Racism, prejudice and terminology (Bad News: EGYPT spinoff)

[Aisha Azar]

Race, etc.

To my mind these scientific versions of race are just the construction of race though another field. What the scientists say will reflect what society says. I'm not suggesting there is only one version of the world, and that both will say the same. It is far far more complicated than that. But scientists do not work in a vacuum. They are reflections of their environment. So all these scientific definitions etc doesn't stop race from being a social construct developed to keep the little people down, as per Tarik's posts. I'm not saying that is what people are saying, just offering a perspective through my theoretical framework.

Dear Karena,
And then, what excuse do we have for people who are not of racial minority being kept down, which many are. In a discussion about race with my grandson's very black father, he told me that he feels many people use their color as an excuse to blame others for their own failings. I was quite surprised at this. He says because he black, he has actually been afforded opportunities that many people of white race would not receive. When I asked him for an example, he told me he feels he got his job at UPS because he is black, not because of any other special merit.
Raccism and other forms of special treatment for good or bad happen to ALL people. Ethnocentricity, fir example is seen in every country in the world. Again in Anthropology, doing a study on Pygmy tribes in Africa, I learned that they look down on the big tall neighbors who live in the plains and not the jungle.
Everybody gotta have somebody to be better than, I guess. I know I think I am way better than my white neighbor who lets her cats out and they get run over.
Regards,
A'isha

 

[karena]

Dear Karena,
And then, what excuse do we have for people who are not of racial minority being kept down, which many are. In a discussion about race with my grandson's very black father, he told me that he feels many people use their color as an excuse to blame others for their own failings. I was quite surprised at this. He says because he black, he has actually been afforded opportunities that many people of white race would not receive. When I asked him for an example, he told me he feels he got his job at UPS because he is black, not because of any other special merit.
Raccism and other forms of special treatment for good or bad happen to ALL people. Ethnocentricity, fir example is seen in every country in the world. Again in Anthropology, doing a study on Pygmy tribes in Africa, I learned that they look down on the big tall neighbors who live in the plains and not the jungle.
Everybody gotta have somebody to be better than, I guess. I know I think I am way better than my white neighbor who lets her cats out and they get run over.
Regards,
A'isha

Constructs of class, accent, what side of town you are from, size, gender... Lots ad infinitum

 

[Aisha Azar]

Race etc.

Constructs of class, accent, what side of town you are from, size, gender... Lots ad infinitum

Dear Karena,
Exactly, so if those who want to look down on someone else can not use race, they will find another issue. Race is just one avenue for dehumanizing one's fellow human beings. Try being a nice white Irish or Polish guy in the States during the beginning of the 20th century!! In one of my textbooks somewhere there is a photo of a storefront window in New York from the turn of the century, in which there is a sign saying that Irish are not welcome..... My father inlaw said the Poles had similar problems.
Regards,
A'isha

 

[AngelaJP]

I want to try to say is these 4 or 5 racial classification is NOT only describe as “race” there is more than this cranial type or whatever the physical type. Identity of race, ethnicity or nationality is more personal choice. I’m sure you don’t say “I’m Mongolid (or Yellow)” but you might say “I’m Pilipino” or Asian or what ever you want identify yourself then people understand what you want to try to say. I hope you follow me.

Of course I follow your views, Pirika I have never ever stated here that I believe the 5 classifications are supposed to be the world's classifications, girl. I was just adding to the anthropologic information you and Aisha stated. Thank you for sharing your views about the matter.

As for my views on the matter, the craniofacial classification is just one of the physical identifiable factors of the human race as it is much much more complex than that. There are many aspects to the human race.

