88074: ASSIGNMENT 3: Essay 1
Module 6: Race,
Racism and White Identity in Education
The Mystery of Being Human
In
union there is strength.
Where
force fails, patience will often succeed.
The
wise can learn from the misfortune of others.
-Aesop Fables
..hoping that the kindness will lead us past the blindness and not another living soul will ever have to feel unloved...
Jann Arden, Canadian pop singer, Unloved from Living under June CD
In Yiddish, to be called a mensch, which simply means a person, is a
great compliment. Why?
...
The
modern Western conception of the individual, with its emphasis on
autonomy and separation, is only one model of being human.. In
African culture, for example, relationships are central, and the
humanity of each person is seen as integrally bound to the
humanity of others. The concept is captured by the word ubuntu,
which translates roughly to the phrase, “person is a person
through other people”.
Anne
Goodman Adelson, The Culture of Peace and the Evolution of Human
Beings
http://www.peace.ca/cultureofpeaceevolution.htm
"Race isn't science. Race isn't biological,.quot;
Angela Blackwell, Senior Vice President of the Rockefeller Foundation (Noble 2000)
One of the benefits that’s going to come from [studies of genome diversity] is an even greater understanding of how similar we all are in our marvelous variation.
Kenneth Kidd, Yale University (Marshall 1998)
I could call this section the pool section, as what I will be discussing in this essay are different kinds of pools: science (knowledge base or pool), religion (wisdom pool), performance base (emotion and virture pool), and physical base (gene pool). I will not have time to talk about transportation (car pool), exercise (swimming pool) or recreation (pool table).
The two prongs of my approach are science and religion. I will look at what each of them tell or conclude about what a human is. I will conclude that both of them show that a human is something special and unique, and when we meet another human, we should never forget that fact. Both arenas conclude inconclusively that there is no physical conclusion: you are the question and the mystery, and life is the answer.
Science:
What is (a) Race?
The concept of race includes both biology, culture and language. Current public thinking will tend to explain race in terms of skin color. Skin color varies according to the amount of melanin. Darker skin has more melanin, and this protects the skin against the damaging effects of solar radiation. If a population is exposed to less sunlight, the skin will be paler and the skin will absorb more sunlight and convert it vitamin D. Environment has much to do with skin color. African Zulu people and Australian aborigines both have dark skin, but genetically are no closer to each other than other human groups. (Christensen 2000). The people of the Andes may live at the same latitude as the people of sub-Sahara Africa, yet they have not got as dark a skin color. The relatively recent migration (20,000 –30,000 years ago) to the Americas is not sufficient to apply enough selective pressure to add melanin.
Race is a social construct. It started with Gobineau as a neat way to pigeonhole humans the same way scientists were categorizing all animals and plants. But now with a full planetary (plus genetic) perspective, we will see that it is an outdated concept. A look at the Early Human Phylogeny page at the Smithsonian Institute shows a past that is far from conclusive. Questions still perplex the scientists: where did humans start? did humans evolve from a primate ancestor? what factors may have spurred the evolutionary changes?
Before we look at race, however, it may do us well to look at what it means to be a part of humanity.
Science:
Where Do We Come From? Our Distant Ancestors and mtDNA
Where do humans come from? There are at least four
theories. The first is that we evolved from a common proto-ape
(bonobo/chimp/tamarin/)-human
ancestor, either in Africa with subsequent migration northwards
and across Eurasia (out of Africa theory). The
second is that we evolved from primate ancestors that resembled
each other but were geographically widespread, and evolution took
place within each group separately (multi-regional theory).
A third theory, the ancient astronaut or alien transgenic
hybrid theory, postulates that we are the product of natural
evolution from a primate ancestor but with possible outside
assistance in the form of genetic modification or transgenic
implantation from a more ancient race from a distant planet. With
modern science tinkering with transgenic plants and animals and
the human genome project (see University
of Calgary below)., it may not be far-fetched to hypothesize
that an older, more advanced group of extra-terrestrial
scientists may be capable of such a feat. The final theory
is the creation theory, which postulates that humans were
planted here by God, and that we have descended from a common
Adam and Eve dating back from roughly 4004 BC. Paleoanthropology
does not support the final theory, which – if you trust
science to be reputable truth – leaves three contenders.
