[lit-ideas] Re: How to Draw a Crowd
- From: "Simon Ward" <sedward@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 10:41:55 -0000
Eric: "Economic inequality is the most pervasive inequality right now and
that's not something that can be legislated away. So racism is promoted
instead."
I don't believe the two - economic inequality and racism - are as seperated
as your note implies. If everybody started off on a mythical level playing
field with the same wealth and the same opportunities and then, ten years
down the line, there was a clear distinction between the fortunes of blacks
and whites at which point your lawyers and lobbyists appear shouting racial
inequality, I'd say you have a point.
However, the real world situation is a lot different. The black minority
started off with no wealth, no rights and no effective outlook. If, in the
present, there remains a disproportionate number of blacks in the poorest
percentiles of the economy, how much is a result of past and present
injustices that need to be reconciled and how much is a result of your
lobbyists and lawyers holding on to the status quo for the sake of their
'business'.
For the record I agree that economic inequality is the real issue, but I'd
also note that racial inequality is, for the most part, expressed as an
economic disparity. Fix the economic inequality and you'll also go a long
way to fixing the racial aspect.
Simon
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