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From: flaps@dgp.toronto.edu (Alan J Rosenthal)
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Re: Identifying the "different"
Message-ID: <89Nov14.205729est.5242@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu>
Date: 15 Nov 89 01:57:04 GMT
References: <47469@bbn.COM> <1329@uvaarpa.virginia.edu> <1989Nov7.065815.22895@agate.berkeley.edu> <1420@uvaarpa.virginia.edu>
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hb@uvaarpa.virginia.edu (Hank Bovis) writes:
>... I have some problems with the prescriptions for remedying discrimination
>that seem to be suggested.  Specifically, the implication here seems to be
>that the only way to truly end discrimination is to eliminate readily visible
>diffferences between affected classes and non-affected classes.
>
>Certainly I would concede that this would work if it could be done ...
>
>Nonetheless, I sincerely hope that this is not the _only_ way to solve the
>gender discrimination problem, because if it is, then by analogy, the race
>discrimination problem becomes intractable...

Well, I would maintain that the only reason that we can tell someone's race
from appearance to such a high degree is because of racist rules against
"mixed" marriages.

Even in a very racist society you cannot always tell someone's race from their
appearance.  In South Africa, periodically people who are classified as "white"
have children that are classified as "Black".  (The parents then must apply for
re-classification as "Black" themselves if they want to be able to live with
their child, I believe.)  Of course, the reason for this is that the parents
actually have some "Black" genetic material.

If non-racially-pure marriages were commonplace, in several generations
it would be common to have genetic material corresponding to racial
characteristics you did not know you had.  This would mean that people no
longer knew what race they were, or at least that it was no longer externally
visible.  (Obviously, I think this would be good.)

ajr