polenta

http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=31917

and today's MITH OR REALITY? (The same people but concentrated on their shoes.)

http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=56076

Some people say all this about the straps is a romantic legend because Uruguay didn't have any cotton or sugar plantation so that slaves were domestic servants and the like, in direct contact with their masters and so the treatment given to them was much kinder and close. I HOPE IT WAS SO!!!

polenta

http://www.candombe.org/candombe/Logo%20Candombe.jpg

This is a drawing I found on the Internet showing their shoes. I couldn't find any photos showing their legs but if anybody is interested you could look for CANDOMBE or maybe CANDOMBRE URUGUAY and there are many photos of these drummers playing.

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I can believe that it was a reality, polenta. Man's inhumanity to man, from time immemorial, is a known fact. Thankfully, most races are more sensitive to such obscenities, nowadays.

Thanks for the Luddites link. It's an example of how advances in technology led a greed for more profit, overriding the simple need for skilled labourers to hang onto their jobs, in order to survive.

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polenta's link for Luddites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

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MORRIS DANCING:
A form of country dancing, said to have been performed to encourage fertility, both in humans and their food crops (the origins are obscure):
http://schools-wikipedia.org/wp/m/Morris_dance.htm

Morris Dancing (Fieldtown Hanky) by coho
http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=55899

The Ragged Crow (border morris) by coho
http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=55907

polenta

Login, you've been fantastic!!! You added knowledge to_ at least_ me. Maybe most Americans and English people know about Morris dances but I didn't.
The word Morris sounded to me because of the cigarette Philip Morris and mostly because my father used to have an English MORRIS van about 50 years ago. I wonder if they still exist. I remember the frames of the side windows of the back were made of wood, something strange in today's car makes.
Having so many nationalities on TD nowadays, our knowledge of other cultures could get bigger and bigger.
Unfortunately the abolition of slavery in law hasn't been the full access of black people to complete equality. In Uruguay at least, they have all the legal rights everybody does, but socially they usually belong to a class with lower income ( with exceptions such as soccer players) and as far as I remember there is only one black man in the Legislative Power. There are few professionals and many women work as domestic workers. I have to admit that in public offices, difference of race doesn't exist And in Carnival black people are very important here because non-blacks have fully accepted CANDOMBE and the beating of the drums and many whites play drums in the parades. I even remember the Minister of Health marching in the streets and playing drums.(She's a female).

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This is a delightful thread, polenta ... how could I resist.

The Morris van, with the wooden frame, is still in evidence in UK. Here is a fine example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1971.morris.1000.traveller.arp.jpg
They are becoming a rarity but those that are still running are treasured. The wooden frame could be a problem but some have been preserved in pristine condition.

The earliest models of the Morris car had a split windscreen ... a strut going down the centre of the screen from top to bottom. A few of them are still on the road today ... that's anything up to 61 years old ... manufactured by the Morris Motor Company and its successors from 1948 to 1971:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Morris.minor.bristol.750pix.jpg

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Sadly, although slavery is outlawed, it still exists ... and in some of the most surprising places. There have been a few cases in UK recently, where foreign residents have enslaved young, illegal immigrants and treated them apallingly.

matthew

I remember as a child in school reading about slavery & the poor treatment of what was then considered a lower class of humans... How rediculas that sounded to me even as a child...

My father was in the airforce as I grew up & I must have led a very sheltered life durring those years... I was sure that the ignorance of racism was gone & was just something we read about in history books... I assumed they wanted us to learn about the atrocities of the past so as not to repeat them... Boy was I shocked @ the age of 17 to meet my 1st of many ignorant racist...

I understand that racism is something that must be taught... Nobody is born with that kind of hate... but taught to hate or not, I just do not understand how one can buy into such stupidity... There are no words to describe how narrow minded one must be in order to truely believe that the color of ones skin or the place of ones birth can make one bit of difference to ones character...

We learn from those around us... Our cultures teach us what is right & wrong... My skin color has yet to teach me one thing about the world...

matthew

Not only was I an airforce brat, but I joined the US Army when I was young... I have been introduced to European & Asian cultures as well as quite a wide variety of American culture...

The United States is a very large country and I would hazzard a guess that the majority of Americans live their entire life very close to where they grew up & only know what surrounds them...

There are very distinct and varried accents throughout the US... Lifestyles are also quite distinctive... The North East is very Hustle & Bustle... Everyone is always in a hurry both physically & verbally. They speak fast, get their point across & move on... The South East you will find a MUCH more laid back lifestyle where people are quite happy to sit on their porch and talk. they speak much slower with what we refer to as a "southern draw"... The mid west is the heartbeat of America... Hard working people that rise early & get things done, yet are very willing to sit & talk & offer a hand to their neighbor... Kind of a cross between the North East & the South... The west is a hodge podge of cultures probably due to the migration west coming from the North & South East origionally... There is a large Native American culture found in Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico & surrounding areas...

