|
|
Re: Is white racism nec. all bad?
youssef (yejcc@cunyvm.cuny.edu)
Wed, 26 Apr 1995 16:33:58 -0400
In article <3nm8ut$rh5@ncar.ucar.edu>, strandwg@ncar.ucar.edu (Gary
Strand) wrote:
> vb> Vernon Ballard
> gs> Gary Strand
>
> The history you "share" with them removes some degree of individual respon-
> sibility for their acts? Really? What of those who suffer at least the same
> victimization by society yet don't turn to violence? What excuse can they
> offer?
>
> gs> Those guys that it seems blew up the OKC federal building are white, yet I
> feel no connection with them at all, only anger, revulsion, and a desire
> for terrible revenge. I certainly don't call them "brother".
>
> vb> That's probably because you don't share their history.
>
> Sorry, but this whole "history pushes people to do certain things" argument
> is bogus, IMHO. I'm not necessarily tied to past events in my own life, and
> certainly not in the lives of others. History is not some overarching force
> that drives us, thank the gods. What's past is past, and we don't live
there.
vb But when your culture is shackled by racism (sexism, fascism,
homophobia, xenophobia, etc.) for dozens of generations, it
shapes your individual life in ways that can be neglected or
ignored by the society, and, most importantly, the individual.
Don't get me wrong, I don't like affirmative action any more
than I advocate violence, I just don't simplify the real,
complex, credible, and serious "reasons" underlying these social
vindications (and violations) of rights.
It's not history that does the pushing; history instigates culture
and society "to push people to do certain things."
|