Recent headlines from reputable scientific journals vouch to the
complex nature of the ongoing scientific research to try to learn
about human origins:
The Human Family Tree: 10 Adams and 18 Eves (Wade 2000);
Equatorius: A New Hominoid Genus from the Middle Miocene of Kenya (Ward 2000);
Y Chromosomes Point to Native American Adam (Mendoza 1999);
Genetic Study Shakes Up Out of Africa Theory (Pennisi 1999);
Australopithecus garhi: a new species of early hominid from Ethiopia (Asfaw 1999);
Latest of Homo erectus of Java: potential contemporaneity with Homo sapiens in southeast Asia (Swisher 1996);
Detecting Ancient Admixture in Humans Using Sequence Polymorphism Data(Wall
2000);
The topic of mitochondrial DNA seems to favour the single origin
(out-of-Africa) theory. Mitochondria are found inside human cells
but outside the nucleus. They thus escape the shuffle of genes
that occurs between generations. They are passed on relatively
unchanged from mother to child. Theoretically, all our mtDNA
should be the same, but in actuality, it has changed slightly
over the millennia (Wade 2000). There are several haplogroups now, and there is even contention that there may be
paternal mtDNA involved (Strauss 2000). But evidence (Marshall
1998) indicates that there is a lot of genetic variation (in
nuclear DNA) in Africa and decreasing genetic variation as you go
from west to east across Eurasia, and decreasing more into the
Pacific, and separately decreasing into North and South America.
The theory is that the population in Africa must be the oldest
for such genetic variation to arise (assuming a constant rate of
genetic variation everywhere).
Clearly, the
literature is divided on the topic of human origins. We still
don’t know. Our past is a mystery. Please note the use of
the word admixture to describe the possible offspring of a
Neanderthal and CroMagnon union. It’s not the same as a set
of commercials between episodes in a sitcom on TV. I’m not
sure if it’s the same term used for biological offspring of
two homo sapiens sapiens.
Science:
What is a Human?
What
do humans look like? Since most people consider outwardly visible
traits as sufficient to justify the concept of race, yet possibly
very few have actually itemized the wide variation of traits that
go together to describe members of the human family. What follows
is an attempt (without much professional anatomical or forensic
terminology) to make such a list:
height:
very tall, tall, medium, short, midget/dwarf
build:
thin, lean, trim, medium, well-built, muscular, large-breasted,
fat, hunchback, deformed
eye-color:
green, blue, brown, black, hazel
eye-lid:
simian fold, no simian fold; single, double
eye-recession:
recessed eyes, not recessed eyes
eye-spacing:
closely separated, mediumly separated, widely separated
skin color
(due in part to amount of melanin of which there are 3 types): pale, dark, brown, tan, black, pink,
whitish pink, freckled, pale
yellow, ruddy brown, blotchy, no melanin (albino)
earlobe:
attached, not attached
nose ridge:
small (almost non-existent), medium, large
nose tip:
rounded, pointed, small, large
nostrils:
flared, medium, narrow
jaw:
squarish wide, narrow downward pointing,
chin:
recessed, small, medium, pointed, protruding, double
lips: small
and thin, medium, large V on upper lip, harelip, wide
face shape:
round, oval, squarish, horse
face size:
small, medium, large
cheek-bones:
pronounced, large, medium, small, wide
skull shape:
(not sure about terms for this)
skull size:
small, medium, large
hair shaft
cross-section shape: round (straight hair), oval (wavy), flat
(curly)
hair shaft
cross-section size: thick, thin
hair shaft
resilience: stiff, soft
hair presence:
thick, thin, thinning, bald
hair color:
brown, black, blonde, strawberry blonde, auburn, red, white, albino
The list is only partial (see but1race.htm
for more), yet I would venture to conclude that humans come in
almost every possible combination of these traits. To pick only a
few traits and say that they are the ones that will be used to
sort out our human history and destiny and terms of reference
seems to me to a narrow unjustifiable unscientific step. Certainly a
truly global scientific look at humans will support the theory that
there is no such thing as a pure race. Even here in Korea - where there
has not been a lot of intermingling with peoples from lands afar -
there is still evidence of a Mongolian and Japanese influence.
