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From: cja@lzwi.UUCP (C.E.JACKSON)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: A white man speaks his mind. (Part 2)
Message-ID: <129@lzwi.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 7-May-85 16:50:20 EDT
Article-I.D.: lzwi.129
Posted: Tue May  7 16:50:20 1985
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> Pride is an increase in your self-esteem resulting from your
> accomplishment(s).  
No, according to the dictionary [The American Heritage
Dictionary], pride is "a sense of one's own proper dignity or
value; self-respect." It *also* means "pleasure or
satisfaction taken in one's work, achievements, or possessions" but this is
not the *only* definition of pride.

> For example, as a kid, I was
> encouraged to be proud of being a Canadian, and several famous
> Canadians were mentioned to me as reasons for being proud.  This had
> the same effect on my self-esteem as if I had actually done something
> great, myself.  But all I had actually done was to be Canadian, and
> being Canadian is no accomplishment.  Being of the same sex or race or
> nationality as some other person who has accomplished something great
> is not an accomplishment.  So why be proud?
> 
In the best of all possible worlds "a sense of one's own
proper dignity or value" might only be tied to one's
accomplishments. However, we do not live in the best of all
possible worlds. [Surprise, surprise!] We live in a world where blacks, 
hispanics, Jews, women and/or even Canadians are devalued for being blacks,
hispanics, Jews, women and/or Canadians. And as long as the
devaluation process exists, I see nothing wrong with
encouraging black, hispanic, Jewish, female and/or Canadian
children to be proud of their birth. WASP males have been
instrumental in obscuring the accomplishments of members of
minority groups in order to justify dominating those groups.
And the US domination of Canadian culture is well documented.
Telling people to be proud of their membership in
discriminated against group is another way telling people not
to be ashamed of their membership in that group.
WASP males are not acculturated to be ashamed of the group to
which they belong the way the rest of us are. They do not need
to be encouraged to feel pride in their group as a corrective
to the devaluation of their group.

C. E. Jackson
...ihnp4!lznv!cja (for reasons too silly to explain,the address above 
[lzwi] is incorrect--don't use it)