SCNDLS said:

i tried to watch once but it was just too much. i usually would move on.

hokie said:

Why do you think it needs to be locked? I don't understand why everybody wants to avoid talking about this stuff. If you don't wanna participate, cool, but why lock the thread?

SCNDLS said:

Well, I just meant that I think this thread is headed in the direction of being locked.

Certain folks are getting hot under the collar.

I have no problems talking about stuff. Most of the time I try and stay out of threads where I'm ignorant to the subject matter. Like this one.

I sure as hell don't want to offend anyone.

hokie said:

Oh, I see. Well, I only see one person getting hot under the collar and he'll be alright. I think that everyone has something to contribute even if they're not familiar with a topic. Especially if they have the right attitude.

SCNDLS said:

Honestly I'm chicken.

I am very curious about other cultures and I like to learn. I think learning and respecting is the way to harmony. Idealistic? Maybe, but I want my kids to be knowledgeable and respectful.

no, I wouldn't...

before I married, I dated outside of my race plenty...but dating is pretty simple-planning a life together and a family is all together different, imo...living in south Georgia all my life, I've seen what outside influences can do to mixed race marriages...the shit stays stirred in this area...any relationship has challenges within itself but add the burden of the constant racial tension that seems to thrive here-well-to be honest, I don't think I'm that strong of a person to just let love endure and put up with the bullshit and ask my partner to do the same...

it's always struck me odd that down here, it's usually ok for white folks to date/marry outside their race as long as that other race isn't black...white+asian=cool...white+non-black hispanic=cool, etc...it's fucking pathetic but it's real...

SCNDLS said:

Oh god nevermind thick as a brick. I cant have conversations with idiots.

rolling said:

but they do have white features. i don't think that anyone is saying that's a bad thing or that you're some kind of racist just that when you are attracted to someone outside of your race they tend to have lighter skin/european features.

A great deal of Indian women have dark skin with some having incredibly dark skin but the ones who you like do not. NOT A BIG DEAL!

A great deal of African American women look nothing like Erykah or Rhianna. In fact, Rhianna background is pretty mixed and she could pass for a number of different races, including Indian. Again...NOT A BIG DEAL!

Many people close to me, including my own mother, have pointed out that I seem to be attracted to men who look more Latino regardless of their actual racial/ethnic/cultural background. It doesn't mean that I'm some big bad racist or that there is anything wrong with what and who I am attracted to. It just is what it is.

You like beautiful women of all races and the all do seem to share certain features. I'm sure if we went into your closet and looked at all your clothes we would find that even though they were all different, they would also share some similarities as well. It's just your taste, what you like, etc.

It's not a big deal and I'm sorry if you feel attacked by people pointing it out to you. I don't think that was the intention.

rolling said:

The fact that it is not getting through to you is resting my assertion.

But dude....I did not mean to single you out. This is what MOST people do. Like Indian women bleaching their skin. If they are dark, they are poor, low class because they have to work in the sun (culturally it connotes this), Japanese folks hit indoor beaches to avoid the sun (yes, man made indoor water parks INDOOR!). Why? Because darker skin connotes no money. If you have money you don't have to labor in the sun. Dude this goes on all day.

I guess only Americans like orange skinned blondes, though

Dude....it is the MAN son!!! When will we see?

And stop taking shit so personal, it is what it is. I agree to disagree with you, respectfully. It isn't about you, it's about any red blooded man's tastes...well a certain category.

"Making Whiteness" would be a good book to start though...if you fellow people would like to read up.

I am not conversating on this further.

This has become HI LARIOUS!

Jasmine, I think you verbalized what I was saying. Thank you!!

I am not slamming you, Rolling, just making an observation.

"Can't we all just get along?"

KatSkrizzle said:

This all applies to Thais. The whiter the better. Wealthier, more 'hi-so', and cleaner even. Light is good, dark is bad. Light people run stuff and dark people labour. Dark people make stuff and light people count the money. Light people have cars, dark people ride the bus. Those that are in between buy every product they possibly can to get closer to the light end of the scale.

Fauxie said:

This division along the lines of light vs. dark exists in MOST cultures that have people of varying shades. Sad but also very REAL.
[Edited 7/23/08 19:34pm]

SCNDLS said:

Yep. Here it's just the way it is. There's not tension, not taunting in the playgrounds, not slurs, not violence. There's no uprising, no outcry, no review of the way things are. Things are just as they should be, according to many, and that's that. Dark people play maids, servants, crooks or jokers on TV. There's no discussion about it. I take my mother in law to the hospital to get her cheap 30 baht card medical treatment. We sit there for hours chatting with the other old dark skinned ladies while we wait to be seen by the wealthy young white Thai Chinese doctors when they have some time in between seeing lighter skinned patients in the smart looking part of the hospital. My mother in law built houses in this street and borrows money off light skinned Thais who live in those houses. My father in law is actually Thai Chinese and would have light skin if it weren't for the way his life turned out and the manual labour jobs he did out in the sun for some 40 years. So they're dark skinned Thais and that's their lot. Here's your social standing based on your colour.

SCNDLS said:

Yep. Here it's just the way it is. There's not tension, not taunting in the playgrounds, not slurs, not violence. There's no uprising, no outcry, no review of the way things are. Things are just as they should be, according to many, and that's that. Dark people play maids, servants, crooks or jokers on TV. There's no discussion about it. I take my mother in law to the hospital to get her cheap 30 baht card medical treatment. We sit there for hours chatting with the other old dark skinned ladies while we wait to be seen by the wealthy young white Thai Chinese doctors when they have some time in between seeing lighter skinned patients in the smart looking part of the hospital. My mother in law built houses in this street and borrows money off light skinned Thais who live in those houses. My father in law is actually Thai Chinese and would have light skin if it weren't for the way his life turned out and the manual labour jobs he did out in the sun for some 40 years. He married a Thai woman, but the wrong sort. May as well say he married outside of his race. Had to run away to Bangkok together at 18 years old to make it happen. So they're dark skinned Thais and that's their lot. Here's your social standing based on your colour.

.
[Edited 7/23/08 19:55pm]

Wait, race is still an issue when marrying someone?

Fauxie said:

Wow, that is horrible. I don't think most people, especially in the US have any clue that this is still the reality for sooooo many people around the world. Makes me appreciate my situation that much more. America may not be perfect but it could be a lot worse.