There is the the ethnicity, among others - the shared history, place where one comes from, the culture, sense of identity, language, etc. It does exist, I believe that, but sadly, there are some people who use race, ethnicity and even religion as an excuse to think and do unjust things and don't respect and accept the differences. The last few posts of Karena and Aisha say a lot of truth and reality, as well as the posts of our other brothers and sisters here, yours included

===========================================

Here's a bit of info I'd like to share. One of the Philippines' minority groups left are the Pygmies or Aetas or Negritos who have an ancient lineage. They live in the deep dense jungles, isolated from the surrounding populations, where they can still bear their traditional life style of hunters-gatherers, have their own language, culture - a totally different way of life from the majority of the Filipinos. They generally have different physical characteristics - very short at 3 - 4 feet mostly, very curly haired and very dark.

I have encountered a few indigenous groups during my mountainbike and mountain climbing trips in our far mountains here and it was always very interesting and enlightening to experience their culture. Almost witnessed a tribal war too! :shok: One day, I would like to explore the culture of our Negritos here. Although they have a very different culture and lifestyle, they are still my brothers - my fellow Filipinos. Like our Muslims here who have a totally different lifestyle/culture, language/dialect and religion, they are still my Filipino brothers and sisters. The human race is beautiful with its diversity. Like I said, one just needs to accept, embrace and respect the differences.

 

[Tarik Sultan]

Dear Karena,
And then, what excuse do we have for people who are not of racial minority being kept down, which many are. In a discussion about race with my grandson's very black father, he told me that he feels many people use their color as an excuse to blame others for their own failings. I was quite surprised at this. He says because he black, he has actually been afforded opportunities that many people of white race would not receive. When I asked him for an example, he told me he feels he got his job at UPS because he is black, not because of any other special merit.
Raccism and other forms of special treatment for good or bad happen to ALL people. Ethnocentricity, fir example is seen in every country in the world. Again in Anthropology, doing a study on Pygmy tribes in Africa, I learned that they look down on the big tall neighbors who live in the plains and not the jungle.
Everybody gotta have somebody to be better than, I guess. I know I think I am way better than my white neighbor who lets her cats out and they get run over.
Regards,
A'isha

Because racism is only a symptom of a much deeper problem. That part of the human psyche that is unbalanced insecure, fearful. Racism is no different than classism, in fact it is an outgrowth of classism. So to answer your question, (even though I know you're not reading this), racism is just one of many tools created by a ruling class to keep people or certain segments of the population down. In one society the tool may be religion, in another its gender, in another it may be geographic location. What all these forms of discrimination have in common is the fear of one group that there isn't enough resources to go around, therefore, they want to make sure that their class, tribe, nation, religious members have access to them and the power to control them. All the isms are passengers on the same boat only different decks, its all related and that is what people need to realize.

s for preferential treatment. what I feel is that society needs to be restructured so that there is equity across the board. We need to go into poverty stricken communities whether they be in the Bronx or West Virginia and address the education, medical and economic challenges they face, rather than playing groups off against each other by having them compete for the scraps left over after we spend everything on the military. If this were done there wouldn't be the need for affirmative action or quotas, which in the end don't do anything but cause more polarization. However, I do think it interesting that the elite class receives the MOST welfare in tax cuts government bailouts etc. Is anyone in the government talking about a moratorium on foreclosures in this country? No, after all, its not the CEOs of multinational corporations who are in danger of losing their homes now is it?

 

[Tarik Sultan]

Constructs of class, accent, what side of town you are from, size, gender... Lots ad infinitum

Exactly, they are all different sides of the exact same coin. It's all bullshit and that's what we need people to realize. People tend to focus microscopically on their own issues, my race is oppressed, my nationality is oppressed, my gender is oppressed, my religious group is oppressed. They fail to realize that all their issues are RELATED. Instead of just selfishly concerning ourselves with cleaning up our section of the pool we need to realize that we are all in THE SAME POOL and if the water is dirty on the opposite end, its also dirty on our end, so the thing to do is for ALL of us to help each other out, not just in our section of the pool, but everywhere we see a problem. Only when the whole pool is clean will our section also be clean. We are all connected in this world and it is the concepts of racial separateness that maintain the illusions that we are not. Therefore, everyone is busy trying to clean their tiny section of the pool and wondering why the water isn't getting any cleaner.