When does human life begin? Such a beautiful description of the first part of the human journey can be found at http://www.all.org/abac/dni003.htm. It is difficult to say when a human really begins. Is it at birth? At implantation to the uterine wall? At the moment of conception? Actually, the egg part of you started when your mother was a fetus. The egg part of your mother started when your grandmother was a fetus. The millions of eggs are undeveloped while the female is still in the womb, but will ripen (at the onset of puberty). The sperm part of us may have been formed a bit before the impregnating intercourse. The carbon in all life dates back to the big bang, a triple collision of helium nuclei. In other words, probably every atom in your body was once part of a star (Brady 1997, p.157).
So it becomes a big confusing when we ponder the physical age of a particular human. Are we talking about the age of the molecules, or the time since that unique pattern for that unique person was formed while your mother was in her mother's womb, but yet her mother began when she was in the great grandmother's womb, and ... There seems to be an unending link with the great past. We must learn to recognize the vast aeons of time that the human has been around on this planet.
The previous article stipulates that the zygote is
developmental a complete human being. I am sure very few people are
aware that pre-born, infant
and young girls are carrying millions of eggs in each ovary to be
used to make the future members of the human family! So what do we see
about the collective and individual human origin? Mysteries -
enshrouded with puzzles, marvellous incongruities, anomalies, wonderful
inconclusive evidences that show that we may never have the complete
final picture, and that each one of us are terribly awesome, great,
noble, maybe without beginning, maybe without end.
Our farflung footprint on the planet points to a well-thought-out
plan - if the multi-regional hypothesis of evolutionary origins is of
any veracity or authenticity. Take a visit to my "design a human" page.
In a united world, humans will not look at the singular
superficial differences. From the spiritual vantage point, the human
family resembles a huge garden. We are the flowers of that garden,
diverse in hue and tint and shape and splendour. Overall, I feel there
is a genetic flowering, a mixing of genetic blueprints that is
producing individuals of amazing physical beauty. The cultural
phenomenon that has brought fashion to the forefront of the media is
but one evidence to this fact. A sculpted face can belong to either
gender and reflect any assortment of hitherto singular "racial"
physical characteristics.
Science:
What is a Race? Today, a Fuzzy Notion…
Polarized or isolated groups of humans will resemble each other. In fact, before modern mechanized transportation, human groups stayed quite stationary. The amount of travel between geographically isolated groups is still being researched. Pre-Columbian contact with the Americas is an issue still under investigation. Migrations out of Sibera, Africa, and elsewhere are still being studied. The author recalls talking to a Canadian Amerindian Ojibwe friend who once mentioned that the first white man that the Ojibwes saw was a black man.
The notion of race is based on the premise that humans can be categorized based on outward appearance and/or place of origin (usually continent). The truth is that humans are very closely related genetically, yet that slight genetic difference accounts for a lot of variety in appearance: the blond-haired young Australian aboriginal, the curly-haired black-skinned Tanzanian, the freckled-English student, the yellow-hued Chinese person, the albino Afro-Guyanese, the broad-faced Mongolian, etc. On which (superficial?) traits should classification be based? To base it on just a few factors such as skin color and hair shaft cross-section shape would seem to defy rules of objective all-variables-included scientific taxonomy. Taxonomy should consider all factors and instances and probabilities. If socioanthropologists want to pinpoint human categories, they had better do so by considering all noticeable and outwardly visible differences, and not just a few. Any attempt to do less than this would make a travesty of rational analysis. Scientists need to look at the big picture of the human. I am sure, the further they try to penetrate this mystery, the more astounding and astonishing finds will be revealed which - just like the quarks and neutrinos and black holes - paint a picture of an awesome creation.
The US Bureau of Management and Statistics (Census 2000) wants to do a survey based on race or ethnicity. The problem is, it does allow for mixtures or blends, and it is difficult to state what the minimal percentage should be to be considered part of a particular set of people that share common superficial features.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
set out in its OMB
Bulletin No. 00-02 "Allocation Guidance", in
exploring ways to block the OMB's plan -- announced in its
Bulletin No. 00-02 "Allocation Guidance" -- to collapse
multiple-checking 2000 census respondents down to a single
"race."
