This is my last on this particular topic (sorry Doug; I really thought that I was through).
Michael Atherton says: "The problem is that Mr. Cross and others will try to use this to discredit my position to maintain the status quo." I suppose that I would be considered in the above quote under "others." As an anthropology major, I studied many cultures and find Atherton's rhetoric about them disturbing. I've posted on culture here before in a tongue and cheek contribution titled "Darwinian Views of Minneapolis," responding to posts titled "Republican Views of Minneapolis," but culture is pretty serious business to me. (Although I wrote it in a satiric piece, this definition of culture is pretty much how I view the phenomenon: "A city is an artifact of culture and DNA is the main genetic material of life; more broadly, one definition of culture taught to me not so long ago is information passed vertically and horizontally between generations of animals independent of genes, i.e., other than genetic information/DNA.") When I see the kind of unsupported dogma spouted about the features of various cultures, I become upset; this is mainly because I have learned that the features of cultures around the world are amazingly similar, almost universal, whether one is describing upper middle class "whites" in Minneapolis or Kung San bushmen in Africa. Everything one sees is variation on a theme with particular disturbing twists on very old themes popping up in what we like to think as our modern culture of democracy. We can do much better. At the risk of being barred from this list, I would say that Atherton's rhetoric typifies the worst sort of perversion of the democratic ideal in our culture. A more personal response might suggest the man does not know that about which he is talking, but far be it from me to do that in blatant disregard of the list rules. Many might find my own views on "race" uniquely disturbing--I don't really recognize the term as a useful concept in most contexts except ethnicity and the real cultural variation in the world, based on unique interactions of human beings with their environment over the period of our evolution--however, I find them quite comforting. In fact, in Minneapolis, I think that we are likely to see the betterment of our city if we all ignored the traditional concept of "race." Bill Kahn Prospect Park REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
