It seems to me that the word ’racist’ is synonymous with the word 'jealous'

[Cyclone]

They are often confused, which is a good reason to correct someone when they make that mistake.

 

But many observers would be surprised to learn that the longstanding conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi has nothing to do with language or religion -- they speak the same Bantu tongues as well as French, and generally practice Christianity -- and many geneticists have been hard-pressed to find marked ethnic differences between the two, though the Tutsi have generally been noted to be taller. Many believe that German and Belgian colonizers tried to find differences between the Hutu and Tutsi in order to better categorize native peoples in their censuses.

Possibly not a good example to choose though, they don't have different languages, customs or religions. They are most definitely of the same race.

 

Generally, the Hutu-Tutsi strife stems from class warfare, with the Tutsis perceived to have greater wealth and social status (as well as favoring cattle ranching over what is seen as the lower-class farming of the Hutus). The Tutsis are thought to have originally come from Ethiopia, and arrived after the Hutu came from Chad. The Tutsis had a monarchy dating back to the 15th century; this was overthrown at the urging of Belgian colonizers in the early 1960s and the Hutu took power by force in Rwanda. In Burundi, however, a Hutu uprising failed and the Tutsis controlled the country.

So that boils down to class warfare between ethnically identical groups.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typological_definitions_of_race

 

It's an interesting subject.

[Rupert_Baehr]

Possibly not a good example to choose though, they don't have different languages, customs or religions. They are most definitely of the same race.

 

 

So that boils down to class warfare between ethnically identical groups.

 

...

 

 

I got most of the info for my post from Tutsi, Hutu and Hima — Cultural Background in Rwanda

 

Which - although it includes many of the phrases you quoted - seemed (to me) to be arguing that the two tribes were very different.

 

If an ethnic group is "a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or assumed- sharing cultural characteristics. This shared heritage may be based upon putative common ancestry, history, kinship, religion, language, shared territory, nationality or physical appearance. Members of an ethnic group are conscious of belonging to an ethnic group; moreover ethnic identity is further marked by the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness." (Wikipedia definition) then given that the Hutu are a short Bantu-speaking tribe and the Tutsi are a taller Cu****e tribe who originally spoke a language related to Somali, then why do you say they are 'ethnically identical groups'?

 

'Ethnicity' appears to be another very strange word ... many people in the UK seem to think it applies only to dark-skinned people.

[Rupert_Baehr]

'Cu****e' (CUSHxxITE) ... Isn't the automatic sweary-checker amazing?

[mj.scuba]

Something I have noticed is that as many of these threads on the topic of race/religion/migration etc are started by those that then go on to complain about how many such threads there are. Also some of the tolerance pleading ones are amongst the most intolerant.

[L00b]

Yet nationality and race are often confused and the difference between the two seems to vary.

One of these elections' less palatable facets, 'British Jobs for British People' (wheeled out hand-in-hand with proposed stances on immigration (by all parties, save perhaps the Greens )), somehow sprang to mind when I read that...

[Berberis]

It seems that a lot of people that share my creed and social position have a problem with certain ethnic groups establishing their position.

 

In most cases the remarks you are referring too are not racist, but culturist. Racism in fact is a very small problem and in all respects so easy to identify you cannot hide it.

 

Blatant racism makes my skin crawl and I am glad, in a way, that the generation that seems more akin to racism is finally departing taking their views with them.

 

It doesn’t matter what colour you are, it doesn’t matter what your accent is, as long as you are British first, you are welcome in the UK by the vast majority.

 

In actual fact most threads that degrade into name calling are usually about a small religious group and an even smaller number within who seem determined to pit themselves against the majority of the UK population.

[falpere]

I'm sure there are many causes.

 

Which isn't an excuse to confuse nationality and race.

 

Are you clear now on the difference, race is about your genetic heritage country boundaries have no affect on it. Nationality is about where you were born, or which group you choose to belong to.

 

If you don't like the French, then it's xenophobia, write it down, you can use it in conversation one day and try to look clever.

 

I think I get it. Does this mean that if, for example, a white Frenchman makes a racial remark to a British born Asian man, and the British man calls him a racist. The Frechman can turn round and say "Non, Non Monsier. Je suis un xenophobe!"?

[falpere]

I'm sure there are many causes.

 

Which isn't an excuse to confuse nationality and race.

 

Are you clear now on the difference, race is about your genetic heritage country boundaries have no affect on it. Nationality is about where you were born, or which group you choose to belong to.

 

If you don't like the French, then it's xenophobia, write it down, you can use it in conversation one day and try to look clever.

 

You seem to be avoiding the question, Is this because you don't know the answers?

[falpere]

In most cases the remarks you are referring too are not racist, but culturist. Racism in fact is a very small problem and in all respects so easy to identify you cannot hide it.

 

Blatant racism makes my skin crawl and I am glad, in a way, that the generation that seems more akin to racism is finally departing taking their views with them.

 

It doesn’t matter what colour you are, it doesn’t matter what your accent is, as long as you are British first, you are welcome in the UK by the vast majority.

 

In actual fact most threads that degrade into name calling are usually about a small religious group and an even smaller number within who seem determined to pit themselves against the majority of the UK population.

 

Lets be honest about this. Words such as racist, culturist, xenophobe.... all add up to the same thing. A jealousy, hatred, or fear of anything different or potentially threatening to the way we choose to live.

[falpere]

I got most of the info for my post from Tutsi, Hutu and Hima — Cultural Background in Rwanda

 

Which - although it includes many of the phrases you quoted - seemed (to me) to be arguing that the two tribes were very different.

 

If an ethnic group is "a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or assumed- sharing cultural characteristics. This shared heritage may be based upon putative common ancestry, history, kinship, religion, language, shared territory, nationality or physical appearance. Members of an ethnic group are conscious of belonging to an ethnic group; moreover ethnic identity is further marked by the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness." (Wikipedia definition) then given that the Hutu are a short Bantu-speaking tribe and the Tutsi are a taller Cu****e tribe who originally spoke a language related to Somali, then why do you say they are 'ethnically identical groups'?

 

'Ethnicity' appears to be another very strange word ... many people in the UK seem to think it applies only to dark-skinned people.

 

Don't throw another word into the mix, many people in the UK are confused enough as it is!