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Einstein: The Negro Question (1946)

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Re: Einstein: The Negro Question (1946)

#121

Post by throwaway90446 »

kzrdude wrote: post #48
learc83 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people in America would consider a Slavic person white. There is no scientific definition of "white", it is a social construct that has changed to be more inclusive as various groups integrated into American society.

What is weird from my perspective is how the races as concepts still are accepted and used, even though they are ambiguous and deeply problematic. For example those that have the "pleasure" of hearing "but you are white" will understand that there is a scale of whiteness and you've just been graded on that scale.

Unless and until our recent era of mass global travel results in a highly genetically uniform species, we will continue to have population groups that share allele groupings differently than other population groups which share different allele groupings.

Re: Einstein: The Negro Question (1946)

#122

Post by arielm »

Einstein's simplification of this situation, even though it was made in a time where political correctness wasn't common, is a fresh view that reminds me how important it is to stop pronouncing racism and instead to each do our part in extinguishing it by action.

Re: Einstein: The Negro Question (1946)

#123

Post by moskie »

angrybits wrote: post #24
lpsz wrote: post #3

What, however, can the man of good will do to combat this deeply rooted prejudice? More diversity (in neighborhoods, in workplaces, in schools) would certainly help -- the transition from "us" and "them" to a unified "us." And yet, it's disappointing how segregated America still is today. One fairly in-depth study [1] offers an example of how "today" came to be. (This report is not about any current events, but rathe…

An increase in diversity is a goal, it's not a course of action. We should be trying to root out whatever the underlying causes are that lead us to segregate ourselves into the groups that we end up in. Forced de-segregation (as in the case of bussing kids around in public school districts) is only temporary, as the people who want to be in their groups will take action to achieve that end. For whatever it is worth,…

Why not both? I think we can work to address both the symptoms and the disease in tandem. Treat the symptom of segregation by implementing programs or initiatives that actively promote diversity. Also, root out the underlying cause by.... doing lots of various things over the course of generations to convince/teach people that racism is wrong.

Treating the symptom helps alleviate the problems experienced by people of color who are alive today. Addressing the cause could take a long, long time.

Re: Einstein: The Negro Question (1946)

#124

Post by doomlaser »

washedup wrote: post #114
kroy wrote: post #14

This is really fascinating. This part particularly struck me: "[Americans'] sense of equality and human dignity is mainly limited to men of white skins. Even among these there are prejudices of which I as a Jew am clearly conscious" As a non-black person of color, this has been my access point to issues of race and oppression. Thinking about the (relatively) minor prejudices and indignities I've experienced made me a…

Couldn't agree more that the opposition is real. I have witnessed much of it living in a divided city like Chicago. The most difficult question about it is what we can do to shift government attention and resources? Not in the form of police cameras, squad cars, or militarization, but in the form of education and infrastructure projects. This is only a small part of the question, however. A bigger issue is not where…

One of the biggest peaceful protests on this issue is happening today, across the nation, but you wouldn't know it from the Hacker News frontpage.

It's been troubling seeing any links about the Ferguson and Eric Garner protests wiped from Hacker News before they attract very many upvotes. The issues being debated encompass government action, fundamental technology and privacy rights, as well as race, but they're being ignored here for the most part and I don't understand exactly why.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/us/thousands-march-in-wash...

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2014/dec/13/police-k...

Re: Einstein: The Negro Question (1946)

#125

Post by NoMoreNicksLeft »

lpsz wrote: post #3

What, however, can the man of good will do to combat this deeply rooted prejudice? More diversity (in neighborhoods, in workplaces, in schools) would certainly help -- the transition from "us" and "them" to a unified "us." And yet, it's disappointing how segregated America still is today. One fairly in-depth study [1] offers an example of how "today" came to be. (This report is not about any current events, but rathe…

> More diversity

If I were to ask, "what can a man of good will do to combat tornado calamities", would you respond with a "more air temperature homogeneity would certainly help"?

We can't reasonably engineer or create "neighborhood diversity". There are some policies that have tried to accomplish this, and they fail miserably. The "diversity" ends up artificial and hollow, and does nothing for prejudice. In some cases it seems to amplify it.

