To: bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>, homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [Homestead] The longest post yet-Anger
Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2008 18:24:52 -0500
{Not from Roy}
Well, that was not meant to go to the whole list, and for that I do
apologize.
I very rarely wrote Spanish, and even more rarely found it necessary
to read it. My Spanish is basically terrible, and limited to things
like, "Please give that horse more hay" and "He needs an extra blanket."
Although I do think James deserves respect in terms of his
homesteading, I cannot fathom why he would think it necessary to quiz
me to "redeem" myself or make him believe anything about me. I do not
owe him any explanations of my experiences with the Mexican people
that I worked with (who, in general, spoke much better English than I
do Spanish) which is what he asked me for, after much going on bout
how he is a brother under the skin, yadda yadda yadda....
Whether or not my written Spanish is up to James' grading doesn't make
any damn difference in my original point, which is this:
It is offensive to generalize the behaviour of an entire group of
people based on colour.
Yes, it makes sense that *some* people in any geographic/socio-
economic situation are going to behave in the same way, but to
patronize "all the poor black people" who (paraphrased) ...too stupid
to understand there aren't going to be immediate government handouts
is... not within the purview of James' given expertise in homesteading.
It's great to have a snug (smug) little house, but most houses look
out on a whole world.