--- In [email protected], "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected], "jim_flanegin" <jflanegi@>
> wrote:
> >
> > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Ok, because I have some free time this afternoon,
> > > I'm going to take advantage of that fact and riff,
> > > Curtis-style or Edg-style, on my feelings about
> > > those of the Indian persuasion and why I feel that
> > > there is a *great deal* of racism in their culture.
> > >
> > > First, a necessary definition. When I use the word
> > > 'racism' in past posts or this one, I am *including*
> > > in that definition *any* support of or justification
> > > of the Hindu caste system. I *define* the caste sys-
> > > tem as a form of racism, which I further define as
> > > the systematic suppression of one social or racial
> > > or religious class by those who consider themselves
> > > "better" or "more highly evolved" or "more privileged"
> > > or "more worthy" than they are. The caste system
> > > just manages this racism without the luxury of being
> > > able to recognize those they wish to suppress visually,
> > > by their physical or racial characteristics.
> > >
> > > Second, unlike many of you here, I have never been
> > > to India, or wanted to go. The place just doesn't
> > > appeal to me. So my experience with Indians is
> > > limited to daily interactions with *expatriate*
> > > Indians -- in the United States and in Europe.
> > > That said, in those environments I have interacted
> > > on a pretty much daily basis with *hundreds* of
> > > Indian nationals of various religions and, if Hindu,
> > > of various castes. About the only thing these folks
> > > had in common was having come from India and being
> > > computer programmers. So that's the subset of Indians
> > > I am familiar with.
> > <snip>
> > So shoot me.
> > >
> >
> > Hang on, I'm reloading...
> >
> > Pardon me for saying, but you are so full of it in this case, it
> > spills out your mouth. And if you repeat that quote of mine out
of
> > context where I responded to Curtis saying that I wasn't
insulting
> > him, you are mistaken this time. (For a writer you have such a
poor
> > understanding of context, it boggles the mind.) I *am* insulting
> > you, or more precisely, I am insulting your racist attitude
against
> > Indians from India.
> >
> > First, there are nearly a billion people in India, and a far
> greater
> > percentage of the population here in the Bay Area is Indian vs.
in
> > New York or France. To extrapolate your opinion of these billion
> > people based on your racist views of a few hundred is
unforgivable.
> >
> > I find Indians here in the Bay Area to be far from the churlish,
> > spiteful and arrogant individuals you describe. They tend to be
as
> > well educated, personable and as well rounded as anyone else I
> know.
> > And unfailingly polite. And this is true whether or not they
have
> > just arrived here, or been here for years. Same goes with the
> > Indians I interact with in India, in business meetings. Are they
> > *better* or worse as a class of people than anyone else? Can't
say.
> > Haven't met all one billion of them.
> >
> > A racist, like you, is someone who will extrapolate the worst
about
> > a group of people based on carefully selected experiences and
> > observations. Hence those who call black people and Mexicans
lazy.
> > You are no better. Just another member of the KKK in my book.
> > Nothing cool or spiritual about that. Just deeply ignorant.
> >
> > Your ignorance of the caste system makes me blanch, too,
sounding
> to
> > me most like a fat cat Republican who declares all unions to be
bad
> > because they have been associated with corruption. The caste
system
> > in India is a system whereby society is organized according to
its
> > dharma. Does it work perfectly today? No. Does any other social
> > convention? No. Another example of your racism.
> >
> > Racism is a byproduct of ignorance, which you have displayed by
> > having interacted with select groups of Indians, formed an
opinion
> > of the other billion, and now declare that you would not go to
> India
> > because of your racist opinions. You are one Ugly American.
>
> But guess who here would be the first to raise
> an outcry if someone else had made unflattering
> remarks about the population of a country on the
> basis of knowing a few expatriates in a very
> highly specialized profession?
>
He Who Lives Under The Watchful Eye Of Ten Thousand Imaginary
Demons? The Master Of Straw Men? Emperor Of The Passive-Agressive
Remark? King Of The Out Of Context Rebuttal; Saviour Of The Facile
Argument?
