RACE & CULTURAL RELATIONS STUDIES WAS
First, here's a short article for people who
practice the hurtful, nefarious thing called "prejudice."
Before you commence slinging your slime, I ask you the following questions.
In the situation of black people, do you think in a thousand years that you could create an original American music called: "Rag Time," as the black man Scott Joplin...and then play it? Try playing the Maple Leaf Rag sometime. By the way, Rag time is one of the most happy, uplifting types of music - maybe the best - a true medicine for the human race.
And, also do you think that you could do as Dr. George Washington Carver...save the agriculture of the south with knowledge of plants...and create a fabulous list of products from plants - even plastic and milk from the peanut....and paint from rocks...and have an atomic submarine named after you? And, I ask, were you in the military? Did you ever eat dehydrated rations? If so, thank Carvers pioneering work on dehydration.
And, can you teach as well as Carver. Carver's hands on practical teaching methods of science are now being used to up test scores of over 41 school districts in Missouri. This is the answer to America's educational problems! The list goes on and on. He was a loving type thinking of other people. That's the main point...it's either thinking of others or thinking of self!!! The defining glitch.
Prejudiced people invalidate races to build themselves up.
Again, self. The lecturer at a business seminar I attended said "people are either part of the problem or part of the solution."
Also, much of the prejudiced person's problem is fear. The great anthropologist Margaret Mead and writer James Baldwin agreed on that.
Now, a look at prejudice against the Jews. The Nazis had a prejudiced thing against this great race. I ask you again, do you think in a thousand years that you could do what the great Jewish Dr. Maiminiodes did? He was a medical Dr. (physician to Saladin), and wrote many treatises on the art/science. He was a philosopher, writer, astronomer and a linguist. He knew 7 or 8 languages. Above all he was very compasionate - Loving again - thinking of others.
Then, don't forget a Jewish fellow named "Einstein."
And, don't put down the Native Americans for heavens sake. Many of their tribes had great democracies, and, moreover, they combined these democratic tribes into a confederacy or federalism (a combination of mini-republics)..which was borrowed lock stock and barrel by our Founding Fathers (read up on the Iroquois Confederacy). The Native Americans had some great orators. And, they were smart. And, they cultivated most of the foods we eat. What would you do without corn, beans, peanuts (from the Inca), potatoes, tomatoes, etc., etc.
And, please don't put down the Chinese. They were inventing printing type, gun powder, medical/pharmaceutical things and endless other things when the rest of the world was living in caves.
Likewise, the Arabs have a history of great science and scholarship.
And, then, the whites have Thomas Edison and many others. And, all other people and cultures are wonderful.
There may be a few 8 balls in all races but most are great.
So, why all the destructive prejudice stuff? To an anthropologist - student of Man...and sociologist - student of groups of people...a prejudiced person looks like (is) a dweeb.. and should be in a museum of some kind of miscellaneous hurtful monstrosities. The prejudiced person
is suffering deeply - his or herself. If you have been zonked by a prejudiced person, keep this in mind. And, of course, prejudicial thinking can possibly lead to out-of-control nationalism, abuse - both mental and physical (can be very hurtful...word clubs!)...not to mention self hurt/destruction. The prejudiced person has got to get themselves out of their self-dug hole for their own good.
I herewith present to all prejudiced people an engraved certificate with the words of the famous people scholar Pogo....."We have met the enemy, and he is us!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Following is a reprint of one of my weekly newspaper columns - this one appearing first back in Feb. 22, 2000...and entitled: "Dealing with Toxic People is No Fun." As I speak, millions of people all 'round the globe are having to deal with toxic people.
This toxic race is causing much misery and havoc. I'm going to put an anthropological tag on them: Homo Sapien Sapien Hurtfulcanthropus Sewegemouthenthis Giganticus."
This sub-race causes incalculable suffering.. You may be one of the victims! I know that I have been often. One of their hurtful devices is the dumb psychological method called: "Invalidation." And, all races are victims; toxic people very often like to pick on race. They try very hard to find things they believe will make their poor beat down egos bigger. They like to use false sterreotypes and various other hurt ful things. Actually, they are really hurting down deep themselves.
We have to really watch them, because they can get carried away and become full fledged terrorists. Their dumb stuff can jump out of verbal abuse into physical abuse. I don't put up with them a second.
Dealing With Toxic People Is No Fun
"Ouch! They put you down.
They hit you with a verbal hammer.
Such word attacks can really hurt.
These aggressors should be in the slammer.
True, "words can never hurt us.
If we don't agree to the crime.
But, toxic invalidators by the zillions
Keep slinging their vicious slime.
Too much to ask to build one up
And say something healing and swell.
Instead, to the negative they always fly.
And irritate and put down like...well!
It's a growing epidemic
Of hurters who are hurting down deep.
The Loving God they haven't found
Which makes Him want to weep.
Ron Miller
Have you ever been talking with someone, and you came away feeling terrible, maybe all day, or all week, or much longer -- maybe even your entire life -- and you weren't quite sure what happened? Chances are you have been zonked, or put down, or "invalidated" to use the psychological term.
There is a helpful little book out by Jay Carter, "Nasty People; How to Stop Being Hurt by Them Without becoming One of Them."
The modus operandi of the invalidators is to put the other guy down to make him or her (the invalidator) feel more important. It's a cheap way of feeling important at the other person's expense, and can cause much misery. Just identifying invalidators is a big help and relief. They develop a terrible, dumb habit of hurtful negativity. They go right for the negative hole in the doughnut, led by ole " Lucifer who has a ring in their noses. They have to find something wrong with you, or what you have done, or how can they be important? They have humongous insecurity problems.
