B_dxjnorto
Expert Member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2006
- Posts
- 6,876
- Media
- 0
- Likes
- 205
- Points
- 193
- Location
- Southwest U.S.
- Sexuality
- 69% Gay, 31% Straight
- Gender
- Male
I'll have another crack at it. I worked with a guy from Nigeria last year and we became friends. He is a racist person. Let me see if I can explain it. Nigeria is a heavily splintered nation. There's a couple rivers that come together there and become the Niger river (I'll wager). Everything north of these two rivers is Moslem lands and the intercoastal Nigerians pretty much stay out of there or know how to "pass" if they travel there; wearing long garments, head dress and such.
That northern area of Nigeria borders the Sahel, which is desert with way too many people living in it. There was an article a year or two ago in National Geographic about how climate is changing there, and has always been changing and marginalizing different sections that people depend on for growing crops. As a side note, they have begun planting things that hold the soil down as they have found that the seasonal winds bring moisture in to grow plants if they can keep the soil consolidated.
The reason I say my friend is racist is because he can distinguish (or believes he can) among the different tribes or "races" by characteristics that most could not discern. Accents, dialects, a nose shape or facial characterists, mannerisms, whatever. And he feels perfectly confident in his discernment and his judgment. This one does this, this one does this, so on. You know how it goes. At least the way he related it to me, no amount of logic would shake his confidence in the way things are and each group is treated according to what they justly deserve. And he made it obvious he didn't want to discuss it any further.... no one likes to be disabused of their long held beliefs.
And there it lays. Surprised me though.
That northern area of Nigeria borders the Sahel, which is desert with way too many people living in it. There was an article a year or two ago in National Geographic about how climate is changing there, and has always been changing and marginalizing different sections that people depend on for growing crops. As a side note, they have begun planting things that hold the soil down as they have found that the seasonal winds bring moisture in to grow plants if they can keep the soil consolidated.
The reason I say my friend is racist is because he can distinguish (or believes he can) among the different tribes or "races" by characteristics that most could not discern. Accents, dialects, a nose shape or facial characterists, mannerisms, whatever. And he feels perfectly confident in his discernment and his judgment. This one does this, this one does this, so on. You know how it goes. At least the way he related it to me, no amount of logic would shake his confidence in the way things are and each group is treated according to what they justly deserve. And he made it obvious he didn't want to discuss it any further.... no one likes to be disabused of their long held beliefs.
And there it lays. Surprised me though.