For example, a first-generation person resulting from an “interracial” marriage would be 50% for each. Their children would then be 25%-75%, and the next generation could be 12.5%-… Now if we factor in another person with biracial traits, then the resultant offspring would have a mixture of (for example) of .5(12.5%) + .5(50%) = 31.25%. This brings in some “strange” fractions into the equation, and I think the mathematics would be complicated. What is the purpose of pigeonholing humans? Horses run free, fish swim, plants flourish - and they have their being. When will humans begin to have their moments of being? We are human beings, not human doings. When will we begin to reflect on the folly of racial conflict, tyranny, war and the whole mess of misunderstanding and scientific ignorance that comprises human history?
Why do statistics? Some answers might include:
|
There are two options:
1. breakdown monoracial categories which perpetuates the myth of racial purity (Hu-deHart 1996) and terms of reference
2.inclusion of a multi-racial category
Inclusion of a multi-racial category poses a slight threat to the established power structure: the multicultural option has the potential to subvert the existing racial order by redefining the borders and the center reference points (Hu-deHart 1996). But the mixed-race category can become a favored one since it allays the fears of a white power elite when it perceives loss of demographic strength and political power, while simultaneously robbing historical victims of racial oppression the means and momentum to mobilize against racism. (Hu-deHart 1996)
And now there are two opposing movements: Afro-Brazilians who want to celebrate their African roots are trying to remove the mulatto category, while a growing number of multiracial Americans are pressing the U.S. government to include such a census category. This definitely shows an identity crises of some kind amongst many people. Hu-DeHart (1996) mentions their feelings of exclusion, marginality, and disconnectedness (Hu-deHart 1996, in reference to Lillian Comas-Diaz' discussion of mental health issues of African Latinas).
Much more could be said and researched on the topics of race riots, racial civil wars (ie Guyana in 1963), racial plunder, and corporate exploitation of labour, but unfortunately time does not permit that foray.
The result in every case is a new unique human being. Why should a person have to itemize, generalize, hypothesize, criticize or deny their genetic history? What is the purpose? We should (as American songwriter Johnny Mercer wrote) accentuate the positive. I feel that the variety of human appearance is a plus factor. I do not think we are made to resemble clones. Variety and biodiversity is the fact of life in supportive healthy environments. As a garden looks more inviting with a diverse mixture of plants, so the human family has been made to have diversity.
Non-polarized groups of humans will show a greater variety of features from the total human gene pool.
If there was previous “mixing”, then the differences may become minimal, or yet a difference may surprisingly spring up after three or four generations. Sometimes a child does not exactly resemble his or her parents. The reason is the genetic blend from an ancestral union.
Initial Encounters and the New Vernacular
The initial enounter of seafaring or nomadic peoples with other groups - because of outward pigmental and language differences - led to a new vocabulary for people who were different. As undoubtedly was the case, the other people (outgroup) would have been held in mutual distrust and suspicion. It is a human attribute to fear the unknown. There would have been a reaction to re-identify oneself with the clan, tribe or (in-) group in which one feels most at ease. Anxiety is not comfortable.
H.L. Mencken (1963) intricately describes the terms that were used in America as people migrated there in the last more than two hundred years. Words developed that referred to almost all members of one's ingroup. Mencken calles these terms ethnophaulisms or terms of scorn or contempt (oppobrium). These days, we would call them international slurs. Most of the time these words were used in a deprecatory way. People from even other parts of the vast countries of the USA or Canada even had derogatory labels. The terms developed with people who worshipped differently, looked differently, spoke a different language or did not come from a big city.
Here are some of Mencken's researched terms with some more added:
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Now in many places, people have seen the varieties of appearance, worship and scripture, stature and lifestyle across the television screens around the world. We should not feel abtipathy towards our fellow human creatures.
The following
articles support the conclusion that genetic diversity appears
to be a continuum, with no clear breaks delineating racial groups
(Marshall 1998):
Angier, Natalie. 2000, Do Races Differ? Not Really, DNA Shows. New York
Times. August 22, 2000.
Corcos, Alain F. 1997. The Myth of Human Races. East Lansing: Michigan
State University Press. 214 pp
http://anthropology.about.com/science/anthropology/library/books/blracemyth.htm
Curtis, Emory. Genetic Closeness Belies Racial Separateness. Interracial Voice. http://www.webcom.com/~intvoice/curtis.html (accessed 2000.8.10)
Dye, Lee. We’re All The Same.Only 0.012% Different. ABCNEWS.com. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/DyeHard/dye72.html
(accessed 2000.8.1)
Earnest, Les. 1989. Can computers cope with human races? http://www-formal.stanford.edu/pub/les/mongrel
(accessed 2000.8.14)
Marshall, Eliot. 1998. DNA Studies Challenge the Meaning of Race. Science
282:5389 p654.