> the transition from "us" and "them" to a unified "us."

There can never be an "us" when we're talking about the 300 million people in the United States. There can't even be an "us" if you're talking about the 8 million in New York City, or the 500,000 in Atlanta.

Human beings are limited in their ability to form an "us", and it's in the low hundreds.

Re: Einstein: The Negro Question (1946)

#126

Post by jxm262 »

love this.

"A large part of our attitude toward things is conditioned by opinions and emotions which we unconsciously absorb as children from our environment. In other words, it is tradition—besides inherited aptitudes and qualities—which makes us what we are. We but rarely reflect how relatively small as compared with the powerful influence of tradition is the influence of our conscious thought upon our conduct and convictions"

just wow. This gives me alot to reflect on and goes much deeper than racial prejudices. This can be applied to alot of areas in my life. I was one of the top in my high school class for math, and skated through college pretty easily. Came out being kind of cocky then learned pretty quickly how little I actually knew. The past few years have really really given me perspective. Speaking for myself, I seem to grow much faster when I humble myself and acknowledge my areas that need improvement.

Re: Einstein: The Negro Question (1946)

#127

Post by smtddr »

cityboy0 wrote: post #119
smtddr wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_racism http://www.quora.com/What-scientific-evidence-is-there-to-di... http://www.hirhome.com/rr/rrintro.htm http://science-beta.slashdot.org/story/14/08/11/122229/genet...

Ahh, the ol' "racist" technique. Someone cites facts that puts a minority in a bad light? Someone says something mean to a black person? Just yell "racist" and you'll surely silence them and "win" the argument! I am not claiming whites are superior or that blacks are inferior. All I am doing is citing facts. It is a fact that the poorest of white people outscore the richest of blacks in intelligence testing. It is al…

>>http://i.imgur.com/iQdEwX7.png

I can tell by your insults that this discussion is impossible.

Re: Einstein: The Negro Question (1946)

#128

Post by anomalous »

revscat wrote: post #16
lpsz wrote: post #3

What, however, can the man of good will do to combat this deeply rooted prejudice? More diversity (in neighborhoods, in workplaces, in schools) would certainly help -- the transition from "us" and "them" to a unified "us." And yet, it's disappointing how segregated America still is today. One fairly in-depth study [1] offers an example of how "today" came to be. (This report is not about any current events, but rathe…

I believe a greater benefit would occur were we to have more mixed race couples, and with it the offspring that would tend to be produced by those relationships.

Although, this sort of integration was encouraged and took place in Brazil and the mixed-race Brazilian offspring of today still seemingly and disproportionately prefer to be categorized as 'white' based on year-to-year census results.

Re: Einstein: The Negro Question (1946)

#129

Post by xxxyy »

throwaway90446 wrote: post #108
xxxyy wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because there are racial-alike tensions within the Caucasian people, such as Nazi/Jews, West/Slavic, Protestant/Catholic.

Unable to reply to your other flagkilled comment, so I'll reply here. It's amusing that bringing up facts in a community ostensibly self-selected to prize discovery and reason is sufficient cause to be silenced. pg and the community he fostered has come a long way since this: http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html

Yes, that is absolutely correct. And I find it sad that such thoughtless mechanisms are exactly what powered the worst forms of racism in the history.

Edit: would just like to point out that I was flagkilled before any response came, so currently my post is invisible in this thread.

Re: Einstein: The Negro Question (1946)

#130

Post by leephillips »

revscat wrote: post #16
lpsz wrote: post #3

What, however, can the man of good will do to combat this deeply rooted prejudice? More diversity (in neighborhoods, in workplaces, in schools) would certainly help -- the transition from "us" and "them" to a unified "us." And yet, it's disappointing how segregated America still is today. One fairly in-depth study [1] offers an example of how "today" came to be. (This report is not about any current events, but rathe…

I believe a greater benefit would occur were we to have more mixed race couples, and with it the offspring that would tend to be produced by those relationships.

Or, as Sen. Bulworth says in the movie of the same name, "Everybody just gotta keep fuckin' everybody 'til they're all the same color."
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