"All of us have cultural and/or ethnic and/or historic, etc., etc., etc. paradigms. And All of us have distorted vision, or an inaccurate roadmap of reality, because our paradigms function as lenses and are never clear or colorless." Absolutely and I would never dream of denying people their identity, culture, vision or dreams, - I only demand a bit of intelligent analysis of the society we are living it. It's not too much to ask really. The songs we sing and the poems we recite, the marks we make, all reflect our politics both individually and culturally. Having said that, and it is important, I have to say it is not what I am firing up about. Discrimination, racism and genocide come from INEQUALITY - come from the poltitics we choose and the means we take either consciously or unsconciously to express these views, not from a particular cultural, ethnic or historic paradigm per se. It is not individualised although the solution can be. For example, to say that we are all human, despite our colour, (as is often said) denies BLACK history as we, as the 'other' would never say that - it is a political statement, a statement of a political relationship in the world that very much encapsulates whether one is of the dominant (read white). We (BLACK - includes all those who know who they are) know who we call 'brother' and 'sister' and that is about first of all recognising our common oppression, our lack of equality in OUR worlds, which are often side by side with that other world which deludes itself often with making the dream of equality a reality by simply saying "what we need is a great big melting pot" (what about THAT one Azzizi?) We can all be held accountable historically for what we would like the world to be, but then we'll be dead, and what the world actually is, will be inherited by the generations as yet unborn. "Here is your gift from us baby spirit - hope you live to enjoy it". It is interesting where there has been strong collaboration between say, artists of Indigenous and non-Indigenous backgrounds, or Afro-American and white European background, or Latin American and white American background (and on and on) - where two sides of the equal/unequal coin meet and communicate on creativity. The first thing that is most often covered is exactly that - how equality or not works for them. And in most cases they do hold themselves accountable to not only historical creativity and cultural history itself, but to current race/class politics. I've loved observing these collaborations and the results of them, the best ones I've seen have been between Irish and Indigenous people. Mick Dodson here in Australia said that "all we want is social justice, the chance to put bread on the table, a roof over our heads, get the children educated, have the dog not treat you like a stranger, have the neighbour not have the word 'coon' in their language." It is the last that kills. It is not individual as genocide is not individual - it is a poltical act in the same way that mental illness among minorities is not a medical problem but a political problem. I am wondering if I am making sense here. Now, it is Eastern and Middle Eastern people who have become UNEQUAL and it is awful. But welcome to the club. We'll show you how to duck the club and steal the food and bury your babies, handle prison, discrimination, and people treating you like you are the invisible dog. Meanwhile all, what about a rousing - I was going to say "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" but I like the idea of "Forever Young" better.