Re: CHAT: American Racism [was: Star Wars]

Brian Betty wrote:

> Just joking. I think. I'm not arguing race is an utterly stupid and
> self-nullifying concept (Egyptians, North Indians, and Moroccans are
> Caucasian, but Ethiopians aren't);
What's more, Americans of Egyptian or Moroccan origin aren't supposed
to check the "African American" box, despite their indisputably
African origin.

> It's the same with race. I
> wish we were colourblind, but we are not, and pretending we are isn't
> making the situation any better.
>
> Perhaps there needs to be a more comprehensive way of marking race.
Some years ago (I forget the precise details), a Jewish group tried
to convince a court that Jews were a race for discrimination purposes,
not because Jews are a "race" in any conceivable ethnographic sense,
but because people who discriminate against Jews treat them as a
race.  The court sympathetically disagreed.

--
John Cowan      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
        You tollerday donsk?  N.  You tolkatiff scowegian?  Nn.
        You spigotty anglease?  Nnn.  You phonio saxo?  Nnnn.
                Clear all so!  'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)