Noble, Kerry. 2000. Race Relations. http://www.hopeful-sojourner.com/Extremist_Mentality/Race___Genetics/race___genetics.html
(accessed 2000.8.1)
Pett, Charles.2000. No Biological Basis for Race, Scientists Say for
Distinctions prove to be skin deep. San Francisco Chronicle:
Monday February 23. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/02/23/MN94378.DTL
(accessed 2000.8.1)
Interlude:
A very artistic animated interlude on the topic of human evolution: http://www.daniellee.com/Origin.htm
The Mystery of
Being Human: What Religion Says
The
mystery of being human is found also in religion. To varying
degrees, different religions maintain that: each human is unique
and has a divine soul, each human should live a virtuous life and
be at peace with other humans. To some extent, there is
acceptance of other religions. For example, Christians accept a
lot of the Jewish scriptures. Islam accepts Christian and Jewish
scriptures. Hindus accept the fact that avatars appear
from time to time when there is a decline in dharma or
religion, and so accept other religions. Baha’is believe in
what is called progressive revelation, that all religions
stem from one source, and are revealed according to
humanity’s intellectual, social and spiritual capacity.
As we can see in the sacred texts, there are reminders about our
essential unity and oneness. Krishna means black, and
therefore must have had darker skin. The Bab had a servant from
Ethiopia. Jesus may have had Mediterranean swarthy skin and black
curly hair. Arumugam is a legendary Tamil figure, and must have
had dark skin and black curly hair. Thus, from amongst the
manifestations of God (the religions messengers), there is
variety and not sameness. They also preached a common theme: Love
God and love each other. The Golden Rule reiterates the second
common theme.
Excerpts from
Sacred Texts:
The
following are a small collection of quotes from a few religious
traditions. They are taken from the following websites:
Hindu:
Bhagavad Gita 14:3
O
Arjuna, the entire expansive material energy is the womb into
which I infuse the embryo of individual consciousness;
subsequently manifested by Me, every species of life is
generated.
Jewish/Christian:
Genesis 1:27 God created mankind53 in
his own image, in the image of God he created them,54 male
and female he created them.55
Egyptian
Book of the Dead
[longing
of a human for post-humous righteousness and justice?]
Permit
thou not me to be judged according to the mouths of the
multitude. May my soul lift itself up before [Osiris], having
been found to have been pure when on earth. May I come into thy
presence, O Lord of the gods; may I arrive at the Nome of Maati
(Truth); may I rise up on my seat like a god endowed with life;
may I give forth light like the Company of the Gods who dwell in
heaven; may I become like one of you; may I lift up my footsteps
in the town of Kher-Aha; may I look upon the Sektet Boat of the
god, Saah, the holy one, as it passeth across the sky; may I not
be repulsed; may I look upon the Lords of the Tuat, or, according
to another reading, the Company of the Gods; may I smell the
savour of the divine food of the Company of the Gods; may I sit
down with them; may my name be proclaimed for offerings by the
KHER-HEB priest at the sacrificial table; may I hear the
petitions which are made when offerings are presented; may I draw
nigh unto the Neshem Boat; and may neither my Heart-soul nor its
lord be repulsed.
Baha’i
Baha’u’llah:
Arabic Hidden Words
2.
O SON OF SPIRIT!
The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not
away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may
confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes
and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own
knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder
this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is
My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then
before thine eyes.
3.
O SON OF MAN!
Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My
essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have
engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty
22.
O SON OF SPIRIT!
Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise
then unto that for which thou wast created.
68.
O CHILDREN OF MEN!
Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That
no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times
in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all
from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one
soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and
dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your
deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of
detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O
concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the
fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory.
Persian
Hidden Words
35.
O MY FRIENDS!
Quench ye the lamp of error, and kindle within your hearts
the everlasting torch of divine guidance. For ere long the
assayers of mankind shall, in the holy presence of the Adored,
accept naught but purest virtue and deeds of stainless holiness.
