No one replied? Wow. Maybe it hits too close to home. Do you have a link to the actual discussion you posted?

You sound like my mirror image.

I have no intention of beating the subject to death, except to remind you that basketball, too, is just a word.

Enjoy your misery Shabaka, that appears to be what fuels you.

pax vobiscum,
archaeopteryx
www.in-His-own-image.com

With all due respect Shabaka, it would be naive of anyone to believe that "non-whites" can't exhibit racist traits.

Part of the formula is presupposition, aka, pre-judging, or prejudice, which involves making assumptions based on generalities, rather than individual assessments - i.e., "All Blacks are ________." - "All Whites believe _______." etc. I perceive you were prejudging me as soon as you decided I made the basketball comment because I was White and you were Black. But think about it - it's the internet, a totally anonymous media - no one knows what color ANYone is. But that wasn't the first thought that leaped to your mind, it was that I was White, knew you were not, and made the basketball remark as a racist slur.

Can you not see that you pre-judged me? And that your response, judging by your reaction time, was nearly instantaneous? That implies long term, deeply ingrained assumptions regarding Whites, and that, my friend, is prejudice.

Despite your assumptions, you still have no idea what color I am. Did you decide I'm White because of my grammar and punctuation? If so, then YOU are making an assumption that there must be a difference between the way Whites and Non-whites write, a form of prejudice.

The truth is that you still don't know what color I am, nor do I, you, such is the anonymity of the internet. Possibly you should ask yourself why you're so quick to leap to conclusions. The truth is that I have mixed-race children - it would be a bit hypocritical of me to think in racist terms of any sort. Of course you can say, "But I didn't know --" I agree, you didn't, yet still you made judgments about me - what do you think that's called?

I sense you're letting things eat at you, and it's hurting you to do so. I agree that's none of my business, but I still hate to see it. You seem like a decent person.

pax vobiscum,
archaeopteryx
www.in-His-own-image.com

RE: "I don't believe in the concept of 'race'..so it would be hypocritical of me to acknowledge some 'human race.'" - the Human species is often referred to as the Human race, for me, it's merely a matter of semantics.

"I do acknowledge culture, it's proven itself and there are different human cultures." - absolutely, and sometimes the differences in those cultures can be allowed to divide us, on the other hand, if we embrace them, the differences can also enrich us. How we approach them determines everything.

You made a mistake. You read into my post an offense that not only was never intended, but never even considered. I don't expect an aploogy, in fact, one would embarrass me, but I do think, for your own good, that you should acknowledge you sometimes jump to conclusions and see offenses where there are none. In fact, although I did not choose to enter that particular discussion, I read all of your posts, and up to the point where you went postal on me, I agreed with everything you were saying - another reason I chose not to post, because you said what I thought as well, if not better than I. Then we exchanged what I believed was a humorous pleasantry, then everything went south from there.

This is the 21st century, and there is no longer any room - not that there ever was - for racism. But at the same time, considering how many cultures there are out there, if we monitor every word we speak or write, just to be completely certain we've not said anything that could even remotely be taken as offensive to anyone in any of those cultures, for the most part, we would stand mute. I certainly don't expect that of anyone, and can't imagine anyone would expect it of me.

pax vobiscum,
archaeopteryx
www.in-His-own-image.com

Shabaka - does this look racist to you? I'm in this picture. I can't believe you're not big enough to admit the chip on your shoulder obstructed your vision, and you made a mistake.

pax vobiscum,
archaeopteryx
www.in-His-own-image.com