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Re: Racism and ancient history
Robert Snower (rs222@worldnet.att.net)
Sun, 29 Dec 1996 17:34:43 GMT
rs222@worldnet.att.net (Robert Snower) wrote:
>Respect and "hatred" are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the less
>the respect, the greater the fear and suspicion.
Sorry. I meant to say, the MORE the respect, the greater the fear and
suspicion.
Robert Snower
>>An example of the latter path to racism can be found in 15th century
>>iberia, where the long centuries of struggle for control between
>>europeans and moriscos created a bitter rivalry and deep-seated
>>animosity. The straits of gibralter were enough of a geographic
>>barrier to creat a steep racial gradient, crossed by the germanic
>>vandals in the 5th century, retaken by the greek byzantines a century
>>later, and then reversed by islam to create the moorish kingdoms a
>>couple of centuries after that. The reconquista took centuries; during
>>that time, the war of christianity and islam was also a war of white
>>against black. If your enemy has a black face, then people with a
>>black face will tend to be viewed as enemies. I say this not to excuse
>>racism, but rather to show that no invocation of economics is required
>>to understand it.
>"Color" is not definitive of "racism," of course. Any marker will do,
>e.g., smell, geography, religion, totem, moiety, section, political
>opinion. "Racism" is the counterpoint of "kinship," in the broadest
>sense: ethnocentric favoritism as against egocentric favoritism.
>Unless you confine your meaning of "racism" to the FRAUDULENT
>attribution of differences--group differences which do not really
>exist. Then "racism" becomes simply a "sub-species" of the general
>phenomenon.
>The only way to lick a culture of racism is to offer an alternative:
>a culture of individualism. Individual merit as against group merit.
>Best wishes. Robert Snower
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