Geography-related
Questions 71-80
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THE
QUESTION:
G76: I recently had a discussion with a woman who believed
that the United States had stolen Texas from Mexico and that
Cucasians and African Americans had no right to be here. Do Mexicans
really believe Texas is rightfully a part of Mexico?
POSTED APRIL 5, 1999
J.D., 30, white male
<Spazdog30@msn.com>,
Arlington, TX
ANSWER 1:
The first part of her assertion is historically accurate.
In spite of what the myth of the Alamo would have you believe, Texas
was stolen by force from Mexico by outsiders, namely Anglos from the
United States. But as for Anglos and blacks not belonging here, I and
every Mexican I know don't believe that. I do know most resent it
when the media or Anglos refer to us as an immigrant group, when most
of us are native. Our ancestors were here quite a bit before yours,
so being lumped in with illegal aliens is wrong, both factually and
morally. I don't know any Latinos who want Texas to be part of
Mexico, either. Many of us have visited Mexico and don't care for the
corruption or poverty. I wonder if you are misreading her anger over
exclusion and racism in the United States to mean she wants to be
back in Mexico, when actually she might simply want America to live
up to its promise - that there be a true society of equals here.
POSTED APRIL 7, 1999
A.C.C., Mexican and American Indian
<bigi__@yahoo.com>, San
Antonio, TX
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respond
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THE QUESTION:
G75: Why do some mainlanders still have no idea Hawaii is part
of the United Staes, despite the fact that A) Hawaii has been under
U.S. control for 100 years and a state for almost 40 years; B)
Everyone can speak English; and C) You don't need a passport to come
here?
POSTED MARCH 23, 1999
Reid S., 19, fourth-generation Japanese American, Kailua, HI
ANSWER 1:
Most likely because they're dumb. I've been to Hawaii
seven times and have lost count of the times I'd meet another tourist
and ask where they were from and get the answer, "I'm from the United
States." They never could seem to understand my answer that it was a
strange response, since they were in the United States. Aloha, and
hope to be back in Honolulu, USA, soon.
POSTED MARCH 24, 1999
Lewis
<Lengel@ix.netcom.com>,
New York, NY
FURTHER NOTICE:
I grew up in Kailua, graduated from Kalaheo High School
and traveled the world, and I have never met anyone who doesn't know
Hawaii is part of the United States. People do wonder, however, if I
grew up in a grass shack. As for "everyone speaking English,"
"pidgen" isn't really an acceptable form of English (and when your
teachers, state politicians and local news anchors speak it ... need
I say more?)
As a side note, the dislike for "haole" tourists by younger locals
doesn't make Hawaii a prime vacation spot for younger travelers (if
they can afford it), and the extremely high cost of living doesn't
allow young people to stay in Hawaii after they graduate from high
school. Hawaii has a lot of issues to remedy before it can expect
people to embrace the idea of visiting or living there. Funny, it's
"home," but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
POSTED MARCH 24, 1999
Kyle, 30, black Hawaiian male
<kyllr2v231@aol.com>,
San Francisco, CA
FURTHER NOTICE 2:
Mainlanders know about Hawaii. It's New Mexico they think
is a foreign country.
POSTED MARCH 24, 1999
B. Hale, People's Republic of Connecticut
<halehart@aol.com>,
Hartford, CT
FURTHER NOTICE 3:
I think mainlanders know Hawaii is part of the United
States. I'm curious where you got that impression. As a mainlander
who has never known anyone who did not understand Hawaii's place in
the union, I suspect your impression is somewhat inaccurate. Given
Hawaii's importance to the United States in World War II, everyone
should know that it is a state. There's really no excuse for such
scant familiarity with the nation as a whole, and I'm ashamed to
think there are enough people like that to give you such an
impression.
POSTED MARCH 24, 1999
D.M.M., 24,
<donikam@hotmail.com>,
Charleston , SC
FURTHER NOTICE 4:
Perhaps many Americans do not know the names of all 50
states. For that, I give public education a failing average.
