Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Hey

Hey everyone, please do me a favor and head over to my column on Examiner.com. If you like my content, feel free to subscribe to me.

Much appreciated,
Nam

Calgary Racial Issues Examiner
(http://www.examiner.com/racial-issues-in-calgary/nam-tran)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Monday, March 15, 2010

On The Real: Reverse Racism

So I was surfing the internet the other day and an interesting term came about and really got my attention. The term that was used is "reverse racism." I have heard of this term before, but never really thought about it critically, so I sat here at desk and began to analyze the term and here is what I came up with: If the term is used to describe racism against the dominant group (which most people consider are the white people) then the term "reverse racism" is racist within itself because, well, it assumes that white people are superior to other "races." And FYI, it is impossible for visible minorities to be racist just because we, as visible minorities, do not benefit from being racist as the dominant group or white people do. When we make assumptions or make attributes about a person based on their skin colour, we are merely just prejudice and are reproducing false ideologies, which is very negative for our oppressed brothers and sisters, so we should all stop it. This is just my take on it.     

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Concepts of Life: Hegemony

Hegemony: The act of dominating and controlling people of society without the use of physical force.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

On The Real: Individual Racism

People are the products of the their community. People gain knowledge from society. A person is racist or makes racist comments because of the knowledge that they have gained from society. So when a person makes racist comments or make behaves in a way that demeans "races" or an ethnicity, that person is at fault, but not that much fault. Should you be mad at that person? Of course you should. But you have to understand that those comments or actions were only made because of what society has embedded in that person's mind. For example, there is no way on Earth that a young child, maybe about 2 or 3 years of age would know, or even understand the "N" word. So that word is learned through social interactions such as hearing it on the television, or hearing someone use it. So for a young child to learn anything racist, that child must have learned it through his/her community, so therefore racism is a learned trait. So you shouldn't get that mad when someone is racist, but you should definitely be upset. And on that note, you should be very mad at a racist for not attempting to learn and understand the truth about race. That is what you should be angry about, because everybody has the capability and time to learn about "race" theories and its history. All you really need to do is pick up a book, such as Malcolm X or Martin Luther King Jr., read it, and that will be enough. You don't need to take a college course to understand race relations.

Monday, March 1, 2010

On The Real: The End of A Man's Life

Have you noticed that when a man enters a long-term relationship or gets married, he'll tend to say that his life is ending? And have you noticed how when a woman enters a long-term relationship or gets married, the assumption is that she is beginning her life? Why are these two concepts of relationships on the opposite sides of the spectrum? For males, I think it is because when they get into a long-term relationship, they are not able to "play the field" anymore and also, they are not able to engage in as many activities with their guy friends anymore, if they were to be a bachelor. But, women are like that too. They go out to have fun and "play the field" just as much as guys do. And if a women were to get married, in my personal opinion, would lose more in life than a male would. I say that because, if for a example a specific woman were to have a great career, when she gets married, chances are she won't be as actively into it as she would be if she was single or not married. So let me elaborate, when a woman gets married chances of her staying home with the children are pretty high, if she chooses to have children. So if she were to have children and stay home with her children, then she'll likely quit her job. But when a man gets married or into a relationship, all he really loses (most of the time) is his ability to date and have sex with many different women, and hanging out with friends a lot. But his career is still intact. And chances of him staying home and becoming a "Mr. Mom" are pretty slim because of societal influences of "masculinity" in males. So there is a big double standard between males and females, and I just wanted to address it. Comment on how you feel about this.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

On My Mind: Beautiful Bar Refaeli


The most beautiful person on the Earth . . .

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Concepts Of Life: Patriarchy

Defn: "rule of the father"

- The domination of males over not only females, but also gay males in society.

Ex. Father assumes the position of power in the home, whereby he makes all the decisions in the household.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

On The Real: Avatar: Racist Movie?

So I finally got the opportunity to see James Cameron's' movie Avatar, and I must say, it was kind of racist. The first reason why I believe it is racist is because of how the Indigenous group in the movie was portrayed. If you pay attention to their hair styles, you'll notice that it is very similar to the hair styles of Aboriginal or Native people's hair during the European colonization times, and today, but it's rarely seen. With that said, they portrayed the Indigenous group as uncivilized people or savages. Another reason why I refer to this movie as a racist movie is because of how the movie ended; once again the white male has to go against his own "race" to help and save this group of uncivilized people. It shows a state of dominance, where all people of colour need the white male to help us because they have more abilities than people of colour do.

But all in all, Avatar is a fun movie to watch.

P.S. Next time you go out or rent a movie to watch, try to be critical and ecstatic (analyzing it from outside the box) while watching the movie, you'll get a whole different message than just watching it for entertainment value.

Epic Parkour Fail!!!!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Why are some people calling "Avatar" a racist movie?

What's your take on it? Do you believe Avatar was a racist movie? Do you see any resemblances of this movie to "Pocahontas"?

Thursday, January 21, 2010

MMA: Team Jackson

The best MMA team in the UFC: Team Jackson. This a highlight of Team Jackson's three most popular fighters.

Showdown!!!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

On The Real: All-American Basketball Alliance

So, read this and tell me how it's not racist, because most of the stuff that I saw on here are stereotypes of "black" people and this commissioner is using that and the "white race" to get something out of it, may it be monetary gains or white dominance. So how is that NOT racist?

"There's nothing hatred about what we're doing," Lewis said. "I don't hate anyone of color. But people of white, American-born citizens are in the minority now. Here's a league for white players to play fundamental basketball, which they like."

Lewis said he wants to emphasize fundamental basketball instead of "street-ball" played by "people of color." He pointed out recent incidents in the NBA, including Gilbert Arenas' indefinite suspension after bringing guns into the Washington Wizards locker room, as examples of fans' dissatisfaction with the way current professional sports are run.

"Would you want to go to the game and worry about a player flipping you off or attacking you in the stands or grabbing their crotch?" he said. "That's the culture today, and in a free country we should have the right to move ourselves in a better direction."

Source: http://outofbounds.nbcsports.com/2010/01/post-133.html.php

Steve Nash - Captain Canada Mixtape

A mixtape that I made on one of my favorite NBA stars. Enjoy!