I personally call one type of these zonkers the Caveman
hit you with a club type. They don't mess around and whack.
You really know it, right there and then.
The other type zonk you in slick surgical ways. It has taken me half a day trying to analyze a bad feeling someone gave me. I keep thinking in such cases; There's something wrong; what's going on; I don't feel too hot. Then, suddenly I realize in a flash -- I've been zapped!
I've been invalidated. Then, it takes me the rest of the day to get my personal ecology back together. I have to forgive the dumbells. I don't want to harbor anger, because that hurts me. That can be crippling. Then, I have to deffuse anger at my own self for falling into their slick trap. Then, it hits me; they really do want to foul you up. In fact, the word invalidation - could be translated as wanting to vaporize you! How ruthless!
A lot of politicians are invalidating their opponents right now. It is called: "Negative advertising." but is really invalidation. They want to verbally vaporize the other guy. Get him or her out of their bulldozer path - CRUNCH! We definitely don't want to elect invalidators.
On the good character scale from one to ten, we would have to give them a minus 32!
Carter in "Nasty People" says that some invalidators can change if they see what they are doing, however, there is a certain percent that are chronic, "Little Hitlers." They are aggressive, and will try and roll over you like tanks if you let them. It's a terrible, vicious habit that I believe has to rank up there with heroin and cocaine. It may be an epidemic. It just could reflect deep problems of society. This gnashing and devouring of each other is social cannibalism. Civilized society, of course, can't exist with such hurtful self-destruction.
Ozark hill folks, famous for their senses of humor, handle nasty invalidators. They say they welcome put down attacks, because they know it is giving some other poor soul a rest!
I would personally be very careful of them especially chronic little Hitlers. Check the yellow pages fast for professional counseling. This is vicious verbal abuse. They will hit you where it hurts, in racial, cultural, job, character, personality, physical and other ways. You may be like comedian Jerry Clower up in the top of a tree battling a wild cat and shouting to his friends down below: "I need help now!"
And, don't forget, invalidation is a learned technique
according to Carter. By the way, this is why the political invalidation is really diabolical, because it is being spewed out through TV and radio to the masses. One hopes they aren't learning the pathological technique, but I bet they are. We've got to marshal all of our defensive/offensive forces...religion, psychology, Ozark Mtn. humor and anything else positive.
I have given away several copies of "Nasty People," and there are other books concerning these toxic types. Such sources utilize a lot of modern psychology. The best explanation though of toxic people I ever heard was by a lady preacher the other day on a local religious radio station. Sorry, I didn't get her name or the station. She said that people who hurt you are themselves hurting. The reason they are hurting is because they do not know God. Hurting others isn't of God, who is Love."
RM - reprinted here Jan. 21, 2008
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If you are a college student and wondering what to do this summer, you might be interested in applying for a scholarship learning to read Yiddish to study the Holocaust.
This scholarship was just announced by the U.S.A. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. The intensive course will be at Indiana University noted for its language studies. June 13 - July 25th. The teacher will be the noted Dr. Jan Schwarz of the University of Chicago. Some German language studies would be helpful. There might be some extra costs; check with your college/university, and see if you can get some help there too. It's a tremendous cause; your school should help. Yes, we must learn as much about this horrible time as we can. Just look around. Some crackpots are trying to claim it never happened!! And, look at all the hate still around. There are even Nazi groups! One has even shown up in Israel!! So, if you can read Yiddish, you can really explore the archives. What you have got to do is get in touch with the Holocaust Museum. Here's their web site with more information: www.ushmm,.org/research/center/ I have been thinking that if you had this course/scholarship under your belt, it would help you in many ways...and help society/civilization in many ways also.
Best of luck; God Love and God speed on a great journey of learning. Send us a card!
Entered Dec. 20, '07 - RM
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Race is one of the big studies in anthropology/archaeology/sociology. The fields are all related and help each other. In fact, next to biblical archaeology, race studies and the associated curse of prejudice, can be rated as second in importance on our list. We try and think practical here at the WAS and race studies is a great area for practicality; there is a lot of known practical info. that can help people. There is so much needless misery out there.
Race studies also calls upon psychology, one of the 5 main tools of anthropology...and sociologists also use it constantly. Race psychology explains a lot. At Mizzou I took a fascinating course "Race & Cultural Relations" taught by Dr. Ghist then Head of the Sociology Department. One of our texts was Gordon Allport's classic of race psychology, "The Nature of Prejudice." Another one of our texts "Cultural Relations" was written by Brewton Berry former Head of the department of sociology..before it became Sociology/Anthropology. There was quite a tradition there of race studies. Just studying racial psychology alone would be an enormous help with all the racial prejudice and other prejudice problems (prejudice is not all racial) around the world. Other prejudice includes the toxic bombs of weight prejudice, prejudice of the old, prejudice of the young, prejudice of religion (prejudice of denominations/sects and the main religions is, strangely, some of the meanest, worst and hurtful of all prejudice), etc., etc.
I should mention also that culture studies "ethnology," or cultural anthropology, is also very helpful. Culture studies is another one of the five main branches of anthropology. Cultures are all so very different; they are as the proverbial snowflakes. They are all of much interest to the scientific thinking anthropologists, but many people are turned off and even revolted by a different culture. But, why not be as the old Osage priests who were very scholarly and wanted to learn of the other culture, because they might learn something there that would help them, the Osage?
