Re: Is white racism nec. all bad?
Gary Strand (gary@ncar.ucar.edu)
5 Apr 1995 18:01:23 GMT
ls> Lane Singer
gs> Gary Strand
gs> Is the crux of the issue "race as biology" or "race as basis of discrimina-
tion and bigotry"? Or is racism yet another instance of collectivism at its
most primitive level? I prefer to believe the latter.
ls> Then tell me how racism could be logically acquired by anyone if there
were no such thing as race, and this were a commonly known fact? In order
to be an "instance of collectivism" people have to be able to buy it. They
have to imagine that there's something palpable to hate. If they =know=
that 'them' is the same as 'us', then where is the collectivism of an 'us'
versus 'them'? No, race requires the biology. This is why the racists
Like I said, I view racism as a type of collectivism. It probably does de-
pend on biology, but it doesn't have to - for example, cultural stereotypes
serve the purpose just as well. All collectivists need is a way to distin-
guish between the "Us" and the "Them" - whether it be skin color, religion,
language, tribal affiliation (re: Hutu/Tutsi), gender, sexual orientation,
whatever. If racism was built on just biology, then it would be vulnerable
to simple science. It has not been.
ls> If you want to make a true racist livid, just suggest that there is no
such thing as race, biologically, and that race is simply a social con-
struct.
All collectivisms are social constructs.
gs> [...] nor do all racists necessarily think that they have a biological ba-
sis for their beliefs.
ls> With this last phrase, I disagree wholeheartedly.
So we disagree on the basis for racism. We don't disagree that racism is
disgusting, nor that American whites have a monopoly upon it.
--
Gary Strand WWW: http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/cscor/gary/gary.html
strandwg@ncar.ucar.edu PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 (303) 497-1336
Opinions stated here are mine alone and are not those of NCAR, UCAR, or the NSF
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