Yesterday morning I read a column in my newspaper about what is happening in Rotterdam and it is happening in other big cities here too.
A Housing Corporation, which rents out social housing (low rent) to people with low incomes, wants to demolish the houses and replace them with new ones.
The rents of these houses can only be afforded by middle and higher incomes, not by the former inhabitants of the neighborhood.
They are moved to housing at the outskirts of the city. The old neighborhood is close to the shopping center of the city and that needs well-to-do customers in the vicinity.
Thus are the poor segregated from the rich in a big city here and it made me think of what happened in the 1960s and 1970s in the US and South Africa.
In the US the white people left the inner cities and moved to (all white) suburbs. In South Africa you see the opposite movement.
In 1964 in the US the Civil Rights Act was passed, which forbid any segregation at work, in restaurants,unions, public places etc.
In the same year in South Africa laws were passed that restricted the places blacks were allowed to live (and Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment).
The housing policy, that started in 1967 has resulted in what we now call the townships, another example of institutionalized segregation.
When the use of violence isn't an option to change things, then there is this old and historical alternative: write it down and publish it.
One of the first black writers was James Baldwin (1924 - 1987). His essays never stopped articulating the anger and frustration
felt by real-life black Americans with more clarity and style than any other writer of his generation.
Disillusioned by American prejudice against blacks, he left the United States at the age of 24 and settled in Paris.
He wanted to distance himself from American prejudice and see himself and his writing outside an African-American context.
His absolute counterpart was Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (1935 – 1998), an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party, a revolutionary political organization (1969 - 1982).
QUOTE -"In James Baldwin's work we find a grueling, painful, total hatred of blacks, especially of himself,
and a shameful, crawling, heel-licking love for whites that no other famous black writer can surpass." - END QUOTE. (E.C, 'Soul on Ice' pg 101-103 (1968)
Well, that's clear language. The only thing I learnt is, that in Baldwin's novels appear black as well as white characters. "Giovanni's Room" (1956) is only about white charters.
Did their work and that of numerous other black writers from the 20th century affect the racist situation today. Do we see changes?
Besides plain racism there is this proces of segregation, self chosen by moving to suburbs or organized by the state by building townships.
In the case of the relation between races we apparently inherited almost everything from the 20th century and do we see only a little bit of emancipation of the black people.
So, there is still a lot of work to be done...Thank you for your attention..
The Discussion
[13:21] herman Bergson: The floor is yours :-)
[13:22] CB Axel: That quote was from Eldridge Cleaver?
[13:22] oola Neruda: I believe we should include neo-nazis in this mix
[13:22] CB Axel: Nazis are in the mix. They are racists.
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed
[13:23] oola Neruda: yes but more strident
[13:23] herman Bergson: We took all racism from the 20th century with us into this one....even the president of the so called most powerful nation, doesn't despise racist ideas
[13:23] herman Bergson: The quote was fron Eldridge Cleaver
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): its him who drives on this hate and makes it increase instead of decrease! Negative energy is radiating from him all over the world
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): through social media and news
[13:24] herman Bergson: Forgot to add the source....sorry
[13:24] oola Neruda: they tend to be less educated than the people in positions to make laws or choose where neighborhoods will be..or lobby and buy votes....
[13:24] oola Neruda: influence
[13:25] herman Bergson: Who tend to be less educated, oola?
[13:25] oola Neruda: so there is the embedded racist and the one seeking their muscle
[13:25] oola Neruda: the neo nazis....
[13:25] oola Neruda: although the ones at the very top know exactly what they are doing
[13:25] herman Bergson: a worrisome development
[13:26] oola Neruda: very
[13:26] herman Bergson: In the news today I heard about Salafist schools here in the Netherlands....
[13:26] oola Neruda: ??
[13:27] Beertje (beertje.beaumont): oh yes
[13:27] Beertje (beertje.beaumont): i heard that too
[13:27] herman Bergson: There children are told that they should not become friends with jews and christians
[13:27] Beertje (beertje.beaumont): that we deserve to be dead
[13:27] oola Neruda: swear words
[13:27] herman Bergson: the infidel should be killed.....
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): terrorist schools
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): scary
[[13:28] Beertje (beertje.beaumont): because we are not from the islam
[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): if they brainwash kids like that this violence and terror will never end!
[13:28] Beertje (beertje.beaumont): there are lot's of schools here in the Netherlands
[13:28] herman Bergson: The child is forbidden to wish someone Merry Xmas.....doing that was even worse than murder.... worse
[13:28] Beertje (beertje.beaumont): much more then I expected
[13:29] oola Neruda: Christmas has been forbidden from schools in the US for MANY years
[13:29] CB Axel: As it should be
[13:29] herman Bergson: This is additional education at the mosque, though these children participate in dutch primary schools
[13:30] herman Bergson: So they are educated as racists based on religion
[13:30] CB Axel: How many Christian children are taught in their Sunday schools that only they will go to Heaven. It's not as bad, but it does divide people by religion.