 

[lizaj]

Dear Karena,
Exactly, so if those who want to look down on someone else can not use race, they will find another issue. Race is just one avenue for dehumanizing one's fellow human beings. Try being a nice white Irish or Polish guy in the States during the beginning of the 20th century!! In one of my textbooks somewhere there is a photo of a storefront window in New York from the turn of the century, in which there is a sign saying that Irish are not welcome..... My father inlaw said the Poles had similar problems.
Regards,
A'isha

I once asked an irish mate who the Irish made jokes about and he said "Kerrymen". Subgroups of racal jokes and jibes even!

 

[AngelaJP]

That part of the human psyche that is unbalanced insecure, fearful.

Unbalanced, insecure, fearful - the very core characteristics of a racist, sexist and other bad ists.

 

[Aisha Azar]

Jokes, etc.

I once asked an irish mate who the Irish made jokes about and he said "Kerrymen". Subgroups of racal jokes and jibes even!

Dear Lizaj,
Who are the Kerrymen??
I have heard about a million Polish jokes now, because my husband's and my last name is Polish. I have also heard about a million Yemen jokes from Saudis and from Gulf Arabs, and also jokes about a poor unfortunate soul named Joha. I have often wondered who the low caste garbage collectors of India and Egypt make jokes about. I suppose they do the opposite and makes jokes about high class people!
Regards,
A'isha

 

[khanjar]

Yes, when I worked with the Irish, there was a chap there that got the mickey took, I asked why, my answer was he was a Kerry man. Still confused I dug further and was told those from County Kerry are the target for jokes from the rest of the Irish. Every Kerry man I have met, I found they were soft spoken and generally quiet and relaxed about everything, this gives the impression that those from that county are a bit slow, and there the target for the others. The reality is, they, well the ones I have met, just cannot be bothered rushing with anything, they also rarely get flustered, not a bad thing I think.

 

[Aisha Azar]

Kerrymen

Yes, when I worked with the Irish, there was a chap there that got the mickey took, I asked why, my answer was he was a Kerry man. Still confused I dug further and was told those from County Kerry are the target for jokes from the rest of the Irish. Every Kerry man I have met, I found they were soft spoken and generally quiet and relaxed about everything, this gives the impression that those from that county are a bit slow, and there the target for the others. The reality is, they, well the ones I have met, just cannot be bothered rushing with anything, they also rarely get flustered, not a bad thing I think.

Dear Khanjar,
I have often been accused by people on the forum of stereotyping Arabs!! But, I do feel that sometimes groups of people have general traits in common. I feel okay about giving this example because I am part American Indian. When my dance company performs out at the reservation, the applause is always very nice and polite, but not over the top excited like it often is when we perform for a more general audience. They do not hoot and holler, they clap and nod. They respond, well....politely. Yet, when we are done performing, wedhave many people who come up and tell us in quiet voices that we were "Awesome". they go out of their way to make that personal contact. And they continue to have us perform at their intercultural events. Even if it us stereotyping, it is also true that the American Indians of the Northwest are warm, polite, quiet audiences, and it is only on a personal level that they let us know how much they truly enjoy the show. It sounds like your Kerrymen can be stereotyped in general as quiet people also? Now, is stereotyping always bad, then, or does it sometimes give us a generally accurate picture of some habits or traits of a people?
Regards,
A'isha

 

[lizaj]

My Irish friend was himself from County Kerry..and the brightest of our student bunch and yes quietly spoken but wicked with it!

