A racial observation...

[iamantisocial]

... Based what Ive seen in the heritage thread and the picture thread, I noticed a good 98% of people here are caucasian. I thought the news says that Native Indians have the highest suicide rate? And arent there alot of people from other races that reside in North America? So much that they shouldnt be called "minority" anymore. And why dont I see black people here? Isnt "de hood" depressing and violent enough? Also... where are the Middle Easterns... which are all over the news about all the islamic angst going on there...


Being a southeast Asian, I kinda feel awkward... cuz statistically and stereotypically speaking, asians have more closely-knit families and stronger friendships compared to caucasians... while I dont have friends and my family is shit, which really sux and I think I feel unfair and a disgrace to the race or somethin...


Just an observation regarding SA... no racism intended here. Yea I still expect to be flamed and called a racist bastard...

 

[Remus]

not sure about this, I been on SA forums for a while and have seen quite a mix

there are people of african and middle eastern\india decent aswell, not really noticed what backgorund or culture people are from SA is still there, dont think anyone race or culture is immune, must be something in general human nature

interesting idea though, I mean is there any culture that makes you less subceptable to SA?

or is it lifestyle?

we all tend to live in big cities the human race these days, its not exactly natural and maybe SA, anxirty and depression are side effects of such living conditions.

when we all originated out of Africa 100.000 years ago and led a nomadic lifestyle crossing contintnent to continentwould we have suffered these mental conditions or not felt as trapped as we do?

 

[idunnoimnotcreativ]

By Southeast Asian do you mean Indian?

 

[iamantisocial]

By Southeast Asian do you mean Indian?

Viets, Filipinos, Indonesians, Thais, Malaysians, etc...

South asians are Indians, Sri Lankans, and Pakisanis.

 

[2QuietForThem]

I'm a 42 yr old black man not living in the hood. I'm going through the same ordeals as many of the people in this forum. I think that everyone is just trying to cope with SA/SP and not caring at all about skin color.

 

[SongOfSongs]

or is it lifestyle?

we all tend to live in big cities the human race these days, its not exactly natural and maybe SA, anxirty and depression are side effects of such living conditions.

The other day I was thinking about the same thing. Maybe if we were all still subsistence village farmers or hunter-gatherers wandering around in small tribes, we wouldn't have social anxiety at all. The dynamics of a small group require that each person looks out for the other people within his group, which leads to a communal feeling of mutual respect and caring in and amongst the members of the group. Urban society requires that people must interact with people outside of their tight-knit social groups (families and close circles of friends in the modern day, also the tribe/clan and the village in the past). This social interaction with a vast array of people does not bring with it the sense of security and respect that interactions with those within one's close social groups does. This introduces the sense of fear of being judged socially unacceptable, which is much less likely in a tight-knit group.

I hope that makes sense and you all know what I'm talking about.

 

[iamantisocial]

The dynamics of a small group require that each person looks out for the other people within his group, which leads to a communal feeling of mutual respect and caring in and amongst the members of the group. Urban society requires that people must interact with people outside of their tight-knit social groups (families and close circles of friends in the modern day, also the tribe/clan and the village in the past). This social interaction with a vast array of people does not bring with it the sense of security and respect that interactions with those within one's close social groups does. This introduces the sense of fear of being judged socially unacceptable, which is much less likely in a tight-knit group

So SP has nothing to do with race but its more of a lifestyle issue?

As a southeast-asian, I came from a culture of tightly-knit communities. In my village consisting of about 300 people, everyone knows everyone. There are friends and enemies among people. Still... everyone knows everyone and its somewhat like a family kind of thing.

When I came to North America as a 17 year old immigrant... this is one of the things that culture shocked me and left me disoriented and made me "go crazy". Cuz I cannot go to the neighbors and play outside and shit. Nobody knows their neigbors here. Or very little.

 

[testobot]

So SP has nothing to do with race but its more of a lifestyle issue?

While racism real or imagined may contribute to Social-Anxiety, what you just described is a cultural difference not racial. north-america and much of europe developed the nuclear family as the primary support and social group instead of extended families or close family like villages. This comes from industrialization + the ideals of individualism in the western tradition. When North America industrialized the extended family broke down because now instead of the family creating work (i.e- the farm or the entire family owning a workshop) the head of the family moved to where there was work (i.e the factory in another city far away) -- leaving behind all relatives besides spouse and offspring. A sense of 'family' or 'close-knitted' community was greatly deminished or lost. They were then forced to make friends and socialize with strangers on even a greater scale. Obviously this is difficult for shy or social-phobic people- some argue that this may even increase anxiety, which makes intuitive sense. I think many people would like to return to their 'ancestral roots' to gain back that security found in extended families and close communities.

Obviously people are variable and in today's society even in many asian societies which are traditionallly collectivistic. As more asian societies move out of their villages to urban areas for employment there is the chance of loosing that sense of close community.

Anywho, sorry about the culture shock.. it does kinda suck that many neighbors are not close to each other.. but as far as not feeling safe to play outside... it really depends on the city or (SES- socio-economic status) econominc status of the neighborhood that you live in- crime is related to poverty in NAmerica: the poorer the neighborhood- the higher the crime rate.

*sigh* I am seriously thinking of moving to vietnam with my fiancee.

 

[thequietone]

That makes a lot of sense. I've always thought it would be great to have tons of cousins you were close with, lots of brothers and sisters. That's how it used to be. You wouldn't NEED friends when you have all that. Your family was enough. But now with the whole world wanting to be industrialized, those values are becoming rare. Pretty soon shrinks everywhere will be very busy!

 

[Remus]

When I came to North America as a 17 year old immigrant... this is one of the things that culture shocked me and left me disoriented and made me "go crazy". Cuz I cannot go to the neighbors and play outside and shit. Nobody knows their neigbors here. Or very little.

well I went to live in the states for a short while with my granmother and felt exactly the same, nothing to do with colour, just the different lifestyle

 

[missquiet]

That makes a lot of sense. I've always thought it would be great to have tons of cousins you were close with, lots of brothers and sisters. That's how it used to be. You wouldn't NEED friends when you have all that.

yeah i have tons of cousins and a huge extended family. they're all super loud and outgoing, and tell eachother everything while i've always been excluded from everything and barely even talk to them anymore. :/ plus they all have tons of their own friends and invite them to our family functions all the time and i never do.