Re: Owed Explanation I (Was Re: Ebonic Xmas)

(Private reply)

> Races: the scientific term is "sub-species", for humans
> there are three which are clearly distinguishable, colloquially;
> asians, blacks, and whites.
The great majority of physical anthropologists now reject
the notion that human beings can be usefully divided into
races or subspecies at all.  As species go, _Homo sapiens_
shows very little genetic or morphological variation.
Indeed, at the DNA level, there are more differences between
orangutans on Borneo and those on Sumatra than between
the entire population of human beings and chimpanzees
taken together!  Skin differences are indeed skin-deep.

> or more to the point the socio-economical stereotype that was
> appearant in the poem "Ebonic Xmas" is, and has been for a while,
> endorsed and indeed used comically by black comedians.
Hardly. As other listmembers have made clear, the stereotypes
of the verse are hopelessly mixed and confused: they show not
the slightest trace of insight into African-American culture.

> The difference?  The color of the speakers skin.  Prejudice
> against whites--racism.
No, the difference between within-group statements and
between-group ones.

> What is the black experience?  Is it a lifetime of slavery?  Is
> it having to hide from the authorities even when one has not
> committed a crime?  Is it unjustified poverty and no easy way to
> get out of it?
It's difficult to know what constitutes an experience shared
by a group when you don't belong to it.  Even if you do, the
knowledge may not necessarily be fully consciously available.

> A black man stopped by a racist policeman (who's up for no good)
> is in no different a predicament than is a female driver stopped
> by a sexist policeman.
Perfectly right.

> And for that matter, nor is the average
> Joe Schmoe any better off stopped by a policeman who is not very
> moral and is getting very bored, thus deciding to fool around with
> the next passing-by motorist.
But that is a different proposition altogether: it is the random
act of an individual, not the product of a systematic, long-held,
deeply embedded social convention.

> A black child teased for the color of his skin is no better nor
> worst off than is a child teased for wearing glasses, being too fat,
> not having the right clothes, or one who was trashed by the most
> popular kid.  None of these things should be happening, but being
> black does not make it any worse.
I doubt that either of us knows that.

--

Schlingt dreifach einen Kreis vom dies! || John Cowan <jcowan@...>
Schliesst euer Aug vor heiliger Schau,  || http://www.reutershealth.com
Denn er genoss vom Honig-Tau,           || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
Und trank die Milch vom Paradies.            -- Coleridge (tr. Politzer)