, South Carolina, down to Florida, than up to Georgia and evenually to New York and back into Montreal, was the basic way we went, it took nearly three months and amazing though it may sound, we literally lived and slept in our long station wagon. Getting an occasional hotel here and there. It really was a totally special experience. But it's not something I would do now, with kids! Out of all these states I felt the racial tention more in the deep south, Florida and Georgia, and yet, at the same time there were some very nice friendly people there too. So it was all a mixed bag really. How did you like England Belsidus? I bet it rained, only because it seems to rain every day here near enough.

Anyways, until later.

By Belsidus on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 06:43 am:

Hello Tracy and Jess,

Thank you both for sharing your insights, they are very positive and uplifting.

I can think of a few items that I would like to add to your list of what can help in fighting racism and prejudice.

First, empathy and the ability to put oneself in the other's position.

Second, recognizing the invisible forces of privilege at work. Whether it is male, privilege, white privilege, class privilege, or any other type it usually is not clear to the person in power. The position of power is presented as "normal." In the media you have people from dominant ethnic groups characterized by personality traits, e.g. the "cool" one, the "vivacious and attractive" one, the "tough" one, and ethnic minorities are typed just by culture the "Indian convenience store owner," the "Mexican laborer," etc.. It's a type of privilege to be judged by race only after being judged as a person. There are so many examples of invisible privilege. The fact that it is invisible makes people think that identity issues don't apply to them. For example, I have had a white person say something to me like "I'm just a regular boring white girl." That fact of considering herself boring and other people as different, exotic, or interesting in fact was as much a kind of power as it also diminished the reality of who she was. There's no reason why she isn't as interesting as the next person to come along from Peru, Thailand, or anywhere else. I one had an art teaching assistant say that he liked the emotional content of my work but couldn�t relate to the racial content and wondered why I had to put it in. In my experience the two are really intertwined, does it make sense to compartmentalize my life. The point is that for him identity issues rarely entered his mind precisely because his identity is considered the normal one, it is the �central� one. Whiteness is invisible.

Third, people need to remove the shackles the hold them to outdated ideas, even about their own people. In India and the United States you will encounter people that buy into systems that oppress them. For example African American people often talk about "good hair," meaning hair that is naturally less curly or straight. On some other board similar to this one people tried to prove that black women were attractive (a ridiculous thing to have to prove in the first place) by reciting a litany of black actresses with pale skin and straightened hair, a very Eurocentric model of beauty! In Indian culture you find dark skinned people calling someone else "pale and pretty" or talking of "wheat colored skin" as a standard of beauty. It's so saddening to me when I hear people talk about race in a way that shows that they value other people's traits more than their own. I have spoken to an African American grandmother who would outright make statements like "I don't like black movies." She was trained in her generation to hate her own dark skin. On one hand I understand that the stereotypical idea of a "black movie" involves depictions of black people that come from outside and present them in demeaning ways. But for an African American woman to dismiss "black movies" categorically
seemed tragic.

Forth, we need to recognize that racial categories are constructed and not real. Within every category there is as much diversity as outside of it. "Indian" has the full spectrum from strict conservative parents to bohemian artists, light skin to dark, European nationality to African. "Black" people have all colors of skin from pale white, to reddish, to very dark brown, and textures of hair ranging from straight to very tight curls, even a range of hair colors. White people have such a huge range of cultures that is devalued by the notion of a global "whiteness." Within each group you have the full social and political spectra. Still a lot of people have a monolithic notion of what it means to be Asian, or they think that "African American mother" always means something like "poor single mother on welfare." It's sad to hear prejudice even when it is hidden beneath "compliments" such as group X is so smart, or group Y works so hard, or group Z is so musically talented.

Those are my thoughts for now on some big issues that need to get better for racism to diminish. Along with your wonderful ideas of compassion and kind acts, if we can each look into ourselves and ask questions regarding thinking like the above I think we'll all be better for it. I really appreciated your thoughts Tracy and Jess and found them valuable. I like to hear that kind of open sharing of opinion!

And Jess, where did you travel when you crossed the United States and what did you find interesting? I have only been in the U.K. for four days but there were plenty of differences in the social dynamics that were intriguing. I liked it there (London) but it was such a short period of time that I was there unfortunately...

