[Fwd: THE TEARS OF THE MIGHTY]

Charles Brown CharlesB at cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us
Wed Mar 15 15:38:03 PST 2000



>>> Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> 03/15/00 06:11PM >>>
Charles Brown wrote:


>CB: So the answer to your original question - who would decide what
>is racism ? - is "it should be decided democratically ".
>
>You want to pretend that somehow the decision on what is "racism" is
>uniquely influenced by the state powers you don't like, but
>decisions on other policies are not .

I'm drawing a distinction between what the state does and what it does or does not allow people to say. There's a big difference in my book, even if speech is a kind of act.

*************

CB: I would have thought the distinction you want to draw is between what people do and say. The state is doing something when it prevents people from saying something , so I fail to see a distinction in that aspect.

My point does not turn on the fact that speech is a kind of act. My point is that speech results in actions; or , in the case where it never does result in action, the state and society has no interest in preventing it or protecting it.

CB



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