Dear Carrol,
Since you and I are the same age, I won't ask what your excuse is for a retreat into political correctness. I had hoped it was an affectation of the young. If you don't think there are cultural differences among groups then we live on different planets. One of my first experiences in "cultural differences" involved the English, whom I found almost totally unable to organize anything. They would waffle about for an entire evening and then would decide to form a committee, when almost any American would have gotten things sorted out quite quickly, including a draft leaflet, a passing of the hat, and a phone tree.
Now, there is much to be said for not moving too fast. But it is hardly racist to suggest the Israelis and Palestinians operate in different ways from different cultures, or that English and Americans are divided by a common language (and usually not even so common).
At no point did I raise the question of racial differences - those two words are yours, not mine. And if millions would agree with you that discussing cultural differences is racist, then I'm sorry so many are wrong, but at least you have company in your own error.
Fraternally, David McReynolds
I'm sending a cc of this (blind) to a much younger man who has asked me to sum up the Middle East history in fifteen sentences. I want him to see the difficulties of that effort! (Though I'll try)
<< Subj: Re: McReynolds and Palestine,was Should Peace Movements CriticizeTerrorism...
Date: 6/11/01 10:24:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: cbcox at ilstu.edu (Carrol Cox)
Reply-to: cbcox at ilstu.edu
You are not describing a cultural difference -- you are describing a
_political_ difference. PLO operates the way in which Clinton (or FDR
for that matter) would operate, not the way a left political organizer
operates. Your ascribing this to a cultural difference between Israelis
and Palestinians is as unacceptable as your earlier clumsy formulations.
"Cultural differences" is a euphemism today for racial differences. When
in a discussion with a white student I finally made him see, at least
vaguely, that there was no such thing as a "black race" (or any other
race), he retreated to, guess what, cultural differences.
I figured a presidential candidate would be relatively young & vigorous.
I'm 71. I slipped in my first post into more personal allegations than
are useful, but you seem to be striving to emulate or surpass me in that
respect.
What you write, as written, independently from any guesses as to the
true inner heart of the writer, is racist -- and would be silently (with
approval) taken in that way by millions of "non-racist" readers.
Carrol
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