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Monday, January 7, 2008

Of School and Colour

I HAVE SAID IT VERY CLEARLY THAT I DO NOT APPRECIATE RACIST COMMENT IN MY BLOG BUT SOME DICK-HEAD/BITCH STILL THINK THAT THEY CAN COME HERE AND DO IT ANYWAYS. I DO NOT CARE IF ITS A MALAY BASHING THE CHINESE/INDIANS OR THE CHINESE BASHING MALAYS/INDIAN OR INDIAN BASHING MALAYS/CHINESE. THE SAME GOES TO RELIGION. THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER WEBSITES THAT LIKE MINIONS AND MORON LIKE YOU AND MINE IS NOT ONE OF THEM! SO FUCK OFF!
Last Friday night, we went to the auto shop to send in the car. We sat down at the sitting area while the owner called for the cab. There were lotsa magazines to read so I grabbed the Reader's Digest. 1 article caught my eyes and made me sick in my stomach. I decided to google about it to see if i could find more details. Below are excerpts from msnbc.com dated April 10, 2007;


ASHBURN, Ga. - Breaking from tradition, high school students in this small town are getting together for this year’s prom. Prom night at Turner County High has long been an evening of de facto segregation: white students organized their own unofficial prom, while black students did the same.


Can you believe this shit?50+ years after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white woman in a bus, who would have thought that such racial segregration still exist? Here in the United States of America.

This year’s group of seniors didn’t want that legacy. When the four senior class officers — two whites and two blacks — met with Principal Chad Stone at the start of the school year, they had more on their minds than changes to the school’s dress code. They wanted an all-school prom. They wanted everyone invited. On April 21, they’ll have their wish. The town’s auditorium will be transformed into a tropical scene, and for the first time, every junior and senior, regardless of race, will be invited. The prom’s theme: Breakaway.

“Everybody says that’s just how it’s always been. It’s just the way of this very small town,” said James Hall, a 17-year-old black student who is the senior class president. “But it’s time for a change.” There are excited announcements of the upcoming dance plastered all over the school, where about 55 percent of students are black and most of the rest are white.

Im so proud of those students who fought for and attented the school prom!

With prom night about two weeks away, only half of the 160 upper-class students have bought tickets. And there’s talk around the school that some white students might throw a competing party at a nearby lake.

Well, actually they did. Here's an excerpt from the rd;

There was a setback. A week before the prom, about 40 white students, some of whom had already graduated, held their own dance at a marina on Lake Blackshear in Cordele, 20 miles north. They claimed it was a private party, not a prom. But, as in other years, the kids hired limos and a bus, rented tuxes and had souvenir portraits taken by a professional photographer. Fewer than half of the 91 white students in the junior and senior classes attended .

Here is another fact that made me cringed also taken from the same article in RD;

Turner County High, like many schools in small Southern communities, actually stopped holding proms of any kind after desegregation; the last school-sponsored formal dance in Ashburn took place in 1969. Instead, black students and white students raised money from car washes and bake sales to underwrite separate parent-supported proms held each spring in hotels or other facilities away from school grounds. De facto segregation in the opinion of some; private parties in the view of others.

I dont know about you guys but I sure am damn thankful that we dont have such thing in Malaysia. Yes we have different type of schools i.e. Kebangsaan and jenis kebangsaan but its up to you which one you want to attend. If you want to attend chinese school, go ahead and if you wanna attend tamil school, also go ahead. Should in the future our schools have their own proms, im sure we wouldnt have malay prom, chinese prom or indian prom night separately.

22 comments:

Pi Bani said...

It still happens in the USA huh? And yet they still sibuk talk about human rights bla bla bla in other countries...

cakapaje said...

Salam Princess,

It does not really come as a surprise to me. Afterall, it took nearly a century after the end of The Civil War - which was supposed to end slavery and hence, give equal rights to the non-whites - before the Rosa Parks incident aroused the US government to really act.

Another thing that soften the impact was the fact it happened in Georgia, one of the few hardcore redneck states; had this happened in California, I would then be taken aback. I say this as a fact as I never encountered any problem of such whilst there for a short while, quite in contrast with Mississippi, where the colour lines were clearly felt though not physically evident.

