racists - and starving african children...

[joko]

PLEASE - THIS IS NOT AN ATTACK OR AN EXCUSE TO RANT AT RACISTS... I AM GENUINELY CURIOUS ABOUT THIS...SO PLEASE STICK TO THE QUESTION AND TRY NOT TO START A ROW.

My question - we all see those ads on tv of tiny starving and ill children - and its hard not to be moved by that... but i just wondered how racists feel about it ?

Do you/they see a poor sick child and feel pity, or just a black person who you/they dont care about...?

i can see how seeing a sick grown man may not tug at the heartstrings, regardless of colour, and i know how people develop deepseated hatreds and pass them on, for whatever reasons...
but these babies are so vulnerable and innocent and cannot be blamed or accused of anything - so as a mother, father, human, do they/you feel nothing?
or do you/they just see a child?

i know how some can watch animals suffering and feel nothing because they dont care for animals...and hear of many instances of druelty to children her in this country so its not unheard of to feel nothing for children.

As i said i am not looking to attack anyone for their views here, rather just wondered whether colour matters one bit when it comes to sick babies.... or whether an instinct of protection takes over all prejudices.

i dont expect many to admit they dont care here for fear of attack, but if you know someone else who feels this way, feel free to speak for them.

(i overheard someone in a pub say "let the little rats die, less of them the better" an then laugh, which is what made me wonder...would he really be able to walk past an injured black child and not help purely because of his prejudice, but would help a white child?...or was he just being controversial in front of his mates?)

thanks

[ladybirder]

Yes welcome back cowtipper. You've been missed.

[jd_here]

I find it so very sad that people say charity begins at home and we should look after our own.

We live in a wealthy, yes wealthy, country and I have no problems with aid for the 3rd world.

I am also very aware that a high percentage of the money donated to famine relief finds its way into the wrong hands, but surely, if only 10% manages to get through to help those poor starving people, adults and children, in sub saharan Africa, then our efforts have been worth it.

Please don't stop helping the millions of starving and homeless people in the world today. How many of them will be tucking in to turkey and trimmings on the 25th December?

[karenmac60]

Phew, that's some travelling - I've been about 10 miles up the road and back :) Good to see you back x

[Kayless]

There are very few real racists, most are labelled such by intollerance of unplatable facts. No one can fail to be moved by starving children but when someone questions the wisdom of conception when the parents know that starvation is likely they are immediatle labelled as one of the standard names that the liberal "elite" use to avoid thinking about real problems. Then of course there is the "charity" question. You are labelled as above if you dare to point out that no amount of charity can help these people because 99.9% of it gets no where near them, at best it gets' to their local chief so he can by his 17th Rolls at worst it doesn't make it past the bloke with the collection box.

No one seriously means "let them starve" what they really mean is "stop having kids then"

[joko]

kayless... interesting points you raise...
i suppose it depends what you believe the word racist means.
i think it has varying levels of extremity.

the KKK and white supremacists etc being the highest
- do you think they would help a starving child in africa or help an injured black child in their own country...? would their humanity kick in?

i think you are right that many in this country would be more inclined to agree with your point... and id say many of those are perhaps more passive racists.. the sorts who chat and mix with black people but behind their back make racist jokes and comments 'for a laugh'...

and there are the ones that label themselves racists because they hate muslims, yet actually hate the religion and the fanatics, not the colour of their skin.

[Kayless]

well I would label myself religionist as I hate all religion for the suffering it causes. Is that a valid "ist" do you think?

As I said most are not real racist, there are some like the KKK etc that are truly racists and see non whites as another species but those are rare. The ones that laugh at racist jokes are not really, most jokes are rehashings of a few jokes to alter the desired target. I think current wisdom is that ther are in fact only about 8 actual jokes in existance, similar number of plots for movies.

[Colmc54]

Charity begins at home- or does it. I often argue that there are no 'poor' in this country as Welby and his fellow socialist cronies would have us believe. Nobody in this country is starving to death or dying of thirst unless criminal or pathological causes are at play.

In Africa you find the real poor. As a Conservative voter (though my vote will never count because I live in a 'safe' labour constituency), I was proud when David Cameron ring-fenced our country's foreign aid.

What worries me is how much of our money reaches those who need it the most, whether it is through the government or the charities whose adverts you have been watching.

Before you contribute to any of these TV advertising companies go online and check them out. You may find that their top people are enjoying big salaries and working in prestigious premises. Beware.

As a vet I see how local RSPCA branches are left to fend for themselves while the central bureaucracy at Horsham indulges itself, or so it seems to us out in the field.

If you love animals leave your money to your local branch of the RSPCA not the central organization. I imagine the same applies to human charities- Keep it local.