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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (119152)	6/10/2005 8:27:46 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793843

>>Fat people are lazy. Poles, and Irish, and Germans, and Italians, are, well, you know the stereotypes -- and they aren't casual stereotypes; they are considered by more than a few people inherent characteristics of that identity group.<< This is the context in which we're discussing bigotry. I clipped those words of yours just so we don't lose sight of context. First, their decision about a person is made without any thought of the person him- or her-self, but is an automatic reaction as soon as they hear some particular fact about them. It's not "some particular fact." The fact has to be the individual's membership in an identity group. The fact can't be that the individual is wearing an blue shirt or just got a haircut. And the automatic reaction has to be one of a generalization associated with that group but not conspicuous in the individual, such as that fat people are lazy. Fur wearers are not an identity group. No one ever answered "I'm a fur wearer" to the question of "tell us something about yourself." Fur wearing is an act, an individual act. One can reasonably conclude that the individual is ignorant of or unconcerned about the terrible suffering of the furry creatures who comprise his coat. If the act occurs in a temperate climate, one might reasonably conclude that she's rich or is close to someone who is rich or that she likes to show off. We draw conclusions from people's acts. And we may disapprove of those individuals and react to them on that basis just as we would of anyone who engaged in that act. That has nothing to do with the bigotry of stereotyping.