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  • From: "Felicity Wright" <flickwright@ozemail.com.au>
  • To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] anti-semitism or naivete or sexism or any ism
  • Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 11:49:56 +0930

Hey Toshio, it was really good to hear your voice as someone who has experienced being 'the other'.

Listening (watching) a bunch of Anglos debating racism always seems weird to me. Like how absurd it would be (or is) to listen to a bunch of men debating sexism and whether or not it exists or whether they should or should not feel guilty about it or whether women should be offended by being called 'girl' or whatever. Given men could never have experienced sexism towards women personally, it's all kind of hypothetical - they can endeavour to be empathetic (and LISTENING is a good start here) or, alternatively, compelled to make judgements about whether women are 'over-sensitive' and how terribly affected their freedom of speech is now they have to consider the feelings of women. Gee, what a compromise, thinking before you speak or asking another person for feedback on a thought/comment to find out how they perceived it, or being receptive when feedback is offered.

I am so sick of the suggestion that peoples/cultures who experience discrimination on a regular, systemic basis are hyper sensitive and prone to being offended.

Living, working and travelling with Indigenous Australians has brought me face to face with the reality of racism on countless occasions - and how it is experienced by those who have an appearance, culture and values that do not fit the dominant paradigm (and in many ways are diametrically opposed).

Basically, for me, it all comes back to one of the permaculture fundamental principles - Care of People.

Do we want to have our community members - whatever color, religion or cultural background - feeling respected, included and treated with dignity, or is our (your) right to self express paramount (and to hell with other people's feelings and the consequences)?

The core guidelines for Care of People for me are: listening, trying not to judge, respecting other points of view, working on empathy and compassion, and trying not to make assumptions.

Hey, I get shitty and stuff up and my life is a work in progress, but reminding myself of the priniciple is a good yardstick.

flick

PS: Just for the record - I loathe those emails that are circulated that are anti-male. It's not hard to substitute the wording and imagine it directed at some other group (women for example) and realise most of them are offensive and demeaning.



----- Original Message ----- From: "Toshio Kuratomi" <a.badger@gmail.com>
To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 8:04 AM
Subject: Re: [permaculture] anti-semitism or naivete


On 5/28/07, Lisa Rollens <rollens@fidnet.com> wrote:
Toshio,

I know you are right that racism is alive and well in the USA. Bu have you
ever been to very rural areas?

Yep. Lived in several of those areas myself for many years; my
father, cousins, and wife all grew up in rural America. We all had
different reactions to those environments... since I always knew I
could "escape" I was probably the one that felt the least slighted by
the unconscious and conscious bigotry that I encountered.






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