Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Bianca Jagger: Answertext will be available soon.

by Bianca Jagger

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Bill Joy: That’s a very troubling question. And it’s very frustrating. I feel I think what Jason’s talking about when you can just feel the energy in the United States and the attitude towards black Americans is different than say if you’re in London or some other place and you’re with a black person in England or a black person in France. It seems like starting from the history of slavery so long ago and the cultural attitudes in certain parts of the United States. And Jason, I hope you continue to struggle against this and it’s not something that I personally find tolerable. So it’s just very troubling that this exists after so long.

by Bill Joy

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Bora Cosic: Regardless to your skin color, you have to slowly emancipate your self in the country you are living in. Then living somewhere is often coincidence, especially if the person is born there. However, not even father country has all rights on the people that grow up there. My Serbs and Croatians suffer from the same disease as you. Often they are resent on the birth clod and often their lives on it are hard, but still they fall in enthusiasm by home lands name being mentioned or the sight of its flag. This is a sign that those people are immature. However, the fact that you asked this question yourself, I rely on the fact that you will achieve this mature sooner or later.

by Bora Cosic

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Brian J. Weller: Answertext will be available soon.

by Brian J. Weller

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Catherine David: As I’m not really concerned what means I’m not objectively part of a particularly repressed, outcasted group, I could imagine not to answer. It seems to me that this would be a little short-sighted, a bit economic and that I would have my firm opinion. It is evident that every person, who is a citizen or a resident of a country where he or she shares a minimum of the day-to-day life – I do not know if this is a question of values in this case - is unjustifiably outcasted, has to revolt – even if to revolt is a word which is a bit “old fashioned”, I do not know if you prefer to rebel and to protest, to request in a very lively manner, in some cases even they have to regard the violent way so his or her rights are respected. I think that this is not very good, but what else could one say.

by Catherine David

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

China Keitetsi:

by China Keitetsi

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Constantin von Barloewen: National identity and cultural identity often diverge. If we consider, e.g. Brazil, where an ethnic democracy was assumed for a long time, I am thinking of Gilberto Freyre, "Casa grande e senzala" in the thirties. This utopia of an ethnic democracy. Many, I am thinking of North America with its civil wars. National identities are helpful for a conscienceness that often cannot be provided by individual ethnic groups. Many of the black Brazilians consider themselves to be Brazilians, they feel they have possibilities of identification, even if they are not socially privileged or even absolutely under privileged. Is it a contradiction. Minorities have to be integrated into national identities, otherwise they cannot integrate into a global responsibility. But it is obvious that the black population in America rather identifies with Africa than with America, simply because the social circumstances in these black African states correspond more with them than the economic integration allows them to in America. The same applies to Africa, it applies to Asia. If we take India, a state with 150 millions of Muslims, of the 1.1 billion Indians there are not only Hindus, there are 150 millions of Muslims who still think of themselves as Indians. Ethnic identity is not always identical with national identity. This is a conflict.

by Constantin von Barloewen

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Cornel West: Well, I think it is very important that we love justice and freedom as opposed to simply loving flags and symbols. There is no doubt that black people in the United States, 244 years we were enslaved, over 90 years we were Jim Crow dealing with American terrorism, dealing with lynching, dealing with rights denied, liberties violated, dealing with discrimination and segregation. I’ve often had very little reason to want to defend the United States, and yet historically we know millions of black people have decided to fight in U.S. armies anyway, based on the hope of promise that United States would not treat them as unwanted children as it were. And, often times these hopes have been shattered; these promises have been broken. I think in the end we must always put justice and democracy as universal ideals, as global ideals, as international ideals at the center of who we are and what we do and, therefore, patriotism – therefore, all forms of nationalism must be subordinate to quest for justice, quest for democracy.

by Cornel West

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Dedi Baron: Answertext will be available soon.