POSTED MARCH 24, 1999
Christopher D., 22, male
<ngc1977@hotmail.com>,
Arlington, TX
FURTHER NOTICE 5:
It's because many mainlanders are geographically ignorant,
and not just about Hawaii. I have met people who think New Mexico is
not part of the United States, that Alaska is part of Canada and that
New York is more than just a city. I'd bet most people don't know the
capital of their own state. I'd bet many are unsure what state they
live in.
POSTED MARCH 24, 1999
Andrew, 35, male
<ziptron@start.com.au>,
Huntington, NY
FURTHER NOTICE 6:
Reminds me of a friend who placed a business call to a
Texas company. She told the switchboard operator, "This is Portland,
Maine." The operator asked, "Is Portland your first name?" That was
back in the '70s.
POSTED MARCH 26, 1999
N. Smith, formerly from Maine
<ranebow@iname.com>,
Butler , PA
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respond
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THE QUESTION:
G74: If I were to visit Cambodia, what would be some cultural
differences I might encounter?
POSTED MARCH 23, 1999
Elizabeth W., female,
<elizabeth_anne17@hotmail.com>,
Richmond, VA
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respond
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THE QUESTION:
G73: I'm reading Confederates in the Attic by Tony
Horwitz. Are white Southerners really still hung up on the Civil War?
Do some Southerners still perceive the South as being occupied by the
Federal government?
POSTED MARCH 3, 1999
B. Hale, Yankee
<halehart@aol.com>,
Hartford, CT
ANSWER 1:
From my experience growing up in the Deep South, only a
small percentage of people were intensely interested in the Civil War
- some out of historic curiosity, others out of more sinister, racist
motives. But I have also observed people with this interest while
living/working in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast.
As for the feelings of the majority of Southerners, the Civil War
is probably no more a topic of daily interest than for most
Northerners. There is, however, probably some dichotomy of opinion or
perception on the subject. Certainly, or at least hopefully, almost
everyone would agree that any actions necessary to bring about an end
to slavery were necessary and justified. But I think many Southerners
feel a certain bitterness or melancholy about that period in history
due to the capricious destruction visited upon the South during the
war, the impoverishing federal tax and trade policies after the war
and the wholly inadequate protection of the lives and liberties of
freed slaves before, during and after the war. For this variety of
reasons, I think most Southerners do not view the Civil War quite the
same way that many Northerners do - as a clear-cut struggle between
good guys and bad guys and winners and losers, with a beginning and
an end.
As for the second question, I have never heard anyone speak in
terms of the federal government as an occupying force, but many
Southerners believe more strongly in the concept of States Rights as
enumerated in the Constitution. This causes us to chafe at massive
unfunded federal mandates, federal intrusion into public education,
federal mandatory sentencing laws for state crimes and things like
that. One of the unfortunate lingering after-effects of the war is
the national inability to seriously debate these issues.
POSTED MARCH 16, 1999
Mark, 32, white male, Alexandria, VA
FURTHER NOTICE:
Almost without exception, the Southerners I know will tell
you with some vehemence that the War Between the States was not
fought on racial grounds. Sadly, some morons feel the need to align
these two things and have, as a result, besmirched the Confederate
Flag as well as Southern history. Sane and otherwise rational
Southerners frequently do feel very strongly about the Civil War,
viewing it as the tragedy it was. The South was galvanized by its
defeat, and that affects Southern culture to this day. The South, for
many decades after the War, was captured land. I remain a part of the
Union only grudgingly. Southern history is my history, and the
people whose homes were destroyed and lives reduced are my people.
This land, language, food, culture - all of it is who I am, and it is
too frequently misunderstood by Yankees who persist in the notion
that they are the Great Moral Hope of the world, and that they can do
things bigger, better, faster and more. Like any Southerner, I resist
this change with all my being. Part of resisting it is maintaining my
identity as Southern. As a little P.S. I'll add that I am also left
wing, feminist and queer.