Having said these, in now way does it means I support the incident in GA.

ps. Perhaps as note of interest: The US Army raised several battalions of entirely black American units which was deployed in Europe. Yet even till today, not many Americans are even aware of them as the units' heroic deeds have not been captured either in books of films (perhaps they have but I am not aware of). How then can an ordinary joe there even begin to appreciate the contributions of the non-whites to the building of the US as a nation?

ps.ps. Kindly do forgive my 'mulut celupar', if there were any.

Mat Salo said...

Farina, I personally think it would be a looooong time before humankind can see beyond skin. But yeah, makes me sick to hear that too...

Prom nite in M'sian high schools? Hmmm...

Unknown said...

kak farina,
whoa whoa whoa, that still happens? I thought that issue is ancient. Kak pi said it. better improve first before go around preaching about human's right or whatever.

Salt N Turmeric said...

Pi, bla bla bla is the correct way to describe it. lol!

CA, mana ada celupar. yes, i kno tht racial discrimination exist here, but i found racial discrimination in school as waaaayy to much to swallow. thts just outrageous. in mid-west and suburb where white is the majority, its def not easy for most non-white. unlike in big cities like socal for eg coz here, white is the minority. hehehe.

another thing is, when we were driving cross-country to cali and had to stop for gas at small towns, Michael would make sure its safe for me to go out and use the restroom. if not, he'd just fill up the tank and stop somewhere else to use the restroom. he's even more paranoid than me. i pulak too berani for my own good thinking its the same like in Msia.

MS, i think we shudn see beyond skin colour. not tht im saying we shud discriminate. wht i mean is we shud accept other ppl for who they are and respect it. be it skin colour, race, religion even culture. ;)
abt prom in msian public school, yeah i kno its hardly likely to happen but IF it did. u kno itl be colourful.

Akmal, biasalah diorang tu. kuman seberang laut nampak but gajah depan mata tak nampak. :P kalau nak duduk sini, make sure avoid small mid-west town tau. ;)

NorthBorneoGirl said...

Sad but true .. such thing still exists in the US .. humanity hasn't really evolve tht much ..

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Hi farina,

The USA goes around the world preaching... oh no, I mean, it wages wars against, invade and occupy foreign countries to restore "Democracy".

It also talks about Human Rights, yes, bla bla bla all it can, but can't attend to its own backyard.

Anonymous said...

My, my my you Malaysian are quite fast to condemn other countries. Maybe you should criticize your own country first. Pot calling the kettle black......


Sorry! ketuanan melayu or Bumiputeri means nothing to the USA ,only hard work and the best.


Maybe you should talk about the NEP (an evil entity depraving deserving non-Malay everything from jobs, education and etc.), you silly ignorant girl

“I dont know about you guys but I sure am damn thankful that we dont have such thing in Malaysia. Yes we have different type of schools i.e. Kebangsaan and jenis kebangsaan but its up to you which one you want to attend. If you want to attend chinese school, go ahead and if you wanna attend tamil school, also go ahead. Should in the future our schools have their own proms, im sure we wouldnt have malay prom, chinese prom or indian prom night separately.”

My GOD!! ARE YOU THAT SIMPLE OR IGNORANT OR ARROGANT OR JUST IN A STATE OF KETUANAN MELAYU????(You can’t just write a simple statement saying there is no discrimination in Malaysia based assumption? Right?)

No discrimination in school in Malaysia, I beg to differ .Remember the Maktab Sains Mara, or the special programs only for Malays in Sekolah kebangsaan.I can go on and on with honest and accurate example with hard facts.....

So, why don’t you look at the current events in your Beloved Country call Malaysia?
At least America does not sweep these problems under a carpet or give’s out silly statements and comments (like you keling! ,you tak suka sini you balik cina atau india! You kafir!) like your beloved Malaysian government. Yes, there are problems in America or other western countries but look at how their handled the problems, by first acknowledging there is one. In Malaysia, its denial, denial denial, denial………………….

Is hishamuddin your idol??

Oh! Rejimen Askar Melayu Diraja -requirement -Malay only. Just stating a fact here……


I am afraid that you Malaysian Malays don’t have any credibility in this world only in your mind.