Anti-Prejudice information needs to get out there. I actually wonder why all this great helpful information has not been taken to society sooner! The information needs to be translated from scholarlyeeze into people language and transported by media of all types to the public. Research publications, unfortunately, must be gathering dust in sociology/anthropology department basements and in the deepest environs of library stacks. There is a lot of research being done, but I don't feel it is getting out there.
This study is unbelievably important/ Prejudice is one of the big problems - maybe the biggest - right now in the Near, Middle and Far East. People are getting killed because of prejudice! And people at home get so furious at other races that they probably want to do them bodily injury but don't; so, there is a lot of smoldering hate out there. I am positive these embers of hate can be extinguished. First of all it is simply not healthy for an individual to harbor hate/anger/frustration/worry/fear. I would even go so far as to bet that if the above negatives could be extinguished that hospital stays, visits to the Dr.
lost productivity at work, and personal and international relations misery and costs thereof could be reduced dramatically. So, curing or healing race problems is really highly cost effective. Just think of loss of $$ by mentally suppressing people. Why not mentally build them up (instead of mentally tear them down)? Get them to working and producing. The economics here would be staggering.
Prejudiced people try mightily to conform everyone else into one ball that looks and acts as themselves...in their own image and likeness. How incredibly selfish. The anthropologists/sociologists say: "viva la difference!!
Humans can be vicious creatures, unfortunately, the meanest of the creatures...worse than anything in the jungle, because they have more thinking capacity in the human brain to do mischief...but, unfortunately, this thinking ability is used for bad A sad commentary. We need to get this reasoning capacity and energy turned around and used for good. Wasted energy alone would probably take care of the energy crisis!
When there are hard economic times, some people have to have scapegoats. When some people feel inferior they have to strike out and invalidate the other guy (to make themselves feel important) ...put down the other guy who may look and act different from the bunch....or do things in different ways. That is really dirty pool but used all over the world constantly by millions every day. These beat down people aren't about to blame themselves and commence the laborious journey of getting educated, building their own situations up in legitimate peaceful ways, and thoroughly studying the other guy. Another name for this is "work." Reaching out and studying the other guy, in fact, getting outside of self, is a highly advanced civilized trait...but not expected from the hard core prejudiced case. That would take things called character and education and thinking and controlled ego...character diamonds. But that's too easy! Humans have to go at things the hard way...hate, be jealous, have fear, be superior, connive, even have wars and kill sometimes.
What is fascinating is that the prejudiced person can be read as a book.
Anthropology - the study of Man (or humans if you will) - has a branch that covers race, called: "Physical Anthropology," with lots of biology. It is, in fact, in the Biology Branch of Anthropology another of those five main branches of Anthropology. Some call it "biological anthropology." I also took physical anthropology at Mizzou. The major races of the world were studied. Physical anthropologists also study osteology "boneology," too. Do you like Sherlock Holmes mystery solving things? Physical anthropologists are good at forensics, and solve crimes among other things. But archaeologists need to study this too for excavation purposes. If you find a certain bone, a compass bone, or a compass area of a bone, you will know where the rest of the bone or other bones are. Some interesting cultural things can be learned from bones. Does the top of the skull have an indented sagital crest? That person probably carried a basket on their back with a head strap. Are teeth worn down to the gums? They ate ground food with grits from the metate in the food. And bones and other biological things can help in other ways.
The greatest text on race is the bible, and for this main reason. The bible explains the all powerful spiritual picture of humanity...cutting through all the material stuff and getting to what is really important. It is about good and Love. Spiritual things over-ride the material. This isn't taught in classes, but should be as it is so overpoweringly real. It's the "Truth"; you can take it to the bank. You know it is real, because good/Love works. It's easy to look at color or forms, bones, epicanthic folds of the eye, (Asians have the fold on the upper inside of the eye and Irish have it sometimes on the outer eyelid), hair type, and does a tooth have 5 cusps (hmmnn, that may be of the Mongolian race), and DNR will solve much...as will material, Aristotilian science. But, the spiritual quality is the most important thing. Populations and students of material things need to know about this or can easily get into a negative rut.
When engaged in scholarly studies, you have to watch it.. yes, I myself or someone else does have a darker skin. I better look at my skin on the inside of the upper arm and get a good color reading. But, Joe has a darker skin! As strange, arrogant, human gods we better lump him in a special category. What a heady feeling to be this important and have this much power! And we better get out the Swedish anthropometer and calipers and measure and calculate the cephalic index and see how smart we really are? But it says in Genesis that God did a good job on us!
There are scholarly/spiritual conflicts...with the gulf sometimes looking as the Grand Canyon...but maybe not that much if we look closer. Again, we must constantly be on guard not to fall in the negagive material trap. Material is o.k., but don't let it become a religion.
I personally am interested in all kinds of race studies. I'm greedy for any tool(s) that will help solve the various cursed problems surrounding prejudice - when all races are really grand and glorious creations of God. We need to shout it from the roof tops and thank God for His wonderful creations. By the way, we get into some overlapping of scientific fields, but that's great. Again, we'll use any tools we can. If you have any thoughts, let us know. This is just a little intro. This section has been entered here, Mar. 8th, 2006...and added to a little Mar. 9th. And added to Oct. 3, '06...and Oct. 14th. Ron
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
STERREOTYPES. Sterreotypes is one of the most important key words you will run into in race studies. You will be surprised at how many racial sterrotypes - false "old wive's tales" there are out there. Many good ole' boys and good ole' girls of all classes - rich and poor - are harboring and spewing out this toxicity and hurting many people as we speak. So, studying the race-prejudice problems scientifically is a real sterreotype buster.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
FEAR, A BIG RACIAL BUGABOO.