 

[khanjar]

I posted elsewhere about something I found whilst investigating the Indian Caste system, that thing was the so called science of eugenics. A pseudo science used to segregate different racial types according to how advanced they were thought to be. The first users of this 'science', was the US white north European supremacists, who were alarmed at the immigrants, and the existing black population, took eugenics on board to justify their position as the elite. It was even reported that Hitler first modeled his eugenics program on that of the US, in his search for the master race. Long after Hitler's regime was dead and buried, eugenics survived in the Western world, no Western country was immune. If one looks into this thing, there are some spine chilling atrocities carried out in the name of this science, check out wiki and follow from there, it is a global disgrace;

Eugenics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



The Eugenics program was such that at the height of the movement in the US, the 1920's-30's, it was even exhibited at county fairs, as a science to educate the honest white American, the saying was, it was good for America, and there good for the human race.

Given all this education by our so called betters, is it a wonder that there is so much racism now. Could it also be, because of the eugenics programmes of the past, people have grown up with what we now call racism, because of the education received in the past. You know, those people, that have a dislike for anyone of colour, but when asked why, they cannot explain, but it is what they have always felt, a reminant from the misguided past perhaps.

Eugenics needs exposing worldwide, the follies of the past, there everyone can see and understand, the way we are sometimes, is because of education by those we trust to govern us.

I wonders in ancient times, was colour that much of an issue ?

 

[Sita]

There's a serious problem in society in regards to Nazism, in that as you said, many of their ideas have trickled into society without many people being aware of it ... these ideas like Eugenics, aryan and Thule/atlantis' ,(many of which were admitablely around before the Nazi's e.g. eugenics is an offshoot of social darwinism which was also liked by the Nazis), have been de-nazified and have carried on without any of those nasty connatations. I mean everyone still tends to think that aryan people were blonde haired/ blue eyes or associates aryan with these features and the connection with Iran (literally Aryan) where the term comes from and the true aryans originate from has been lost - unfortunatly.

One reason the idea of Atlantis became popular and started because among other things it allowed Europeans to explain how non-europeans e.g Egyptians, Mayans etc or as they saw it 'un-civilised' people had created such impressive monuments and civilisations compared to the Europeans and did so basically by finding away to say they hadn't.

This is also why, as I said earlier, I hate any kind of racial classification for whatever reason as to why or how it is used; it reeks of Nazi Eugenics to me and I refuse to have to state my origins or racial make up to anyone besides the fact that as a complete mongrel ,as most of us are, it would take forever and much of it even I don't know. All anyone should care about is the person I present myself to be and how I act. Human kind was 'born' in Africa so go back far enough we're all African

And unfortunalty while I understand the reasoning behind what's now termed 'positive racism' I cannot agree with it or see it changing anything; simply because you re still judging someone on their race or colour rather than on merit.


Sita

 

[Aisha Azar]

People, ec.

I wonders in ancient times, was colour that much of an issue ?

Dear Khanjar,
One only has to read history for about 20 seconds to know that it has always been an issue, and when it hasn't, something else has been. Animals fight over territory and sexual rights. Jane Goodall discussed the all out wars chimpanzees wage, and other primates have been known to act similarly. In mammals such as dogs we find that an outsider is not really all that welcomed into the pack with open arms. If you are chicken, you don't want to get a speck of blood on you for fear your fellow chickens will peck you to death, etc. The reality is that this is not a peaceful planet. The only thing a human can do is work hard to resist the occasional urge to beat hell out of some idiot. There are no saints or angels in human form. We ALL have violent tendencies and often is its just a matter of degree that separates us from the war criminal and there but for the grace of God go each of us, whether or not we are willing to admit it. think about it the next time you are swearing at the guy who cuts you off in traffic.
Regards,
A'isha

 

[Tarik Sultan]

I wonders in ancient times, was colour that much of an issue ?

Not racism as we know it now, but discriminations of all kinds yes. Discriminations are only symptoms of a deeper problem and that is what must be remembered. Therefore, sexism, classism, religious intolerance, tribalism. They all stem from the same root cause. Exactly which ism manifests itself is dependent on circumstances. Therefore, the basic human insecurity, fear of lack of resources leads to a need to hoard and control and then justify why you should do so. So that men feel the need to subjugate women to have control of resources and justify it, "men are smarter, stronger, GOD SAID SO". The need for resources not found in your territory leads to the need to obtain the land it comes from: "My people are better, smarter, stronger, more significant, GOD SAID SO". The need for resources, land and labor meant Euros, or the elite class of Euros, felt the need to take native land and land around the world to have as much economic control as possible, and of course cheap labor to obtain/produce said resources: "my people are smarter, more civilized, etc, etc, GOD SAID SO".

