----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, January 07, 2002 2:40 PM Subject: Re: [rehfans] REH and racism
> Dear Scotty: > > Certainly I did not suppose the quotes cited by Patrice were taken out > of context but not being aware of these sources, I must defer to Patrice's > response. Being a racist is quite a label to pin on someone, which is why I > said REH had racist views. I do not know what larger picture I need to look > at; certainly the quoted portions seem racist to me. But the best response > is that given by Dennis, who said he thought it looked as if the Archie > Bunker character was based on REH. Well, Nino, they are only part of the letter's text. I concede that Patrice may not want to share the whole text at this point, and that's fine, but any quote taken out of a body is modified by the complete text, and in relation to other events in a person's life. On that basis, I cannot let quotes stand as the sole arbiter that Howard is a racist. Another point, I already elaborated on, is that the terminology used by most people is undefined. So people say racist when they really should be saying "prejudiced" or similar. I did in one email state the terminology I am using to define prejudice and racism (racialism) and I believe I'm the only one to ever have done so, so that people can accurately judge what I am saying, based on those definitions. I agree, and already did, with Dennis too, in good part. However, Archie Bunker was always seen as a bigot, not a racist. Let us make the distinction if we seek the truth, and accuracy in our studies. It's been a long time since I watched Archie, but it seems I recall that he was all talk and no action, the mark of a bigot. To become a racist, he would have had to put his racial prejudice into action, action that would have a cause/effect relation on a minority person, or group. In case I'm wrong about the Archie reference, it doesn't matter, because I've qualified it. Your best line is that "it seemed racist to me", which is fair enough, but if you accept that there is a difference between thinking prejudicially, and acting prejudicially, then we have made ground. It's like the guy who keeps threatening to punch you in the face one day, all talk, no action, until he commits. You probably know from being a lawyer, that one is a threat, and the other is an assault. You would be the first to point this out to me if I kept calling a threat and assault. I suggest that you, and everyone else, read the article Mark Hall posted to Hyborian Thoughts on Yahoo on Howard's racism within the Conan stories. The author, Lorenzo.Ditommaso, also refers to Fritz Leiber and other fantasy authors for comparison on race handling and "race consciousness", a term that he uses to distinguish race usage from racism. In fact, I think you will find that he is saying many of the things I have been championing, including refuting de Camp, Schweitzer, and Weinberg. His additional comments about whether Howard was a racist, versus use of race consciousness in his stories, are right on target with what I have been saying. Scotty Henderson
