Comments on: Martin Luther King’s Dream Had One Little Hitch: Tolerance Isn’t All That It’s Cracked Up to Be

By: admin

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:17:25 +0000

@carole: And that is exactly what happens to us over here. I don’t remember at which point it was when I realized that essentially xenophobia, dislike of change and foreign people is the norm as opposed to some anomaly.

There are two ways to deal with the situation that I know of:
1) Change yourself so you can fit in. In everything you do or say, think about it from the point of view of providing value to people in your host country ( as they perceive value, not you ) and work consciously and diligently on assimilating into the culture.
2) Just give it time: Over time, whether we like it or not, we get to a point where we either have to assimilate to adapt or reject the place entirely. Wait to get to that point then figure it out.

The long and short of it is, you are different culturally from they are and as such what you are experiencing ( as I have experienced) isn’t hitting a wall but your wires never really having touched, so keep working on getting your wire across to where you can tap in to what they are, and make it a part of you.

Apart from the terrible metaphor at the end, I hope that helped………….

By: carole

carole — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:17:46 +0000

hey – great ideas here. Im in the opposite situation to you – a white woman that moved to Africa and is struggling to really fit in. Its easy to be open minded and want to fit in with people but once you get passed a certain stage its like you hit a brick wall, and I have no idea how knock it down.

By: Jarnel

Jarnel — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 01:30:05 +0000

Yes u can get along with EVERYBODY. Be u African, Asain Hispano,Caucasian etc
But first u gotta make yourself the individual that are and NOT a folk or a group.

By: Mwangi

Mwangi — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:34:19 +0000

@terry: Thanks. Wrote this about 2 years ago as one of the first articles…glad to see its still appreciated.

By: terry

terry — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 01:47:57 +0000

heavy duty .well thought off.I like this

By: Mwangi

Mwangi — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:56:04 +0000

@sergio: I was once that angry. I eventually got out of it but your anger definitely has its advantages….and of course, disadvantages

By: sergio

sergio — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:36:12 +0000

great shit, i am mexican studying in the same way and i refuse to eat their grese food, listen to crappy musica and watch stupid programs jus to get along with these people

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