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To: goldsnow who wrote (16272)	3/18/2000 6:44:00 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 17770

As I put it on this thread a couple of years ago: Americans are racist people who nurse their racism whereas Europeans (and Brazilians) are repressed xenophobes... Here's a firsthand testimony by an African-American journalist who had an online chat with readers of The Washington Post: washingtonpost.com At some point of the discussion, the journalist lays his profession of faith in the U.S. fabric open: Adams Morgan: After living in Brazil for such an extended period of time how did you then begin to see America, with an appreciation, contempt, or indifference, did you see yourself differently, and would you recommend an experience such as yours to african-american youngsters to allow them to see themselves outside of the limited constructs created for them by America. Eugene Robinson: After my experiences in Brazil, I came to appreciate the U.S. context more, despite its many flaws. And I definitely came to see myself differently. There was never a time in my past when I ever rejected my racial heritage, but there was a time when I wanted to de-emphasize it, when I wanted to believe it just didn't matter. I gradually came to an acceptance of the fact that it did matter, and that in many ways it should matter at this stage in our history. A shorthand way of putting it, I guess, was that I became more comfortable in my own skin. [snip] Here's an instructive chat on today's racism within European soccer: risc.uni-linz.ac.at Goldsnow, In a previous post to Neocon you said that I didn't believe in the nationalist/jingoistic/patriotic fantasy purporting that some American-pie-community spirit gathers American citizens across the social fabric.... That's partially right for, as a Leftist-Anarchist, I do believe indeed in the perpetuity of the so-called class warfare --however subtle become the different strata of society (white/blue collar, petty/upper bourgeoisie, symbolic analyst, blocked ascendants, etc., etc.). Yet, to claim that --ultimately-- "it's not a matter of color" is, by me, a bit far-fetched: I'd rather say that, in order to divide and conquer its subservient working class, the bourgeoisie uses all available means, including the color line. That's more blatant the higher up you look at the social ladder: take a big corporation that has to pick out its next CEO (or COO, CFO, whatever top exec) among a dozen plausible candidates. At that level of power play, we shouldn't expect that all these Type-A contending personalities will refrain from using every possible trick to sweep their way to the corporate top.... So, if one candidate --otherwise qualified and suitable for the top job-- happens to be black, or female, or lesbian, or bald, or whatever, that "taint" will be pinned on her. It's merely Gen. Colin Powell's overkill strategy applied to the corporate rat race.... Gus.

To: goldsnow who wrote (16272)	3/18/2000 11:14:00 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 17770

I am still not sure how to approach the issue, but I have an immediate response to this particular post. As someone of preponderately Jewish origin, I am aware of the tension that is commonly felt towards WASPs, especially if they are Southern, by many other groups. On the other hand, there are complications that you may not be aware of: for example, about 20 years ago I met a professional woman on a trip to Cleveland, an African- American, who told me that she was thinking of returning to North Carolina, where she had grown up, because although she grew up under a formal regime of segregation, there was more human contact between the races in her town. Everyone worked in the mills, and they would socialize, observing demeaning conventions, like having the black guests use the back door to join the party, but still getting together in the end. Similarly, Jimmy Carter used to talk about how, in Georgia, everyone played together, regardless of race, until high- school, when sensitivity about sexual development created a social rift. Well, I will get back to it soon, I hope.....