Racism and you.

[Deadlift]

I'm not sure if any of you have been bothered by this but it's something that crops up from time to time for me and I wanted to share my personal experiences and see if anyone else has been on the wrong end of any kind of racist remarks and even hatred.
I have mentioned in the past that I consider my heritage to be mixed, sure I don't have any obvious ancestry difference just by looking at me, but having a Turkish father who is a practicing Muslim has absolutely had an impact on my life and ment I have been singled to be "different"
My 1st memorable experience of this is at school, I borrowed a book from the library which was causing a bit of a stir in the media. Satanic verses [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Verses[/url]
I was intrigued by all the fuss and rented the book. I had it for about 2 hours. The librarian who know me reasonable well at school and knew my fathers background took it upon herself to phone the headmaster of my school and "warn" him of the book I had rented and he made the decision to come into class and instructed I return the book in front of the whole class just in case my father was offended.
Never before had I felt different to my friends in anyway, I'm "white" sure I'm olive skinned and go proper dark in the sun, but nothing really physically different, yet here in front of my class at 13 years of age I was made to feel that I was somehow different because of my fathers background. The thing is never before had my peers even considered my father being a Muslim anything of interest. But thanks to my headmaster it soon led to taunting and bullying.
Now growing up in Devon I'm sure made a bit of difference. I will be honest and say you can go a whole day in my town and see nobody but people who are white.
Fast forward to today and I will admit this time of year becomes somewhat difficult sometimes for me. The sun comes out and whilst too much sun for some results in sunburn, I just go dark. Very dark. I have been called Big Paki etc in the past even by my friends or so called friends who are obviously ignorant. It's generally meant in good fun but I think unless you've been on the receiving end you can't really understand how it feels to be made fun off just because of your background and perceived differences. Sure I'm not black but I'm still made to feel I'm different.
Anyway whilst being quite laid back about most things, tonight I let loose in the pub after work and I think my mate was on the verge of crapping his pants.
Basically he made the remark "I think Britain would be better off had Germany won the war" I think we all know his implication. Unfortunately I blew. His excuse was " mate" you know I don't mean you. I explained ( shouted )**** Germany's views on Muslims in general and how had they won the WW2 I wouldn't have even been born.
Did I over react ? More than likely.
Anyway I'm not really sure anymore what my point about this post is about. I know a few of you in relation to other threads have been the victim of others ignorance. I just wanted to share and show you guys that there's another form of discrimination not touched on in the LGBT or Feminist threads. I'm also venting as this latest incident only happened hours ago and I'm actually a little pissed up right now . Maybe I'm luckier than some because im not too different to look at etc and I am over reacting ?

The sad thing is even now I'm kind of embarrassed to bring a topic like this up and write about it. We all have our own lives, trials and tribulations. Mine pale in comparison to what I read here.

[YorkNecromancer]

"Of course I don't mean you?"

Revolting. Did you overreact? I suppose the question would be if someone said that about your kids how would you feel? If it's "even angrier", then no, you didn't overreact. That is a horrible thing for them to say, and just because it's not something obvious like the n-word, well, that's kind of worse. More insidious. It's racism that masquerades as "just my opinion".

It's like that old chestnut "I'm not racist, but..."

If you have to put the qualifier in there, you're a racist. Sticking feathers up you butt doesn't make you a chicken, and saying you're not racist doesn't mean you're not. You were well within your rights to blow up. If it'd be me (and occasionally it has been) I'd have done the same.

And there's no gradient of wrongness, no pyramid of "who suffers most", because that's just moral relativism talking. That's just rationalising, and trying to make a bad thing okay. Their behaviour was unacceptable. The Islamophobia in the UK at the moment is something I am ashamed of; my very best friend in all the world is a Muslim. He's the greatest guy I've ever known. My brother's best man was Muslim; he was also a professional nightclub dancer and now he teaches maths. It's all a bunch of cobblers. It's also a consequence of recession - people get angry and start to look for someone to blame, and the simple answer that "feels right" will always trump a complicated truth that doesn't.

You're a cool guy, Deadlift. Don't let this grind you down.

[magickbk]

Ultimately speaking, all forms of discrimination are about how they make you feel inside. When you see a story in the news about some hate crime, it reminds you that there are terrible people in the world, but it can seem removed from your own situation because you don't live in that place, or have never encountered those types. When someone close to you makes those little comments that let you know that they see you in that way, it hits much closer to the heart.

I'm about as white as you can get in appearance, but ethnically I've got some flavor mixed in. I have family members that have a discriminatory point of view towards those groups, but many of them forget about it, and they've made comments while around me, and I'm not sure if they realize it or not.

My main point is that whatever any of us has in our blood, there is someone somewhere who would hate us for it, and we just have to keep educating people. I think there is improvement with every generation, and someday I believe that our grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, or someone, won't have to live in that kind of world.

[daboarder]

You know what I hate.

Being told that I dont know what racism is because I'm white.
Or that I'm inherently racist because I'm white.
Or that in a democratic nation the majority of the population must accept the culture of the minority because otherwise I'm racist.
Or that if I'm not ashamed of my ancestors I'm racist.

Why? Because hypocrisy is a b*tch

[eldargal]

You know what I hate.

Being told that I dont know what racism is because I'm white.
Or that I'm inherently racist because I'm white.
Or that in a democratic nation the majority of the population must accept the culture of the minority because otherwise I'm racist.
Or that if I'm not ashamed of my ancestors I'm racist.

Why? Because hypocrisy is a b*tch

Well, you can know what racism is when you are white, obviously. But it is highly unlikely you have ever experienced it living in a majority white society in the same way someone a Person of Colour will have. there is a difference between knowing something on an intellectual level and experiencing it every day of your life.
Anyone saying someone is inherently racist because of their skin colour is an idiot.
Very complex issues, people do have a right to maintain their cultural heritage but at the same time where that culture may clash with the mainstream it isn't unreasonable to expect to minority culture to defer to the mainstream (for example, African genital mutilation in the UK)
One of the bedrocks of Common Law is that people cannot be held responsible for the sins of their forebears, as far as I'm concerned that goes for feeling shame too. One can acknowledge their crimes (if any) but feeling ashamed is silly. Of course it becomes quite complex too, for example German responsibility for Na zi crimes or Japanese responsibility for WWII crimes.

[daboarder]

Yeah we've been here before. And quite frankly the racism in that first statement of yours is exacly the bull**** im talking about. Thanks for proving the point.

[eldargal]

You really don't know what racism is do you.

[daboarder]

You know what im I a ****ty mood today so **** it.

You dont know me
You dont know my life
You dint know what my parents and grandparents have been through

And yet you make assumptions, about me and my experiences based solely upon my skin colour. You dismiss my opinion as either uninformed or uninportant based solely on my skin colour.


How is that not ****ing racist?

Or do I not ****ing qualify until I have been refused work and accommodation because of my race? Because been there and done that! Or does it not count unless it happeens multiple time? Quantify it for me then is it once? Twice? Would I still not count regardless of how many times such thing had happened to me because im white?

Edit: deadlift come to aus. W e dont give a **** about what you look like ot where your from we'll tkae the piss out of you regardless and expect the same in return

[Mr Mystery]

I've experienced it.

Moved from Edinburgh to South East England, and boy did I get it. Apparently, when you're a small town arsebrain, even being from a mere 450 miles up the road, you're to be shunned and/or picked on...

It's not pleasant, and its not fun.

[daboarder]

Exaclty mystery I think we can at least all agree it sucks when it happens.