Talk:Hyperdescent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Rome

Sorry, I made a pretty hideous addition-edit to this article, but I think the germ [in the orginal sense!] of the idea is there. Rome had a HUGE effect on the ideas we are still dealing with today both positively and negatively. Not to say they weren't racist and good-ol'-boy of course, but the point can still be brought into the light. In the Roman empire non-Caucasians DID hold considerable power (just couldn't come close to the top tiers of power - 'equal opportunity to do what you're told otherwise you'll be dead and my niece's husband will rule your country instead' kind of opportunity, but still better than having your family slaughtered. The "vassal kingship" system worked very well for Rome most of the time. Non-IndoEropeans also made up a huge percentage of both the unskilled and semi-skilled workforce and, especially the military. Some how this overall idea needs to get encapsulated into about 3 sentences, while also mentioning their role in the setup of the slavery system that Euoper operated with Africa until the 1800s. It' just not my area so I'm bowing out. If my attempt at adding Rome to this page is just too insufficent, pull it out.

Oops, forgot to sign the above. PS: I would also add that Rome's overall strategy like that of Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great, and unlike US racism, Hitler's Third Reich, and genocidal pogroms in former Yugoslavia and in various places in Africa, etc., was on of absorption. Rome wanted to *make everyone a Roman*, an meme the Spanish even kept to a certain extent (thus their notably more hyperdescendent attitude toward mixed-race persons than that of the Americans or British. — SMcCandlish [talk] [contrib] ツ 11:11, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

I tried to clean it up a little -- I hope you don't mind. Mdotley 16:21, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Australia

An anonymous AOL user deleted all references to Australia. I didn't realize that when I made my minor changes. Is there any way to reverse the changes made by "Yecch!" without erasing all my work? Mdotley 16:37, 22 August 2006 (UTC)