Does racial injustice still exist today?

There is no racial injustice in the world today. We live in the best of all possible worlds. So any perceived “inequality” (and we should include gender, status, sexual orientation, medical condition and whatever other differentiators you can think of) must be “just”.~

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@CyanoticWasp There is no racial injustice? Do you live in the US? Maybe I am confusing injustice with racism??

@CyanoticWasp I agree.

We are not equal in our society today. There are instances of racial injustice all over the world. I have been treated unfairly because of my race: specifically, I’ve been privileged because of my race (white).

@CyanoticWasp
@cornbird
Why do you say we live in the best of all possible worlds? Why do you say any perceived inequality must be just? What do you mean by these things?

@JLeslie No, you’re not confusing anything IMO. Racism (defined as racial prejudice or discrimination) is injustice (defined as violation of the rights of others—in this case, the right to equal treatment regardless of race).

@nicobanks i did not say that. We do not live in the best of both worlds.

@cornbird That’s “the best of all possible worlds,” not “the best of both worlds,” but anyway, I know you didn’t say it but you wrote that you agreed with CyanoticWasp. So if you agree, what do you mean by that? I’m sorry if I misunderstood your intentions.

As long as we’re flawed human beings, which we all are, there will always be racial injustice in this world. This goes all ways, too. White against Black, Black against White, etc…

@JLeslie No, you just missed my liberal (3x) application of the sarcasm flag: ~
I thought that it was common (fluther) knowledge of how it was to be applied. My apologies if I miscommunicated.

@nicobanks Read Candide by Voltaire. It’s a short, entertaining, easy read—and a total delight. The meaning of what I said will be apparent within, I think, the first ten pages. But I’ll bet that if you start it, you’ll finish it and enjoy it. We must all tend our own garden.

as long as there are different races from differnet places sex included theer will always be those who act injust towards those who are different than themselves…in some shape or form…quotas are set for corporations every day that enables them to hire specific races over others regardless of qualifications…its called the pussification of society

Of course there is, just a couple months ago, a judge in (surprise) the south wouldn’t let an interracial couple get married BECAUSE of their color.

Depends on which side of the fence you are on.

@CyanoticWasp Many users are unaware of the ~ so don’t worry when they miss it
I have do believe racial injustice still exists, as does racial intolerance. The majority of enlightened people will overlook or deny it, but stastics show that there is still inequality in the US and throughout the world.

Yeppers, it still exist. It’s not as accepted by the masses now like it used to be, at least not out in public. Unfortunately, some preachers had a habit of overlooking certain scriptures to support colonial slavery.
Acts 10:34–35 At this Peter opened his mouth and said: “For a certainty I perceive that God is not partial, 35 but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him

The subject of race is on that I always enjoy reading about and discussing etc on Fluther and yes, I do believe that racial injustices still exist today as, like @Blackberry pointed out, you don’t have to search very hard to find evidence of them. Sad but true.

I did not know about the symbol for sarcasm, thanks for pointing it out.

Whats the symbol for sarcasm?

@texasescimo The symbol for sarcasm on Fluther is a little sign called a tilde. It looks like this ~

Thanks, got to remember that.

@CyanoticWasp Thanks for the suggestion, but aren’t you able to explain your own comments? I shouldn’t have to read a book just to have a conversation with you or to make sense of the things you say. If you can’t justify your statements you really shouldn’t be making them in the first place. Plus, I’m not exactly sitting around waiting for people to suggest ways to fill my time.

@nicobanks, I was making a joking comment with a reference to a classic work that a literate person in the Western world ought to have at least a passing familiarity with. I mean, if I mentioned something about “the Ark” or “Sodom and Gomorrah”, you’d pretty much expect any adult in the Americas and Europe, regardless of religious persuasion, to understand the reference without explanation, wouldn’t you? Candide isn’t quite that famous or important, but it is famous, and it is worth knowing (if not ‘important’).

To explain the comment… I’d have to pretty much recite the book to you. And I wouldn’t mind doing that if you’re interested; I like reading aloud to people from books that I love. I was suggesting that this is a book you really ought to have read. Not so that you can understand my comments from time to time—pffft, that’s a waste; who cares about my commentary?—but for yourself.

If you don’t want to read the book, fine; that’s entirely up to you. But don’t take me to task because I won’t ruin my own joke by explaining it to a fare-thee-well.

(I look forward to reading your commentary in the “How do you handle it when people don’t get your joke?” thread.)

