No one cannot be born a racist.....how foolish is that?...
yes you can learn racism....
i dont think its an illness....what would be the treatment?
racism on the other hand i just plain IGNORANCE....to hate someone becuase of the color of thier skin is FOOLISH...and ignorant....a bland world it would be if we were all white, or black, or red, or brown.

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Well this point I will address because I am a teacher of young adolescents......I never said racism was dmaging to that child, I said it was dmaging to the harmony in my classroom and the greater society as a whole. I may or may not have the right to espouse what i think about racism, but I do.....and I will continue to do so as long as I live and breathe.I am a role model to my students like it or not. Any parent is free to remove their child from my public school classroom if they choose, but our school district has a very clear policy against racism. As a teacher I am not intervening in the upbringing of a child I am participating. School teachers are charged with soooooo much more that just teaching reading, writing and arithmatic...to believe otherwise is very naive. We are often the only ones outside of the home that can be a life line to a child in horrendous circumstances, some students have no parenting at all at home, i once hugged a student and he told me I was the first person to do that to him in as long as he could remember.....I am going to leave the religious thing alone because you CANNOT compare teaching Christianity(or any other religious values) to teaching Racist hate....its a different thing.

and furthermore....this is the world we live in....where a father teaches his child to hate/mistrust based purely on skin color...we have soooo ****ing far to go..........I don't give a **** if I have a right to tell that child otherwise, i believe I have a RESPONSIBILITY to tell him otherwise, if I don't how will society ever change? I teach my students to use logical reasoning and have independent thoughts, these are important life skills and like it or not sometimes that means the child will have thoughts indepenent of his father...or his mother or even his teacher.....if that happens so be it....sometimes thats a good thing!

HT,
Remenber as I stated earlier..YOU are a teacher of adolescent,I am not.
I can only express my own views and opinions.
I am delighted that you hold those values so dear to you as a teacher.

My hat's off to you, but PLEEZE dont misuderstand my "point"....

I DO NOT support racism nor any parent teaching their children racism. What i DO support is the right of the parent to bring up that child as they see fit under the Law.

Racism is not a crime. It can not/has not proven to be a detriment to a child. There are millions of professional, successful, happy, racist on this planet. Many of these same racist work with, and live next door to you and I.

While it outward expressions DOES often disrupt the harmony of many social groups, educational institutions and organizations it is still legal.

That's the very same reason why the US constitution could not define it as a crime but could desiganted certain wilful aggressive actions RELATED to racism as "hate-crimes".

If a parent wishes to teach their child racism thats their perogative. If such teachings (and ONLY when) reveal itself in such a way that it disrupts your class, then and only then you have the right to address it. NOT the racism, but the demonstrated behavior, which results in the disharmony.

While your intentions as a teacher may be honorable and intended ( in YOUR opinion as) in the best interest of the child, that is still only your opinion.

You nor any other teacher in America has been mandated to counter-act the upbringing of any student unless it can be established that such upbringing is a deterrent to the welfare of the child.To date, I have not heard of such.

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True loves comes quietly without fanfare or flashing lights. If you hear bells, go get your ears checked.

Well first of all see my above statement......I don't care much about whats legal here...the KKK can take me out and burn me on a cross if they want to... or that racist parent can have me arrested or suit me if he feels its needed..(my guess is he is too cowardly to come public with his beliefs)I will always counteract racism where ever I see it.......Its my duty as a human being!

I hear you sweets. ..But tell me this.....
OFF TOPIC

Which do you consider as a more important concept to teach your kids (students), to obey the Law or to do what is morally right?

Example:
Someone is extremely hungry, has no money and after begging on teh streets fir hours still hasn't received a penny.

They walk past a eatery that has all thees fine pies laid out on the counter, within reach. They go in and beg but are turned away.

If they can steal a pie to stem the hunger, should they or shouldn't they?

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True loves comes quietly without fanfare or flashing lights. If you hear bells, go get your ears checked.

Ok, then. You dont have to answer the question I just posed immediately above.
.
Mind you,I can't say that I totally disagree with your stance though.

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True loves comes quietly without fanfare or flashing lights. If you hear bells, go get your ears checked.

Well wasn't there a movie about this issue...Denzel washington...John Q


Yeah if a person is hungry they should eat.....no one should go without basic human needs...not in a world where we have sooooo much and some people have nothing.......I might suggest they find a shelter or a mission or something but sometimes, but if i was hungry enough i would steal......at the very least.

Me tu!

Annyways I was thinking more of Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables".
Where the Character, Jean Valjean stole bread and was sent to prison.



Thats cool though.

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True loves comes quietly without fanfare or flashing lights. If you hear bells, go get your ears checked.

Just because someone is "educated" in a certain field does not make them intelligent... I've known many, many educated idiots in my day...

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"All around the world, we are gazing skyward, waiting for God... never realizing that God is waiting for us."

Design your own reality.

maybe racism SHOULD be a crime...

man there would be a lot of people in prison... and they wouldn't all be white...

I'm gonna leave it at that.

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"All around the world, we are gazing skyward, waiting for God... never realizing that God is waiting for us."

Design your own reality.

been reading this thread from the beginning and got to this and started crying. so what does that make me??? over emotional to say the least.

this thread is a good example of why I've been a memeber for almost 3 years now and haven't even reached 1,000 posts! mostly I put so much time into reading the thread from the beginning by the time I get to the end, "I don't want to say anything or I'm afraid to!!

Racism, I believe, is Mostly taught or follow by example......

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My anti-depressant: JAMAICA!!!

there is nothing wrong with that ststement.

Racism, like many diseases, is not respector of race nor color. And only the blind would deny this .

__________________
True loves comes quietly without fanfare or flashing lights. If you hear bells, go get your ears checked.

Nor sure if I understand your point.
Are you saying that "educated" people can be racist but "intelligent" people aren't?

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True loves comes quietly without fanfare or flashing lights. If you hear bells, go get your ears checked.

And the illness continues!....Ok here is a perfect example...I walked into the service station today and as I walked in I saw two Black men standing by the window waiting for the lady to help them...I walked up and she smiled and said can I help you...the man who was there already when I came in asked what about him...she said in a very snotty tone...I am helping her I will be right with you....and she gave me that sickening smile like I am supposed to be in the club with her....I looked at her and said you need to take care of them they were here first and in fact I walked out and didnt give her my business...went down the highway I was so disgusted at how that woman wouldnt even have waited on those men if I didnt embarras her into it...uuuugh! And taht because I was white she thought I would appreciate using me white privelge over them.