Rain
sharke
It's always seemed to me that the people most heavily vocal about "ending discrimination" are also the most enthusiastic about perpetuating tribal divisions, pigeonholing everyone according to their physiological characteristics and relentlessly drumming the bitterness of historical injustice into the heads of each new generation.
There are people with a political agenda which depends upon brainwashing certain groups into believing that they don't have a hope in hell because the cards of society are stacked against them. They are currently doing far more damage to said groups than their historical injustices should account for. And of course the focus is always on the bad time their ancestors had, forgetting that the situation was pretty much dire for 99.999% of the world's population throughout history. Some people were sold into slavery. Others (like many of my ancestors for example) were forced to march hundreds of miles in deep snow with little on their feet and even less in their bellies to pointless battles with swords they could barely lift, and ultimately certain death. Others were marched into concentration camps and slaughtered by the millions. But it seems that a select few get to endlessly use their historical woes as political currency, and not others.
Personally it annoys me when someone blames their crappy life on their childhood, let alone what happened before they were born.
I somewhat have an insider perspective on that - though nothing that compares to what other people have gone through.
I come from a place where nationalism runs rampant and people put a lot of emphasis on "our" history, as opposed to the rest of Canada.
Actually, that's pretty much the only thing you can openly be proud of back home - to be the descendant of a people who lost their war to the British. - I know...
There is much to be told about the virtues of being a victim and the inherent nobility associated with being "oppressed". It gives people a sense of entitlement - they're the humble and proud survivors. The righteous. Those who will be avenged.
Proud to speak French - as if it were a choice they made, or as if they actually spoke proper French or knew anything about the so-called culture which they get so reeled up about.
Speaking poor French, watching hockey, being a peaceful and pretty secular culture, w/ a disgusting penchant for socialism, partying and eating poutine.
That's what it's all about, and that's what supposedly makes us so unique.
That and not wanting/not having to speak English - which is a cornerstone of our "culture".
Obviously, no one is to tell them that pretty much every one on earth is a descendant of people who've been oppressed and who've been oppressors.
I look at them and I have a hard time believing that not that long ago, I understood their point of view. And I wonder how many descendants of other historically oppressed people feel as alienated as I do when they see the **** their people stir.
Yeah that's another thing I've never understood - being "proud" of your ancestors or your roots. I always thought pride was something you felt at your own achievements (or the achievements of the offspring you raised). I hear people say they are proud of their nationality, their ethnicity, their skin color or some other physical characteristic, and I can't help thinking that they must have little else to be proud of. I once had a girl tell me she was proud of her height. She must have worked day and night to get so tall.