Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utcsrgv.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!peterr
From: peterr@utcsrgv.UUCP (Peter Rowley)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: re:  They say we're moving ahead!
Message-ID: <4919@utcsrgv.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 16-Jul-84 01:34:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.4919
Posted: Mon Jul 16 01:34:56 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 16-Jul-84 01:39:00 EDT
References: <435@hou5g.UUCP>, <8335@watmath.UUCP>
Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto
Lines: 30

I am also amazed by some of the reactions to the New Jersey incident.
Sure, it's an example of "the fix is in" local politics-- no "real"
reason was needed, just something that would sound "plausible"-- but
the fact that the particular reason chosen was thought plausible is
the remarkable part.

Suppose they had said that the presence of a black person on the street
corner was a distraction, because the community wasn't used to seeing
black people.  That so clearly violates the seller's civil rights that
it just wouldn't be plausible.  Sure, at one time, in some peoples'
minds, seeing a black person would create a lot of hatred-- but that's
what they get for being racist-- it's nobody else's problem.  Society
has recognized this, and so any such rationale for barring someone from
a street corner would be dismissed without a second thought (except
possibly to heap censure on the person who suggested it).

>From Sophie Quigley:
>People who cannot see a
>person of the opposite sex without either being miserable, violent or
>destructive are not well-adjusted to a society which allows basic freedoms
>such as the universal right to be.
Damn right.  And this is exactly the civil right that's being infringed on...
the right to be a woman.

So, no, it's not *just* an example of dirty local politics; it is also a
manifestation of societal attitudes that need to be changed.  And the idea
that we should condone irrational reactions (e.g. driving off the road) 
provoked simply by someone's appearance is ridiculous.

peter rowley, U. Toronto