Comments on: No Such Thing as Race: So Say We All?

By: floyd

floyd — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:42:11 +0000

We are now at the point where recognizing the fallacy of race and going to a color blind legal system will eliminate at least as much racism as it allows. Everyone would eventually benefit from such action.
We are now at least two generations away from institutionalized racism and the people are ahead of a government which wishes to perpetuate the illusion to fulfill their political agenda to maintain themselves in power.(at least in the case of the Democrat party)

By: just me

just me — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:07:51 +0000

I think it is silly to imagine a world where everyone is completely blind to color, and if they were they would still find differences to distrust-such is human nature and its desire to categorize.

But that doesn't mean I think striving to be color blind is pointless.

I think the goal is worthy, I am just not sure it would successfully be reached.

By: Tlaloc

Tlaloc — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:35:01 +0000

"Looks like us" is very subjective, hopefully a point I don't have to make by delving into the typical westerners inability to distinguish native Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and various south east asian features apart. So, yes, one tribe can be perfectly capable of distinguishing features that set it apart from another, particularly when talking about tribes in which interbreeding was difficult or discouraged. And that same process of identifying ""us or other" is the root cause of our instinctive unease around people who look different. It is fundamentally no different than our instinctive fear of the dark- an evolutionary impulse that once had a purpose but now does not.

By: odograph

odograph — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:06:19 +0000

Tlaloc, I see no reason that we would, in our evolutionary history, meet "races" much at all. That required extraordinary journeys, ships, trading cultures, etc.

On the other hand, we were perfectly good at objectifying the next tribe over, who looked very much like us.

(For ever tribe, in every race, the next tribe over looks similar. You need transportation to see the small changes add up.)

To the point though, I'm fine with "there is no race" as a path to equality. FWIW, a mixed-race couple at the market gave me a funny look a half-hour ago, I guess checking to see if I was going to give them a funny look. Such is the cultural minefield.

By: Tlaloc

Tlaloc — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:51:05 +0000

But, like “pornography” and “torture,” we know it when we see it.

In this case that is pretty literally true. Our notions of race derive from an evolutionary development in which we identify with those primates similar enough to us to be part of our tribe or clan and objectify those who are not similar enough to meet this biologically programmed criteria.

Amazing to think how much of our history derives from this simple evolutionary development.