tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post7628887381652954917..comments2023-09-14T12:49:51.466-06:00Comments on Spirit of Saint Lewis: Discrimination -- Is It Okay? I Mean, We All Do It.A Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05066992019067893513noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-64415181798267395142008-01-28T20:08:00.000-07:002008-01-28T20:08:00.000-07:00My view of this matter is that discrimination is a...My view of this matter is that discrimination is a <I>good</I> quality. Discrimination means being able to separate what's worthwhile in any set of people or things from what isn't worthwhile.<BR/><BR/>But racism is exactly <I>not</I> discrimination--it's just the opposite of discrimination. Racism means to dismiss <I>all</I> the objects in a given set, without even thinking about them, without considering the differences between them or even the possibility that there might be any differences between them. Just dismiss them all, for what they "are," as if they were all the same. And sexism, homophobia, and ageism are all forms of racism, by other names.<BR/><BR/>It's hugely unfortunate that racism and "discrimination" have become almost synonymous in this country, because "discriminating" is exactly what racism <I>isn't</I>.Keithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05314192729386660663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-88992018029427707592008-01-23T00:16:00.000-07:002008-01-23T00:16:00.000-07:00Despite our best intentions we still 'discriminate...Despite our best intentions we still 'discriminate' against those that are different from ourselves, or from what we've been taught... <BR/><BR/>Well written friend!Billyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17794508008259267967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-50122664976188709622008-01-22T00:04:00.000-07:002008-01-22T00:04:00.000-07:00You're so spot on. We all do it. And I fell asha...You're so spot on. We all do it. And I fell ashamed when I recognize it in myself. But it still happens.Tony (LT)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07360900168245692339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-72047571019413677602008-01-21T18:40:00.000-07:002008-01-21T18:40:00.000-07:00Excellent post, we are definitely a work in progre...Excellent post, we are definitely a work in progress. I was raised in a So Bapt home where my Mother was the religious one and my Dad cursed like a sailor (he was in WW2) who railed on and on about the (N word) and how the government was screwing the poor man. What really got to me was how much I was reviled by my Mother when she outed me to herself by snooping through my mail. I still have to work on not hating those religious right wing nuts on a daily basis. Thanks for making us think.Uncle Gerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11995079342428225545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-34759728862327646912008-01-21T12:49:00.000-07:002008-01-21T12:49:00.000-07:00Very good. Very insightful. We weren't allowed to ...Very good. Very insightful. We weren't allowed to use the word 'hate' either. We could dislike something, but that was it. I think my curiosity and love of people seems to win out over discriminatory thoughts that might try to settle in. I'd much prefer to know someone and find out where they are coming from. It's the best way to make interesting friends.;ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09260742496507673561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-68199787514957901602008-01-20T15:33:00.000-07:002008-01-20T15:33:00.000-07:00excellent postyou ask cosmic questions we all stru...excellent post<BR/>you ask cosmic questions we all struggle with (or most of us). <BR/>discrimination is so archaic it may take centuries to reverse.<BR/>we have to be mindful; i know i have to be.Ur-spohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04237644452200889946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-15074829748509581302008-01-20T03:56:00.000-07:002008-01-20T03:56:00.000-07:00when i lived in the "ghetto" area in Tulsa, I was ...when i lived in the "ghetto" area in Tulsa, I was yelled and told to "go home"<BR/><BR/>but that definitely didn't break me up to have a successful experience there. i keep trying to make people around me realize that its wrong to discriminate all the time, and i'm always a minority everywhere, even among the minority. <BR/><BR/>kudos for you, as this article is my favorite among previous ones!ikanbilishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03377797524656069517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-3834197916320611862008-01-19T10:50:00.000-07:002008-01-19T10:50:00.000-07:00I often see people from one minority group, people...I often see people from one minority group, people who have battled against prejudicial treatment for generations, displaying the same ugly prejudice toward other minority groups. This makes no sense to me. Or, for example, my mother who has learned to at least act very accepting of African-Americans, says the nastiest, ugliest things against Hispanics. The first time I heard an anti-Hispanic diatribe foam from her mouth I was shocked! She taught me never to say such stuff about others. I guess she meant "negros." I know she harbors bias against African-Americans, but she tries. She doesn't even try to be nice in regard to Hispanics. <BR/>Funny story: All this "make nice with the negros" talk as I was growing up... then my senior year in high school I had a black boy friend. THAT really pushed the limits!!!Javahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17377033663576614925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-33534280808584360732008-01-19T05:42:00.000-07:002008-01-19T05:42:00.000-07:00My parents are extreme non-haters. I got very luc...My parents are extreme non-haters. I got very lucky in this regard. My parents had a wide range of friends, and I don't remember them ever saying anything derogatory about someone based on a prejudice. So I was raised to have a very open mind.<BR/><BR/>I still catch myself, however, thinking or talking about people based on their membership in a group. Thanks for the reminder to spank myself when I do that.