Topic #2. the tv show...
(Showing 152-166 of 181)

152. Sue
Tue, Sep 28, 1999 - 1:32 AM/EST
atma

Separatist sentiment has been with us since the 1800"s. Remember the Civil War. It has a long tradition in this country. We didn't want to live with those "red savages" so after taking their land we placed them far away from "us". After the

blacks were "emancipated", We didn't want to live with them either, unless they were our servants or slaves. Then they could stay in special living quarters set up in a barn or some other kind of structure.

This idea is quite "American". Religious communities came here for religious tolerance and found themselves assimilated or separated. America is an experiment that still need a lot of tinkering before it can really live up to it's professed ideals.

153. OK
Tue, Sep 28, 1999 - 2:54 AM/EST
viennes

artist39, I like fiesty and passionate, I will stop worrying about you're health, go get em.

atma,although I do agree that there are a lot of people that should not have children,but that is getting into dangerouse territory,where would you draw the line who or who could not have children,who would make that decision,Government? they are to involved as it is (Big Brother is watching you)Soon they would tell you no interracial children should be born, because it is to hard on the children (it would be an excuse)

As a father with a bad smoking habit, I do see the concern, Luckily (as far as I know) none of my children smoke,It is hard for a parent that smokes to tell his children not to, but that did not stop me,I stated to them that, use me as am example how bad it is, smoke breath,stinks up the place, addictive and so on, it seems to have worked.It is not easy to stop, I have tried, I guesse I don't have the will power,but I look at it this way,knowing that I got hooked on smoking and knowing that my will power is poor,I stayed away from drinking,and heavy drugs fearing getting hooked on them like smoking.

Lets do some tinkering, if that is what it takes.How is a different ?.

atma, thanks for the rescue.

atma, how old are you're girls,if you dont mind me asking.

154. atma
Tue, Sep 28, 1999 - 3:05 AM/EST
artist39

Sometimes I have to laugh becusae I can't believe I am a grownup and have the responsibility of raising two kids who getting big themselves. Although I am a responsible parent, I am bewildered by how confused I can feel on certain days. When feeling that way I chuckle....I worry that parents are going to come home and get angry about my taking the car without permission. It is crazy really, that any of us have the nerve to raise kids. True that some people are less prepared than others, if you can really be prepared, and for those kids and parents, the job

is all the more difficult. Whatever the reasons people have children, once they are in the world, we as a society have a share of the responsibility of providing some basic services so we do not loose another generation to despair and hopelessness and create more children for the wrong reasons.

155. atma
Tue, Sep 28, 1999 - 8:39 AM/EST
atma

I don't want the Government to decide who can have kids. I was really expressing my own sentiment about what I have experienced in other communities. There are poor people and rich people

mentally ill people(some undiagnosed) and others who would not make good parents. But once these children are in the world, we should do what ever it takes to save these children from lives of abuse and misery. Anyone working in Children's Welfare can attest that many more children should be removed from homes than they can afford to act on due to budgetary restraints. It comes back down to what are we will to spend to save children.

156. age
Tue, Sep 28, 1999 - 10:51 AM/EST
artist39

I am 42-going-on-43. My kids, 18 and 14, though now that I am prparing my house for interior painting and am going through photo albums, I wonder where the time has gone!!!!

I have worked in Child Welfare, as a CPS worker with families whose kids are wards of the state but live in the home with court ordered mandates for the parents. What I saw was a great desparity in how poor families were treated, particullary minority families. The wealthy sexual abuseres who had good lawyers kept their kids and their arrogance, while the other population was delt a different card. It is very difficult to do that kind of work, and in order to do it proerly you have to be a bit more elastic than I was willing to be. If kids are going to remain in the family, then a great deal of support is necessary, for as we all know, true change and transformation is a long and painful process. It really is a lifelong process.

I am for quality education, and I mean quality, in the schools that provides community typw centers in the schools for the entire family, view the school as the main community based organization. From my perspective, the school is best place to engage kids and families, and the earlier the better.

157. viennes and everyone else
Tue, Sep 28, 1999 - 5:50 PM/EST
atma

I am 48 years old. I waited untill I was in my 40's before getting married. My youngest daughter is 7 and the oldest is 14.