I don't see much difference between racism and the kind of discrimination that made it impossible for most peasants around the world to have access to or even a hope of a different life a better life. If not for themselves, their children. Its always about who gets to have what and why, so if its not racism, it will be some other sort of ism. The more spiritually evolved we become we will try to figure out ways to ensure that there is enough for everyone so that there is no need for isms. But as long as fear and greed rules the hearts and souls of humans, we will always have to deal with some sort of ism.

 

[Pirika Repun]

Not racism as we know it now, but discriminations of all kinds yes. Discriminations are only symptoms of a deeper problem and that is what must be remembered. Therefore, sexism, classism, religious intolerance, tribalism. They all stem from the same root cause. Exactly which ism manifests itself is dependent on circumstances. Therefore, the basic human insecurity, fear of lack of resources leads to a need to hoard and control and then justify why you should do so. So that men feel the need to subjugate women to have control of resources and justify it, "men are smarter, stronger, GOD SAID SO". The need for resources not found in your territory leads to the need to obtain the land it comes from: "My people are better, smarter, stronger, more significant, GOD SAID SO". The need for resources, land and labor meant Euros, or the elite class of Euros, felt the need to take native land and land around the world to have as much economic control as possible, and of course cheap labor to obtain/produce said resources: "my people are smarter, more civilized, etc, etc, GOD SAID SO".

I don't see much difference between racism and the kind of discrimination that made it impossible for most peasants around the world to have access to or even a hope of a different life a better life. If not for themselves, their children. Its always about who gets to have what and why, so if its not racism, it will be some other sort of ism. The more spiritually evolved we become we will try to figure out ways to ensure that there is enough for everyone so that there is no need for isms. But as long as fear and greed rules the hearts and souls of humans, we will always have to deal with some sort of ism.

Yes. There is always something people try to look down other people to get feel superiority than others even in the same race, ethnic group or anything you can think or pick.

I read the book “In Praise of Shadows” by Junichiro Tanizaki years ago in my English literature class. In this book Tanizaki explained some skin color in Japan. He said in ancient Japan, you can tell their “class” by their skin color. Upper class people were always inside the house so their skin is fair. On the other hand, farmers, fishermen, and other people who always work outside got darker. So, you can tell by their skin tone to their class or occupations. Of course these upper class people look down others for sure. I don’t know about now, because like Dipali said skin whitening products were very popular in Asia, and many people want to be fair skin color. I don’t know if there any class related reasons for it, but maybe just a trend or created by cosmetic company’s product image.

Last 30 or 40 years, there is “Ijime” or bullying common at the school in Japan, and every year some children commit suicide by this. Kids pick up some girl or boy that nothing different by skin color, hair color, or any physical appearance from other kids, just pick small thing to bully a kid. Sometimes it is just a kid wear grasses, has mole, or just nard or too smart. Not only in the school, but sometimes this happen in the company in adult world as well. I guess like Tarik said these issues are not based on skin color, or different race, but deep inside of fear and greed. Yeah, they have racism against Koreans, Chinese, Africans, South Asians and all immigrants from other part of the world too, but not much against Europeans or Americans. I assume that deep down inside of any people have some kinds of feeling of superiority, fear, greed, and other feeling make you feel better than others. However, most of people control this feeling and associate with other people.

 

[Maria_Aya]

Ok... this post owns me 2 hours of my life lol

I have a very sick and vommiting feeling reading the whole thread of the situation of a majority (unfortunately) of called "human beings".