[13:30] herman Bergson: I wonder in what direction this race issue will develop
[13:31] herman Bergson: Very true, CB
[13:31] Beertje (beertje.beaumont): christian children will not kill others only for their religion
[13:31] herman Bergson: Oh...another one......
[13:31] oola Neruda: we are seeing the actions of hitler and others like him being immolated by leaders here[13:31] CB Axel: They did during the crusades. Why not now?
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): development is going in wrong direction, we should have moved away from this long ago but some people refuse to accept development
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): instead they see everyone as their enemy that they should kill
[13:32] herman Bergson: the children learn that they should not wear the same clothes as the infidel, for if they did they belong to them
[13:32] CB Axel: Christians are just as bloody, stinking awful as any other group.
[13:32] oola Neruda: yes
[13:33] herman Bergson: That's one way of stating it ^_^
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): to me religion has nothing to to in a modern world it just lead to sadness violence terror and death in an attempt to refuse to accept development and knowledge
[13:33] herman Bergson: But that is just a conclusion...the arguments are philosophical more interesting of course :-))
[13:34] herman Bergson: But we even don't need religion for that...race is enough....the color of your skin
[13:34] oola Neruda: nods
[13:34] herman Bergson: besides...easier to detect too...you can't see someones believes
[13:35] CB Axel: Humans will either wipe themselves out completely or will learn to work together.
[13:35] CB Axel: If space aliens attack we may have a chance at the latter.
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): we should have learned that long ago
[13:35] CB Axel: Or a plague that we have to conquer.
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i dont get why so many havent still
[13:35] herman Bergson: I wonder where we will be in 10 years in Europe since we have this huge immigration of African people
[13:35] CB Axel: Or climate change.
[13:36] oola Neruda: there is a book.... OIL ...POWER... WAR
[13:36] herman Bergson: Yes CB and happily Rutger Bregman has written a book, which highlights the positive side of the human being
[13:37] oola Neruda: it discusses the slow changes that have brought us to this point
[13:37] herman Bergson: I guess it might be translated in English
[13:38] CB Axel: Utopia for Realists?
[13:38] herman Bergson: While Western culture assumes that homo sapiens is intrinsically bad, Bregma wants to prove that the opposite is actually true
[13:39] herman Bergson: I admit we have trouble to believe him :-)
[13:39] herman Bergson: But that is because we are so indoctrinated and brain washed with the idea that we are bad
[13:40] herman Bergson: The basic rule in life we learn when we are young is DON'T TRUST THAT GUY....
[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): many are bad (racists terrorists haters and greedy ones) but most of us are good for sure i think indeed
[13:40] herman Bergson: especially when he has another skin color
[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): its just a small portion that are the bad ones but they cause so much damage
[13:41] herman Bergson: Yes Bejiita, but you could say that they are the product of the system
[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah
[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ok
[13:41] herman Bergson: so maybe we have to have a closer look at the system
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and debug it really good!
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): cause something is bugging there for sure
[13:42] herman Bergson: Maybe find a way to get the racism bug out indeed
[13:42] oola Neruda: greed is what is fueling climate change....
[13:43] oola Neruda: don't want to lose their oil income
[13:43] CB Axel: I think it's because we don't use our cerebral cortex to override our "reptilian" brain.
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): racism hate terror and greed, and then also this nature destroying/rainforest burning/climate denying bug as well
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): then we will be ok
[13:43] herman Bergson: Yes CB
[13:44] oola Neruda: rainforest is another example of money over the right thing to do
[13:44] herman Bergson: But let's not become to negative....:-)
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes
[13:44] herman Bergson: It is only Tuesday..>!
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hopefully indeed all is not lost and i have a golf competition with work tomorrow
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): gonna be fun
[13:44] herman Bergson: I suggest that we think it all over and keep a sharp eye on present racism...
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): good idea
[13:45] oola Neruda: and present president
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm
[13:45] herman Bergson: I wish you luck tomorrow Bejiita
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:45] Ciska Riverstone: bood luck bejiita ㋡
[13:45] herman Bergson: May I thank you all again for your participation.....:-)
[13:45] Ciska Riverstone: oops
[13:45] Ciska Riverstone: good
[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:46] CB Axel: I hope you have a great time!
[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): gonna be nice indeed
[13:46] herman Bergson: And have a nice day all of you tomorrow ^_^
[13:46] Ciska Riverstone: thanx everyone
[13:46] herman Bergson: Class dismissed...
[13:46] Ciska Riverstone: thanx herman
[13:46] oola Neruda: thank you, Herman
[13:47] bergfrau Apfelbaum: thank you Herman and Class!!
[13:47] CB Axel: Thank you, Herman.
[[13:47] Beertje (beertje.beaumont): Have a goodnight:))
[13:47] CB Axel: See you Thursday. :)
