From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Fri Aug 10 2001 - 10:21:18 MDT
Zero Powers writes
> No doubt, people who fit those descriptions are definitely racists. But my
> point is that we all make snap judgments and decisions about people based on
> their race. This makes us just as racist as the folks you describe above,
> don't you think?
That doesn't have a simple answer, in my opinion. If you mean
"snap judgment" in terms of how hazard it is to find that (in
a certain neighborhood) you are being followed by a black or
by an Italian, no; it's not racist at all to consider the odds.
> Question (answer honestly): You're waiting for an elevator, two elevator
> doors open at the same time, you're an an equal distance away from both
> doors, in one elevator is a white guy, in the other is a black guy. Which
> elevator do you get into?
I live in California, and neither in Riverside nor in the south bay
has it ever mattered. I definitely wouldn't be conscious of the race
of the single inhabitant of the elevator. (A big group might be
different.) At least it has never mattered in the buildings in
whose elevators I would ride. I admit that in some cities and in
some neighborhoods I might be foolish for not being more
discriminating under some conditions.
Lee
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 08:09:42 MST