BS: What do we call them?

Subject: BS: What do we call them?
From: GUEST,cmt49
Date: 07 May 07 - 11:33 PM

A previous thread deals with PC and blacks/African Americans in the USA. In Denmark the problem is rather more absurd. The racist party which grew with the increased numbers of moslem immigrants in the 90's, rocketed to power after 9/11, and which now props up our government, has been consistently anti-moslem. Of course, they can't say that (at least, not the party leaders), so they avoid the M-word by a series of expressions which sound generic but which are only used to refer to moslem immigrants and their descendants:

When still at school = 'bilingual'
When known to the police = 'second generation immigrants'
When grown up and settled = 'new danes'
When not fitting into any of the above = 'other ethnic origin than Danish' or just 'ethnic'

Many people in this country, which once prided itself, however naively, on its tolerance, now soil their trousers at the sight of a headscarf, and are convinced that if the moslem population was actually allowed to build a mosque then our whole way of life would crumble.
This is the legacy of Bush's campaign to bring freedomanddemocracy to the world. Maybe Coca-Cola could market a new drink called 'Paranoia'. It should sell well here.
Have other people noticed similar changes in their countries?

Subject: RE: BS: What do we call them?
From: Peace
Date: 07 May 07 - 11:37 PM

Why not ask the Danes on a Danish website? (No offense to Bente.)

Subject: RE: BS: What do we call them?
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 07 May 07 - 11:41 PM

That's good, cmt49, blame Bush for Danish alleged prejudice. When you get your next speeding ticket, blame him for that, too.

Subject: RE: BS: What do we call them?
From: leeneia
Date: 07 May 07 - 11:54 PM

"This is the legacy of Bush's campaign to bring freedomanddemocracy to the world."

Baloney!

Subject: RE: BS: What do we call them?
From: dianavan
Date: 08 May 07 - 03:03 AM

GUEST, cmt49 - Half my family is Danish and as a child I lived in fear of my Danish, aunts. They were big strong farm women and very, very strict. There was absolutely nothing open minded about them. They were very critical of others but always put on a civil face in public. You'll never convince me that the Danes in Denmark have been influenced by America.

I was reminded many, many times that I was a daughter of Denmark and that carried with it the expectation that I would adhere to the straight and narrow; that cleanliness was next to Godliness, that I would learn my stitches and know how to bake. God forbid if you entered a church without hat and gloves. Believe me when I say they could make you conform by giving you the evil eye. It took three generations of living in America for my family to become American.

I'm not surprised that Islam shakes them up a little.

Subject: RE: BS: What do we call them?
From: jacqui.c
Date: 08 May 07 - 09:40 AM

The racist party which grew with the increased numbers of moslem immigrants in the 90's, rocketed to power after 9/11, and which now props up our government, has been consistently anti-moslem.

If this started in the 90's Bush was not in power at that time and he didn't have the excuse to go for world domination until after 9/11. He may be responsible for a lot of unpleasant things but it sounds as if the racist attitudes in Denmark were the result of increasing numbers of immigrants, possible compounded by the attack on the World Trade Centre.

I think that, if we just called them 'people' we might understand that they are more like us than they are different. I'm English, now living in the USA, and the one thing that I have found, from experience, is that, regardless of culture, colour or religious beliefs, we are all very much alike. I like and dislike without any regard to the labels placed on us by others and there are a number of people of what might be considered my own race that I would not give houseroom. Conversely, there are a lot of people of different race etc who I am priviledged to know. Depends on the individual as far as I'm concerned.

Subject: RE: BS: What do we call them?
From: GUEST,crazy little woman
Date: 08 May 07 - 10:05 AM

"soil their trousers at the sight of a headscarf"

They probably don't, but haven't you figured out yet that that's the very reason for the headscarf? To make sure everyone knows that "We are different from you, and we want to make sure you know it?"

Have you ever seen a family where father is modern, kids are modern, but mother looks like she just stepped out of the nineteenth century? Ever ask yourself what is the logic of this? There is no logic; there is only the desire for separatism.

The same applies to many of the world's hairstyles and hats.

Subject: RE: BS: What do we call them?
From: dianavan
Date: 08 May 07 - 12:54 PM

crazy little woman - You are crazy.

Most people choose to wear traditional clothing for religious purposes or as a means of preserving their culture.

Subject: RE: BS: What do we call them?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 May 07 - 01:08 PM

There is always the desire to preserve and assert one's own identity. Everyone has such desires. They manifest differently, according to whatever influences were around you in your formative years. It's not something that should arouse hatred and conflict among people, it's something that should arouse curiosity about different cultures and enjoyment of the variety of the greater world out there.

To put it another way, what's more interesting...a garden with 35 different kinds of flowers in it...or a garden with only one kind of flower in it?

What's more interesting...a jungle with thousands of different kinds of plants in it....or a well-organized field of rutabagas?

Subject: RE: BS: What do we call them?
From: Bill D
Date: 08 May 07 - 01:22 PM

"...a jungle with thousands of different kinds of plants in it....or a well-organized field of rutabagas?"

Of course, the real answer is that those aren't the only two choices. That jungle can be as dangerous as it is interesting, and may not be the best place for the average guy to put up a tent.

Importing plants FROM that jungle can disrupt the balance of native plants, if not done slowly & carefully. (There are waterways in Florida where Dalbergia sissoo, a very nice type of Rosewood in its native habitat, is growing out of control. And need I mention Kudzu?)

Subject: RE: BS: What do we call them?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 08 May 07 - 05:30 PM

Like quite a lot of other blokes you meet round the folk world, I tend to look rather as if I've stepped out of the 19th century - beard, waistcoat, corduroy trousers, collarless shirt, brown boots. Just seems a natural way to dress. Nobody seems to find that particularly scary. Nobody gives a second glance.

And nobody round here seems to give a second glance at women with long skirts and scarfs on their head either. That's a natural way to dress too.

Subject: RE: BS: What do we call them?
From: redsnapper
Date: 09 May 07 - 03:39 AM

I'm absolutely happy in the company of any ethnic minority group as I've always lived in close proximity to them without problem.

But if a large group of people dressed like McGrath of Harlow were to move in next to me and build a marquee, I'd definitely soil me trousers!

In answer to the question: people, fellow human beings?

RS