Korean Job Discussion Forums

billybrobby · Joined: 09 Dec 2004

Well, it's February, and for Americans and Canadians at least that means it's Black History Month. I know that this board is overwhelmingly white, but I think it'd be good to have a thread about it. For me it brings back memories of being in elementary school and looking at grainy old tapes of Martin Luther King Jr. speaking in Washington and stuff like that. I remember drawing pictures of a black hand (for which I used the brown crayon) and a white hand (for which I used the peach crayon) shaking hands.

As an adult everything seems so much more complex and has so much more meaning than the simplistic fairy-tale version of the civil rights struggle that we were taught in school. Here is a speech by MLK opposing the war in Vietnam:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b80Bsw0UG-U

As a child I never realized how hokey and pretentious MLK's speaking style was. And how he has a distinct, almost megalomaniacal messianic quality to his oratory. It comes from his roots as a black preacher, but it seems strange and out of context as he makes political arguments. It is somewhat disarming how he uses Christian rhetoric, which is usually linked to conservatism in the American mind, to push for very liberal, revolutionary ideas.

blaseblasphemener · Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:19 pm Post subject:

Why isn't there a Native American/First Nations history month?

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

Because Native Americans don't riot and burn down buildings. Question

Actually, though, November is that month.

Sorry I have nothing to add about the thread topic, though. I never learned about MLK aside from the cursory facts we all know.

gang ah jee · Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Location: city of paper

You know, before I got to Korea I had only met one black (i.e. African-American) person in my entire life.

I'm not sure what the point of this post is supposed to be.

Demonicat · Joined: 18 Nov 2004 Location: Suwon

Well, I didn't start the post, but it might be a good idea to either talk about all the good things that African-Americans and (?) African-Canadians have done for the world. Many crucial things, from open-heart surgery to the traffic light to the modern entertainment industry- and the freedoms generated thereby, have made our world indebted to the African-American as much as to any other race.
I will preempt the argument that will inevitably occur now: Yes, there is no such thing as "race". Yes, it is a completely human made categorization to discriminate against people of other groups. That said, that is not the purpose of Black, Native American, Asian, or Women's history month. The point is not their race, but their people, their communities, their souls that were repeatedly stomped upon by the white male. Now, we can't take back 300/500/150/10000 years of wrong doing, but we can at least honor them and welcome them truly not as brothers, but as ourselves.

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

blynch · Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Location: UCLA

blaseblasphemener · Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 12:38 am Post subject:

It's all about who has the best organized lobby. Indians don't care as much about having a day, as having a lot of their land back, and continuing to suck on the Canadian teet for as long as possible. Getting free ambulance rides into town, getting free uni and room and board, getting free housing, free medical, is the name of the game. Unfortunately, if you live your life to be a leech and feel that the world owes you everything, you will never learn to stand on your own two feet. That's why the Indian scheme of Canada has been and always will be a resonding failure.

As for black history month, it's good for people to know their history, but to not be enslaved by it. Blacks have for the most part moved on, but sad to say most Indians haven't.

blynch · Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Location: UCLA

Maserial · Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Location: The Web

blaseblasphemener · Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 2:06 am Post subject:

and 100% natural too!

I have a new appreciation for Pam Grier!

chamisul · Joined: 04 Jan 2007

So billy, is this thread turning out like you had envisioned?

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

I have always thought there was something odd, and maybe just a little self-defeating, in ghettoizing blacks to the month of February. I thought the point was just the opposite.

djsmnc · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Dave's ESL Cafe

This is kind of funny

otis · Joined: 02 Jun 2006

On this day in black history, Leroy and Dejaun shot a woman for her welfare check.

When they were caught by the police spending the money at the local crackhouse, they blamed the man for their crime.

White liberals agreed.

This has been another proud moment in black history.