From: hira@cme.nist.gov (Ron Hira)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
Subject: Re: A Couple Of Thoughts About Race
Date: 1 Sep 92 16:03:34 GMT
Reply-To: hira@cme.nist.gov
Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology

In article <SHAW.92Aug25003633@whopper.lcs.mit.edu>,
shaw@whopper.lcs.mit.edu (Andy Shaw) writes:
|>From: shaw@whopper.lcs.mit.edu (Andy Shaw)
|>In article <5079@dove.nist.gov> hira@cme.nist.gov (Ron Hira) writes:
|>   I could go on with a number of other examples, but I'll spare you.
The long
|>   and short of it is that we need to inform people about race problems and 
|>   when things make us feel uncomfortable. It is *our* responsibility
to inform
|>                                          
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|>   WAs of the problems that we face and its *their* responsibility to keep an
|>   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|>   open mind. Much of the real racism and even the imagined racism (yes I'm 
|>   ^^^^^^^^^
|>   guilty of this) is due to a lack of communication. So let's be a little 
|>   more understanding and willing to expand our horizons without resorting to
|>   shouting matches. 
|>
|>For the most part, I agree with what you've written, but I disagree with
|>the underlined statements.  It is ***NOT*** my responsibility to educate
|>every ignorant white guy that comes along with a big attitude problem --
|>when I do, it is out of the kindness of my heart or from self interest, but
|>NOT out of a sense of duty.  One might argue that it is always in one's
|>self interest in the long run to open the mind of one more individual, but
|>my experience tells me that _quite_often_, it's just not worth the effort.

I haven't seen any other followups to this thread, notably any white posters.
Why this is, I don't particularly understand. 

Anyways, ignorance abounds. When I say inform WAs of our problems, I don't
necessarily mean that you should expend a lot effort educating all ignorant
white people, because as you state it is many times a fruitless task. However,
we should expend some effort trying to illuminate the racial tensions that 
we feel. Many times my white friends tell me that they never knew that I 
felt uncomfortable in all-white shituations. For example, you walk into a 
redneck joint, and most of your white buddies don't consider how you feel.
Unless you're vocal about it, they'll never pick up on it and IMO you cannot
fault them for it. So in this case I'm an AA activist. We're not white, 
and I have no desire to be white, but that doesn't preclude us from living in
some harmony.

|>Secondly, asking or expecting some sort of sense of responsibility from
|>others (i.e. in keeping an open mind) is going to lead you to a lot of
|>disappointment, Ron.  When people are responsible or keep an open mind, I
|>am pleasantly surprised; when they don't, I am prepared.

Agreed, but one must respect other people's viewpoints. The white male claims
that he's a pariah and being discriminated against legally, and many
white men believe this. There are some sensationalized cases of "reverse"
discrimination, that leave many people with this perception. Of course,
real discrimination makes this so-called "reverse" discrimination look
pretty miniscule. The white man doesn't see this, or ignores this fact in
many cases because of self interest.

Ron

|>-Andy
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american