Some theses on race in America

[struggle4progress]

1. "Race" is not a scientific concept: the word has no real scientific content

2. The fact, that "race" has no scientific meaning, does not imply "race" is irrelevant

3. "Race" is an ideological and cultural concept, carrying with it a long and charged history

4. Many of the ideological and cultural uses of the concept "race" have been very unpleasant: for example, the notion was used to justify stealing land from its original inhabitants, to justify slavery, and to justify the creation of various underclasses

5. The historical and ideological context of "race" is not a dead-letter: much of that history is within living memory -- and if you look with open eyes, you will find people still alive who were shaped by that history, either by living it themselves or by learning lessons from people who lived it

6. The conceit that "race is a scientific notion" must be eliminated, but we cannot ignore the long-lasting effects from the ideological and cultural history of "race"

7. It is easy for many of us to believe our own experiences and subcultures are universal, but they are not: everyone is a creature conditioned by his/her own subculture and experience; our conditioning affects our understanding and interpretations of events

8. Different historical experiences produce different subcultures with different understandings and interpretations of events; misunderstandings naturally result, and those who want to divide us will always try to exploit and inflame those misunderstandings

9. Abstract thinking will not always clarify matters; it can inflame misunderstandings, because people generally do not want to be reduced to abstractions but want to be appreciated in their actuality

10. Two people can utter exactly the same words and mean entirely different things; people can also argue at length simply when trying to say exactly the same thing using different words

11. A remedy for misunderstanding is to talk less and listen more; a remedy for avoiding pointless abstract arguments is to plan and conduct concrete common actions