Yes, I believe we are getting close to one of the biggest racial bugaboos. Here, look for yourself through the anthropological microscope at the slide. Turn the power knob. Focus. There it is .....fear! Actually, fear is behind much of the problems of mankind when one thinks about it.
Someone sees someone or something or some lifestyle that is different...and a short circuit of ignorance takes place...and this vacuum is filled up instantly with fear.
Yes, how does one get rid of fear? This is going to take an anthropological, theological, psychological prybar.
One could go the psycho-analytical route. Freud, who invented psycho-analysis was an atheist, so, with him you would get a purely scientific, humanistic, material approach.
The bible is the biggest fear-buster. This approach is much less expensive than Freudian analysis, as one can easily find a bible at a used book store for 50 cents or so. Here one can zap fear (of anything) by learning about God (what the bible is all about). All powerful God replaces fear with good. "For God has not given thee the power of fear..." (2nd Timothy). And of course, "the Liar" (with his empty brief-case) constantly promotes fear and has to be kicked behind us (as Jesus had to do).
The answer to prejudice. Look in a mirror. We are just positive that the other guy who looks and acts different is bad in some way. Doesn't he or she part their hair in a weird way? Yuk! But wait. It is really OUR reaction that is the problem. Why did we short circuit? Oh oh, we are getting into deep psychology now. And probably not comfortable. We are having to analyze ourselves. Groan. Prejudice is a fascinating subject.
So, the best to all of us as we set about destroying fear and other bugaboos and fixing the race problem. I can't think of a better project. Love, Ron Miller, Oct. 21st, 2006.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
RACE AND RACE RELATIONS ONE OF MOST IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC STUDIES IN THE WORLD?
A good case could be made that the scientific study of Race/Prejudice is one of the most important studies in the world!!!!
I know that is saying a lot, but look at the evidence.
Look at the Near/|Middle/Far East!!!! What a mess. Look at the misery! It's hell on earth. And look what's causing much of it. Many people are prejudiced toward other people. All the elements of prejudice as studied by the students of race can be seen. You have the Scapegoat Factor. The U.S.A. is a big scapegoat. The East is a big scapegoat. Remember, when the prejudiced person is beat down in some way, there often has to be a scapegoat. With Hitler and his Nazi clones it was the Jews. All that personal hate, the beat down society of Germany after WWI, erupting as a festering sore, and the transferral of all that hate, inferiority, misery...over to the Scapegoat....the Jews...and you have classic prejudice.
Also, the U.S.A. has become the Scapegoat for a number of people in Latin America...where there are many poor and miserable people. There are many miserable and poor people in the U.S.A. itself...and there are several scapegoats.
There is the government itself and people of color. Our favorite scholar here at the WAS is Pogo, who we often quote: "We have met the enemy and he is us!" It is so easy to blame the other guy. I attended a Zig Ziggler motivation seminar the other day - an all day intensive semimar. One of the points brought out by one of the speakers was...quit blaming the other guy...even if he has hit you below the belt. What you must do is grow up and take responsibility for your own life.
By the way, I thought many times, that Zig Ziggler is really an anthropologist - a student of humanity...an applied/practical scholar at that. He and his staff visit big corporations and conduct these motivational seminars - great reality clinics - all over the world. Your writer needs all the help he can get and likes to attend such seminars. They are full of practical "applied" anthropology/scholarship.
But back to race/prejudice. If everyone in the Near/Middle/Far East would just cool it, sit down and commence THINKING in good loving ways, and apply what is known in the world of scholarship/science about human relations to their situation, the killing would cease, and they could grow in peaceful/creative ways. It wouldn't be easy. Wouldn't be a rose garden at first...but later it would.
And, don't listen to the rabble-rousing Hitler/Stalin/Mau types. That stuff didn't work, won't work now and never will work. It's prejudice. Anything opposite of good/God/Love won't work.
This note on sterreotypes was added Jan. 11th, 2007. Ron
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - RACIAL TRUTH -
I wrote an article entitled: "Racial Truth" in our WAS NEWSLETTER, No. 32, July 19th, 1986 and reprint here:
Racial Truth
There are few subjects in the man-culture studies more fascinating and helpful than the study of race. Physical anthropologists, social psychologists and other social scientists - including the cultural/social anthropologists (the fields overlap) are right in the middle of the action - and have been for years. Their findings - unfortunately not known to many people - are very enlightening, and these are hard, scientific, solid, research findings - racial truths. Following are some of the findings:
1) Prejudice is learned. Little kids of different races, brought up together (with no racist fer or put down stuff) think each other are fine. Whites learn junk about blacks; blacks learn junk about whites...other races learn junk about other races. Just think how easy it is to learn good things like language when a little kid. It almost seems to be absorbed magically by cultural osmosis. Fine. Unfortunately, some negative things like prejudice can be learned just as easy.
2) Lots of psychology involved in prejudice studies. Social psychologists such as Gordon Allport of Harvard have excavated the subject deeply. If you want to explore a fascinating subject, check out Allport's THE NATURE OF PREJUDICE.
3) Stuart Chase in his book: THE PROPER STUDY OF MANKIND points out that thick lips are really farther away from apes than thin lips. Apes in fact have thin lips.