All the best to you both!
-B

By Jess on Wednesday, June 08, 2005 - 11:19 pm:

Tracy

It's all so pathetic really, isn't it? I know that in India and Indian communities, people are discriminating against each other simply because some may be a shader darker/lighter than the next person! It does make you wonder about people, are there so few that have any wisdom at all? To put so much importance on something that a) can't be helped b) in no way makes a person better or worse c) is so superfical? The mind boggles.

Your right, every single act of kindness or wisdom or love to people we meet makes a lot of difference in the long run. One kindness usually goes on to another kindness and so forth. It all helps to break down the barriers that we as people put up for ourselves and around us. The more people we get to meet and know, the more we realise that we are more the same then we are different.

I think the world is a facinating place, and the more so because there are so many different kinds of people on this earth. If we are lucky and strive to do so we can continue to break down the barriers, instead of creating new ones. By the way where about in America do you live? East or West? I travelled across the states some years back and it was so interesting.

By Tracy on Tuesday, June 07, 2005 - 01:27 am:

Jess;

It does appear that racism, discrimination really can occur in any country. I've only lived in the US, but have heard stories from my husband about people in Peru demonstrating racism/discrimination based on shades of skin color or ethnic background.

It is a good thing, though, to think that although there continue to be people acting out of ignorance in hateful ways, there are also people acting and living positively. I believe each positive, loving act will send out ripples that continue on long after the original act was carried out, passed from one person to another. and since what comes around eventually goes around, it makes sense that loving ones self and loving others become the same thing. Even if one person can't go out and love every person in the whole world, each person can have a special and important job of learning to understand, appreciate, and care for the people they come across in their daily lives who may seem different on the outside, but who are really very similar in that we all share the same basic needs.

By Jess on Monday, June 06, 2005 - 05:49 pm:

Tracy

I'v lived on both continents, The U.K. and Canada, and it makes no difference where you are, you will find people who really don't have much common sense, and seem to like living in ignorant bliss. To hate, and put others down for no reason and overlook all their own downfalls and shortcomings. That to me, is a weak person, probably already fighting their own demons and losing.

The world is becoming more and more mixed, races, religions even, and it does make you wonder what the future holds. I would like to think that one day we will not hate each other because of unimportant little differences, what a wonderful world it would be if that could happen, what a happier world to live in for all of us. These next few decades will be interesting ones.

By Tracy on Sunday, June 05, 2005 - 01:43 am:

Jess;

It is like unscrambling, or even like reprogramming the brain to overcome some of the old messages. A lot of times, I feel I am pretty much over that process, which I dealt with years ago. Yet sometimes, I feel an old hidden shame message come up, and I like to bring it out where I can see it and debunk it (eg, like fear messages--If you do what you really want, you might fail, get hurt, starve, etc.). It is good to let go of old stuff that stops one from reaching, or maybe even recognizing a potential. Some people seem to have a much easier time of it than others. And some I've known appear to continue living as a prisoner to certain shame messages unaware, even when the shame-giver is long gone. I think some of those are the ones most likely to be racists.

It seems things are considerably better in many ways than they were years ago. This is why it surprises me when I hear people in everyday life (like at work) make subtle (or not subtle) demeaning remarks or jokes about people of certain races, or who are "different" in some way (eg, disabiltiy, age, physical appearance, sexual orientation). It seems people ought to know better by now.

I do believe It is true the lines drawn between races will get fuzzier in the future. When that happens, some people may find other things to base discrimination on if we don't learn from our mistakes (eg, age, disability, ideologies, etc.). I never was particularly good at history in school, but the teaching of history--as it really happened, or not just from the dominant culture's perspective at the time--might be a very important factor in preventing us from repeating it.

By Jess on Friday, June 03, 2005 - 12:37 pm:

Tracey

Thanks for you reply. It's amazing how our own childhoods can shape the people we eventually become. It seems everyone has some hurtful experience lurking within in them, that they carry around from day to day. I come from a Indian background, both my parents were Indian, and they had their own issues, and they themselves hated whites and blacks and most other races, (whites, I could understand, probably because of the racism that they had from them), but the others, I honestly don't know why. Just a very closeminded way of looking at things. In a way, I pitied them, they didn't know what they were missing, by rejecting other races for no reason at times. My father is dead now and my mother is also in her 70's. They came from a bygone era, from which all these racist problems orignated from. I can't believe we are still having to deal with them in this day and age. People need to grow up.

