Date: Thu, 30 Jan 1997 18:22:43 +0100 (MET)
From: Harald Beyer-Arnesen <haraldba-AT-sn.no>
Subject: Re: "racial" sensitivity


Monty, I will try to answer your question below ...
 
>Harald, In a message dated 97-01-23 20:28:36 EST, you write:
>
>>  And one thing more, if you don't manage to make this into a movement
>>  that crosses the "racial" barriers, it most likely will hit you like 
>>  a boomerang. In my opinion "the left" in the US is far to "race"
>>  sensitive.
>>  You cannot communicate with people who start out saying, I respect you
>>  for your oppression.
>
>(I am in strong agreement with the rest of your message, so do not respond to
>it).
>
>My concern is not with the first sentence of this post, which I think is
>correct, but the second and third sentences -- I am not sure what you mean.
> Perhaps you could elaborate.
>
>Thanks, Monty

        ... but it will have to be rather impressionistic. Maybe I 
was treading on thin ice, but I don't think so. So what did I mean 
in saying that "the left" in the U.S. is far to "race" sensitive? 
If course I am talking in general terms, I have also encountered exceptions 
to what to me seems to be a tendency. The picture I will try to outline, is 
not wholly specific to the U.S.- but seeme to carry more importance there 
given its long history of racial segregation (and blending). When I
travelled around the U.S. back in 1992, I was often told from different
quarters that 
the racial issue could not be overstated. I believe it can. If you always 
emphasise what divides us (what makes THEM different from US) you end 
up spending little thought on what connects us, and you perpetuate the 
racial categorisation you are claiming to oppose. Those categories may 
differ from those advocated by the far right, but they are still based 
on racial stereotypes. You start behaving in a special "political correct" 
way towards people of colour, and you don't criticise them face to face. 
You avoid anything that might be controversial. THEY become representatives 
of oppression, instead of human beings with faults and strengths. I found 
in general a reluctance against crossing not only the spatial barriers, but 
also those of real communication which always involves a criticism. To 
respect people on the grounds that they are oppressed is not respect at all. 
And you can never trust such people (what are they saying behind your back?).

                Hope this was a little clearer ...
        
                                                        Harald 

        
        
            
        
        
    
     
 
  in solidarity,
  Harald Beyer-Arnesen
  haraldba-AT-sn.no



     --- from list aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---