For me the whole subject of racism, and dividing people according to their race, gender, colour etc is just SICK.
There is no excuse no matter what.
These people for me, fall in the same category as pedofiles and canivals.
If racism had to exist it should be against these people.

My father is greek, my mother is greek-italian, was born and lived in Australia, and there are 2 times in my life that felt racism on me.
As a kid going to school where being a greek-italian was the worst crime, and was a wog !! and recently where people think I'm Egyptian or arab in general

I really loved all the video's Tarik posted beside the one where the Egyptian in the tomb says that greek civilization lasted for 300 years.. well he better ask again lol

Aisha & Masrawy love you both for your clear mind.

Maria Aya

 

[Aisha Azar]

"Folks" etc.

Dear Aya,
My grandson calls everyone "Folks", like, "Black Folks" and "White Folks" etc.
(For those who don't already know this, he is Tri-racial!!) I think he learned these color designations from his Great Grandma Kerry on his Dad's side of the family. She died two years ago and he misses her. He has been very aware of color since it occurred to him at age three that there seems to be a lot of different colored folks in his family. To him we are all "Folks" of different colors without there being a good or bad to it, and that's that.
Aya, I love you back!!
Hugs to you,
A'isha

Ok... this post owns me 2 hours of my life lol

I have a very sick and vommiting feeling reading the whole thread of the situation of a majority (unfortunately) of called "human beings".

For me the whole subject of racism, and dividing people according to their race, gender, colour etc is just SICK.
There is no excuse no matter what.
These people for me, fall in the same category as pedofiles and canivals.
If racism had to exist it should be against these people.

My father is greek, my mother is greek-italian, was born and lived in Australia, and there are 2 times in my life that felt racism on me.
As a kid going to school where being a greek-italian was the worst crime, and was a wog !! and recently where people think I'm Egyptian or arab in general

I really loved all the video's Tarik posted beside the one where the Egyptian in the tomb says that greek civilization lasted for 300 years.. well he better ask again lol

Aisha & Masrawy love you both for your clear mind.

Maria Aya

 

[Tarik Sultan]

tri racial

Dear Aya,
My grandson calls everyone "Folks", like, "Black Folks" and "White Folks" etc.
(For those who don't already know this, he is Tri-racial!!) I think he learned these color designations from his Great Grandma Kerry on his Dad's side of the family. She died two years ago and he misses her. He has been very aware of color since it occurred to him at age three that there seems to be a lot of different colored folks in his family. To him we are all "Folks" of different colors without there being a good or bad to it, and that's that.
Aya, I love you back!!
Hugs to you,
A'isha

Being a tri racial person myself, I relate to this. I came from a family where we were every shade from white to black and all physical variations and combinations. However, at that age what I noticed the most was skin color. My dad was very light, (couldn't catch a tan if it was chained to a fence) and my mom was coco brown, as were my cousins, but my grand ma and great grand ma were very fair. My buddies Charles and Bruce were brothers, one was my color, the other was dark. I just assumed this was normal. Funny thing is though, I thought that I was light because I was born in the US, so for a while I assumed everyone with light skin was born in the US and dark people were born in Jamaica. Didn't connect the dots that my Dad was light and also born in Jamaica. Point is that I recognized the differences and when I went to Jamaica then I met Chinese people, yet another difference. However, I didn't put a value on anyone because of their differences.

The one time I experienced racism I didn't even know what it was. There was an English family that lived down the street in Jamaica, three girls and their mother. They were quite strange. They kept to themselves and never played with the rest of us. One day I started talking to one of the girls. She told me she couldn't speak to me because she was better than me. I thought this was strange so I asked how. She said because she had hair of gold and I didn't. I thought that was the dumbest thing ever. She taught that something as insignificant as her hair color made her better? How stupid? I thought she was going to say because she got better grades than me, or she was older. I didn't attach it to "white people" because I knew plenty white kids who didn't act that way. They were all from England too. Some I liked, some I didn't. Margaret I didn't because she was always dirty, I mean Pig pen from Charlie Brown dirty, but Dominic was cool. Carol was my bestest grown up friend, she was actually Syrian and the first red head with freckles I ever met,..... her mom was a bitch! Carol was liberated when she moved to Venezuela to marry the love of her life:clap: Thing is I judged people by who they were, not what they were. It wasn't till I came here that I began to learn the madness.