Abdul
Baha Selections from the Writings of AB p39
Now
hath the Truth appeared, and falsehood fled away; now hath the
day dawned and jubilation taken over, wherefore men's souls are
sanctified, their spirits purged, their hearts rejoiced, their
minds purified, their secret thoughts made wholesome, their
consciences washed clean, their inmost selves made holy: for the
Day of Resurrection hath come to pass, and the bestowals of thy
Lord, the Forgiving, have encompassed all things.
Comments on
Excerpts:
More
religious quotations on the theme of unity can be found at: http://www.unification.net/ws/theme029.htm
We have a heart and soul. It is special. Even our physical heart has a warmer temperature from the rest of our body. Look at the body thermo scan at human full body thermoluminescence scan http://news.bmn.com/hmsbeagle/16/recroom/artgalry.htm.
Is religion in agreement with science? Dreams, NDE, OBE are other indications of the spiritual world – some of which are being looked at seriously by the medical profession – but their discussion is not warranted in the limited edition of this essay.
The themes are clear: each person is made in a Divine image (and thus has a spiritual side), one of the main individual purposes of life is the acquisition and development of spiritual qualities; and, we should be united. The origin of evolution may be clay, or clay may be the symbol of malleability and subservience. All life has spirit: the plant has the spirit of growth and cohesion, the animal the spirit of cohesion, growth and the senses. The human has all of those, plus an immortal divine spirit.We must forget our individual self, and live in the divine Self.
Revised Nomenclature:
So, from the combined perspective of science and religion, we see
that there is ample support to the notion that in fact and in
essence humanity is one. Where to go, then? How to celebrate this
fact? How to learn it better? Several people have written about
this, and are trying to overcome the splintering, lagging,
nagging word-shibboleth “race” (unless used to refer to
all humanity).
The future can go nowhere without considering the results of humanity’s
discover and celebration of its unity. More and more people will be
born who have no distinct individual genetic classification. The metis, the Creole, the mulatto, the mestizo –
these are the children of the brave new world. Rarely are there check
boxes for these individuals on government surveys. A new word referring
to these people is racially mixed people or people of mixed descent/ancestry. Should they be called pan-racial,
part-(some color), white-enough, mixed blood, hybrid, mongrel, blend,
miscagenated, confluenced, synergized, synerblend, synergene-ized, synergenized, … ? But
whatever term we come up with, we must recall that any attempt to
categorize humans based on such criteria as outward physical appearance
or cellular genetic history seems to fly in the face of modern science
and religion that support the idea that the human is an conundrum, a mystery, a unique distillation of wisdom and knowledge and beauty and power that defies rigid categorization and conclusive summative objective analysis. George Winkel has more to say on this topic: Characterizing
Multiracial as an intermediate stratum in the socialistic,
civil-rights-entitlement layer-cake (so goes the argument, heard
before) is both inaccurate and short-sighted. First, multiracial people
-- once again -- are human beings, not a bookkeeping anomaly.(Winkel 1999).
The picture will never be completed. Science will show more and more that the body is an awesome powerhouse. Religion will show that the spirit is indomitable, ethereal and immortal. The common agora for meeting another human is the intersection of those two partially-overlapping domains.
Several online articles look at the ludicrousness of racial/facial/ethnospatial classification:
the Abolitionist Examiner at http://www.multiracial.com/abolitionist/word/webster2.html;
Les Earnest (cited above but still at http://www-formal.stanford.edu/pub/les/mongrel);
Paul Gorski's A Narrative on Whiteness and Multicultural Education at http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/education/multi/philosophy/2narrative.html;
Race Traitor is a book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0415913934/racetraitorA/104-3580193-9767966), and Race Traitor: A Journal of the New Abolitionism is a journal, and the ezine is at http://www.postfun.com/racetraitor/welcome.html.
The
term “racism” has come to be applied to a variety of
attitudes, some of which are mutually incompatible, and has been
devalued to mean little more than a tendency to dislike people
for the color of their skin. Moreover, anti-racism admits the
natural existence of “races” even while opposing social
distinctions among them. The abolitionists maintain, on the
contrary, that people were not favored socially because they were
white; rather they were defined [by Gobineau?] as
“whites” because they were favored. Race itself is a
product of social discrimination….treason to whiteness is
loyalty to humanity…. (Ignatiev 1996)
Another interesting link at their website is http://www.postfun.com/racetraitor/features/thepoint.html.
