Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 12:37:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Tim Vanderhoek <tim@ppp1555.on.sympatico.ca> To: "Joel N. Weber II" <devnull@gnu.ai.mit.edu> Cc: andrsn@andrsn.stanford.edu, chuckr@glue.umd.edu, jmb@FreeBSD.ORG, hoek@hwcn.org, softweyr@xmission.com, chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: FTC regulating use of registrations Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.96.970811114752.353D-100000@ppp1555.on.sympatico.ca> In-Reply-To: <199708110632.CAA09169@ethanol.gnu.ai.mit.edu>
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On Mon, 11 Aug 1997, Joel N. Weber II wrote:
> But textbooks have not influenced my prejudices. Getting to know a
> few people well is what causes me to not be prejudiced against that
> race.
Hehe. They haven't influenced your prejudices in ways that you are
aware.
> family was in my grade. That's the only black family I've ever
> come close to knowing in any personal sense where both parents were
> around. Two other black families that I come remotely close to
> knowing don't have the father around.
Hm. Come to think of it, the one black person who was in my class
back in grade school had only one parent. I never thought of it in
relation to her being black until you mentioned the above.
Actually, that was a slightly dysfunctional class altogether. :)
We started with at least 24 kids and by graduation had scared all
but 6 of them away, +1 who joined in the last year.
> And I think that I've always subconciously looked at this statistic
> and concluded that blacks have trouble having stable families.
"not being prejudiced" != "not believing blacks rarely have stable
families"
Native Americans are much more likely to be drunkards than the rest
of the population. Does acknowleding this make me prejudiced?
Well, you'd have an awfully tough time convincing me that it does.
> even if it means hurting another person). I recognize that these
> differences exist, but I don't consider one culture superior to the
> other.
Mostly cultural differences, of course. One culture may well have
advantages that another doesn't have, though, which, of course,
means that one will be superior in certain circumstances.
Consider how Asian countries save lots of money on social security
by keeping very strong families which take the burden of caring for
the old.
However, I've always suspected the Italian tendency to insist of
standing _right_ in front of you when talking is genetic. :-) :-)
Prejudices are tricky things.
Those of African origin make better runners. Chinese make better
ping-pong (aka. "table tennis") players. Canadians make better
hockey players.
All these things happen to be genetically based, but I don't think
that makes a difference. Inter-racial differences may result from
cultural or genetic reasons, but you should react the same to them,
either way.
Suppose you had to pick a programmer from two choices, one male, one
female. Knowing nothing else about them, which would you choose?
How about languages. My last French language class had 5 males, and
more than twice that number in females. This is fairly
representative. If I had to pick someone to know multiple
languages, knowing nothing else, you can bet quite accurately from
which gender I would select.
You are racially prejudiced when you judge only on the basis of
race. Tell me that there is a young native, and ask me if it is
more or less likely that they have a drinking problem. Now tell me
that they don't live on a rez in Northern Ontario. You'll get a
totally different answer!
You are racially prejudiced if you lose a key element of "respect",
or if you ignore non-racial factors.
> Anyway, I currently think that I would like to marry a Chinese
> girl, and have kids, and live in Boston. And I've sometimes
Personally, I've always thought that the average Oriental chick is
sexier than the average non-Oriental one, but maybe I just spend too
much time staring at a computer screen. :-)
> wierd on the mainland. And I think it's probably safe to assume
> that if I live in Boston, my kids would probably have an easier
> time if they're pure white than if they're half Chinese. But
> I guess it doesn't bother me that much.
Boston is a world away, but around here, at least, most people
wouldn't really care if someone is half Chinese.
[where "here", of course, equals Southern .on.ca]
--
tIM...HOEk
OPTIMIZATION: the process of using many one-letter variables names
hoping that the resultant code will run faster.
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