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From: laura@l5.uucp (Laura Creighton)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: Apartheid on the West Bank (defining racism)
Message-ID: <298@l5.uucp>
Date: Sun, 1-Dec-85 18:17:41 EST
Article-I.D.: l5.298
Posted: Sun Dec  1 18:17:41 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 3-Dec-85 22:44:33 EST
References: <4188@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> <360@ubvax.UUCP> <614@unc.unc.UUCP> <366@ubvax.UUCP> <167@ucbjade.BERKELEY.EDU> <260@gargoyle.UUCP>
Reply-To: laura@l5.UUCP (Laura Creighton)
Organization: Nebula Consultants in San Francisco
Lines: 49
Xref: lsuc net.politics:2267 net.politics.theory:594

In article <260@gargoyle.UUCP> carnes@gargoyle.UUCP (Richard Carnes) writes:
>Thus if an American black says, "All honkies are alike.  You can't
>trust them -- they'll get you every time," his statement is
>prejudiced and bigoted, but not racist, properly speaking, because
>his views are not part of an ideology which justifies "keeping whites
>in their [subordinate] place."  

I am not so sure that it is clear cut who is in the subordinate place
here.  The Whites may have economic superiority, but I know Blacks who
claim spiritual/moral superiority.  I know what you mean, but I am
not all that sure that the distinction you are trying to make is a
useful distinction.  The one that *I* make is that racism is organised
prejudice.  Bigots who sit at home are prejudiced, but bigots who get
together with other bigots to promote bigotry are racist.

I have my own theory (which probably is not original with me, but I
have no idea where I got it) on racism and prejudice.  People walk
around with a great load of frustration and hatred.  We are singularily
untaught how to deal with this.  The general view seems to be the one of
the ostrich -- we are all supposed to be sweetness and light and reason,
so let us ignore any way in which we are not.  This is hardly useful.

There are, however, a few socially condoned ways to vent your spleen, and
one of them is through prejudice.  It is astonishing to notice how many
people who ``ought to know better'' who use this same release.  You get
Blacks who are as prejudiced against Whites as they claim Whites have
been to them, and feminists who are thoroughly anti-men, and Gays who
are utterly intolerant of bisexuals.  You would think that these people
would have developed compassion though their suffering, but no ... what
they have is an unbareable load of anger and frustration -- and they
dump it in the way that they claim to have been dumped upon.

I'm not so sure what can be done about it.  Admitting that there is a
lot of hatred and anger around, and that we need to do something about it
cannot hurt.  I would be interested in what any Jewish people have to
say about it.  I have lived in a great many Jewish neighbourhoods and
have heard stories that would curl your hair about centuries of oppression.
Ihave known a good many jerks who were Jews, but wherever I go I find
Jewish people working in their communities and being very, very good
neighbours.  Somehow, amidst all the anti-semitism, a lot of Jews have
managed to avoid hating others as we have been hated (or at least are
very specific about who they hate and don't spread it around indiscriminately)
I suspect that if I had been an Arab I would not have as good a set of
memories about Jewish neighbourhoods.

-- 
Laura Creighton		
sun!l5!laura		(that is ell-five, not fifteen)
l5!laura@lll-crg.arpa