The fact is, most of the world will have mixed blood in the very near future, who will they hate then? Peer pressure and parent pressure are amazing things, and to get over the negative side of these takes guts, a lot of thinking and honestly, unscrambling ones brain! I reckon to be happy in life, you have to be yourself, be honest with yourself and not live to anybody elses ideals.

It's true, people such as ourselves, who live somewhat privilaged lifes, in that we have food, warmth and a roof over our heads, can easily overlook others who do not. People in third world countries and the poor of our own countries. Wouldn't the world be a nicer place if we could all open our minds and hearts to the very disadvantaged around us?

By Tracy on Friday, June 03, 2005 - 03:06 am:

Jess;

It is very good to get things off one's chest that have been painfully held for so long. And I'm sure what you express is felt by so many.

Sorry I don't always get a chance to respond right away, my work and life schedule don't always allow for me to visit the computer as often as I'd like.

I have actually been thinking the same thing regarding free speech that you mentioned. Sometimes a law meant to allow people greater freedom is applied where it should not at all be. How can organizations based on hate and destruction of other humans allow greater freedom, and be considered legal?!

Many people, including myself, may have not felt the awful effects of racism up close and therefore may not feel the terror and fear of what potential such insidious groups may have. Perhaps I feel it a bit more than some as my own mother was very oppressive to me as I was growing up in terms of trying to prevent me from thinking my own thoughts, or exploring other cultures. The sad ironic part is that she herself was born in Puerto Rico (her mother was Puerto Rican and her father was American). Yet I believe she received so many racist messages based on fear from her father (who made a point of reminding his family that my grandmother--his wife--was Spanish and Corsican with no African blood like many other Puerto Ricans)that she learned to deny a whole half of her own culture (as much of the culture has African influence). Her father made sure he moved his family to the United States before my mother was of marrying age, so as to prevent her (and her siblings) from marrying anyone with African blood. The poetic justice (as I see it) is that the "white" American man my mother married (my father) is the one who most likely has some African and Native American ancestry (though with all the other European mixed in it wasn't obvious). I believe my mother also felt very uncomfortable and inferior when she came to the US as a teenager and experienced people making fun of her accent and asking demeaning ignorant questions like "why don't you dress Puerto Rican, don't people wear grass skirts in Puerto Rico?" So in a way I can understand why she wanted me to "fit in" and deny any Latin connection and be interested only in "American" culture..kind of like the girl you mentioned whos mother eventually wanted her to deny her Native American ancestry. Nevertheless, I still believe what my mother did was wrong, and I spent many years arguing with her about her racist views which were based on fear of "what will people think!" Now, I see my 74 year old mother admiring Jennifer Lopez, because she's Puerto Rican AND socially accepted by popular American culture.

Yet, even though I received those negative messages from my mother, I know I have not experienced racism like many who's ancestry of different colors is more visible. In fact, I feel the greatest discrimination I have experienced is for being a woman. Though many times not overt, I feel my opportunites in life have been curtailed in many ways, and even my sense of confidence has been subconsciously diminished by all the messages in the culture and media about how worthy women are measured by how well they please men. If women were the dominant ones, then it wouldn't be a joke when the man says "Do these pants make my butt look big?" It makes me wonder if people of various races get that subtle (or not so subtle) message that their worth is based on how well they please or conform to the dominant white culture, and its expectations of them.

Well, I have realy gone off on a tangent. I suppose I had some stuff to get off my chest as well. I originally meant to speak of how many positions of power are occupied by cruel,greedy and/or heartless fools (intellient perhaps but not wise) who represent a small percentage of priveledged like-minded people, when masses of precious human souls are left neglected if not abused, not to mention the abuse and neglect of the earth we are all dependent on (well that could fill a whole other website)....

By Jess on Wednesday, June 01, 2005 - 08:48 am:

Tracy

It's all so true, and ofcourse the worst racist of them all, Hilter, was a good example of what an educated, monied, but mentally messed up person can do, if they get the chance to put their sick theories to practice.

