[pedonbio]

And yet Iago was able to get mileage out of "Even now the black ram is tupping the white ewe."

Perhaps it's fair to say that racism existed before there was even a proper word for it, or "race" itself.  It also does honor to Will that none of this handicapped him from identifying Iago's villainy.

If we think of racism as the "we-they" differentiation, sure, racism has been around for a long time. And we humans have identified each other by color for a long time. But that seems irrelevant to topic of this thread, having to do with whether we as a group identify "white people" as terrorists. And the concept of "white people" is wrapped up in the bizarre idea of "race" which was invented by a few Brits in the mid-17th Century.

And "Othello" is a pretty good model of how these ideas evolved. Recall, for example, that Othello is described as a "Moor", which is a specific reference to the North Africans who settled in Spain before 1450 or so. Most of them had skin about the same tone as Italians, although many were darker. Also, note that he married the daughter of a nobleman, but there are few references to social disapproval. A century later the play would probably have had a very different tone, more like the anti-semitism which is so open in "Merchant of Venice". 

[TheZookie007]

And now some dude tried to shoot his way into the Pentagon. And the police guy makes a statement, "We have determined that this was not an act of terrorism, and that the shooter was a lone confused individual." And I shake my head and say "Must be a white guy." And then they show his face...and lo! White dude. I oughta start a new **94** game...

[onion_writer]

I am forced to agree.

I wonder if he was a tea-bagger.

[pedonbio]

...the shooter was a lone confused individual." And I shake my head and say "Must be a white guy."

Aren't we all?

[gOOber]

Aren't we all?

I know a guy who isn`t white,

[DruulEmpire]

Times like this I wish Dr. Fashizzle could weigh in down here.

Druul "or Pink Lisa, just on principle" Empire

[solvegas]

I am forced to agree.

I wonder if he was a tea-bagger.

Nope. He was a 9/11 truther, BDS ( Bush Derangement Syndrome ) sufferer and a registered Democrat.

[3deroticer]

Actually he is interested in the Libertarian! nice try though, you must not listen to FOX for your info!

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/03/05/pentagon-shooter/

they build a case that he was a far right terrorist because of his devotion to Ron Paul, but Ron also tether toward Libertarian party. I don't think they have a strong case for a republican. But I know that he is definitely not a Democrat, as having more regulation is the Democrat party agenda and socialize medicine. He wants less gov't. That could go either Republican or Libertarian.

[=P=]

The concept of race that was favored back in the old days is nonsense, but it is very, very hard to deny biological differences(apart from pigment) do exist. I mean, check out your a sickle-cell anemia support group. There probably are some, and I guarantee you, you won't find many Swedes there.
Or perhaps consider why people coming from a small, but very much maligned group (.2% of world population, I believe) net ~25% of all Nobel prizes. There's a million other examples.

Though, I suppose it is in the interests of harmony to stick one's head in the sand and pretend, there really are no differences. It's all just cosmetics.

Also, it's been found in a study that we have a biological 'tendency' for racism.
If someone does something bad to us, we more easily forget about it if the culprit belonged to the same group. If he is clearly different in some way, it takes longer to forget.

[3deroticer]

So far, we haven't had a liberal shootings or killing for their belief, but it concerns me that a shootist gets label as a Democrat when it isn't true, and you have the far right doing the killing. if a liberal did do the shooting then I muster up and take it, but if its not true then there is no way I'll allow the lies to stand. If anything I don't want either side to do the shooting, and eliminate the talk of how evil one side is over the others. Or how unAmerican one side is for their belief. That's just crazy talk! It is also helping to contribute the problem by encouraging radicals from both extreme to act out. I think keeping this kind of crazy talk will eventually get the far left to do some shootin of their own, but first they have to support gun rights, and grow a pair!

[TheZookie007]

The concept of race that was favored back in the old days is nonsense, but it is very, very hard to deny biological differences(apart from pigment) do exist. I mean, check out your a sickle-cell anemia support group. There probably are some, and I guarantee you, you won't find many Swedes there.
Or perhaps consider why people coming from a small, but very much maligned group (.2% of world population, I believe) net ~25% of all Nobel prizes. There's a million other examples.

You are confusing "race" with "culture", especially in your Nobel Prize example.

[=P=]

You are confusing "race" with "culture", especially in your Nobel Prize example.

Umm.. no?
The jury is still out on Ashkenazi intelligence*(as in, no one really knows why, but it looks like as they really might be smarter, on average).
It may be culture, but the other examples have nothing to do with culture, so I can't be confusing "race" with "culture".


The culture of blacks has nothing to do with their blood cells.. It's just that genes responsible for sickle cell anemia are disadvantageous to anyone who doesn't live in a pestillential hellhole. Thus they are not common in other places.

*http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/articles/media/2006_06_17_thenewrepublic.html

[TheZookie007]

The culture of blacks has nothing to do with their blood cells.. It's just that genes responsible for sickle cell anemia are disadvantageous to anyone who doesn't live in a pestillential hellhole. Thus they are not common in other places.

From Wikipedia (emphasis mine):

Due to the adaptive advantage of the heterozygote, the disease is still prevalent, especially among people with recent ancestry in malaria-stricken areas, such as Africa, the Mediterranean, India and the Middle East.

[=P=]

That doesn't disprove my assertion that animals whose ancestors lived in different places are adapted to different enviroments.. Since we're animals too, and all that, it's pretty obvious it should also apply to us ...

[gOOber]

Why are white people never considered terrorists?