An apology to Caligastia

[chequita guevara]

In a thread in the OT about Rush Limbaugh's comments on McNabb I got lazy, and as a result, engaged in a bit of vitriolic hyperbole against Caligastia. Rather than debating the substance of his comment, I simply dismissed him, saying "Mr never met a Black person he didn't feel was inferior."

I apologize for this comment. I realize Caligastia doesn't feel superior to ever Black person he's ever met or seen or heard of, and to write that was inconsiderate and wrong.

[Asmodean]

PM him, or post the apology in the OT. He is more likely to see it there.

Asmodean

[Caligastia]

Thanks Che, I want everyone here to understand that while I do believe that average abilities vary between different races, I regard each person as an individual, and individuals don't necessarily comform to the average for their race.

In short, my beliefs are not based on hate. Please don't lump me in with the KKK crowd.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Asmodean
PM him, or post the apology in the OT. He is more likely to see it there.

Asmodean

It isn't simply a matter of apologizing to Cali. I should let everyone else know as well.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Cal, I think you have to acknowledge that, whatever dressing of objectivity you apply to it, that's a dubious philosophy. It's caused you problems before and will continue to do so.

[TCO]

I agree that it is a dubious philosophy. But so is gravity.

[Dinner]

So Newton's apple fell up to the sun?

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp
Cal, I think you have to acknowledge that, whatever dressing of objectivity you apply to it, that's a dubious philosophy. It's caused you problems before and will continue to do so.

The thing is, I think it's intellectually dishonest for anyone to act as if the question of racial differences has been scientifically settled once and for all. There are respected scientists on both sides of the issue. It is possible to side with the racial explanation without coming from an attitude of hate or an egotistical feeling of superiority. While I understand why most people make the assumption that someone who believes in racial differences must be hateful, I still think it's wrong. Allowing emotion to eclipse any attempt at discussion gets us nowhere.

You may be suprised to hear that I consider all races equally important when it comes to what really matters. By this I mean that all races are equally loved by God, and all have a purpose in his plan. Whether you believe in God or not, you and I can both agree that all races have value. I think we can also agree that all humans are, quite literally, brothers and sisters. Accepting this fact would do a lot more to improve race relations than pretending that group differences do not exist IMO.

What do you think?

[PLATO]

Very Big of you Che. I am sure that all that have seen you post know that you are not prone to personal belittlement. (Political belittlement being a TOTALLY different subject. )

[DRoseDARs]

I'm not an orinthologist (whatever the proper spelling for: bird researcher), but I know that there are species of birds that, within their own breed, have differing abilities from other breeds, even though they are the same species.

Why are Humans any different?

I agree with Cal (though this is the first time I've seen this on-going discussion of "race" and so forth) that "race" is a real thing within the Human condition. Only truly ignorant people would use that distinction to determine arbitrarily whose racially superior to whom. The real differences are likely to be very sutble, but to dismiss them out of hand is just dumb.

To me, having a multitude of different races make Humans Human. We get so many different cultures, religions, languages, traditions, styles, art forms...

...perspectives on the Human condition. It makes us beautiful. To disregard what "race" gives us diminishes us all.

[NOTE] You have to play with how one defines "species" and "race" without using the "racist" modifier card to see what I'm getting at. [/NOTE]

[Theben]

How about an apology for the "little brothers are inferior" crap?

[The Mad Monk]

You mean they're not?

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by TCO
I agree that it is a dubious philosophy. But so is gravity.

I would have said morning wood

[Theben]

*puts Mad Monk on list*

[MikeH]

Originally posted by Caligastia


The thing is, I think it's intellectually dishonest for anyone to act as if the question of racial differences has been scientifically settled once and for all.

Well... the main problem is that the 'racial' approach tends to focus on skin colour when all the scientific research I've seen so far on the matter shows that whilst there are 'race' differences in many physical attributes they aren't linked to something as visibly obvious as skin colour. It's more to do with the exact region/climate that the group being studied comes from. I think that the obvious visible different between skin colours can get in the way of looking at what really causes groups to vary depending on where they are from.