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065042871216479832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-65839845908023706782008-01-19T02:46:00.000-07:002008-01-19T02:46:00.000-07:00I like yer new profile pic. SOOOOOOO sexy.I'm a m...I like yer new profile pic. SOOOOOOO sexy.<BR/><BR/>I'm a minority twice! Hispanic und gay! Imagine that! I don't just speak English and I is queer too!WAThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06265139894543519211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-54575410868707685402008-01-18T20:49:00.000-07:002008-01-18T20:49:00.000-07:00I came from a mother that taught us much of what y...I came from a mother that taught us much of what you believed, and a father that was quite prejudiced, it was a mixed up time. I believe I took on many of my mom's views. I guess we all have our own lessons in life to learn, I wanted so bad for my dad to learn them, still do at times,but he will when he is ready.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-53147851257454953002008-01-18T11:55:00.000-07:002008-01-18T11:55:00.000-07:00Definitely a thought-provoking post. It wasn't unt...Definitely a thought-provoking post. It wasn't until I spent years working for an organization that caters to a certain population that my hatred toward them started to unravel. I look back 25 years later and I say to myself, <I>"What a waste of time to have harbored that hatred."</I> But it will always be a <I>"work in progress."</I> Thanks for sharing!Stevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15460856009625389973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-77201381346675593192008-01-18T08:04:00.000-07:002008-01-18T08:04:00.000-07:00Wonderful, thought provoking post, Lewis. The prev...Wonderful, thought provoking post, Lewis. The prevailing prejudice here is against First nations people. I grew up being surrounded by a culture that has the mindset that "Indians are lazy. They live off the government. Their kids live on chips and pop. The only good Indian is a dead one." A guy at my work who I actually like ... a gentle, affable man who you wouldn't define as the prejudiced type, stunned me one day by expressing that he hoped his daughter when she grew up wouldn't ever "date an Indian". I immediatly felt the sting of the same shame and helplessness that filled me as a little boy hearing people say such things. <BR/><BR/>My Nana was fiercely determined that I learn to never take a thing from anyone. She once refused a Christmas hamper of food that we really needed. To this day I have a problem receiving any sort of handout or gift, even those given with with kindness and grace. I am working on this, but these things bite deep into the psyche. <BR/><BR/>The only way we can change our prejudices is to confront them head-on. We must also not be passive when we hear such things voiced or joked about. I am the least confrontational guy in the world, but when it comes to this, I speak up. I won't allow it in my presence. Dignity is a human right. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for writing this.Cooperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02327268988762513100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-48289310618171783212008-01-18T05:46:00.000-07:002008-01-18T05:46:00.000-07:00I think you raise an important issue that most of ...I think you raise an important issue that most of us would prefer to keep hidden. I think it is fact that we all "discriminate". I think what separates us is how we handle those inclinations to discriminate. We can recognize them, deal with them within ourselves, and rise above them, or we can give in to them and be crude and rude to others.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-85045425512148090162008-01-18T05:42:00.000-07:002008-01-18T05:42:00.000-07:00Great Post. You've taken a step just by acknowledg...Great Post. You've taken a step just by acknowledging it, thinking about it and discussing it. Bias is a feeling, discrimination is an act. We may not always be able to help what we spontaneously think or feel, but we can decided what we will do with those thoughts and feeling - act on them or try to understand and change them. Yes, we are all biased about multiple things, but not all of us discriminate, at least intentionally, and some of us actually try to recognize when we do and stop it. As long as we remember doing what is right is not always popular and doing what is popular is not always right, we can keep going, doing our best to change the world, or at least ourselves, one person, one step, one moment one thought at a time. The only failure is the refusal to try. Thanks for a thoughtful post and something to chew on today as I go about my daily activities. PL&P!Breenlanternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17317914861018120156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-3093274171788846592008-01-18T03:48:00.000-07:002008-01-18T03:48:00.000-07:00My dad and my younger brotherare really prejudice ...My dad and my younger brother<BR/>are really prejudice people.<BR/>The ironic thing is that my<BR/>brother all growing up NEVER<BR/>liked the site of a fat woman.<BR/>He was one that would make fun<BR/>of them and laugh. Now, he's <BR/>married (for seven years) and<BR/>she is twice his size.Lauriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01645677037265997958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-9244652654565056312008-01-17T20:50:00.000-07:002008-01-17T20:50:00.000-07:00I grew up in a home filled with prejudice and hatr...I grew up in a home filled with prejudice and hatred. It's hard to avoid falling into that trap of a mindset. Yet, it serves as a reminder often hen the very thoughts beginning of where I came from and why it's important to avoid that trap.<BR/><BR/>-CAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1249087072631679631.post-48696508188001198132008-01-17T18:05:00.000-07:002008-01-17T18:05:00.000-07:00You hit the nail right on the head: It's all a wor...You hit the nail right on the head: It's all a work in progress, and we hope to end up better than we started. A perfect summation, my friend.D-Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04593260981057732400noreply@blogger.com