Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!rochester!ritcv!ccieng5!ccieng2!kfk
From: kfk@ccieng2.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: What ever happened to Human Rights?
Message-ID: <200@ccieng5.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 5-Dec-83 12:21:22 EST
Article-I.D.: ccieng5.200
Posted: Mon Dec  5 12:21:22 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 7-Dec-83 09:06:10 EST
Lines: 55

This is one article which I am positively, absolutely, definitely, and
without a doubt going to regret.  Regardless of that fact:
----------
	From ssc-vax!jobe:
	Please address all correspondence to me by mail, most especial-
	ly flames.  They only serve to remind me of what my people are
	up against.
----------
You are allowed, with no restrictions, to flame about the poor treat-
ment to which blacks in this country are subjected.  However, the part
of the statement to which I object with great fervor is, "...remind me
of what my people..."

That is the part which I find most irritating.  I am firmly convinced
that part of the reason why blacks (and <pick your minority>) are
discriminated against is this view of "their people."  To describe
one's race as "my people" is to say that one is distinct from all
other groups of people not described in the subject group.

I am a white male of Dutch and Swedish extraction.  However, I do not
consider the Dutch, the Swedish, or even general Scandinavians to be
"my people."  I am nothing but American with respect to my ethnic
origins.  And I am only the 3rd generation of my father's family to
live on this continent!  Those whose ethnic extraction includes fa-
mily members who were slaves could frequently trace their family
tree back far more generations than that, assuming that records of
the births were kept.  (Of course, this was not generally the case.)

My point here is that, as long as blacks view themselves as a "people"
in the sense that they are distinct from whites, they will continue
to be the subject of discrimination.  Consider it logically: how many
people do you know who openly go looking for others UNLIKE THEMSELVES
with whom to associate?  Well, if the view of "my people" doesn't try
to separate oneself from the rest of society, I don't know what does.

As far as unemployment statistics are concerned, I have two comments.
First, I don't like statistics of any kind; I remember a quote from
Paul Harvey several years ago (which may not have been originally his
anyway) which went, "Statistics are used by politicians much the way
drunks use lampposts: for support, not illumination."  (Apologies if
I have misquoted a common source.)  Second, if I were in a position to
consider whether to hire a particular individual or not, I would be
concerned with two things: 1) Are you good at what you do?  2) Can
others work with you?  I don't care if you're black, white, yellow,
pink, or phosphorescent purple.  BUT if you come across to me as being
a member of some "other" group (pick the group; race is just the cur-
rent example), and I can clearly see that I don't qualify in that
group, it becomes equally clear that at least *I* will have trouble
dealing with you, since we lack some significant common ground.

I await the massive flames which I expect to arrive via usenet, mail,
and resurrected carrier pigeon.

Karl Kleinpaste
...![ [seismo, allegra]!rochester!ritcv, rlgvax]!ccieng5!ccieng2!kfk