4 ms·

I was about to post that the "fact" is at least an oversimplification. At the edge cases, it is logically false. A school where everyone is the same, there can

I was about to post that the "fact" is at least an oversimplification. At the edge cases, it is logically false. A school where everyone is the same, there can be no cross-race friendships, and in a class where everyone is different, there can only be cross-race friendships. Of course, the deeper lesson here is that race itself is a concept invented by racists. Race does not exist, except in the mind of the racists and those upon whom they exercise their beliefs. If you don't believe that, ask yourself whether you call people Asian, as if the huge proportion of people from the most populous continent on Earth share some fundamental attributes based on the geographic location of their ancestors that are worth distinguishing. Ask yourself if there is some proportion of ancestry that you use to distinguish one race from another- it's a very racist exercise to do this. There's no simple category that defines the race of my own children. Everyone is miscellaneous.

mmt 17y ago
Of course, the deeper lesson here is that race itself is a concept invented by racists. Thank you. Although your wording may be a slightly more confrontational than I would have put it (that "race" is purely cultural), you raise a very important point. The word itself has become impossibly overloaded, meaning a poorly defined combination of genetics, national/cultural origin, and current culture. I remember marveling at the admonition on a user's social network page: (paraphrased) "I'm Hispanic, not Asian!" What I find important to note is that the spectrum of meaning of "race" ranges from something an individual has no control over, to something that is pure choice. Although discrimination based on genetics being wrong is something that's relatively uncontroversial, discrimination based on choices/behavior is much less clear cut.
CWuestefeld 17y ago
If you don't believe that, ask yourself whether you call people Asian, as if the huge proportion of people from the most populous continent on Earth share some fundamental attributes based on the geographic location of their ancestors that are worth distinguishing. Ask yourself if there is some proportion of ancestry that you use to distinguish one race from another... Agreed. After the last presidential elections, I was always a bit frustrated when Barack Obama was hailed as the first "African-American" President. It's not clear to me what this really means in the first place. But by any logical definition, I can't see how to label him as "African-American". Isn't he every bit as much caucasian?
tokenadult 17y ago
A school where everyone is the same, there can be no cross-race friendships I appreciate your reply. I did a forehead smack on myself when I realized I had missed the obvious exception to your edge case the first two times I read your reply. A school pupil can form friendships OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL, irrespective of where the pupil goes to school. And that happens. Sometimes it is easier to form friendships outside of school than inside school. (I lived in one place just more than one year, spanning parts of two school years, in my youth, and the best friends I had there were neighbors or friends from my Scout troop. I liked some of my classmates quite well, but I made friends more rapidly and more deeply in non-school settings. And this, by the way, is why I emphasized "voluntary enrollment" above, because young people make friends better in voluntary rather than compulsory activities, and is also why I was unafraid to homeschool my children. My children have always had friends--and friends from many "races" at that--but they have never attended school (except university-based classes for my oldest during his last few years of secondary education). Race does not exist, except in the mind of the racists and those upon whom they exercise their beliefs. Fully agreed with you here. When I see those annoying forms that ask my "race," I write in "human." I prefer the designation "human," but I can live with the designation "postracial" if need be.

mmt 17y ago

Of course, the deeper lesson here is that race itself is a concept invented by racists. Thank you. Although your wording may be a slightly more confrontational than I would have put it (that "race" is purely cultural), you raise a very important point. The word itself has become impossibly overloaded, meaning a poorly defined combination of genetics, national/cultural origin, and current culture. I remember marveling at the admonition on a user's social network page: (paraphrased) "I'm Hispanic, not Asian!" What I find important to note is that the spectrum of meaning of "race" ranges from something an individual has no control over, to something that is pure choice. Although discrimination based on genetics being wrong is something that's relatively uncontroversial, discrimination based on choices/behavior is much less clear cut.

CWuestefeld 17y ago

If you don't believe that, ask yourself whether you call people Asian, as if the huge proportion of people from the most populous continent on Earth share some fundamental attributes based on the geographic location of their ancestors that are worth distinguishing. Ask yourself if there is some proportion of ancestry that you use to distinguish one race from another... Agreed. After the last presidential elections, I was always a bit frustrated when Barack Obama was hailed as the first "African-American" President. It's not clear to me what this really means in the first place. But by any logical definition, I can't see how to label him as "African-American". Isn't he every bit as much caucasian?

tokenadult 17y ago

A school where everyone is the same, there can be no cross-race friendships I appreciate your reply. I did a forehead smack on myself when I realized I had missed the obvious exception to your edge case the first two times I read your reply. A school pupil can form friendships OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL, irrespective of where the pupil goes to school. And that happens. Sometimes it is easier to form friendships outside of school than inside school. (I lived in one place just more than one year, spanning parts of two school years, in my youth, and the best friends I had there were neighbors or friends from my Scout troop. I liked some of my classmates quite well, but I made friends more rapidly and more deeply in non-school settings. And this, by the way, is why I emphasized "voluntary enrollment" above, because young people make friends better in voluntary rather than compulsory activities, and is also why I was unafraid to homeschool my children. My children have always had friends--and friends from many "races" at that--but they have never attended school (except university-based classes for my oldest during his last few years of secondary education). Race does not exist, except in the mind of the racists and those upon whom they exercise their beliefs. Fully agreed with you here. When I see those annoying forms that ask my "race," I write in "human." I prefer the designation "human," but I can live with the designation "postracial" if need be.