by Dedi Baron

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Donato Bayu Bay Bumacas: The issue of apartheid and discrimination is a centuries old issue, and in fact majority of us local and indigenous people still experience similar things, feel that this issue is against our human rights. This is a basic issue where we local and indigenous peoples especially black are brothers and that they should really face squarely. But, if you ask me an advice being on the same situation, I would like to encourage you by saying, show your worth, serve others, and be a responsible citizen. And on doing those you will make a difference because it's only by making difference that we can contribute to the world in spite of this widely apartheid discrimination that is going on in the world. Let's make ourself productive and offer ourself to be of service to others even if we do not feel serving those countries who are practicing apartheid and discrimination. Let's do – let’s show our worth and have that commitment to serve others, and we will make a difference.

by Donato Bayu Bay Bumacas

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Dritëro Kasapi: Hello, Mr. Jason. I come from a minority group in Macedonia, which felt oppressed but certainly not as oppressed as--I cannot imagine the oppression the African-American had in U.S.A. and the continuance of discrimination that one experiences in U.S.A. But I come from a minority that has felt oppressed for many years in Macedonia, Moldavian myself in Macedonia and Yugoslavia. I don’t immediately recognize your love for your country and defending your country because I felt only hatred for my country, and I couldn’t defend it. Both for Yugoslavia as a whole, I though it was shit country that needed dismantling, and I felt Macedonia was not a country that I can respect. But later, when I realized that there is something, there is a responsibility that I have to take to make my situation better, then I decided that that responsibility demands from me to be participant in this country and not live in my hatred and my feeling of exclusion. Then I started participating, and my participation was by trying to create opportunities for people like me, to feel participant and to make their voice heard, and to create bridges between the minority communities that I belong to and the majority communities that basically set the rules of the game and try to change those rules, and then I felt like I don’t have to hate that country but I, I have--[AUDIO ENDS].

by Dritëro Kasapi

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Eliane Potiguara: Black Americans are undesirable in the United States just as the indigenous are undesirable in the Americas, just as oppressed, poor people are wherever undesirable. One just have to be poor, excluded or a person of color to that. The skin, the race… Until this discrimination of skin or race exist we will always be discriminated wherever on planet Earth. There’s no color hegemony, we are all equal, let’s stop it. Come on, it’s time, that’s enough, I beg it, I’m asking as an indigenous woman from Brazil, from planet Earth, daughter of creator, I beg you all in the world to stop the racial discrimination. I ask you, do you want me to ask on my knees? I can ask you on my knees to stop the racial discrimination against blacks, indigenous, Jewishes, people of color or people who don’t have white skin and blue eyes. It’s so beautiful to be white and have blue eyes. We indigenous, blacks, people of color, find beautiful white people with blue eyes. Why can’t you, white people with blue eyes, find us beautiful? Let’s finish this! You are roses and we are carnations, we are equal. Start realizing where beauty is. See the beauty in a black African child or in a black American child. Start observing a line, start realizing a different design, a shape of hair, a way of being. Stop with this hegemony. This is racism, there’s no more time for this.

by Eliane Potiguara

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Eliot Weinberger: I think there is a tendency to love one's community, love one's own men, love one's wherever one is, despite all of the terrible things that’s happening. And certainly as an African-American, one is living in a society that has treated African-Americans abysmally. And yet, on the other hand, it seems to me, and obviously I’m not an African-American, but it seems me that one is also living inside a community of tremendous vitality and with tremendous tradition. So that there is a kind of joy and strangeness within the community of being an African-American even if the society at large is oppressive. So, it doesn’t seem to me quite a contradiction in that sense to as you say love and defend a country because I think that what one is defending is one's community within that country. And after all there are many things to love about the United States and about American culture, despite what the government is doing. One can hate the American government and still love America in that sense.

by Eliot Weinberger

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Elisabet Sahtouris: It’s a very interesting question you ask, Jason, because you are asking why do you behave as you do. I think what you really want to know is if black America is being treated as unwanted children why do they volunteer to go and defend their country? Well, among other things, I am one of the 60’s kids who are -- actually I was a grown-up and a mother already in the 60’s, but I was a 60’s activist fighting for civil rights for Black Americans for any discriminated against minority. And, we were so successful in the 60’s that among other things we ended the draft and we thought that young man would no longer go to war. Hurray! Hurray! However, we have an economy in which people who are not treated as equals don’t make as much money and it's harder for a young black man to get a decent job in most cases even than a young white man. And so, many more of them are going to volunteer to go to war for their country for the very simple reason that it's an economically disadvantaged group trying to make a living. And, I think that the mood of the whole world now is that people don’t want war any more. And, I think that armies could not be raised if there weren’t an economic opportunity. So, what we really have to work at is the basic economics of equality. We have to develop an economy in the future that’s a win-win that truly gives people equal opportunity, so that no one will have to go fight wars for higher-ups if they don’t truly believe in the cause. And I hope that there will no longer be causes that anybody kills each other over. I hope that the young generation will make friends around the world through the internet and will make a pact with each other that no differences shall be worth killing each other for, so that there will be no more wars. And if anybody attacks anyone else that there will be international peace keeping forces that will immediately see that as something that has to be stopped.

