Re: Is white racism nec. all bad?
Donald Edwards (warrl@blarg.com)
27 Apr 1995 23:13:21 -0700
Robert Hartman (hartman@informix.com) wrote:
"In article <3nmkj7$cn8@ncar.ucar.edu>,
"Gary Strand <strandwg@ncar.ucar.edu> wrote:
"> Because, to me, "oppression" is too-often used for "things didn't turn out
"> the way I wanted". Face it, life is a bitch and a crap shoot sometimes. "If
"> you can't always get what you wa-ant, you musta be-en oppres-sed", right?
"> Sorry, but that kind of self-pity and refusal to realize that life ain't
"> always fair just doesn't carry well with me.
"OK. Even if it is often used that way, too-often used that way, what
"do you do about those situations when it is appropriately used. How do
"_you_ tell the difference?
You look at the process, not the result.
If a person is penniless, starving, sleeping under a bush, is that
person oppressed?
You can't tell. Insufficient information. I didn't mention that this
person gets a check for $1000 on the first of every month from a
relative who cares enough to help but not enough to look at what's
going on... and the check is gone, spent on drugs, by the 8th.
And the reason I didn't mention it is... it may or may not be true.
You don't know. All you know is what you see lying under that bush.
Are you prepared to decide?
(Interesting figure: the lowest income 20% of the population provide 7% of
full-time workers. The highest income 20% of the population provide
29% of full-time workers. Hopefully it's no surprise that people
who work, get more income than those who don't. But the fact that
they do, seems to offend some people.)
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