4) Anthropologists excavate many such racial things. To give you another example: I am Caucasian, yet, I have an interesting simian characteristic called: "Darwin's Point" a strange little point on the upper inside edge of my right ear. I thought "horrors, I am a throwback to an ape!" when I first learned of this. We used to needle each other in physical anthropology class at Mizzou with such tid-bits. But, then I was partly saved. I have high arches, and paes, have flat feet! Hmmn, I wonder how many white supremacists have flat feet? Or Darwin's Points|? What a "horrible", ironic fate! But this will give you an idea how ridiculous this whole thing can get. Here we puny man, microcephalic thinkers waller in an endless quagmire of physical, material balogna...digging ourselves deeper and deeper into a material hole. Thank Heavens, all of us are saved from our Australopithicus thinking by all powerful spiritual, theological truths - ultimate evolution - spiritual evolution - survival of the spiritually fittest things (See my article: "Some Strange Results of Evolutionary Thinking" in WAS |NEWSLETTER NO. 30).
5) From a very practical standpoint, did you know that all racial blood types are interchangeable for blood transfusions? Of course, the medics have to match up the Os and As, etc. But this shows how very closely related we all are. You could get a transfusion from an Aztec...which would give you hot blood and make you immune from germs forever, since they ate chili peppers raw like candy! The motto here: be kind to your brothers and sisters even though they may have strange cultural traits.
6) The scholars have demolished the sterreotypes. I recall from Allport that tests found that black athletes do not have any more or less body odor than whites. The researchers went so far as to do blindfold tests on athletes after court play. There are quite a few of these old wives' tale "sterreotypes," and the scholars have shattered them one after another like clay pigeons at a trap shoot.
7) Chase notes that a study was done on some little kids, whose parents were university teachers. the black kids turned out smarter than their white counterparts.
8) Chase also points out that what makes blacks black is the fact that they have more melanin showing in the skin. Whites have melanin too. Get a sunburn and it starts showing. Melanin is simply a functional, natural sun block.
9) The fascinating epicanthic fold. Many westerners think Asians have slant eyes. Wrong. they have a little fold of skin - the epicanthic fold - on the eyelid toward the nose that might give this effect. Some Irish have the fold on the outer edge of the eye. But the eye isn't slanted one way or the other. And, osteologically, the eye sockets of all races are lined up the same.
10) The great anthropologist Margaret Mead used the word "fear" in connection with prejudice. Actually, the word fear may be a better word than prejudice. For a good study of race see: A RAP ON RACE by Mead and James Baldwin.
11) More on fear. Fear is often one of those terrible, unreasoning things. It involves unknowns. Fear is therefore often ignorance. Well, sometimes it might be cause by some kind of chemical imbalance or physical weakness, or something real as a wild animal attacking, but often unknowns are involved. We are aftraid of the dentist sometimes because of unknowns. But once we find out about the odd looking equipment, and that he or she and his or her assistant just want to help, and they are humans - just like us - and the whole thing is routine to them "a piece of cake" we lose our fear. And other cultures look strange and fearful. We have to work at destroying fear and push ourselves a bit...for our own good...and for good of society too in the case of racial prejudice. By the way, social scientists know how dentists feel!
12) The highly advanced Arunta. The above is just a very small preview of what the scholars have discovered about race. Couple this with other anthropological/sociological finds and together it only helps understanding. Some so-called "primitives" have more advanced cultural elements than some so-called modern cultures. The Arunta of Australia, the Aborigines or "Abos" who some still refer to as "living stone-age people" with their highly complex cross-cousin marriage system (a black-board description looks like something out of a nuclear chemistry lab) would probably be horrified at some simplistic white "modern culture" marriage customs.
Some of the modern marriage customs are very primitive - such as just living with each other. Therefore we have to be very careful calling kettle's black. We have to watch out for the gremlins of egocentrism and ethnocentrism that get in the way of truth. We have to look at many, many biological-cultural-spiritual elements. And we have to be politically alert also. For example, many rabid cultures and rabble-rousers love to use dissention for their own purposes. They play on the negative and sterreotypes and all kinds of cultural misery...devil's tools.
So, here we find ourselves at the proverbial "bottom line"...and that is: We should settle down, take a deep breath, and search for the racial-cultural-spiritual truth. The scientific study of prejudice is fascinating, educational and very useful. It will set all of us free.
(Ron Miller - reprinted here, Feb. 18th, 2007)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
FACIAL CHARACTER; A Study in True Looks....A lesson from one of America's greatest artist, Thomas Hart Benton.
I had something that I wanted to share with you, and it ties in with this section on race and cultural relations.
It has to do with looks. We are all too sensitive about our own looks and those of others. Looks is highly superficial.
I learned a great lesson on looks from artist Thomas Hart Benton who visited the Miller house often on his way to and from his beloved Buffalo River in north Arkansas. He went to school with my Grandmother and her sisters and brother at Neosho, Missouri. Also, he and Dad Steve Miller (another artist were good friends|). I talk about Benton a lot; he was an interesting person, highly intelligent and well read.
Read some of his writings sometime. He had a perceptiveness that was very unusual.
On the subject of looks, Benton liked to draw and paint models with great character in their faces. He liked prominent noses, and wasn't adverse to wrinkles at all.
Beauty would be too slick. He needed something to work with in a design way...and character was the answer.
