Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!umich!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!auvm!DRACO!LCREW From: LCREW@DRACO.RUTGERS.EDU Newsgroups: bit.listserv.gaynet Subject: Re: Positive color codes Message-ID: <9002201542.AA08658@ATHENA.MIT.EDU> Date: 20 Feb 90 15:39:00 GMT Sender: Gaynet Distribution List Reply-To: gaynet@ATHENA.MIT.EDU Lines: 76 Approved: NETNEWS@AUVM.BITNET Gateway X-Vms-To: IN%"gaynet@ATHENA.MIT.EDU" X-To: gaynet@ATHENA.MIT.EDU Chris, > This probably sounds terrible, and perhaps I am misinterpretting this, but > when Louie said: "It's black history month and I for one am absolutely > delighted to celebrate it as MY history", it sounded as though he was > making the history of Black people his own history, and I really don't > think he can if he is not of Black blood. Similarly, he cannot take > Chinese history as his own if it is not his blood. Why? Because these > histories affected Blacks and Chinese, etc. in certain profound ways that > they cannot have affected people who come from different backgrounds, with > very few exceptions. Here, I'm less certain. Once I went to Chungdu (sp?), not the one in Sichuean Province, but the one three hours north of Beijing, where emperors routinely spent their summers. Because it is far enough away from Beijing, it always escaped the ravages which each new dynasty put upon the old order, the old architecture. Hence, in this relatively small place one can see preserved in good form more Asian styles of architecture than one can find in any other one place. It's quite a treasure, and I happened to be there when a group of architects from the University of Minnesota were there, sharing with me many bits of their specialized knowledge of this history. Later in the day, with only the Chinese guide provided for the teachers from my institute, I asked about one of the central temples we were visiting. "There were three schools of Buddhism here in that century, he said. The Yellow School, The Red School, and the Black School." "What were the differences?" I asked. "The Red wore red, the Yellow wore Yellow, the Black wore Black." End of the discussion. End if not of what he knew, of what his government would allow him to say. I'd like to think the latter, but I know that my students back in Beijing could not explain these to me either, nor were they interested in any "feudal" reality. They defined everything before 1949 as feudal. Yes, you're right when you say that no one can truly experience empathy. At best it is only an ideal, but a damn important ideal. And yes, Confucianism and Buddism and Taoism still profoundly influence over a billion people who know relatively little about them, who do not consciously value them, who know much less about them than sensitive foreigners who use their brains, hearts, and imaginations to expand their experience with empathy. (Every time I read Confucious, I understand my four years in Asia more clearly....) In another sense, history belongs only to those who care enough to understand it, not merely to be its victims or beneficiaries. Thanks for raising such troubling questions. Please help me again with the answers. One of my dear friends, Dan Beck, runs a fascinating bookstore in Pittsburgh. He and his lover (Clayton Powell) are a black/white couple. They've also bought a house for street people who have AIDS, managed by the local INTEGRITY chapter. Do give them a call. You sound like someone they'd enjoy knowing: Dr. Daniel Beck St. Elmo's 2214 E. Carson Street Pittsburgh, PA 15200 1412-231-2537 1412-431-9100 (lover: Clayton Powell) Tell them Quean Lutibelle sent you. I'd like for them to know you too. Sheea sheea. Sigh-gin. (Neih sik 'm sik gong Gwongdungwah? Nogh 'm sik gong--siu siu jeh. Neigh sik'm sik gong Putongwah a? Nogh 'm sik. Boocher dou. Hou 'm hou ah? Neih nogh paugnyauh. Li Min Hua (c'est moi aussi)