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From: janw@inmet.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: defining racism -- Laura on compassi
Message-ID: <28200398@inmet.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 16-Dec-85 19:58:00 EST
Article-I.D.: inmet.28200398
Posted: Mon Dec 16 19:58:00 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 19-Dec-85 19:17:23 EST
References: <336@l5.UUCP>
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Nf-From: inmet!janw    Dec 16 19:58:00 1985


[Laura Creighton  sun!l5!laura  (that is ell-five, not fifteen)]
Laura: in your long article, I agree with *everything*; but
I would like to underline an important idea:

>...  what I believe happens is that people have a great well
>of frustration and hatred inside them.  They look for socially acceptable
>ways to dump this and find out that thhe bottom line is ``is is bad to
>hate people, except for Gays/Blacks/Orientals/Vietnamese/What-have-you''.
>So they go out and hate people in group X, not because they have any
>real dislike of group X but because they finally have found a role in
>which they can hate.

Hatred and frustration are basic, racism (or homophobia or  reli-
gious  bigotry etc.) is an outlet for them. Close one outlet, and
some good may be done because people don't *exercise* their capa-
city  for  hatred so much; but it only helps if the deep wells of
frustration are exhausted. Otherwise, new outlets will be  found,
as bad or worse as the old ones. 

It is the Manichaean view of the  world,  acquired  in  formative
years;  it  is  the  passion  for invidious *comparisons* that is
responsible: "we are poor *because* others are rich" ; or "we are
the good guys *because* we are not like the bad guys".

Children have a great capacity to *enjoy* differences, proved  by
their  love  for *animals*. If they can only be taught to enjoy a
person of different race, religion or social class,  as  much  as
they enjoy a squirrel or an elephant - social harmony won't be far
away.

		Jan Wasilewsky