by Elisabet Sahtouris

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Ervin Laszlo: We are all citizens and members of communities. We develop some level of identification and solidarity with our communities. It is natural that we continue to love and support our own country, hopefully not only our own country, but also the entire human family. The problem is that some countries treat the minorities in an unfair and repressive way. That needs to be reformed. Not a lot needs to be corrected, but the treatment needs to be corrected.

by Ervin Laszlo

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Esther Mwaura-Muiru: Oppressed people, they lose their sovereignty. When you oppress a young child or a family member and you don't give them the equal support you’d give to the other members of the family, they lose family, lose identity, and the worse you can do is to lose identity. So, I think we must be able to eliminate all forms of inequality that makes people feel superior than the others -- that make people inferior than others, because then you diminish the people's power to operate. And, I have actually seen it in my country when because of ethnic balances, some ethnic groups think that they have not been -- they do not have a lot of interest to participate in the welfare of their country. Sometimes it’s perceived; sometimes it’s politically instigated. So, I think we must look at a country as a community that we have. But, since one individual determines how we relate to each other and we accept how to relate to each other and see others as more valuable than others, and that makes us to believe that we cannot protect our own borders, I think that’s wrong. It must start from a person and not seeing a country, environment, a community in the eyes of that one individual that creates systems for oppression. Sometimes when I talk to people from different countries and where this country is the question is coming from, from America, and I think when they talk about oppression, I sometimes feel it is the systems; but definitely I have watched a number of people in America that live in harmony, black, white, people from Asia, they are living in harmony. So, I think we must be able not to get confused by the political system.

by Esther Mwaura-Muiru

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Fernando Solanas: In all our countries there are dominating classes and groups who exclude others. Our countries and all our societies are formed by several contributions. Pluralistic societies as Argentina, for example, are formed by the contributions of natives, Indians, and successive migratory processes. They are open, pluralistic societies. The rest is a question of the political and economical type. There are sectors that have been oppressed more than others. In Argentina the Indians where oppressed completely and there were military campaigns to exterminate them. The same holds true for blacks. There is no other way of escaping than a united fight of all the citizens, of all the conditions and races and particularly of all those who belong to the separated minorities, for the democratisation and for the equality of rights and the exertion of those rights. In Argentina a strong human rights movement developed, led by the Mothers of the May Square to oppose the dictatorship and that not only fought for the missing and the victims of governmental terrorism but also against all forms of separation and discrimination. Attention! We live and will keep on living in white societies, or in the West, white, male, Christian societies that answer to the economic powers that dominate us. In our countries we do not support the oppression and dictatorship of the local economic powers alone but also these powers are also closely intertwined with the global economic powers.

by Fernando Solanas

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Fred Matser: For me, it is very difficult to answer this question. I think that basically you live in a country, Jason, and in this situation, the United States and I mean your country on a different level is a country living together with other countries and you may be treated in that country unlovingly by the systems, but perhaps not by your parents and those that love you. Perhaps you are proud of the good or the functional values of your country. So, I really don't know. It's very difficult question for me to answer. But, I have compassion for you because I can imagine that if you are in that suppressed, less privileged situation, it must be very painful to experience that.

by Fred Matser

Sep 9, 2006 11:50:00 AM cite

Galsan Tschinag: Because you, Jason, love your american home. Mice are attached to the soil of the steppes, the grass and the smells with the same insistency and intimacy as the foxes, which live on them, as men, who hunt the latter because of their fur and who detest the former, because they can turn into a plague for him very fast.

by Galsan Tschinag