The Declaration of Racial Independence (N. Douglas) can
be found at http://www.webcom.com/~intvoice/natdoug2.html
and the Interracial Voice home page is at http://www.webcom.com/~intvoice/. Another site, Multiracial Activist at http://www.multiracial.com/readers/hazo.html aims to start to bridge the gap, heal the wounds, break down the
barriers and has a lot of links on the topic of racial
categorization. Mention of some of the positive effects of
affirmative action can be found in Robert Thach’s book
review (Thach 1999).
The process of getting rid of old hatreds and misunderstandings and of developing new capacities of caring is the challenge of us all. New borders are being crossed, new affiliations and new associations are being forged, new alliances and new romances are happening. We must not think that this is entirely new.
On a more intimate level, we can find past evidence of intermarriage (interracial marriage) or procreation, even possibly including Thomas Jefferson and some members of the English monarchy. People have visited far and exotic places of the world, and found and fallen in love with the local inhabitants. A website is devoted to the blurred racial lines of some famous families: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/.
Tabular evidence by Kyle at http://www.geocities.com/oreo7.geo/interractab1.htm shows that the number of interracial couples is on the rise. Kyle, who uses website name of oreo.geo, feels himself as somewhat of an outsider, and says that parents of multiracial children should do more counselling. I feel that all of social should be counselled more on this topic.
And what of the offspring of these increasing unions (interracial marriages)? There must be a place for them. A satirical site, BiRacial World Domination, envisions the day when biracial people outnumber those who are not http://www.cgocable.net/~aharriso/welcome.htm). Interracial Generation echoes again this theme (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/extra/browse/html/race_050596.html.
Mariah Carey has written several songs on this topic. Outside (from Butterfly) can be found at http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/tows_1999/tows_past_19991109_d.html and. Ms Carey talked to biracial teens on the Opray Winfrey show and explained about her song There's Got to Be a Way (from Mariah Carey) at http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/tows_1999/tows_past_19991227_e.html.
Another site that includes a prodigious collection of songs dealing with racial themes is at http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/multicultural/arts/race_songs.html. The good and bad of it is shown. The University of Maryland has an excellent resource site on diversity at http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Topic/Diversity/General/Internet/. Other resources for diversity can be found at http://alabanza.com/kabacoff/Inter-Links/diversity.html.
Another celebrity picks up the cause from a different angle: Tiger Woods is adamantly opposed to referring to himself as a member of any one single ethnic group. He opposes this single-category approach. As Oralandar Brand-Williams of The Detroit News reported (http://detnews.com/1997/nation/9704/25/04250103.htm):
Woods said he considers himself
"Cablinasian" -- for Caucasian, Black, Indian and
Asian. He says he's one-fourth Thai, one-fourth Chinese,
one-fourth black, one-eighth white and one-eighth American
Indian. The 21-year-old golf prodigy said he could never settle
on one race category that best described his ethnicity, so he
always checked off two boxes.
Cyndi Lauper has recorded a song entitled True Colors. Phil
Collins has made an excellent music video on this song. In the chorus we hear don't be afraid to let them show/your true colors are beautiful/like a rainbow.
It is admittedly debatable as to whether this song is specifically
about multiracial people, but like good art it lends itself to many
interpretations, including that one. Others
have sung of the opposition faced by those who multiracial date
or affiliate: Shania Twain, Dan Seals, Tracy Chapman, Coolio, R.Kelly, Paula Abdul, and many others. Creole Belle by Michael Cooney was a folk song from the 60s that celebrated a love of someone of a different kin.
Once the awareness is there, once the mindset is there, to view one another not as aliens or strangers or members of a different race, then the idea of world citizenship will become firmly established. We will be color blind or race-neutral. Even these days, Asians are dying their hair to resemble a variety of ethnic hair colors and styles, ranging from blonde to spiral perm. It is a new statement of global awareness and acceptance (the socioanthropologist can verify whether this trend is because of emulation of a TV star, or identification with a world culture).
Peace education will speed up this
process. No longer will populations be homogenous. Citizens will
come and go, stay and pray, tour and guide, reside side-by-side,
procreate and miscagenate, flare then care, live and give and
forgive.
