Re: Is white racism nec. all bad?

Gerold Firl (geroldf@sdd.hp.com)
6 Apr 1995 13:15:32 -0700

In article <3lu7r1$77g@netnews.upenn.edu> jeubank@mail2.sas.upenn.edu (Judith Eubank) writes:

>Alas, even Jesse Jackson has said, with pain, that when he hears
>footsteps behind him on an urban street and looks to see, he relaxes
>again if the person behind him is white. This admission obviously cost a
>lot of grief and embarrassment.

Needlessly. Jacksons ancestry does not imply that he must allow himself to
be mugged. It is a fact that there is a statistically significant increase
in the probability that the guy behind you is a mugger if he is black. Only
a fool, or a very committed idealist, would disregard that reality.

>Interestingly, when I turn to scan the street, I don't relax my guard if
>the person coming toward me is white. I relax if the person is a woman.
>Especially a woman leading a child. I relax if the person is a black man
>leading a child. I relax if the person is a black man over 45 or so.
>
>To the perfectly PC, I must be a sexist and an ageist as well as a
>racist. But I still scan the street--and still react in terms of
>generalizations, aka stereotypes.

Some generalizations are valid. The stereotypical rapist is male. There is
a reason for that.

A person who believes that _all_ men are rapists, or _all_ blacks are
criminals, is seriously deluded. However, a person who does not make use of
statistical data to form conditional forecasts of probable outcomes is at a
severe disadvantage. The sensible middle ground consists of being aware of
the statistics, and taking them into account, but also using judgement to
evaluate each situation on an individual basis.

Superficially, it doesn't seem that "hard" for a racial minority to gain
acceptance in the US, now that this culture has consciously repudiated
racism. Many asian groups have done so. To be accepted, you need to play
by the rules; the fastest way to not be accepted is by violent criminal
behavior. Of course, in reality, it is extremely difficult for people to
act in opposition to the cultural precepts absorbed as juveniles. If
children learn patterns of behavior which set them at-odds with society as
a whole, they will find it difficult to break-out of that mold. The biggest
problem, or at least the one which I believe needs the most immediate
attention, pertaining to the race question in america, is the fact that
american blacks, their liberal apologists, and to some extent even the
conservatives who evince a palpable hostility, are unaware (or unwilling to
acknowledge) the sourse and solution for the race issue. Like most
problems, this one needs to be solved from within. Even nuts like the NOI
understand; blacks need to cultivate the virtues of self-reliance,
discipline, education and hard work. Without them, AA will not work. AA
might even hurt more than it helps. These attitudes can not be imposed from
outside. They need to come from within. As soon as a black american truely
understands this, and incorporates it into daily life, 90% of the race
problem has been overcome. When a large fraction of black americans
understands this, then the race problem will be completely overcome.
Unfortunately, it does not appear that will occur any time soon.

-- 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Disclaimer claims dat de claims claimed in dis are de claims of meself,

me, and me alone, so sue us god. I won't tell Bill & Dave if you won't.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=----   Gerold Firl @ ..hplabs!hp-sdd!geroldf