It took a while to understand the black thing, I just didn't get it. Then at some point I learned about the 1 drop rule. One drop of African makes you 100% Black. Later still I found out that a significant percentage of African Americans are actually Tri Racial, African, European and Native American in varying degrees. However, as blacks, we are suppose to ignore or be ashamed of the other parts of us, especially the European and only recognize the African. So if you are obviously of European extraction, you should feel like you're damaged goods and try to compensate by being EXTRA black. This means playing up all the urban stereotypes to the hilt. If you don't, then you're accused of acting too white. This can be such a pain in the ass, too white or white acting for Black folks, but too black or black acting for white folks.

I began to question this when I noticed that the majority of BLACK things were negative. To be black I had to only speak slang, shouldn't do too well in school, be physically and verbally violent, live in the ghetto, preferably in the projects, be poor, preferably on welfare. The only areas that I should excel in were music appreciation, but nothing other than Disco, R&B and Hip-hop, (Rock and Roll was White boy music, even though it was invented by blacks), sports, preferably Basket Ball and dancing... Okay, well..... maybe some of them were not too bad But living in a nice house or neighborhood was white. Getting good grades in school was white. Speaking intelligently in standard English was white. Going down town was white. Going to an ethnic restaurant that wasn't Chinese was white. I had to explain to a friend of mine that a Moroccan restaurant was not a "white place", after all Morocco is a country in north West AFRICA!

It was just a whole mindset of the way people both black and white expected me to be in the world. This is why I am so against racial classification. Why is it that one drop of Black makes you black? Why doesn't one drop of Native American make you Native American? Why is it you hear people in this country say things like, he looks white but he's black and don't see the stupidity in that statement? What would people say if you said to them oh he looks black, but he's really white. The first time I didn't feel my color since I left Jamaica was when I went to Egypt. I was just me. For the first time I wasn't the different one, I blended in. I saw people there who looked like my family and friends. I saw white people, black people, I'm not exactly sure what the hell you are people and they were all JUST PEOPLE. No body asked me what race I was. No one put themselves in racial boxes, they were just all EGYPTIANS. By US standards, most of them would have been considered black, but to them, black and white were just adjectives. People would say things to me like I'm black but my brother is white, or my mom is black and my dad is white like me. It was such a mix and life just went on. It made me wonder why Americans don't have a sense of national identity. Why do we need to put ourselves into groups? Egypt doesn't and their world hasn't fallen apart. Americans find it so difficult to live in a society that isn't color coded, no matter how nonsesical and full of shit those codes may be. This is why they have such a hard time with the question of the Ancient Egyptians and what race they were. They want the whole world to play by the rules of maintaining the illusion of putting people clearly defined exclusive boxes and the fact is that Egyptians never were just one thing. They were always a combination of Africans, non Africans and god knows what else and that makes us very uncomfortable because it undermines the whole world view of race and what it means.

I think all people need to be aware of just how man made and arbitrary these classifications are and to ask questions. Most importantly WHY? ESPECIALLY for people who are of mixed "race" marriages so that they don't grow up with feelings of alienation and identity crisis. WHY did people come up with these classifications in the first place? Why do they think it matters? Is this something I should continue, or begin to let go of? WHY? Everyone needs to know WHY, so that we can understand what is really going on when we encounter these attitudes and realize that it has nothing to do with us, but is is other people's stuff from a long time ago being carried around. Stuff they want us to agree about ourselves, stuff they want us to agree about other people, but in the end, stuff we need to begin to discard so that we have more room for our own lives so that we can create new and better stuff!