I know that free speach is important, but I still can't believe that parties such as the BNP (British National Party), and other political racist parties are allowed to be in elections and hold postions of power. One would think that human beings would have learned from the murder of over 6 million jews, (by the German Nazies), and other race related hate crimes that such organisations are not acceptable. No matter what guise they wrap themselves in these groups are dangerous, and people should be aware of their hidden (and sometimes not hidden), agendas.

Anyway, Tracy, Racism is an uphill struggle still, and it's good that there are people out their trying to educate people of all it's evils. People have to realize that if such parties ever got a strong hold, it would not only be the coloured people that would suffer, if would also be: the old, the gays, the disabled, the jews and anyone, frankly who may have any drop of coloured blood or may have ever had a gay person in their families or lifes, and all in all that includes most of us in this world. So people need to look past their polished presentations, and try and see the evil leaking beneath.

Sorry to go on Tracey, but I had to get that off my chest.

By Tracy on Wednesday, June 01, 2005 - 04:52 am:

I totally agree that racists are not born, that the teaching of hatred is not class specific, and therefore abusive and neglectful parenting can also occur in any class. When people who have learned to hate use their money, intelligence and education to gain power, great damage is done to many, and often in the guise of "good". Human beings are capable of great creativity and the harnessing of much power. It is wonderful to think of what good can come from directing this creative potential positively, and extremely horrifying to think of how humans can and have channeled their potential negatively to create much destruction. I think of it as electricity; It has so many positive wonderful uses, yet it can easily kill. When racism reaches the extreme of what happens in the mind of leaders of certain hate groups, it seems to me to border on pure evil. That's a tough one to deal with...

By Jess on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 - 03:38 pm:

You know what I think? Racists are not born, they are made. They are made by being shown hatred (sometimes by their own families), because they are disliked by the ones that should love them, they grow to hate. Usually they are uneducated and feel inferior in themselves anyway. I'm in a part of the world where I grew up with racism, having to fight because of my colour, having racist slurs shouted at me from school days onwards, and you know what? I have found that the people/children that are loved and cherised and raised with consideration usually are NOT racist, they have a love in their hearts and a conscience that is ingrained in them. However those that are brought up rough, neglected and sometimes abused themselves, will learn to hate. And more often than not they will hate anyone who they can, take their frustrations out on the easiest targets, and that means visual minorities: coloured people.

That is what a racist is and how a racist is made. Mind you racists do come from all classes, and the most abnoxious are the ones who have been taught to hate or have got themselves screwed up enough to be full of hate, but have money and an education. The leaders of certain racist parties are an example. They hate for hates sake and they are the worst kind of racists around.

By Tracy on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 - 01:21 am:

Jess, I think it's a wonderful thing that children like yours can learn from a young age to be proud of all that they are. I have two children also who are beautifully mixed with all that I have and that their father (Peruvian) has. I love telling them how beautiful and precious they are. I sometimes struggle, though, to be positive and not overly critical of myself, as I grew up with a mother who was rather negative. My father helped counteract her influence, but it still made its impact.

All children deserve to be told and shown they are precious. I do believe a lot of racism/prejudice comes from children growing up learning from negative messages to believe that they themselves are not OK or even bad, and that to prove they're OK they have to be like others who are "OK" and put those down who are not like the "OK" ones, making them "bad" in order to be good in comparison.

Could it be that racism really is a form of self hatred? And if we hate another person, don't we really hurt ourself? Could extreme racists really honestly love and appreciate themselves? What messages did they get about themselves (and believe) as they were growing up? At the other end of the extreme, are even the most tolerant among us completely free of unfair judgmental thoughts about other people?

I don't consider myself a racist or prejudiced. Yet when I stop to think about it, there is still a lot for me to learn, starting with learning to accept, respect and appreciate who I really am in spite of what the negative messages around me (or in me) have to say. And then I might better be able to do the same for others...


Speaking of Elvis, That's interesting! Also, consider that a big part of what influenced his music style originated in Africa and was brought over with the slaves.

By Anonymous on Monday, May 30, 2005 - 04:17 pm:

Did anyone know that one of our great American idols, Elvis Presely, had a grandmother, who was part Native Indian. Just goes to show. I wonder how many racists idolize him, and never knew?

