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First of all I would like to say I am not white, I am not black, I am Asian of Pakistani origin, I have noticed a few things about Slavery, Segregation and Struggle. I wish to say that I respect all races, creeds, religions and this is my personal opinion on how to deal with these issues and how I have done so.
1. Slavery : We here about this all the time, Slavery lasted for 400 years it was horrific and I condemn it totally, But it ended 150 years ago! To put things in to perspective Pakistan and India were ruled by the UK for almost 100 years, But 100 years out of the 5000 year old history of the subcontinent is nothing, We dont beat ourselves up about it, We learnt what would could from the British in the form of democratic institutions, universities, railways which are all incidentally still functioning and providing benefit to the masses. Pakistan since its Independence in 1947 which is just 65 odd years made many inventions, Chemotherapy, Computer Virus, The Human Development Index, Built nuclear weapons, Built satellites, The worlds largest Irrigation system and achieved many engineering feats. African Americans must ask themselves what they have achieved in 150 years of freedom? What have they invented? What great engineering feats have they accomplished? Perhaps the problem is that the attitude of a victim has been adopted instead of getting on with life and learning from the past.
2. Segregation: African Americans were segregated at schools and transportation amongst other things, Again this is deplorable, But it no longer happens. Infact Pakistan was overly critical of the segregation of blacks during Apartheid in South Africa, But guess what? Pakistanis today at airports are taken away for "questioning" this is not because of their race but because a handful of ******s are hijacking airplanes and flying them into towers and giving my countrymen a bad name, I accept that I will be questioned and led away separately and sometimes held for hours simply because of my background, I dont complain that this is segregation, I understand that a democratic society has a right to safeguard its citizens and if it temporarily causes inconvenience and saves lives and prevents ******s from giving me and my country a bad name then so be it! I am directly comparing how I have to wait at the airport and the questioning I get with Rosa Parks, Rosa Parks at least was allowed on the bus! Many Pakistanis are not allowed to fly on a plane! We dont complain about segregation! The United States is a great country that treats all of its citizens well, It may not have always done so and the United States maybe bad for other countries, But for Americans, American goes to great efforts to safeguard its people. You should be thankful you live in country that protects its citizens.
3. Struggle : We have heard about the struggle many times before, Which struggle exactly are African Americans referring? Surely they would have taken up armed struggle against oppression if the treatment of African Americans was so horrific? Or perhaps African Americans did not take up arms against their oppressors because the oppression they suffered back home in Africa was worse? There was never an attempt to systematically exterminate African Americans, There was no "Auschwitz" death camps, There were no "medical" experiments carried out, There was nothing like that. Contrast that with the treatment of Pakistanis living in Uganda by black Ugandans, They turned up with Machetes took over Pakistani business and land which the Ugandas were unable to maintain and they are now laying vacant for decades. Surely the African American community should be just as vocal in their condemnation of Ugandas treatment of Pakistanis which were all forcibly expelled and their property seized and murdered as they are were about the treatment of African Americans by whites.
In short there has been discrimination, But you can either change your circumstances or you can remain a victim of your circumstances, Get on with life or let life pass you by. The problem is not so much "discrimination" but the illusion of discrimination. Often people and societies look for scapegoats to blame their own lack of success as a community, That tends to always lead to failure.
1. Slavery : We here about this all the time, Slavery lasted for 400 years it was horrific and I condemn it totally, But it ended 150 years ago! To put things in to perspective Pakistan and India were ruled by the UK for almost 100 years, But 100 years out of the 5000 year old history of the subcontinent is nothing, We dont beat ourselves up about it, We learnt what would could from the British in the form of democratic institutions, universities, railways which are all incidentally still functioning and providing benefit to the masses. Pakistan since its Independence in 1947 which is just 65 odd years made many inventions, Chemotherapy, Computer Virus, The Human Development Index, Built nuclear weapons, Built satellites, The worlds largest Irrigation system and achieved many engineering feats. African Americans must ask themselves what they have achieved in 150 years of freedom? What have they invented? What great engineering feats have they accomplished? Perhaps the problem is that the attitude of a victim has been adopted instead of getting on with life and learning from the past.
2. Segregation: African Americans were segregated at schools and transportation amongst other things, Again this is deplorable, But it no longer happens. Infact Pakistan was overly critical of the segregation of blacks during Apartheid in South Africa, But guess what? Pakistanis today at airports are taken away for "questioning" this is not because of their race but because a handful of ******s are hijacking airplanes and flying them into towers and giving my countrymen a bad name, I accept that I will be questioned and led away separately and sometimes held for hours simply because of my background, I dont complain that this is segregation, I understand that a democratic society has a right to safeguard its citizens and if it temporarily causes inconvenience and saves lives and prevents ******s from giving me and my country a bad name then so be it! I am directly comparing how I have to wait at the airport and the questioning I get with Rosa Parks, Rosa Parks at least was allowed on the bus! Many Pakistanis are not allowed to fly on a plane! We dont complain about segregation! The United States is a great country that treats all of its citizens well, It may not have always done so and the United States maybe bad for other countries, But for Americans, American goes to great efforts to safeguard its people. You should be thankful you live in country that protects its citizens.
3. Struggle : We have heard about the struggle many times before, Which struggle exactly are African Americans referring? Surely they would have taken up armed struggle against oppression if the treatment of African Americans was so horrific? Or perhaps African Americans did not take up arms against their oppressors because the oppression they suffered back home in Africa was worse? There was never an attempt to systematically exterminate African Americans, There was no "Auschwitz" death camps, There were no "medical" experiments carried out, There was nothing like that. Contrast that with the treatment of Pakistanis living in Uganda by black Ugandans, They turned up with Machetes took over Pakistani business and land which the Ugandas were unable to maintain and they are now laying vacant for decades. Surely the African American community should be just as vocal in their condemnation of Ugandas treatment of Pakistanis which were all forcibly expelled and their property seized and murdered as they are were about the treatment of African Americans by whites.
In short there has been discrimination, But you can either change your circumstances or you can remain a victim of your circumstances, Get on with life or let life pass you by. The problem is not so much "discrimination" but the illusion of discrimination. Often people and societies look for scapegoats to blame their own lack of success as a community, That tends to always lead to failure.
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