Re: Is white racism nec. all bad?
Travis C. Porco (porco@pathos.Berkeley.EDU)
13 Apr 1995 22:45:23 GMT
In article <3mjiu9$b83@nrtphba6.bnr.ca>,
John Otteson <otteson@b4pphf6.bnr.ca> wrote:
>|>
>|> jo> My "agenda" is that, at this point in history, white people need to look
>|> at white racism.
>To aid in the progress of humanity.
>BTW: What is your agenda?
>---John
John,
the reason we seem "unwilling" to discuss racism by whites is
that this has already been discussed to exhaustion.
No day passes in which I don't read an article, or hear
something on KCBS discussing the issue. It seems like there
is just not much else to be said. White people were once very
racist, almost everyone is in agreement that people should be
judged on their merits and not be discredited for their race.
But the never-ceasing drumbeat of discussion of race is truly
impressive, almost awesome in a way.
I'm even in agreement that on a broad scale, one might note
that statistical disparity indicates continuing need for
efforts by Black Americans to improve themselves and for
Whites to stay out of the way are needed.
I would even go further and agree with Black Nationalists that
the world is a better place with Black people in it and that I
hope that we can each preserve our distinctive qualities while
nevertheless preserving a common aim and national purpose which
unites us. But perhaps this is as utopian as the left is.
We need to realize that no race or nation has been uniformly
good or bad. Further back in history, the whites of northern
Europe faced conquerors and invaders; more recently, they have
been the invaders. We need to clear the slate. In fact,
whites are no longer conquering slaveholders; they need to get
over it and realize that they now just more nations among
many--and that their own cultures and aspirations are as valid
as any other. And that supporting one's own nation does not
imply opposing others. I am not in any way threatened by
efforts, say, of Tibetians to preserve their language or
culture--on the contrary, I'm enriched by it. Tibetians are
not threatened by efforts to defend the cultural
world-view of White-Anglo-Saxon Protestantism and the general
democratic heritage of Europe.
Racism is discussed to such an extent that I wonder if it is
possible for white people to discuss anything else about
themselves. I wonder if it is possible to move into the
post-racist era. Whether Blacks can forgive Whites, I don't
know. I do think it is time for Whites to forgive themselves
for acting like all other nations and not living up to the
universalistic and democratic principles which I hope will be
the most lasting contribution of White Europe--and of course China,
with its Confucian tradition.
The defense of White culture and concern for
its preservation remain beyond the pale for the time being.
At some point, the hysteria is going to die down when people
quit shrieking "Nazi!" at the top of their lungs and actually
listen for a change to what is being said.
That's not a direct response to you, more to some of the
entertaining hate mail I received. What a pleasure it would
be to post it!
--Travis
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