Some Guiding Principles
Some of the guiding
principles I personally have learned include the following:
Whatever you really need is usually always there.
If you make more money, you will spend more money.
Aging, disease or pain are processes where you are forced to go slower and thereby forced to reflect on your life, your character, your purpose, your goal.
We spend most of our lives making money to accumulate things, which we end up getting rid of later on anyway.
Learning can and does continue no matter what the setting.
Basic needs can be met almost anywhere, but to differing levels of quality.
Being a minority person (based on income level, gender, religion, appearance, nation, mobility/dexterity,etc) can pose difficulties or disadvantages.
By being a minority person, you are in some way or another influencing (hopefully broadening) the mind of the majority person.
By being a minority person, you are in some way or affecting human migratory patterns which undoubtedly will show up in future anthropological studies. If the future of humanity is peace and unity, then your move or relocation has assisted in helping make that happen.
People are moving and relocating frequently, both within a country and between countries (refugees, immigrants, visiting students, foreign workers, corporate expanders, etc). Be hospitable. You never know if or when your turn will come.
What you are and what you learn (consciously or unconsciously) may be transmitted to the next generation either genetically or academically.
The more global the world becomes, the more people become aware of and want to maintain their individuality. Thus we have nations splintering and lots of independence movements, such as Quebec in Canada, the Tamils in Sri Lanka. We must be open to learning about other cultures and languages.
All technologies are good, from Acheulean basalt biface handaxes to electric slicers, from handpump to windmill to electric pump, from bicycle to car. Some are more environmentally friendly than others, and some save time and muscular energy. Which is better: a nuclear power plant or a candle? Utilize what is available and appreciate the design and manufacture process that went into making the tool or device.
Industrialized, developed and GNP are labels put by well-educated people to measure the level of outward mechanization. They do not measure growth or resource potential which take into account such things as forest resources, freshwater, nor do they indicate the socialization level of the people, their fortitude, their friendliness, their spiritual qualities.
Be friendly to all whom you meet, as life is short and we badly need peace and unity.
Children apparently remember better (Ochert 1999). Teach them well. One and all we should try to “recover the lost habit of happiness” (Aurobindo 19??)
Relocation
and Re-entry Problems
Many people are move or re-locate. Moving within a country can present some problems, but not as many as moving to another country. (For a real case description, read Your head is spinning by Ellie Kuykendall at http://www.gibell.com/elliemk/samples.html).
Some of the problems include: access to education, food, water,
health facilities. Other problems are language differences, and
religious differences may pose a problem for some. Getting a job
might take some time.
Getting information to solve these problems should not be too difficult.
Two useful websites are the Relocation Journal at http://www.relojournal.com,
the expedia maps (http://www.expedia.com),
and the Alexandria maps (http://webclient.alexandria.ucsb.edu/
The
Changing Meaning of citizenship
The word citizenship itself is changing meaning. Aihwa Ong in her book Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logistics of Transnationality (Ong 1999) describes it this way:
Although citizenship is conventionally thought of as based on political rights and participation within a sovereign state, globalization has made economic calculation a major element in diasporan subjects’ choice of citizenship, as well as in the ways nation-states redefine immigration laws. I use the term flexible citizenship to refer especially to the strategies and effects of mobile managers, technocrats, and professionals seeking to both circumvent and benefit from different nation-state regimes by selecting different sites for investments, work, and family relations.
Teaching
and Learning Peace
Interestingly enough, anthropologists have identified
more than 15,000 ethnic groups on the planet, speaking more than 3000
languages. As William Ury points out
Far from bringing a lessening in conflict, the ingathering means, in the short run at least, a heightening of hostilities as people are forced to confront their differences, as jealousies and resentments over inequities flare up, as identities are threatened by different customs and beliefs. Coming together can produce more heat than light, more conflict than understanding. … [but…] Most of the time, most of the people get along….What if the biggest obstacle to preventing strife lay in our own fatalistic beliefs? (Ury 1999)
Teaching and learning peace has never been more important than it
is now. 2000 is the International
Year for the Culture of Peace. A great website that looks at
many aspects of peace education is at http://www.peace.ca/.
Please excuse the limited use of books and the widespread use of online material. There are no English libraries in this city.