Red Shafted Flickers live in different parts of the country than Yellow Shafted Flickers. Geography separates them, but when they get together they produce more Flickers.

You chose, bint, out of love and an open heart, to produce the equivalent of a beautiful new Orange Shafted Flicker. My family did the same. You choose now, to mingle amongst all the fine plumage, as I, for the same reasons.

Having chosen that another’s physicality did not matter, would we then racially separate ourselves from our neighbors? Some might hate another’s face in the neighborhood. You did not. I did not. Why then retrench and complain about it?

I watched TV for more than fifty years. If there was ever a mission to be admired it is that of “The Black Agenda’s” clarion leadership regarding the FCC and our current system of media ownership. This not just because of how 14% of the population is omitted, or displayed as stereotypes, but the 51% and the 30%, and the 5% and the others. It is also because of the 60%-70% of the population that is sequestered due to the inability to receive anything more than local news or dial up internet? Is it still “whiteness”? Or is it Big Brother arrived and masquerading as an old enemy?

TV currently represents oligarchy unhinged and triumphant.

The Great Melting Pot does change cultures. However, it is we that choose to share. When we offer up ourselves to our new friends we are transformed as are the elements of our cultures, our food, music and bodies. All these things must change. We find the difference between us is far smaller than the commonality. Our reasons are not the same as those who rape and plunder. Yet the same permutation is accomplished. We can’t have it both ways, except as a memory of what was.

Injustice abounds everywhere. if African American men are still incarcerated at a rate of six time to that of white and three times that of Hispanic men, we must do something about it. What we do might depend on how clearly we identify the elements of classism as well as racism. Making sure previously incarcerated men get their voting voice back might be part of that.

White is not “whiteness”.

Whiteness is a euphemism born out of a need to understand and classify. As long as we continue to use this shorthand term, we fail to trumpet the real evil’s names: institutional discrimination, classism, sexism, wealth disparity, injustice, unemployment, under-education, Balkanization and loss of social networking, ignorance, fear, and most of all, greed and power.

What to do?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_privilege

[Zetzer also specifies the type of changes necessary to make progressive steps in dealing with white privilege and its implications. She notes that most people who become educated on white privilege undergo a first-order change in which they gain increased awareness, knowledge and skills. However, for progress to be made in equalizing problems such as white privilege, individuals need to undergo second-order change. Second-order change is characterized by a paradigm shift in which people use their awareness, knowledge and skills to take action. Zetzer believes the first, and easiest, way to initiate this transformation is through dialogue. Honest and multicultural dialogue is the first way to build alliances which can then “transform people and systems and turn intention into action,”[58] thus slowly changing the persistence of white privilege.]

How, then, can “white privilege” be surrendered, and human equality gained, if not by access to each other? If we get tired in this dialogue, and need a little rest or reinforcement, so be it. There are other enemies far greater than you or I could ever be. We need our strength for those battles. However, we cannot stay in our safe little groups. Their safety is only an illusion anyway- a puff of time. Eventually we must walk next door and introduce ourselves our new neighbor, and start a dialogue.

If, as shah8 suggests, the “hammering” phrase is an essentialization, it is also a key, or a bread crumb on a trail into the Japanese culture. Even if it’s wrong, it has a use- to remind us that Japanese are a strong nation with a strong culture.

Holly’s comments reflect another point. That is we, as USAns’ cannot fully engage in the group dynamic of which she speaks. it requires that everyone, or most in the group, have an understanding of Japanese culture. Following this scenario, we could do the anthropological tour perhaps, and involve ourselves in such a group, as an individual. However, we could not easily, untrained, transfer the Japanese group dynamics there. ( I believe we did attempt this commercially in late 80’s.)

Whether Japanese group behavior is in fact different, or not, I don’t know. We do have many examples where group behavior attempts to rule over individualism.

Think of how group behavior in gangs, like the Nortenos, operate in the US. The needs of the individual are subsumed for the good of the group.

The Mennonites also come to mind, as do the group activities of the Warren Jeffs enclave.

Another simple example of group dynamics is Bint’s. Two young women, through jealousy, fear, ignorance, pressure or whatever, feel the need to act out against another member. Do the the rest of the group come to the victim’s defense? Does the victim subsume her needs for the good of the group? what would be the Japanese answer and would it differ?