"You reap what you sow."

Salt N Turmeric said...

Envy, yes its esp sad when it involves kids.

Kak Ton, itulah dia cakap tak serupa bikin.

Anon, im not ignorant nor am i arrogant. i did not go around finding other ppl's fault.

u said, "Sorry! ketuanan melayu or Bumiputeri means nothing to the USA ,only hard work and the best." of course bumiputera means nothing here u idiot. here, its the WHITE and MONEY means everything.

In Msia, NEP is not a silent rule nor Islam as the main religion. BUT other races are allowed to do their own things. given their own school and holidays. Is there any holidays for eid or cny or dewali here? they dont even have holidays for hanukkah when the jews are holding the economy here. Unlike in Msia isnt it?

non-malays cudn get a job in msia? hello! malays and indian also got discriminated when it comes to getting jobs. duh! the only diff is we dont go around killing ppl!

It may not be all sweet in Msia but we can stil live and go wherever we are w/o being afraid of getting killed. why dont u try and visit areas tht are predominantly black or spanish here and then u can tell me tht THEY handled it well. the acknowledge it? my ass! dont u kno already tht nobody wants to admit tht theres racial discrimination here? geez ur so stupid.

i dont kno where ur located at since u cowardly hide behind anonymity but if u think all is well here, why dont u go live in a predominantly black or spanish area.

cakapaje said...

Princess,

Well said!

Anonymous said...

i hate to write this but ...here goes..
Spoken like a true Bumiputeri!!! Denial!
Skipping a complex problem instead of solving it. A typical Malaysian Malay response,i suppose.Wth a
heavy heart, I have to agree with anon 12.50 even she/he is a bit crude in writing his/her views. (There are valid points in the comment)

Didn't anon 12.50 say that they are problems in western countries?

there are places in kuala lumpur that a non-malay and malay can't enter each other area, don't you that?i guess you need to know more your own country first.

oh! by the way ,I have a lot of west indies and eastern european friends in the states whom would not agree with your simplistic analysis? They are always breaking barriers when they are faced with such a predicament.

Mrs Princess , Why don't you start looking at issue objectively ? Do you visit the Malaysia Today blog? Now Raja Petra is respected by all races in Malaysia, why? Simple, he deals with the problem ahead on without pleasing anybody even alienating some of his own race and religion. This generation is lost but not the next, work for the next generation.

You have every right to express your views but remember it’s a dissension situation in Malaysia now .You have to prepare yourself for the consequence of your ‘Writing’, So does everyone. So, don’t take it too emotionally .Remember, we must learn not to tolerate each other but to understand each other’s grief and happiness.

To cakapaje, you just proved anon12.50 right with that comment.

Ciao

Anonymous said...

Actually quite a lot of local schools have organized school proms since the late 1990s (especially after 1996, I think), especially schools in PJ and KL. After my SPM in 1999, we organized one, and it was pretty good fun.

Salt N Turmeric said...

to another anon, ur so wrong. im speaking like a true malaysian not a malay. u on the other hand, speaking like a true racist. typical.

to answer ur q, no the other anon said, "At least America does not sweep these problems under a carpet...". have u heard anybody who admitted tht theres racial discrimination here?

ur talking to me abt consequences of writing this? if u dont already know, i didnt write the story myself. im talking abt discrimation in schools here tht was posted in the reader's digest. and i compared tht to the schools in Msia. and u guys come here and start accusing me of ketuanan melayu and wht shit? how dare u!

u said, "oh! by the way ,I have a lot of west indies and eastern european friends in the states whom would not agree with your simplistic analysis?"

wht a joke. are ur eastern european friends black? are they fr the low income group? i guess not huh?

so before u start coming here and accused me of anything, read the whole thing. im comparing apple w apple i.e. schools in the US w schools in Msia.

and no, theres no areas in Msia tht i feel afraid to go to. i lived in the area whc is predominantly chinese and there was nothing to be afraid of. obviously u on the other hand have a racist mindset tht u think ud get jump by other races. shame on u!

Salt N Turmeric said...

Munira, thank u for dropping by. so ur school is 1 of those huh? i dont think mine wud have prom anytime soon. lol!

Anonymous said...

