*snickers*

[conuly]

And we're back to my old pastime of mocking Amazon reviews. Just one, the most recent review of Beloved:

To know that they actually teach this book in school is a complete embarrassment to real literature. I nearly threw up when my fiance told me she read this, but then asks me questions like, "What's Beowulf?" and "Who is Mark Twain?"

So, seeing what kids are learning in school now, I read through most of the book (it doesn't take too long to speed through the broken English and half attempts at actual writing talent), only to find that it's a wonderful piece of Affirmative Action brainwashing. The best thing about this book was that it helped me settle the issue of whether my child will attend public school or not. Nope, no thanks.

That's right, white people are evil, evil, EVIIIILLL! But you're welcome for the cars we invented, the train you ride on, the computer you probably wrote that book on, and all the other contributions we've made. Oh yeah, and that whole freedom thing, too.

It's a real piece of garbage, and they might as well teach "Twilight" in school, simply based on its literary value and deep thinking alone, while they're at it.

Yes, black people should be thankful to whites for... their... freedom.... Wait, something's not adding up there. I'm hoping this one was intended as satire, but who knows?

Comments

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

The whole idea that anybody should be either thankful or resentful toward a vast group of unknown, unrelated strangers because people of similar skin-color did something to/for their ancestors centuries ago is batshit-crazy.

Like the joke says, "whaddaya mean 'we', white man?" - because as far as I know, none of my own ancestors or relations had anything at all to do with inventing or developing cars, trains or computers. My grandfather did do a lot to foster the refrigeration industry during the Depression, but I doubt anyone is feeling grateful to his descendants on account of it, let alone to me personally.

None of my ancestors reached America in time to either enslave or free anybody here. Assuming that all people of lighter skin are members of the same cultural group is every bit as offensive as blaming the Australian aboriginal folk for the Haitian Revolution in 1804: hello, they weren't even there; they were on an entirely different continent.

*sigh* I know, I know: humans are idiots.

[conuly]

Well, I was thinking more like "Black people should be grateful to white people for no longer keeping them as slaves".

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I know, but that's just the far end of the batshit-craziness continuum.

You've probably seen this line of reasoning before. It starts out with the premise that Africa Sucks - "darkest Africa", y'know, heat, bad water, bugs, snakes, parasites, poverty, dirt, disease, starvation, ignorance, superstition, tribal warfare. I've seen a bit of northern Africa, and lots of pictures of the rest, and I must agree; the place DOES suck. A great many of the people there would move to America in a New York minute if they got the chance, and not many African-Americans would want to trade places with them.

That doesn't signify, however, because the ancestors of those African-Americans did NOT want to come to America, and even if they had, they wouldn't have wanted to come as slaves. It also doesn't signify that a lot of them would have been slaves just the same if they hadn't left Africa. Nobody is ever going to say "I'm so grateful that my great-great-great-great grandparents were chained like sardines in the hold of a slave-ship so I didn't get born in a wretched third-world country".

*shrugs* London sucked too, at the time people were being 'transported' to America and Australia. By all accounts, Australia really sucked, and the transportees were not grateful to have been sent there, however their descendants may feel about it now. Ireland sucked out loud; they were literally eating grass and mud there, but the people weren't happy about being forced to leave. Russia, Poland, Greece and Bohemia all sucked in the 19th century, but New York sucked almost as much, or maybe even somewhat more.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that this great nation was built by people forced by circumstances beyond their control to leave one place that sucked out loud, and move to another that also sucked. Most of them had at least some choice about it, though - even if it was no more than "be transported, or be hanged?", which is not much of a choice. The slaves didn't get any choice at all, and I very much doubt they were grateful for that.

The idea that "the white race" is collectively responsible for the invention of anything invented by a 'white' individual is equally ridiculous. There is no such thing as 'the white race'' or 'the black race', but even if there was, it would still be stupid: imagine all the members of a big extended family claiming to be alumni of Yale because Great-Grandpa (now long deceased) was one. Sorry; achievement is not transferable.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Once more, I find myself wanting a "like" button on LJ.

I agree with this very strongly, and I have frequently used the phrase "whaddaya mean 'we'" since my ancestors of record* arrived between 1870 and 1890. (If your ancestors crossed the Atlantic on iron ships....)

I've also been known to point out that if you trace back far enough, we're ALL descendents of slaves. (I do not, however, have any resentment toward present-day Rome for what Rome did historically to the Germanic tribes.)

*The adopted ones, have no idea whom I might be related to by blood.