He loved to go out to Wash Gibb's Museum on 76 at Branson and draw Chick Allen, one of the founders of the Baldknobber's musical group. I took him out once, and Dad had taken him out himself. Chick was a perfect example with great character in his face. Dr. Good long time President of College of the Ozarks would have been another one, although I don't believe he ever drew Doc. Benton would often go right past beauty(as we know it in our media/ad culture)...right to character. He did paint the controversial "Persephone," a takeoff on old French Persephone's of Manet and other followers of Manet's subject style. But, even Benton's Persephone wasn't a raving "Playboy" type beauty. She was an ordinary mid-western gal.
Benton is often categorized by art gurus as one of the regionalists. That's not quite right. True, he did do regional works like Grant Woods (did American Gothic of the somber farmer holding a pitchfork and his equally somber wife)...and John Stewart Curry over in Kansas doing his famous farmer in front of the oncoming tornado. But Benton had more of a definition than "regionalist" He had such a great unique style that he developed (opposing, staggered
semi-circles)...that his unique style needs to be added to the definition. You could say he was one of the great stylistist. Salvadore Dali was a stylist as was Renoir and the other impressionists...and, of course, Picasso was a great stylist...and the cave painters of Lascaux and Altamira.
But, since the invention of the mirror, people have been self-conscious of their looks, whether they have disks in their lip, ears, tatoos or what...and then they look at other people, and if they don't fit the human "image and likeness" there is a short circuit of some kind. They are so welded into their own egocentric mind set, it is hard for them to see that difference and character is what is really great. "Viva le difference". Humans though are shallow as cookie trays. They spend millions of dollars getting their noses perfect...trying desperately for some beauty in their known cultural egocentrism that really isn't as beautiful as character - true beauty. Someone from another cultural mindset would look at the nose job and say "how ugly!" Our age right now, could be termed "the Age of Narcissism," - we are so conscious of looks and wanting some kind of "perfection," we are so positive has to be.
Why not lighten up, save incredible worry, money, stress, inferiority, fighting and just enjoy Le Difference! Enjoy the great designs of God!
It takes a sharp artist as Benton to see true design beauty....character...with wonderful lines and features. He cuts through to beautiful, true aesthetic design. He has fun playing with the great, true design of God/nature. He was one of the great designers of realistic subjects as Latrec and others noted earlier. This is probably why he was so upset when his protoge Jackson Pollock went into abstract painting. This is another form of art with much good - and even gets into spiritual qualities. And also, here we go again on the subject of prejudice!!! It's all over the place!!! But will leave abstract art for another time.
As always, we call our resident WAS Professor Pogo into the discussion ....and invariably he says the same thing: "we have met the enemy and he is us."
Ron, Mar. 24, 2007
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - -
RUTGERS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM GOT INVALIDATED. IN FACT, A LOT OF WOMEN ARE GETTING INVALIDATED. THE PSYCHOLOGISTS USE THIS WORD INVALIDATED FOR WHAT HAPPENED. SIMPLY PUT, INVALIDATION IS PUTTING SOMEONE ELSE DOWN TO BUILD ONE'S OWN SELF UP. IT'S A TERRIBLE HABIT. IT'S LEARNED. INVALIDATORS ARE CATEGORIZED IN VARIOUS DEGREES OF HOW MUCH THEY INVALIDATE. SOME INVALIDATE MORE THAN OTHERS. SOME ARE HARD CORP.
THERE IS A GREAT LITTLE BOOK THAT ALL VICTIMS OF INVALIDATORS MUST HAVE...NASTY PEOPLE; HOW TO STOP BEING HURT BY THEM WITHOUT BECOMING ONE OF THEM...BY JAY CARTER.
YOU CAN FIND A USED ONE ON THE INTERNET. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. I HAVE GIVEN AWAY SEVERAL COPIES.
INVALIDATORS ARE HARD AT WORK MAKING OTHERS MISERABLE.
INVALIDATION IS DIABOLICAL AND CAN DO MUCH HARM. IT'S DEFINITELY NOT THINKING OF THE OTHER GUY.
RM. ENTERED APRIL 15, 2007
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 |
|
THE NEGATIVE OPAQUE FOG OF RACISM VS. THE CLEAR POSITIVE SPIRIT OF LOVE.
There is a deadly opaque fog of racism out there. It is sinister. This fog blankets the countryside of many nations, towns and even seeps into homes through cracks unseen - as an eerie fog on the moor at night in The Hound of the Baskervilles...or as the sinister fog of the Old Testament and days of Moses, that permeated the towns of ancient Egypt. It is there, although sometimes it is hard to grasp with your hands. Racism is a blot on culture, and, unfortunately, a disease of culture. As a disease it causes much suffering. It has made many people physically ill, and has caused untold deaths. If racism could be erased, billions of dollars could be saved from medical costs, war costs, government costs...general inefficiency costs.
Individuals can hopefully control racisim within themselves, but the big cultural "fog blanket" is not so easy to control. This negative fog has seeped in much of the mind of Man and controls his thinking. It is horrible to consider that this fog can actually permeate human brain cells. It is a self-imposed, negative, human - the weird genome - with some other self-imposed negative, human brain, genome garbage. It is a highly toxic fog, and it is much like a highly contagious virus that attacks the victim relentlessly, especially so when the positive, good God immune system of individuals and culture at large is weak. It targets victims and goes at every one of their weaknesses. It is truly diabolical. And once the victim is infected, the condition is very difficult to heal. It is right up there with cocaine, heroine, alcohol and nicotine. And sadly this condition of racism does as much harm to the victim and those around the victim as the above mentioned narcotics. So, yes, racism is a social,cultural, human narcotic. It pretends to make the racist and his culture feel better, but it truly is a "Liar."
