{"id":3951,"date":"2018-04-21T22:29:15","date_gmt":"2018-04-22T04:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayharvey.org\/?p=3951"},"modified":"2018-04-21T22:36:21","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T04:36:21","slug":"another-form-of-collective-tribalism-of-the-most-barbaric-kind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayharvey.org\/index.php\/2018\/04\/another-form-of-collective-tribalism-of-the-most-barbaric-kind\/","title":{"rendered":"“Another Form of Collective-Tribalism — Of The Most Barbaric Kind”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Indian who visited Kristy at his work was tall and thin and handsome. He had very white teeth and a kind smile. He was middle-aged, clean-shaven. His polished shoes gleamed like obsidian. He wore a black suit-jacket and a navy-blue necktie, his thick hair cut high-and-tight.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cYou\u2019re Native,\u201d the man said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cYes,\u201d Kristy said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhat tribe?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cNavajo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cDin\u00e9,\u201d the man said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cYes,\u201d Kristy said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhat does that word mean? I\u2019ve never known.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt means \u2018The People.\u2019 Some say it means \u2018Children of the Chosen People.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cVery interesting. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tKristy didn\u2019t reply.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cYou\u2019re a minority,\u201d the man said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cYou\u2019re part of a subordinate group whose members have significantly less control and power over their lives than members of a majority group.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI\u2019m a human being.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cYou\u2019re part of a group that experiences a narrowing of opportunities — by which I mean, success, education, wealth, and so forth — which is disproportionately low compared to your group\u2019s numbers in the society.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI\u2019m an individual. That is the smallest minority there is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cYoung man, you should have an awareness of subordination and a stronger sense of group solidarity, if you\u2019ll permit me to say. You are a victim of privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI don\u2019t feel like a victim. I feel like an individual human being.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAnd yet you might be entitled to certain — you know — reparations which are owed to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI don\u2019t want them,\u201d Kristy said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cNo? Why?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBecause you cannot correct injustice with more injustice. The only way to correct injustice is to allow equality before the law. You cannot correct racism with more racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhat I\u2019m describing is hardly racism. I frankly find it a little offensive that you imply this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI imply<\/em> no such thing,\u201d Kristy said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI\u2019m sorry. That\u2019s how it sounded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cLike an implication?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThen I haven\u2019t made myself clear: I\u2019m stating very explicitly that what you\u2019re espousing is racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe tall slender man raised his eyebrows and unconsciously stepped back one pace.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cRacism,\u201d Kristy said, \u201cin addition to being another deterministic philosophy, is also another form of collective-tribalism — of the most barbaric kind. It is a primitive ideology that tries to grant moral-sociological significance to one\u2019s DNA code. It holds that human character is at least to some extent the result of one\u2019s genetic chemistry. It ascribes moral worth to racial pedigree and the genes we\u2019ve inherited. But that\u2019s the opposite of what\u2019s actually true: our rational faculty determines our character. Race is unchosen. Moral worth and character apply only to the realm of choice. Humans are the rational animal. And rationality is a choice. Thinking is a choice. We are born with the rational faculty, yes, which is biological and genetic, but the convictions and thoughts and ideas which shape our minds which in turn shape our actions which in turn shape our character — this is not inherited. This is chosen. Racism is a desire to achieve virtue merely by virtue of one\u2019s genetic inheritance. It\u2019s not so easy or simplistic: Virtue \u2014 by definition \u2014 must be chosen, or it falls outside the realm of morality. Now please leave me alone.\u201d
\n<\/br>
\n ______________________________________________<\/strong>
\nNote:<\/em><\/p>\n

This is Chapter 7. <\/p>\n

The full book<\/a> is available in bookstores everywhere<\/a>.
\n<\/br><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/br>
\n<\/br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Indian who visited Kristy at his work was tall and thin and handsome. He had very white teeth and a kind smile. He was middle-aged, clean-shaven. His polished shoes gleamed like obsidian. He wore a black suit-jacket and a navy-blue necktie, his thick hair cut high-and-tight. \u201cYou\u2019re Native,\u201d the man said. \u201cYes,\u201d Kristy said. … <\/p>\n

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