I was going to keep mum on this issue but tak boleh lah :)). Anon dude/dudette..nothing wrong with disagreement but you dont have to come in with guns blazing.Its her bloody blog after all..if you think that your views need airing , start your own damn blog.
Yep..there is discrimination in Malaysia ( from all 3 major races against all 3 races..it isnt specific to Malays only) just as there is discrimination here in the US. The difference is that Malaysia doesnt pontificate to other countries about what "ideals" they should have and how they should right their wrongs like the US does. As the saying goes " keep out of my closet if your owns full of trash"

Anonymous said...

to Anon 11.40

i only like the last part:
"Remember, we must learn not to tolerate each other but to understand each other’s grief and happiness"

makes a lot of sense....are you ignoring that last part,Princess?

Anonymous said...

"The difference is that Malaysia doesnt pontificate to other countries about what "ideals" they should have and how they should right their wrongs like the US does. As the saying goes " keep out of my closet if your owns full of trash"
The same could be said to Malasia.
(you talk about Guantanmo bay jail(caught in Afgh,war prisoner,I don't agree with it),but you have ISA for more than 30 years(non-war prisoner,u throw people in just for going against the gov)U malasia are clever to talk only!

to the blog owner,You accused people being racist but you are also a racist by the way you reply .If you can't condemn your own country ,don't talk about others .


"to answer ur q, no the other anon said, "At least America does not sweep these problems under a carpet...". have u heard anybody who admitted tht theres racial discrimination here?"


You are sleeping or something ?
the americans govern,congress, newspaper and magzines have taken up this issue many times,even today there news about asian american discrimination at the polls.

you go and live in fantasy world.maybe you go back home if you don't like it here but if you like it here than make it a better place by speaking the truth by being a american and doing something about injustice(we can say anything to the gov because we elected them)

"of course bumiputera means nothing here u idiot. here, its the WHITE and MONEY means everything"

i dont what is bumiputera but you are wrong about the whites .yes america welcomes money but we value our ideas and the american dreams ,we work very hard for it ,so dont diss us.Hey! the gov of lousianna is an indian american and a proud one too!

ranger

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 12:50.....
what is KETUANAN MELAYU ? Care to elaborate? What is so great about Sekolah Maktab Sains Mara and I don't remember any special programs only for Malays in my Sekolah kebangsaan.

Anonymous 11:40 .....
"there are places in kuala lumpur that a non-malay and malay can't enter each other area, don't you that?"
Can you tell me which area is that?

Anonymous 12:52 / Ranger .....
"to the blog owner,You accused people being racist but you are also a racist by the way you reply .If you can't condemn your own country ,don't talk about others ."
Care to elaborate? Because I don't see princessjournals is a racist at all.

"maybe you go back home if you don't like it here"
That's what I always heard a white american says to colors people. I also heard they say "get out from our country if you can't speak english".

What should I do when my employer pay colors people start with $8.00/hour but white $10.00/hour for the same position? Sue my employer?Should I risk my job? I work very hard too but I got pay $2.00/hour less than white people.

Salt N Turmeric said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Daphne Ling said...

Hey Kak Farina!

You know, this using the blogs to kutuk race and religion really gets on my nerves too! Memang keluar cari pasal only! Yeeee...Geram...

As for Rosa Parks, I think she is a swell of a woman! ;) Although yeah, there is still a lot of lip service everywhere in the world about being same in 'status'...

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

whoaa...when there's a party going on i'm always one of the late-comers making his presence felt when all are about to make their way home. but since this is a good topic, i'm stamping my mark nonetheless.

oh dang, everyone has said their piece so i'll just make it short and ge the hay outta here.

like it or not, racism is very much alive everywhere, including the so-called civilised nation, and our beloved Malaysia are not spared from this. i'm blaming it on all the political parties, the gov and the Opps. they can deny all they want but its there for everyone to see. screw them racist bigots.

Anonymous said...

no race bashing. just wanna know if u're malay muslim? if you are, then i pity you. but, to each her own, eh? **shrugs**

and yes, people in malaysia especially the opposition people and non-malays should be glad for what we have in malaysia. and malays pulak jangan sombong. and non-malaysa, don't be like the arab and the unta lah.