Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id f0VGO6902943; Wed, 31 Jan 2001 11:24:06 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2001 11:24:06 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <F1260qPzg9uV54Ogddu00000c56@hotmail.com> Errors-To: alcrsb@langate.gsu.edu Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Felicia S." <saucy073@hotmail.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:1184] Re: "those now described as white" X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Status: O Content-Length: 3571 Lines: 88 DAPHNE IS IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO REOMOVE ME FROM THE LIST? I WOULD APPRECIATE IF YOU WOULD? THANK YOU FS >From: "Daphne Greenberg" <ALCDGG@langate.gsu.edu> >Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@nifl.gov >To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> >Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:1178] Re: "those now described as white" >Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2001 09:26:34 -0500 (EST) > >I have traveled quite a bit in Latin America, and it may be true that in >many Latin American countries they "don't pay attention to race in the same >ways that we do in the USA", however there still exist very strong racially >based discriminatory practices. For example, in my most recent trip, I >went to Brazil. I was immediately struck by the much more frequent Black >and White couples, friends, groups, and people just hanging out together. >From my outsider's perspective, Brazilian society definitely appeared to be >more advanced than we are in terms of interracial socialization. However, >I then realized that although this was true in the realm of socialization, >it was not true in the work world, where things appeared to be very >stratified along color lines. >So, I think that racial discrimination is a fact everywhere, although some >countries are more progressive, some less, and the expressions of it may >differ from culture to culture. >Daphne > > >Daphne Greenberg >Center for the Study of Adult Literacy >Georgia State University >University Plaza >Atlanta, GA 30303-3083 >Fax: 404-651-1415 >Ph: 404-651-0400 >E-mail: alcdgg@langate.gsu.edu > > >>> sylrain@teleport.com 01/30 1:47 PM >>> >At 10:47 AM 1/30/01 -0500, you wrote: ><SNIP> > >And I don't think we'll be getting rid of the word "race" anytime soon. > >What would be our reasons for doing so? > > ><SNIP> > > >Well, I don't know about the word, but the concept could use some work. >"Race" is totally a construct that makes no logical sense, when you get >down >to cases. That is, it makes no biological sense. We use it loosely as a >synonym for "ethnicity," which makes slightly more sense, but still is >problematic. We overlay lots of cultural, economic, social, place of >origin, >religious, and other considerations on it. > >I remember a story told by a woman years ago who came from Jamaica to the >U.S. Her skin is just about as black as can be. She checked "black" on the >form where it asked about race, and the official objected. No, he said, >you're not black, you're Jamaican. She looked at her arm, and back at him, >and got really puzzled. > >I've always remembered that story. The official was evidently thinking of >African American, not black, so it clearly had nothing to do with any >biological reality. This woman said that in central and south America they >just don't pay attention to race in the same ways that we do in the USA. >It's understood that we're all mixtures and the different mixtures don't >necessarily confer some special privilege. > >That's the crux of the race problem, after all. It's that some "races" are >marked for special privilege and others are marked for deprivation. It's >the >same problem with language. The difference between a "dialect" and a >"language" is that speakers of a language have a navy. > >It's all about economic and social and political privilege. > > >--------------------------------------------------------------- >Sylvan Rainwater . Portland, Oregon, USA . sylrain@teleport.com > > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Jan 18 2002 - 11:32:08 EST