Matthew Devany wrote: > Despite Michael Atherton's uncited research that proves "integration alone > does not reduce prejudice," it is beyond belief that "contact" does not > promote greater understanding of the cares, concerns, and values of > competing classes, races, ethnicities, genders, etc. You can't really > understand someone else's POV from a listserve discussion.
Thank you for asking. :-) I hope that I will always be able to cite a reference to support a position that I don't identify as opinion. The reference in question is one of my Top Ten Books. I loved this book, very easy reading, and fascinating. It's really a textbook, but you'd never know it. It does a very balanced review of the literature: "Group Dynamics," by Donelson R. Forsyth. If you believe that it's "... beyond belief that "contact" does not promote greater understanding..." it's best to read chapters 12 Conflict, 13 Conflict Between Groups, and 15 Groups and Change; just might change your mind. W. Brandon Lacy Campos wrote: > Further, "diversity" in and of itself has NEVER caused conflict. The > presence of diversity absent oppression does not cause conflict. Oppression > causes conflict. Differential power relationships cause conflict. If you put > six two year olds in a room from various racial/ethnic backgrounds they will > not spontaneously break into warfare. Oppressive behavior is learned. It is > a social construct of the deadliest variety. It is in no way natural or > inherent to our genetic coding. Thank God that since it is a construct, it > can be deconstructed. > I beg to differ. Merely dividing individuals into two "different" groups is enough to cause conflict, oppression has nothing to do with it. Marx was wrong about human nature. I believe that diversity can exist without conflict only in fairly affluent societies in which the respect for rights of individuals is ingrained in the culture. I think that you should read the reference cited above. Doug Mann wrote: > It seems to me that racial prejudice is based upon and reinforces an unequal > distribution of wealth and power between blacks and whites. That's what > racism is all about, in my opinion. The underlying problem is a social > system and a political system based on economic exploitation and nourished by > racism, sexism, elitism, and heterosexism. > I agree that racial prejudice is fostered by class differences, but it is by far not the only type of discrimination used to justify the superiority of one class over another. > I have said that the quality of education provided to blacks in racially > segregated school systems is generally inferior to the quality of education > provided to whites. Desegregating schools by integrating them by race and > class puts pressure on the school administration to equalize the facilities. > That's why I am in favor of desegregated schools. > I don't agree with Mr. Mann on this point. I don't believe that desegregation has helped improve the quality of education (although it might have minimally improved it for Black students, but the gap will never be completely eliminated solely by integration). Generally, it has just promoted a demographic shift out of urban areas to the suburbs. I believe that forced integration has failed as a social experiment. I think we need to move on and focus on insuring a quality education for all students regardless of race and geographic location. I think that Minneapolis WAS going in the right direction with it's emphasis on community schools, and I still believe that there are ways that it can be done economically (if one thinks outside of the box). Michael Atherton Prospect Park _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
