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Racism and Language Learning | ||
Tags: Discrimination | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Russianbear Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6777 days ago 358 posts - 422 votes  1 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, Ukrainian Studies: Spanish | Message 17 of 90 16 April 2009 at 4:34pm | IP Logged | ||
You don't have to go to the country to learn the language fluently. But even if you intend to do so, I think it is somewhat of a blanket statement to say you would expect to get beaten up every 20 seconds in Russia. Russia is a large and diverse country, and it is not clear why it would be more dangerous for you to be in Russia than for me, a white person, to walk the streets of certain neighborhoods of some American cities. But even if one has a prejudice against Russia, there are other countries one can go to and speak Russian - setting aside the more obvious ones, Israel comes to mind. Even the US has certain enclaves that have a large concentration of Russian speakers. Edited by Russianbear on 16 April 2009 at 4:35pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6036 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 18 of 90 16 April 2009 at 4:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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The problem with ex-communist countries (e.g. in Eastern Europe) is that people are not accustomed to a varied and multicultural society the way they are in Western Europe. Most countries were hermetically closed dunging the communist era.
However, Eastern Europe also doesn't have the colonial history of Western Europe. There is no history of being the "superior race". Thus, no excuse for skinheads and random jerks to attack you. Some people, old and young, have a passive negative attitude. However, you won't be attacked or anything... It's extremely unlikely. Also, black music is currently very popular with Bulgarian teenagers ;). Edited by Sennin on 16 April 2009 at 4:41pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Russianbear Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6777 days ago 358 posts - 422 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, Ukrainian Studies: Spanish | Message 19 of 90 16 April 2009 at 4:48pm | IP Logged | ||
That's a big factor behind the Eastern Europe's different attitude toward race issues, I think. There was no slavery there - at least not racism-justified slavery - , and there is no need to erase painful memories of it, and therefore, there is less urgency to strive towards some sort of racial harmony. Besides, Eastern Europe likes to credit itself with the victory over the Western's Europe's last attempt to dabble in racism and bigotry (during WWII). So, Eastern Europe has no White guilt. Edited by Russianbear on 16 April 2009 at 5:06pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ashley_Victrola Senior Member United States Joined 5708 days ago 416 posts - 429 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Romanian | Message 20 of 90 16 April 2009 at 4:55pm | IP Logged | ||
Point taken, I have updated my post so as to eradicate any incendiary/said in haste remarks that would set a tone I don't want to give off. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Recht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5803 days ago 241 posts - 270 votes Speaks: English*, GermanB1 | Message 21 of 90 16 April 2009 at 5:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think that there is always racism when you're going out of your way to look for it.
What better way can you change the heart of a racist (and really, can you actually know what the person is thinking?) than to be a good ambassador for your country and language. Being on good behavior and not being over sensitive are the keys. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Tyr Senior Member Sweden Joined 5784 days ago 316 posts - 384 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Swedish | Message 22 of 90 16 April 2009 at 5:43pm | IP Logged | ||
Of course theres not none, idiots exist everywhere, but the idea that small towns will be more racist is just completely wrong. The more racist places really tend to be cities. Its hard to hate someone if you've never came across them. Also though you get poor in the country they do often tend to be poor of a very different type to the city. In the UK its a bit blurred by the lack of remoteness in settlements but charvas do tend to be more of a problem in cities. Edited by Tyr on 16 April 2009 at 5:46pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jimmymac Senior Member United Kingdom strange-lands.com/le Joined 6155 days ago 276 posts - 362 votes Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, French | Message 23 of 90 16 April 2009 at 6:07pm | IP Logged | ||
We will have to disagree here. The very basis of racism is the fact that large sections of a given population are often 'hated' based on their unique characteristics (i.e. skin colour) rather than individual merit. People hate with greater ease, in my opinion, when they don't know the individual personally. But my original point was not that you were wrong but rather what has racism in Britain got to do with helping Ashley decide which language she wants to learn? Edited by Jimmymac on 16 April 2009 at 6:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jbbar Senior Member Belgium Joined 5802 days ago 192 posts - 210 votes Speaks: English | Message 24 of 90 16 April 2009 at 8:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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What's with all the negativity toward rural people. My uncle is a black man and my cousins are mixed race. We live in rural Belgium and we don't have race issues here. People aren't getting beaten up and houses aren't being set on fire. All this talk about rural people being crypto racists of even crypto Nazis is offensive and I call it bullshit. Racism and ignorance exist everywhere and not necessarily more in rural towns than in the big cities. If there's any place you will get beaten up by skinheads or by colored gangs that look down on white natives, it's in the big cities. That I know for a fact.
Some people need a reality check. If you thought blacks in Western Europe identified as black, think again. You are apparently ignorant of the hatred between Congoans and Rwandans. You should also hear what some people of black African descent think of Asian people, Arabs and vice versa. You might also want to be reminded of the hatred and violence of colored people toward whites, both in Europe and in their countries of origin. Zimbabwe, anyone? South African riots against other "blacks", anyone? In case you hadn't heard, there are plenty of no-go zones for white 'natives' and law enforcement in countries like Belgium, Germany, the UK and France especially. Check what the Asian bishop of Rochester Nazir-Ali recently said. Some people also had to bring up homophobia. That's quite funny in view of the fact that the most violently homophobic people are often blacks and Muslims and not white people. But even so, this has NOTHING to do with racism at all so keep it out of the discussion. To Ashley, I would like to say the following. I understand your concerns, but you sound like you have a low level of confidence. You say you don't even look like you're from Africa so why on earth do you think people will treat you as a black African. What's more, who says that if people regard you as black African at all, they will definitely treat you badly? Apparently you must have got this subconscious thing in your mind of non-black people being racist. Your fears are irrational. With this kind of attitude you will not gain anyone's respect. If you don't want to learn Russian or Korean or any language because of the racism toward blacks espoused by some living in these countries, you will also never get them to confront the fact that people are individuals and cannot simply be judged based on their color of skin. You will also neglect any opportunity you might otherwise have to meet people from these countries who are not in any way racist. Basically what you are doing is in some regards the same as these people. Grow some self-confidence, give up the group thinking and be an individual. I'm sorry if this come across as harsh but I'm annoyed by group think mentality and the very one-sided definitions being used by people to describe racism. Regards, jbbar 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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