Thanks,TeeYiYi!

"Should be" - yes, sure, at least to the "free" part and the "equal in rights" part (dignity is a word I'm wary of, because it's so ambiguous). But "are" is just false - many humans are born in places where they are not free, and will not be treated with dignity.

Also, I'm fairly sure that ripping people's hearts out to promote racial harmony will not catch on.

It's pure speculation; if you do try it, let me know, so we have some data.

But, on balance, I am placing my money behind horrible brutal heart-rippy murder not being a successful way to decrease man's inhumanity to man.

TYY

rec

I don't think the right-wing hated Bill Clinton any less than they hate Obama, but they never pretended he wasn't American. And I think the difference is probably mostly the subconscious feeling that, as Morrison says, "American means white".

When I went to Germany everyone thought I was Turkish.
When I went to Morocco, everyone thought I was Moroccan.
When I went to Italy, everyone thought I was Italian.
When I went to Spain, everyone thought I was a Spaniard.
When I went to Hawaií, everyone thought I was Hawaiian.
When I went through customs in any country, I always got secondary searched.

I'm American of Mexican descent.

Though born in 1996, when in kindergarten and first grade he frequently adopted the posture and salutes of Tommie Smith and John Carlos on a regular basis, he discussed with me (at great length) that historically we could not have "sat on the bus together" ... he would engage random folk in conversations about racism and historical segregation ... he was as fully engaged in his "heritage" as a 5-7 year old could be ... except it wasn't HIS heritage.

My kids are multiracial/ multi-ethnic .. the "problem" is they are of Indian (the subcontinent) and Irish /Scott ancestry ... my (then) little guy thought he was African American because OTHER people thought he was (it is a little more complicated than that, his father is Indian, but due to British Colonization he is from Durban Natal South Africa).

Oddly, following 9/11 my kids were then perceived as "Arab" (their father is Muslim, but again his ancestry is Indian) ...

Today as young adults they know they will be "randomly' selected when crossing borders, boarding planes ...

They are very frequently asked "what" they are ...? “In this country, American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.”

for opposing immigration.

and my excuse is that I am white.

and male

and hetero