|
|
 |
Welcome To The Home Page
RACE IN AMERICA:
And around the world
Until we can be honest with ourselves about our feelings about race, all people every where will be in trouble; this so because we will constantly be fighting against true progress. In America, we have one of the most beautiful opportunities in the world even in all creation to demonstrate what it really means to be human.
The primary thought and purpose in my mind and heart is that the individual have the right and freedom of choice; and just as equal, that the individual has the ability and courage to make an inform and wise choice. And once the choice has been make, we must be responsible for, and accountable for the choices that we have made. It is uniquely human to speak of Rights, and freedom of choice. When we speak of the earth and of other life forms that we know of on the earth, we do so in the context of human responsibility for the earth, the animals and other life forms of this earth. (10-19-2003)
It is hard for us to get past the things that we have staked our survival on and our lives in. Because of this we wind up fighting over things that we would not have to fight over if we realized our true connection to all things and to all people. We have to demonize things and people in order to hold on to that which we believe and think belongs to us.
We have labored hard to earn the right to call it ours. We have shed our blood to get it and to keep it., and therefore no one has the right to take it from us. We will grab hold of any excuse we can find and call it a reason, and a just reason to do what ever we can to get it and keep it. We us things like, "I was born here and my parents were born here...." “My parents and grandparent worked hard to make something out of this land, or what ever it may be, and I am not going to give it up."
The slightest difference become justification for making an enemy of those that oppose us; it makes us feel that they come to threaten the way of life that we have or to take away that which we have worked and labored for. It is human nature to defend ourselves and our family when we are threatened or believe that we are threatened. We believe that it is just to retaliate when some one strikes out at us, that is a human quality; it is also present in all life forms. And those who strike out at us will build a belief system that will allow them to justify them in striking out at us. And as time goes on and generations come and go, it becomes harder and harder to know the truth of what belong to who, and who was first to own it, and who can prove that ownership.
This is the case with the Jews and the Arabs; the Jews and the Palestinians, the Native Americans, and the American Colonialist; the blacks and the whites of South Africa, and of The United States Of America. This warring and divisional fractionalization happening in African, America, South America, Canada, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, China, Korea, Iraq, The United Kingdom, and Europe; just to name a few. This spills over into families and into the areas of gender and age.
We have done so much that we have obscured that things that bind and bond us together as one. We feel we must defend that thing that we perceive and see as the good and valid thing to do. This often stands in opposition to what the real truth is.
***
*************************
|
A CLEAR BEGINNING: I choose this picture because it depicts, for me, the fact that it is not easy to say who is right and who is wrong when the issues are intertwined with so much history which has so much good and bad in it...
The photo above shows whites and blacks involved in the slave trade. It does not matter what your color or national origin slavery is wrong....
Although it fascinates us, and in a strange way it attracts us, we are frightened by diversity, yet it is the essence of our makeup as human beings. On some hidden level, we feel threaten by that which we do not understand, and cannot predict and control. When the threat is real it needs to be dealt with; when the threat is perceived, we need to be dealt with. This is not to belittle perception, for perception can be a vital part of our life and survival. However our perceptions have to be balance with and grounded in facts and reality. Perceptions are the things that are trying to get our attention that there is something that needs closer attention. (Sunday Oct. 19th, 2001)
When God made humans and all other things that exist, God looked out over what God had created and declared that it was very good. Therefore, any problem that we have with other humans or with other things that exist is in fact an unresolved issue that we have with ourselves. There are many things that I see, and feel about myself that bothers me, or at least they concern me, because there seems to be nothing that I can do about certain things.
I did not choose the race that I am, or the parents that I have. However, there are those who believe that in someway we did participate in the lives that we presently have.
For me, whether I was appointed this life, or I choose to accept the assignment that this life is, I do have a problem with not being able to remember and take advantage of the experiences of the past, whether it be time, space or past lives, be they good or evil. To me it seems to be such a waste of previous time, lives, and or experiences.
In the present state of my conscious awareness, it is in the things that I have done either good or bad that I am able to build a better life that will effect myself, the people that I encounter, and the God That I had chosen the believe in serve and love.
Whether Blacks and Hispanics, Arabs or Moslems, Christians or Jews, racial profiling is sometimes necessary, it becomes evil when we who have to use it, go to far in it's use that we begin to misuse the method and abuse the people, and whenever we abuse people we abuse a bit of ourselves and who we are. Unfortunately, we forget that its usefulness is for a time and a season.
For many of us it become very hard to separate what is do to us from people who look, or belong to the same group as the person or people who did it.
When we are unable to make the separation and distinction we will tend to lump all the members of the group to gather. What we create then is a human and even animal response to defend itself; we all think that when one is attacked it is perfectly ok to defend yourself.
However too often we lose site of the origin of the true conflict, and we then choose an arbitrary origin point. Which may or may not be the truth?
Only to the person who is not easily offended and willing to easily forgive. Can we begin to get on solid ground for building good human relationships?
It is not easy telling someone to put self before the nation, and to put family before the nation, and to put people as individuals before the nation, and God before all things and people, yet I believe that it what must be done. I believe that when this is done with love and compassion, common sense and balance, nothing or no one will go lacking, even the nation.
As I see it a nation is nothing more that people that have come together within a common land, and with all of the varying philosophies and beliefs that they have, and they accept to work together for the good of all entering into and respecting the agreement. When the various philosophies of a nation or community become too great, they will tend to threaten the safety and security and well being of the people of the union. Then that threat must be neutralized.