158. Now lets talk about "Social Class".
Tue, Sep 28, 1999 - 6:01 PM/EST
atma

Artist39, or is that artist42? Anyway, the deeper we dig into the problem of racism, issues of social class and wealth are unavoidable and need serious inspection/investigation. Any takers on getting started down this scary path. Are you ready to be called a "communist" just for talking about this issue?

159. atma
Tue, Sep 28, 1999 - 6:29 PM/EST
artist39

I am all for a conversation about class...go for it!

160. Extreme Tolerance
Tue, Sep 28, 1999 - 11:27 PM/EST

Did anyone see the show on PBS? If so, how do you feel about it and how do you think it applies to your everyday life?

161. sue
Wed, Sep 29, 1999 - /EST
artist39

I did not see it, can you briefly describe it for those of us who did not see it. other than the Lovestories, I hardly watch TV. Okay, well maybe ER on Thursday evenings!

162. TV show
Wed, Sep 29, 1999 - 4:11 AM/EST
atma

My opinion of "American Love Story" is incomplete.

I am still working through how the project was developed and what the intent truly was. Was there more than one agenda? Other than that I thought of it as a unique documentary that provided the viewers with more than a glimpse into the lives of four people. It succeeded in showing us how one particular family dealt with issues of race intheir lives. It chose a family that some would not be sympathetic to to prove that the documentary was not trying to sell a message and at the same time demonstrate that showing a family that has difficulties portrays an

honest perspective how many in our society see "interracial relationships". We find that some stereotypes seemed to be in reinforced all around and some stereotypes that just were'nt there. I did not see every single episode in full but I think I saw enough to draw some conclusions.

163. TV show
Wed, Sep 29, 1999 - 4:15 AM/EST
atma

I think it is important not to over analyze something like this TV show. It will only take one so far. Not everyone is going to be in agreement about what they saw. This is not that unusual. What is important is that the TV show act as a catalyst for disscusion.

164. Judge the individual not the race.
Wed, Sep 29, 1999 - 8:50 AM/EST

"Judge the individual not the race."

This is what I have been saying as long as I have been aware of racial predjudices. I have been an avid reader of what has been said. If it took love, interracial marriages, interracial children and heart break to see what it is to be black, then this just might be a hands on lesson for all concerned. Stop griping. I've been black for 58 yrs. Knowing the Lord as my personal Savior has been my salvation on this short journey. I never saw myself as this world sees blacks. Blacks have lived with the cruelties of racism, your children surely can. I never saw myself as this world sees blacks. I have been the only black on three jobs (N.Y., S.C., VA.)and it was equally painful to see such racial prejudices up front and in your face daily, but I survived it. Racial prejudice has nothing to do with skin color. It is a matter of the heart and only God can change a heart.

165. Beloved
Wed, Sep 29, 1999 - 1:21 PM/EST

You said so eloquently what I have been feeling all along. Racial prejudice has nothing to do with skin color.

My mother can remember "Pollack go home, dumb Pollack," written on the sidewalk in front of her home in Chicago. When she married a Slovak man she was treated badly by his mother as not being good enough and not being the same ethnicity. Just a good thing that she was not a Polish Jew!! That would have been unforgivable. I grew up knowing this type of racism. It is very pronounced and also shows up in the schools.

Racism takes all forms and where ever it flourishes people end up dying.

166. sue & racism
Wed, Sep 29, 1999 - 5:51 PM/EST
atma

Sue, I hate to break it to you but racism comes from the word race. The word race is used to divide humanity into different colors. Skin color becomes an "indicator" of that sociological construct. People react to my skin color before they even have an interaction with me. In the example you gave, there was bias or prejudice based on ethnicity not skin color. Ironically, many Poles and Slovaks(formerly Chechoslovaks) share the same Catholocism. In Northern Ireland,

the troubles seem to be reduced to religious affiliation, and both groups are Christian. The absurdity of these biases are born out when you look at th realities and the historical background of these conflicts. Beloved pointed out that she is still confronted with prejudice because she has been the only black in her job situation. Why do you suppose it was important for her to point that out? Racism is based on skin color>