Sodom
JakePrime@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 98-06-15 11:29:28 EDT, you write:
>
> >> One more thing, I am NOT polliticaly correct, and I don't want to be also.
> I
> don't care if some considers some experimental data rascist. I am not a
> rascist. <<
>
> This is a little strange. If you are NOT politically correct, why would it
> concern you whether others thought you were racist or not?
>
> If by saying, "I am not a racist" you really mean that you aren't a bad
> person, or you are not a white supremacist, or you do not believe in genocide,
> or you do not believe in racial segregation, or you think that inter-racial
> marriage and children is fine, or you do not believe in racial cleansing
> (either through genocide or relocation), then so be it.
>
> I accept your statement and I make no ill judgment of you. Of course if you
> are emphatically NOT politically correct, I would think that my judgment
> wouldn't matter to you anyways. If you do hold these extra opinions then I
> might judge you poorly, but being NOT politically correct, that shouldn't
> bother you either. You can be a racist without holding any of these extra
> opinions, however.
>
> >>If someone supports rascism using para-scientific arguments in Poland, he
> qualifies to psychiatrical treating.<<
>
> Now this would be an example of opressive political correctness. To my best
> understanding we do not send our political dissidents to psychiatric wards. I
> highly doubt psychiatric treatment would do anything for these attitudes you
> describe.
>
> In my understanding a racist is a person who holds that there are fundamental
> differences between people according to a genetic categorization called
> "race." I am very skeptical, but agnostic about that point of view.
>
> You can hold that view and not be stereotypical racist at all. For instance
> you could believe that there are distinct genetic races, but that the world
> would be a better place if all races interbred to create a "colorblind" one-
> race society. This position would not be what many people would think of if
> they heard the word "racist". Some liberals might think that was a noble
> point of view, but in my opinion its racist all the same.
>
> If "race" is to mean anything from a genetic point of view there would have to
> be a meaningful degree of reproductive isolation between these proposed
> "races". Otherwise I do not see how "race" would mean anything from a genetic
> point of view.
>
> Now I do think that the word "race" does denote something. In that respect I
> am not "colorblind", but I think that the real things that "race" denotes are
> discreet cultures. This makes some sense in this country (the US), because
> until official segregation ended in the south, people that had ANY "negro"
> ancestors were considered to be "negroes". Any geneticist would tell you that
> is a very silly and meaningless distinction in the realm of genetics. Several
> generations would easily drown out any so-called genetic distinctions.
>
> So, while a white person with a great-grandfather who was "negro" was not
> significantly different from any other white person in a genetic sense, they
> were still culturally lumped with the rest of the "negroes". The only way
> that could make any sense would be if "race" were really a cultural and not
> genetic distinction.
>
> >>(Well, I was pretty sure that the reason would not be discussed, but I
> really didn't realize how strong is anti-genetic lobby here :-)<<
>
> There is no room for an anti-genetic lobby among people who accept evolution
> fully and completely without reservation. I think that probably describes
> just about everyone that is regular to this list.
>
> Genetic diversity is the engine of evolution. If intelligence is at all based
> on genetic factors, which I am sure that at least to some extent it is, then
> there would be a diversity of intelligence within humanity, and these
> differences would have to be inheritable. But since I am very skeptical that
> "race" is a genuine genetic category, I am likewise skeptical that there are
> any significant differences in intellectual genetic endowment between the
> cultural categories that "race" actually denotes.
>
> Intellectual differences between cultures would not surprise me at all.
> Different cultures clearly value, and indoctrinate different kinds of mental
> behavior in their members. Some cultures place greater value on emotional
> expression and zealotry, and others place greater value on serene
> contemplation. Of course they will perform differently on any test designed
> to examine mental behavior.
>
> -Jake