@CyanoticWasp You’re wrong, I wouldn’t expect anyone to understand any allusion I make, to the Bible or otherwise. I think that’s a very self-centred, arrogant expectation to have. There are so very many books, fields of knowledge, “memes” one could say: why on earth “ought” we all have familiarity with the same ones? Forget the fact that many people are uneducated (and forget how education reaffirms the classed, if not classist, status-quo—forget how your expectations discriminate against the lower classes): even educated people don’t know everything. I have a degree in literature (to be exact, an Honours BA with Distinction from, some say, the best university in Canada), and I took a couple philosophy classes while I was there, but the degree is in English literature (no translations), and Voltaire did not come up in a significant way in the philosophy classes. Yet you expect me to know (or at least know of) the things you know… why? I’m sure there’s plenty of things I know about that you’ve never heard of: that’s not bragging, it’s simply natural. Ultimately, people only know the things they’ve been told or have encountered over the course of their lives, and you’re no different.

As it happens, I am interested in the book. I meant it sincerely when I thanked you for your suggestion. I’ve since found it in my local library and placed it on hold. But I think there’s a serious problem in spouting opinions without having the willingness (or ability?) to explain them further. You can’t paraphrase the book or the points crucial to this conversation? Why not? Didn’t you understand it?

@nicobanks, I don’t want to argue the point with you. Most people who know me don’t find me to be in any way arrogant or elitist—exactly the opposite, in fact—but if you assume from this ‘expectation’ of mine that I am, then I’ll never disabuse you of that. As it happens, I have no degree of any kind, and I try to tailor my communications to my audience. If we were taking a poll here, I expect—hope, anyway—that most of the users here are familiar with the term “Panglossian” and the specific (satirical) claim that I made to lead off this thread. I realized that you weren’t familiar, which is why I suggested that you should be, since you are more than just functionally literate, after all.

I don’t suggest that we all have familiarity with all of the same books or memes, but, yes, I do think there are some minimums. And I would certainly include the Bible—and the Koran—among those minimums. Candide would just be… a hoped-for familiarity. That’s basic cultural literacy, to use the term coined by E.D. Hirsch, Jr. in his book by that name. (No more suggestions from me!)

I hope you enjoy Candide.

@CyanoticWasp You say you try to tailor your communication to your audience, yet you refuse to explain the comment you made?

I really strongly feel that for moral, etiquette, and practical reasons you ought to be willing and able to explain yourself, and I encourage you to do so in the future. While this exact situation may not rise again, I suspect another like it may, so, having read Candide (and enjoyed it, thank you), I want to provide you with an example of what I think you should have done in this thread:

CyanoticWasp > There is no racial injustice in the world today. We live in the best of all possible worlds. So any perceived “inequality” (and we should include gender, status, sexual orientation, medical condition and whatever other differentiators you can think of) must be “just.”

nicobanks: What do you mean?

CyanoticWasp: Oh, I was making a joke. I don’t know if you’ve read Candide by Volatire, but it’s the story of a man who’s been educated in the religious theory of “optimism”: that is, that this is the best of all possible worlds and that all is well. In the story, Candide is buffeted from one place to another, epic-style, meeting strange new people, learning strange new customs, and having tragedy after tragedy befall him and his acquaintances as he struggles to re-unite with his beloved. Every instance in the story pushes up against this theory of optimism, serving to ridicule and discredit it. So, I was just making a joke in reference to that.

See how easy that can be?

@CyanoticWasp I understand what you mean by “cultural literacy,” but don’t you see how insulting it is to assume someone is literate and then, in discovering they are not, to simply tell them to “look it up” or figure it out on their own, rather than trying to help the person? And that’s aside from the point of relativity, because like I said, I am not culturally illiterate, yet I still had never read Candide nor studied Volatire outside of his Encyclopedie.

As long as the human race exists there will be injustice and predudice. I think no matter what open minded and inclusive opinions people have there will always be someone who will apose those opinions.

Let me give you an example of racial injustice. A man comes into an upscale store where two elderly white women are working behind the counter. He is with his son and after glancing in from the front of the store notices something he wants a closer look at and comes inside. One of the women behind the counter calls to him from at least 15 feet away that the creche he is looking at is fragile and made of hand carved nuts resembling ivory. He examines the price on the creche and turns to his son stating, “Your mother would really like it, but lets look around in the plaza first before we make our decision.” As he leaves the store the clerk turns to the other clerk and states loud enough for other patrons to hear, “You had better go and make sure he didn’t take any of the pieces”, which the other clerk than did.
Does it surprise you when I tell you that the patron who was examining the crech was African American? The clerk didn’t not respond in this manner with any of the other 20 or so white patrons in the store.
And what did I do? I went to the back and knocked on the managers door…an Asian American woman I knew from another venue and reported the incident. The clerk???? She never was invited back to volunteer again.
This happened last Christmas…2009. I’ve been present for many similar types of incidents across the years and other incidents some blatant and others equally subtle.