I believe that this racial prejudice fog should be monitored by the Disease Control Center in Atlanta. Why not.
Look at all the deaths daily in the Near and Middle East alone caused by prejudice! They need to monitor it...and quarantine infections.
This negative fog feeds on filthy scraps of human garbage - fear, hate, old wives tales, ignorance, and aggression that have been lying around since childhood.
The clear Spirit of good God Love on the other hand is good for the individual and those around him...and society in general. This spiritual entity is healthy and to be desired. This along with education is the injection, the shot needed for the cure or preventitive.
The bad fog, unfortunately, can last for decades and even centuries and millenia. I could suddenly see the long lasting existence and harmful consequences of this malevolent disease several years ago when visiting the Dr. George Washington Carver Birthplace Monument, Diamond, Missouri, and I want to share the experience with you. Oh, yes, I knew quite a bit about prejudice having studied it at Mizzou and with many experiences seeing this diabolical affliction at work first hand. But it hadn't dawned on me yet about the long lasting "life" of the fog, and how tenacious and harmful such a fog can be.
I should tell you that I love to walk the Carver Trail, a nice winding path the National Park Service Rangers have made at the Monument. This monument is very special to our country. There are only three such treasured birthplace monuments in the U.S. Dept. of the Interior system...one for George Washington, one for Abraham Lincoln and one for Dr. George Washington Carver. The trail goes down and crosses Carver Creek where the boy Carver explored the wonderful natural world thereabouts, and knowing as he explained it and seen on a plaque, that there was a great spirit or life force behind all these natural wonders...and he knew this when only a child. I marvelled as always at Amandolla's bronze statue of the boy Carver on a large stone base, by the creek and with him holding a plant and in deep contemplation. I crossed the wooden bridge over the creek. The creek usually moves slowly...a very contemplative speed. I like that speed in a very fast paced world...where most of us are overdriving our cultural headlights. Who knows, this contemplative speed may have helped the contemplative nature of Carver, the great scientist-educator.
I visited the restored Moses Carver House close to the creek and along the trail. A large field planted in original prairie grasses stretches out in the back. Moses Carver had planted the field in Indian Corn as Ranger Rhymer had explained. The Ranger was telling visitors about the Jessup Wagon, a replica of the one that Carver and his students and even Booker T. himself at Tuskegee at times had hooked up to a horse or mule and went out in the countryside to educate poor tenet farmers of the south (blacks and whites). The Jessup Wagon (named after a contributor out east) contained Mason jars, samples of preserved foods, and other hands on educational items.
When Ranger Rhymer learned that I was a writer and very interested in Carver, and a member of the Carver Birthplace Association, he kindly loaned me his notebook which he had in his pickup. There was a bench nearby and I had a great adventure exploring much of the history of those days of the south when Carver, Booker T. Washington and students were faced with a monumental job - restoring the south.
It was a biting cold day and damp, and I could hardly hold a pencil, but I didn't mind; the story was so great. I didn't know this history; it was a revelation and highly educational. Ranger Rhymer had explained some and the details were here. I knew about slavery...I had studied slavery in history. The Greeks and Romans had slaves, and it must have been terrible. But I had never quite grasped how devastating slavery was to the individual or society. The mind sometimes goes into denial on horrible things. In the case of the black slaves in the U.S., many of the former slaves and no doubt many poor whites in this poor farmer category, didn't know about basic sanitation and all kinds of other basics. So, here was Carver still faced with rehabilitating these poor people in the early part of the 20th century. And the Civil War had ended in 1865. These poor people had been crushed by this insidious negative "fog" of slavery, prejudice, "superiority" of one race by invalidation and control of another race. A lot of humans have this dumb controlling nature; something for the psychological research lab. But if one looks at things closely, and I have thought about this more lately, this fog of controlling prejudice continued on up through the 20th century and really the fog is still trying to promote superiority and control. Unfortunately, there are still promoters and still victims. What a miserable, sick, destructive-for-everyone disease!
So, it is obvious what we all need - the healthy Spirit of God-Love.
I should mention that I have just barely touched on the fascinating story of Carver at Tuskegee. He and Booker T. Washington were battling the fog in many ways. It was very difficult to obtain funding help from political machines out east. They finally got a little research station there at Tuskegee, but it sure wasn't easy.
Everyone has heard of peanuts and yams and many by-products, great works of Carver, but not all know that Carver was a great educator, perhaps the best of all time in the U.S. His hands on methods of teaching science and math are used at the Monument. Thanks to head Ranger Lana Henry and others, over 40 school districts are employing Carver's methods (trunks of materials are sent out). Grades have improved greatly. Here's the answer to the nation's educational problems right here - George Washington Carver. Also Carver's social agricultural methods and great philosophy of life for all and especially young folks, are, I believe, the answer to much of Africa's and our own problems. Also, Carver's approach is the answer to disolving the fog of racism. We can't study Carver enough. Ron
Entered July 23, 2007
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Carver's creativity and character and help of all mankind is like cream and rises to the top. Skin color is just skin deep, but ignorance goes clear to the bone. Creativity and good and hard work and helping others rises to the top. You can beat bad with good. The evil one hates this, and he is going to try every trick he can think of to drag everyone down to the foggy swamp of ignorance. RM - entered Aug. 26th, 2007.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
IDEA FOR COURSES ON ANTI-PREJUDICE
A GOOD WAY TO BEAT TERRORISM
Things are beginning to really get ridiculous in the prejudice department. It's always been ridiculous, but now really ridiculous what with a big meeting in the Middle East claiming there was no holocaust. Oh brother, I've got some more swamp land to sell those people. I was a kid during WWII and kept my ear to the radio and watched news reels. There are still survivors of the holocaust around.