As I said, I have traveled a lot so I have never been in one area for a long time to give specific details of every area & I don't know much about Michigan / Wisconsin area other than the face that they sure do talk funny

Just thought there might be intrest in knowing that if you meet one American, you cant assume that any of us represent the whole of America... Would love to see people give more details of where they grew up and live...

matthew

-face +fact

Luna

That would be southern "drawl" honey....

matthew

missed that typo... -draw +drawl

polenta

I understand what Matthew means; the variety of American people. From afar, people tend to make clichés or stereotypes. It's the way the human brain works and in one way it's something positive because it allows human beings to categorize, to observe and to classify, which is a first step to science. The problem is when this is extended to other "different" people and put labels on them. The result is racism, feelings of superiority and inferiority and even genocide.
I personally have doubts about people of oriental origin. There are very, very few Chinese or Japanese people in Uruguay, I would say no more than dozens or hundreds. You can live all your life and almost never see one. There are some restaurants belonging to Chinese people. For example, I have always had a doubt but didn't want to ask because some questions could be considered racist. But it's really only ignorance. I know Chinese and Japanese people are ABSOLUTELY DIFFERENT PEOPLES, with different languages, history and they have even been enemies... but my question is : if you see a Chinese or a Japanese, can you tell them apart right away by their facial features? I never knew. Stupid question, isn't it?

marius

Polenta, I have a Japanese sister-in-law. She met my brother when he was in Japan. When they moved to the states there were almost NO orientals in the town where they lived. She told me people were always looking at her "because she was Japanese" and she was very upset. I said, "I think they're looking at you because you're drop-dead gorgeous!" She was/is very, very beautiful!

She also told me that Japanese do NOT look like alike and that they do not look like Korean's or Chinese either. [I was never given the physical differences though so don't know what they are.]

She said, "All you Americans look exactly alike to my eyes!" She was serious. I said, "But we don't all have dark hair and dark eyes like Japanese do..." She said, "You still look alike." I thought she was kidding but she wasn't. So, we found a picture from a magazine that showed Japanese people in a crowd so I could "learn to see." They did indeed look very different. Then we got a picture with a bunch of Americans so she could see how they looked different too. My sister-in-law and I BOTH got lessons on seeing differently. It was most educational.

inked_gemini

I myself am a Vietnamese American. My mother is Vietnamese and my father is white. And, in response to polenta's question about Asian features, it really just depends...

I work with a man who is Japanese, and when I first met him the only thing that I could tell right away was that he was definitely not Vietnamese. His nose was too skinny. My mother and my older brother have wide and slightly flat noses. It's evident in me as well but less pronounced. I guess I got more of Dad's nose. Also, my face is very round and my co-worker's is long and more angular. And, though I could tell that he was not Vietnamese, I wouldn't have known if he came from China or Japan had he not told me. I have a friend that is Korean and one that is from the Philippines, and all I knew when I first met them was that they were neither Vietnamese, Chinese, or Japanese. There are subtle differences between different Asian regions. You just have to be familiar with them to pick them out.

And, polenta, it is definitely not a stupid question. I could never tell the difference between Hispanic cultures before I met my husband. When I first laid eyes on him, I assumed he was from Mexico as there is a large Mexican population in this area. I couldn't see anything different about him. Later I learned that he is Puerto Rican, and now that I have been immersed in his culture the differences seem so obvious. Familiarity is key I think.

inked_gemini

Funny story while we're on this subject...no one I've ever been introduced to has ever been able to pick out my race. I look at myself in the mirror and see Asian. But from what I can gather from others, I don't look Asian. I just look "not white." People usually guess Mexican first. Native American second. Even my darling esposo borinqueño pegged me for Mexican before he knew me. The first words he said to me were in Spanish. Accordingly, my first words to him were, "Lo siento...er...umm...no hablo..." So perhaps one can never really tell...

solosater

I for some reason seem to gather black folk to myself, my friends all jokingly ask if i know I'm not black.

My mentor and best friend for years (she's passed away) was from Trinidad but looked to my eyes very African and I asked her one time how she preferred to be called African American or Black (I only knew she was from Texas) She cocked her head and gave me a very put upon look and said, "I'm from trinidad so I would certainly not correctly be called African American." I was a bit taken aback as this was news to me and that she seemed if not offended then at least surprised by my question. She said I'd be safest to go with "black" unless I knew for sure.

My best friend now is black but most people upon meeting her think for some reason Puerto Rican though she to me looks more asian, she's just beautiful and who cares is what I think but I know she has a Native American great grandfather (or did) and a white grandmother or at least a woman who passed as white in the 60s.

I also have some friends from Haiti. They speak French and broken English and I speak English and Spanglish so we have a lot of fun having conversations but they don't even look alike (and they're all related) so that whole "they all look alike" thing is a lazy persons idea.

My own father was something like 75% Pawnee and I'm as pale as they come with bright blue eyes and blonde hair while my brother looks mostly Eastern Indian (I know there isn't any Eastern or Asian in my line, I wish it were so, but no). My mother is French and Irish, I get my coloring from her side but my features are very similar to my brother's just smaller so who really knows?

Take a look around you and see the wonder of the Human Race. Aren't we all grand?

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Yes, variety is the spice of life.

polenta

I'm SO RELIEVED after reading all this!!!!!!! I thought it was something in ME... Personally, I see the individual differences between people's features in a Japanese or Chinese movies. I don't feel they look alike. What I didn't know is if there were immediate recognizable differences between Japanese and Chinese (in their features) just by looking at them. The problem in Uruguay is that we can't get enough experience of that because of the lack of Oriental people.
In Uruguay there are maybe around 5% of African descendants but most of the other people look like Spanish or Italian people with some traces of other European societies. For historical reasons we don't have native Americans or Indians, maybe only some blood traces but no tribes or group. It would be nice to see all these cosmopolitan societies with such a variety of cultures. Here we are in a very integrated society... and take two Uruguayans and there are three opinions. LOL What's the secret to get along well with so many cultural backgrounds?