From: wdw@math2.sma.usna.navy.MIL (Wm. Douglas Withers -- math  FACULTY <wdw@sma.usna.navy.mil>)
Newsgroups: misc.education,alt.discrimination,soc.culture.african.american,soc.women
Subject: Re: Racist/Sexist Role Models
Date: 20 Nov 92 00:12:43 GMT
Followup-To: misc.education
Organization: U.S. Naval Academy

In article <1992Nov19.210732.13959@noose.ecn.purdue.edu> montas@stable.ecn.purdue.edu (Hubert J Montas) writes:
[much talk about role models deleted]

>Can you consider how difficult it is for a white person to
>ackowledge the fact that his/her people have been barbarians for the best part
>of history? That they are responsible for the worst massacres: colonialism,
>slavery, holocaust, the atomic bomb, etc... That they have systematically era-
>sed and bent the history of civilization to make it look like they are its ori-
>ginators whereas everybody knows that Eve was African, that the Egyptians were
>black, that Moses and Jesus were black and hence that the Christian God is
>black.

Not as difficult as you may think.  I have no problem accepting the fact that
white people created the slave trade, wiped out the Native Americans, and so
on...because I don't take such statements personally.  (I've decided not
to take the blame or credit for anything that happened before I was born.)  Not
all whites seem to be capable of the same detachment; thus you can still see
people trying to justify the slave trade.

I disagree with your view of history in many aspects; for example, I believe
that the Egyptian pharoahs were not black in the sense that if one were
magically transported to modern-day Los Angeles he would not be considered
black by either blacks or whites.  (The Egyptians left behind quite a few
pictures of themselves, you know.)  HOWEVER, since I think `black' and
'white' labels have little genuine meaning and are arbitrary designations
we inflict on ourselves, I'm happy to let you label people anyway you
wish.  So Moses and Santa Claus are black... and so are George Washington
and Madonna and Pat Buchanan if you wish.  It doesn't matter to me whether
blacks or whites invented writing, because I know *I* didn't invent it
and I don't try to take credit for it.

I've been thinking lately about the proper way to present the contributions
of blacks and other minorities in history.  For example, I think many history
books, in discussing the American Revolution, make a point of mentioning the
race of Crispus Attucks and no one else.  The intentions are good I think, but
I'm not satisfied with this approach; it seems to imply that important
black figures in history are so rare that they deserve special emphasis.
In an ideal world, one could simply avoid mentioning race at all and allow
the reader to project whatever race he likes onto historical figures.
Suggestions, anyone?

We've seen some discussion lately about anti-semitic remarks attributed
to Malcomb X.  My own view of such things is to view them in the same
light as the fact that (for example) Thomas Jefferson was a slaveowner.
It seems impossible to find heroes who are not also scoundrels :-(
-- 
Els Withers                   email: wdw@math2.sma.usna.navy.mil
          phone: (410)267-3192 / fax: (410)267-4883
When orbiting particle-beam weapons are outlawed, only outlaws will have
orbiting particle-beam weapons.
Newsgroups: misc.education,alt.discrimination,soc.culture.african.american,soc.women