There are vivid museums and documents. Testimonials of our military that liberated death camps are still heard today.
Believe me, the holocaust really happened. We don't want any more of the crackpot, Nazi, hate, death camp stuff. Something has got to be done, and the answer is education. Hope we can catch the stupidity in time before there is more war. We have already got too much war.
When you merge hate and fear with killer ideology you've got a disaster. The human race can't tolerate such
stupidity.
Here is an educational idea to zap prejudice in the bud and to also beat terrorism. Let's develop some race or anti-prejudice courses. Quickly, let's commence excavating Dr. Gordon Allport's social/racial psychology. We can even excavate Dr. Brewton Berry's old text at Mizzou. Perhaps we can get some help from some uniiversity sociology and psychology departments? Lots of universities have programs. I am positive students and others can handle it.
It will be an awakening, but they can handle it. One of the remedies, of course, is good loving type religion. So, holding meetings off campus might not be a bad idea. In any case, there is a great need for these meetings or informal courses. Just talking about things would help. People could relate experiences.
Show how hurtful and destructive prejudice is. Show all the work in sociology, anthropology and theology that has been done.
Terrorism is simply rabble-rouser leaders playing on prejudicial fear. Hate the west; hate the east. Go right to the heart of the disease. You have to dig deep to get the cancer out. Bandages won't work. War is a kind of surface bandage.
If anyone wants to get something going, need help with outlines or in any way, let me know; I would be glad to help. We'll work hard to de-gobbledegook these helpful tools and get it out to people. Ron. Entered here, Dec. 13, 2006...and a little more Dec. 14, 2006. Touched up some, Jan 7th, 2007.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE
GREAT IDEA FROM U.S. HOLOCAUST MUSEUM FOR BATTLING RACE PREJUDICE.
CHRISTOPHER JEHN, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE BACK IN 1992 WROTE A LETTER TO ALL LEADERSHIP AND DEPARTMENTS OF THE MILITARY IN WASHINGTON. HE TOLD ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF RECOGNIZING "THE DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE". A CONGRESSIONAL LAW SET UP THIS ANNUAL WEEK OF REMEMBRANCE. AND THAT PARTICULAR YEAR 1992 WAS THE 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING, AND THAT WAS THE THEME FOR THAT YEAR. A TERRIBLE BATTLE TOOK PLACE THERE IN THE GHETTO AGAINST THE NAZIS ...AND THE REST OF THE WORLD JUST SET AROUND AND WATCHED AND DIDN'T COME TO THE RESCUE.
OUR U.S. PUBLIC LAW 96-388 ESTABLISHED THE UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL COUNCIL IN 1980. AND THE COUNCIL FOUNDED THE UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM. THIS YEAR THE DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE RUNS FROM APRIL 15 THROUGH SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2007 FOR REMEMBRANCE FOR VICTIMS OF THE HOLOCAUST. THE THEME THIS YEAR IS CHILDREN IN CRISIS; VOICES FROM THE HOLOCAUST. THERE WERE ONE MILLION CHILDREN KILLED IN THE HOLOCAUST.
ALL OF US NEED TO HELP WITH THE ABOVE DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE AND REALLY WORK HARD ON THIS. THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM SENT OUR WAS INFORMATION CENTER A COPY OF "REVOLT AMID THE DARKNESS" ALL ABOUT THE WARSAW GHETTO REVOLT AND HOLOCAUST. THE PUBLICATION IS FULL OF DOCUMENTATION. IT IS AWESOME. IF ANYONE SAYS THAT THERE WASN'T A HOLOCAUST, SHOW THEM THIS PUBLICATION. ESPECIALLY HAVE THEM READ "A YEAR IN TREBLENKA HORROR CAMP" BY YANKEL WIERNICK A SURVIVOR WHO WITNESSED THE MASS KILLING - 750 THOUSAND JEWS EXTERMINATED IN A SIXTEEN MONTH PERIOD. THE NAZI GUARDS TORTURED THESE POOR NAKED PEOPLE IN THE COLD. THEY WHIPPED THEM, TORE BABIES FROM MOTHERS ARMS AND SMASHED THEM AGAINST WALLS AND RIPPED THEM APART. MANY PRISONERS HUNG THEMSELVES AT NIGHT.
THERE ARE MANY OTHER DOCUMENTED ACCOUNTS AS WELL. BOOKS ARE LISTED AS ARE LETTERS, ARTICLES, POEMS, ART.
THE INCREDIBLE THING IS THAT THERE IS STILL THIS INSANE HATE IN THE WORLD TODAY. LOOK AT ALL THE MAD, SENSELESS, HORRIBLE KILLING IN THE MIDDLE EAST TODAY. THE VIOLENCE HAS ALL GOT PREJUDICIAL HATE BEHIND IT. THIS HATE TURNS PEOPLE INTO SUB ANIMALS.
SO, ONE OF THE BEST THINGS WE CAN DO IS HELP WITH "DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE."
I AM SURE THE US HOLOCAUST MUSEUM CAN HELP. HERE'S THEIR WEB SITE WITH MUCH GOOD INFORMATION AND IDEAS: www.ushmm.org . Their address is: Holocaust Memorial Museum, 100 Raoul Wallenbert Place, S.W. - Washington, DC 20024.
This section on Days of Remembrance entered here Feb. 24th, 2007 --- Ron Miller
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