IT IS THE INDIVIDUAL THAT MUST FACE THE TRUTH IN THEMSELVES AND JUDGE IT....
It is good and proper to say the United States of America is a government of the people by the people and for the people; but unless all of it's citizens have an equal opportunity to
participate in the workings of that government it is of the people by the people and for the people in name only.
It is true that all Americans have a chance to partake in the working of the government, this is not the real issue; the real issue is the freedoms and aspiration that all people and in particular all American have to aspire and a reasonable chance to obtain the dream of even the highest office and goal that America offer. Yet just as important is the freedom and opportunity to achieve the highest goal that an individuals heart desires to. WE all have the obligation to make sure that the only thing that separates a person from achieving their
freedom goal is the limit that they put on themselves, or that which limit them through some mental or physical defect during birth; or if the fail through their choice of being lazy and unmotivated to try.
It should never be a persons racial origin, their gender or lack of formal education, or economic status that keep them from participating and presenting their case for representing the people of there area, as the central governing body come together to make decisions that will affect everyone; whether it is on the local, state, national or international level, the things that will make every have an equal and reasonable chance, must be jealously guarded and preserved.
|
POINTS OF HISTORY:
The situation with Cain and Abel cannot be looked at as racial prejudice, however, it can be viewed as the beginning of the separation of the races, or at least the beginning of the conflict between brothers.
It seem to be that at the beginning of the conflict, which involved the brothers, the ladie the sister were in the middle of the situation. There refers to the difficulty between the brothers. But, even before this there war a rift between the male and the female, ie, Adam the male and Eve the female.
1. When the most recent national census was completed in 1990, the population of the United States of America had reached 248,709,873. The Census Bureau estimates current population to be 258,745,000 (1 September 1993) and increasing by some 3 million persons per year. By the year 2000, the United States population is expected to be 276,241,000. In recent years, the population has shifted from the North-East and Midwest to the South and West. Since 1960, the population in both the North-East and Midwest has decreased approximately 5 per cent and increased approximately 5 per cent in the South and West.
""2. Females outnumber males, comprising 51.2 per cent of the population. The median age of all people is 32.9, with 22 per cent under the age of 15 and 12.4 per cent over the age of 65.
3. The United States is home to a wide variety of ethnic and racial groups; indeed, virtually every national, racial, ethnic, cultural and religious group in the world is represented in its population. Overall, 80 per cent of all people are white. Among the minority groups, 12 per cent are African Americans, 9 per cent are of Hispanic origin, 3 per cent are of Asian or Pacific Island origin, and less than 1 per cent are Native Americans.
4. Historically, the United States has been a nation of immigrants. According to the 1990 Census, nearly 20 million people (or more than 12 per cent of the population) were not born in the United States but call it home. In 1992, 973,977 aliens were granted lawful permanent resident status. This figure was inflated as a result of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), which provided a one-time opportunity for significant numbers of long-term illegal residents and special agricultural workers to gain permanent residence status. The primary countries of origin for legal immigrants were Mexico, Viet Nam, the Philippines, and the countries formerly constituting the Soviet Union. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) estimates that another 300,000 people immigrated illegally. A recent INS analysis indicated that as many as 3.2 million people now reside illegally in the United States; approximately 40 per cent (1.3 million) live in California and 15 per cent (485,000) live in New York. Although the IRCA provided legal status to many Mexicans living in the United States, approximately 30 per cent of illegal aliens are Mexican. Another 9 per cent are from El Salvador and 4 per cent from Guatemala. In total, the INS indicates that illegal immigrants constitute about 1.3 per cent of the United States population.""
|
New Site Happenings
|
Although there are many possibilities of what we may be in relatioship to our genetic pool. Be that as it may, we are basically all humans, not matter what our race or gender.
When we begin to get into the area of culture and preferences, we should not confuse that as the will of God. God is involved with the lives of all humans, and how they live and develop, and the systems that they invent and institue to facitiate that growth and development is of deep and personal concern to God, for God is a person, yet God is so much more that just a person.
What we as individual humans have come to think is natural is often times nothing more than what we have come to accept. The reason why we accept many of the things that we do has more to do with being accepted by the group that we call our peers and those of whom we desire to be accepted by.
This kind of attitude may not be wrong, necessarily, yet it often is not truth nor right. unless we are ware of how it may affect other people, we may inflict great harm.
When any kind of separation is arrogantly exclusive, it is wrong. And when it is based of things like sub-racial groups it becomes even more harmful. The longer that we as a society allow such seprations to go on, the more entrenched the attitude become and the stronger we try to defend it.
In many of such cases, we people get to a point where we are defending a position and a belief rather than what is really the truth, and when it pretains to people the bottom line truth is that we are all human beings.
"....Well, as most of you have probably guessed by now, I am bi-racial! - My father is Afro-American, and my mother is Scottish -- I was born in raised in Canada. I feel fortunate to have learned two different cultures in my lifetime, and I hope that everyone out there who is of mixed backgrounds, whatever they may be, is very proud to be a unique individual.
I have created this page for a few reasons:
To show the complete absurdity of racially oriented groups.
To give bi-racial people, who do not feel excepted, a place to fit in.
To teach others that while there may be different skin tones, it is all the same race; the human race.
Art Harrison "
http://www.cgocable.net/~aharriso/welcome.htm
Send an email:
Joseph McKnight
|
|
|