POSTED MARCH 18, 1999
Kathryn, Southern Dyke
<barefoot-rivergirl@usa.net>,
Roanoke, VA
FURTHER NOTICE 2:
From my experience in the Army, where most white soldiers
are Southerners, there is still an enormous anger left over from the
Civil War, which must have been passed down for generations. Some
were all right by themselves, but in groups had on open hatred of all
"Yanks," were found of saying "It (the war) ain't over yet!" and
believed the South was in the right about their causes, both states
rights and slavery. You could not even mention slavery, civil rights,
Dr. King, the Klan, lynching or the Confederate flag without it
becoming a shouting match or near-fight. Yet the evidence shows the
South suffered less than it would have you believe. They lost on the
battlefield but won control in politics. How many other defeated
rebel groups were able to elect a President, an ex-Confederate
general at that, only 11 years after their supposed defeat? How many
rebel groups were able to dominate one of two major political parties
for more than 100 years?
POSTED MARCH 18, 1999
A.C.C., Mexican and American Indian, San Antonio , TX
FURTHER NOTICE 3:
As a Southerner, I rarely encounter people who think about
the Civil War on any kind of regular basis. My grandparents'
generation tends to have more of an interest in that era. When
children in the South study the Civil War today, they are likely to
be studying it in a very similar way to children in Northern schools.
With modern technology and culture, some of the historical divides
between Northerners and Southerners are closing. Sure, there are
still a few people down South fixated on "The War of Northern
Aggression." There are people who are terrible racists and would love
to return to those days. And that crosses socioeconomic lines, too.
But you're much more likely to discuss the Gulf War or even Vietnam
with a typical middle-class Southerner these days - probably because
these people can see the direct impact these more recent wars have
had on their own lives.
POSTED MARCH 18, 1999
Jennifer, Memphis, TN
FURTHER NOTICE 4:
Southerners are still hung up on the Civil War.
I've lived all across the United States and Canada, and was astounded
when I moved to the South. The regionalism there is overwhelming. I
believe Southerners are quite unaware of the large presence of the
Civil War there, but to anyone from another region, it's a glaring
force. The war is history elsewhere on the continent, but in the
South, wartime mentality still prevails.
POSTED MARCH 23, 1999
Yankee Female, 42
<donotlistme@hotmail.com>,
Toronto, Canada
FURTHER NOTICE 5:
To Kathryn: Your childish name-calling helps prove my
point. Some white Southerners become irrational when the war is
brought up. Saying the war was not about slavery or race is like
saying "Titanic" was not about an iceberg. It is denial on a huge
scale and flies in the face of massive evidence. The CSA had white
supremacy explicitly written into its constitution and declaration of
independence, so denying the Confederate flag is racist is like
saying the swastika is only a good luck symbol. As for the endless
complaints of Southern suffering, I will keep my sympathy for those
who suffered far more: the South's black inhabitants, who unlike the
South's whites did not bring that suffering upon themselves by their
wrongs committed against another group, and who are not still mired
in self-pity over the hardships of 120-140 years ago. It's hard to
have sympathy for those who brought hardship upon themselves by
committing mass treason.
POSTED MARCH 23, 1999
A.C.C., Mexican and American Indian, San Antonio , TX
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respond
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THE QUESTION:
G72: What types of punishments do kids receive in different
countries or cultures for misbehaving, or disobeying their parents?
What are specific examples, as well as the reasoning behind these
punishments, and what are some opinions on which countries have the
harshest punishments? Thanks.
POSTED FEB. 25, 1999
Spanish
<Lmgause@hotmail.com>,
Raleigh, NC
ANSWER 1:
I don't speak for all North American parents. We have two
children, son is 13 and daughter is 6. When my son misbehaves, he
loses privileges. No television, no computer, or no friends. My
daughter would receive similar losses of privileges. Defiance by
either one would require time out in their room for 6 or 13 minutes,
respectively, or instant bed time depending on the severity of the
offense. Persistent defiance would invite a well-planted spanking on
the seat of the pants for the younger one. The older one would be
grounded for a week or more, depending on the offense. We have
expectations of our children. If these expectations are not met, they
lose privileges. Defiance is a much more serious offense. Most
offenses can be attributed to forgetfulness, wilful or otherwise.
However, authority must be preserved if defiance is exhibited.
POSTED FEB. 28, 1999
Ronald V., 46, male, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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respond
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THE QUESTION:
G71: Why do Italians use their hands so much when they
speak?
POSTED FEB. 17, 1999
Melody, 34, white, female, San Diego, CA
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