By Jess on Monday, May 30, 2005 - 12:40 am:

Tracy that is really very interesting and it made me think back on a situation years ago. I had a friend who was white, she had a daughter with a man who had some native American blood, I guess he was about a quarter native. Anyway, the daughter came out blond and blue eyed, and at first her white mother encourged her to participate in native cermonies etc and basically be proud of her native ancestory. However as her daughter got older and went to school etc, the little girl would talk about her native side and because of this she came across racism and was looked down on by some of the white kids. Anyway, sadly her mother told her to completely deny her native side from then on, so as to save her from more racism/hatred in the future, this was, I guess easy to do, as she looked completly white.

I think this is a very sad indication of what people can do. I'm sure there are many, many 'white' people who have coloured blood of some kind and maybe even know about it, but choose to deny it to save them selves hassle in life. I think this is so wrong. Nobody should be ashamed of who they are.

Todays DNA testing and the results and conculsions we are now able to get are a great breakthough, I personally think if you are racist, get yourself tested, to see how much coloured blood you have in you. You are probably in for a surpise! And then have the guts to admit to it. But we all know that racists are cowards anyway, so I'm sure most will try and hide it like their life depends on it (and maby it does, if they are in with he wrong crowd), in which case maybe we should just pity them.

I am a coloured person, and I am so proud of my colour, I wouldn't change it for the world. My children are bi-racial, and the most beautiful kids in the world, they know both about the white side of themselves (their fathers) and also about my own culture, so they are lucky indeed, no need for hiding anything, be proud.

By Tracy on Sunday, May 29, 2005 - 10:31 pm:

I just came across this website, and would like to share a bit of what I found out about myself. I'm one of those people who has always been classified as "white". I've alway been told by my parents that I was 100% European. I decided to have a DNA test done to find out if I had a small amount of Native American ancestry (research of my ancestors on the internet caused me to suspect I did). Not only did my DNA test reveal I had an estimated 3% Native American ancestry, but 4% SubSaharan African and 1% East Asian ancestry. I was surprised and intrigued. I also felt a sadness that some of my ancestors must have felt such a need to hide this information from their own children to avoid the suffering caused by racism. I shared the DNA info with my family. Most found it interesting, although my own mother was at first taken aback, saying I shouldn't go around telling people as people might "look down on me". Unfortunately, she was raised in a very racist household as many were during that period. I just told her if someone would look down on me for that, they are the unfornuate one. It also has been very difficult for her to adjust to my marriage to a Peruvian. I would venture to say most "white" people have some sort of admixture in their ancestry, even if not perceptible on a DNA test. The truth is, all humans are more alike than different genetically. Apparently, any surface differences we perceive in each other are due to a very small percentage of DNA material.

By Anonymous on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 11:20 am:

Good question:

How many colours (of people) do we have in our blood.? Recently I watched a documentary on black people trying to trace their ancestory back to Africa. Now it is possible, with help of DNA to trace your origins back to the exact villiage in Africa where your ancestors first came from (via the slave trade), to Amercia, The Islands and Europe. Absolutly all the black people that took part had not only African blood, but Eupoean. A dotted chart told us exactly where a persons DNA could be found. Most black people had DNA (and so ancestors), all over Europe! Including Germany, Russia, Sweden etc. and this was quite a common thing.

So to the people who claim to be 'white': have a DNA test done to find out just how white you truely are, you'll be suprised who you are related to, and exactly where your ancestors have come from. Just because you look white on the outside is absolutly no indication of the many 'colours' you have running through you viens. If people who hold racist veiws looked into this new technology and found out the real truths, there would be many suprises, and some of their veiws would be hypocrital to say the least.

Maybe the next step would be for groups like the 'KKK', BNP etc. to test the blood of all their members to make sure there is no 'coloured' blood around. But then 90%, if not more, would have to be chucked out of the group. That wouldn't leave many left would it?

By Anonymous on Sunday, January 20, 2002 - 05:38 am:

My blood is red!!!!!!!!

By Anonymous on Monday, September 11, 2000 - 04:22 am:

As we walk upon this earth, do we walk along? Do we share the world with others, or do we all look alike? Would we have any need for mirrors if we all are the same? Maybe you can answer these questions and ones like these if your Blood is Green.. :-)