Conservative. Idaho. Software engineer. Historian. Trying to prevent Idiocracy from becoming a documentary.
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Saturday, November 27, 2021
Yes, Something Has Gone Terribly Wrong
When you learn a German exchange student is being asked how to translate the N word into German. America, we have a problem.
My dad worked in a foundry, his entire working life, as did I. A very large number of his close friends were black, just like my own. At an early age, I had learned that it was not the color of a person's skin that made them who they were, but instead the content of their character. Our house was a sort of halfway point between the factory where my dad worked, and a place where many of my dad's friends had relatives living. A distance of probably 60 miles. So we often received visitors on the weekends, with our home being a stopping point, for my parents to get a short visit with my mom and dad's friends from my dads work. And my twin brother and I would spend time outside, playing with their kids. So the very thought of even discriminating against these people, my parents good friends, was anathema to me, and remains that way, to this day. It of course comes as no shock that others are bigots, I am not a stupid person, and I know how wicked people can be. It just makes me sad, that people have since the dawn of time, judged each other not even based upon their actions, or their character, but upon some skin condition over which they have absolutely no control. At one time, I thought it was getting better. But now I understand that there was no political capital in that. It is a shame.
Amen! My father was pretty clean of racial concerns especially for his generation. My mother, not so much. She was full of pretend concern about my niece marrying a black man.
The German word for a black person is the same as the Spanish word for black, aka, Neger, aka Nayger. Way back when, my cousin and her son were staying with us and seeing the sights in Southern California. Disneyland, Hollywood, etc. We were on a street corner in Hollywood when a black man shouted to someone across the street. My cousin's son was less than two feet away, and he was VERY loud. My cousin said something about losing his hearing thanks to a black man, but she said it in German. Fortunately the man with the Stentorian voice was deaf, too, so that opportunity for offense was missed.
By whom?
ReplyDeleteI would guess that there is no direct equivalent in German.
"Schwarzer" sounds like it might be, but it's just "black"; compare to "Amerikaner".
My dad worked in a foundry, his entire working life, as did I. A very large number of his close friends were black, just like my own. At an early age, I had learned that it was not the color of a person's skin that made them who they were, but instead the content of their character.
ReplyDeleteOur house was a sort of halfway point between the factory where my dad worked, and a place where many of my dad's friends had relatives living. A distance of probably 60 miles. So we often received visitors on the weekends, with our home being a stopping point, for my parents to get a short visit with my mom and dad's friends from my dads work. And my twin brother and I would spend time outside, playing with their kids. So the very thought of even discriminating against these people, my parents good friends, was anathema to me, and remains that way, to this day.
It of course comes as no shock that others are bigots, I am not a stupid person, and I know how wicked people can be. It just makes me sad, that people have since the dawn of time, judged each other not even based upon their actions, or their character, but upon some skin condition over which they have absolutely no control.
At one time, I thought it was getting better. But now I understand that there was no political capital in that. It is a shame.
tlk78@yahoo.com
Amen! My father was pretty clean of racial concerns especially for his generation. My mother, not so much. She was full of pretend concern about my niece marrying a black man.
DeleteThe German word for a black person is the same as the Spanish word for black, aka, Neger, aka Nayger. Way back when, my cousin and her son were staying with us and seeing the sights in Southern California. Disneyland, Hollywood, etc. We were on a street corner in Hollywood when a black man shouted to someone across the street. My cousin's son was less than two feet away, and he was VERY loud. My cousin said something about losing his hearing thanks to a black man, but she said it in German. Fortunately the man with the Stentorian voice was deaf, too, so that opportunity for offense was missed.
ReplyDelete