From: john@anasazi.com (John R. Moore)
Subject: Re: ARF on NAAWP and Black Toys
Reply-To: john@anasazi.com
Organization: Anasazi, Inc.  Phoenix, Arizona USA
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 16:53:22 GMT

Keywords: 

In article <1993Jan8.214659.7942@seachg.uucp> chrisb@seachg.UUCP (Chris Blask) writes:
lots of reasonable stuff deleted

]Ultimate goal:		The ultimate goal of anti-racists is to eliminate
]laws and attitudes which treat races differently.  These laws include
]anti-discrimination laws!  Any time you create a rule which deals with
]people by race, you perpetuate racism.  That said, we have to deal with the
]Present Reality and, in an imperfect world use what we can NEVER FORGETTING
]THAT THE IDEA IS TO ELIMINATE THE LAWS WE ARE MAKING!  In a perfect world
]there would be no problem with magazines "Ebony" and "Ivory", nor would
]there be much demand for them.  The time when groups like the NAACP should
]go is when they no longer help achieve this goal, but become the problem
](which may be soon, I don't know).  Laws and institutions which are
]self-fulfilling (like many Unions once the labour abuse is over) should be
]gotten rid of (as long as the abuses don't return).

Don't you realize that this is EXACTLY the same argument that the Soviets
used to create their totalitarian states! Their argument: "Our goal
is a state of perfect communism, where no government is needed. However,
today things are imperfect, so we need to create a state to achieve
our goal. Once we get there, the state will wither away and we will
live in a state of utopia." 

In other words, I think you are advocating creating unfair and biased
laws in order to achieve a noble goals, while forgetting that such
laws have a strong dynamic of themselves: they DON'T go away; the
create the attitudes that they are designed to prevent.

Better to accept that the world will never be perfect, but to leave
the correction in the area of ideas (raising generations who know
that skin color should never be a criteria for judgement). Instead, when
we take it to the laws and the logic of racial separatism (the current
most public movement in the black community), we teach kids instead
"skin colour is always a criteria for judgement, and furthermore it
is right to discriminate against certain colors and for certain other colors."

]My  Point Being:	A lot of 'white' folks are subconsciously confused
]about this issue.  They suffer white liberal guilt, feeling that they
]should be nice to black folks, which of course is discrimination as well
](you are X race, therefore I will treat you Y).  They live with the paradox
]of "Ebony" magazine, knowing that they cannot buy "Ivory", and after a
]while they get downright indignant and tired of apologizing for their
]great-grandfathers.  The result of this is David Duke and the NAAWP,
]reactionary events feeding off the confusion and resentment, as opposed to
]addressing the issue (I know nothing of the NAAWP, so forgive me if it is
]legitimate).  

This is all true. When black student unions are politically correct,
but white student unions are not allowed and are condemned, a strong
message is sent that race is important, and some races are allowed things
that others are not. This is, of course, an inherently RACIST position!

]The whole process is like surgery.  To fix something, you have to do all
]kinds of awful things (create discriminatory laws and institutions), then 
]slowly remove those tools and stitches, until only a healthy body is left 
]behind.

This is where I disagree (and I can't tell.... maybe you and I are in
agreement). Creating these awful things will perpetuate the problem and
will increase injustice, so we should never do it in the first place. It
is like surgery that implants an infection! It will require perhaps
more surgery later, and all the time the patient suffers more than if
the surgery had never occurred.


-- 
John Moore NJ7E, 7525 Clearwater Pkwy, Scottsdale, AZ 85253  (602-951-9326)
john@anasazi.com ncar!noao!asuvax!anasaz!john anasaz!john@asuvax.eas.asu.edu
- - "May you have the wealth of a Republican, and the sexual prowess - -
- -  of a Democrat." - Johnny Carson's joke writers
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