Klarinet Archive - Posting 000243.txt from 1999/02

From: DHmorgan@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Women and orchestras
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 1999 03:44:13 -0500

In a message dated 2/5/99 8:38:40 PM Pacific Standard Time,
charette@-----.org writes:

<< I don't understand why it would be unfortunate. They'd be excluded on
playing style. That's all - not based on anything but style. The purpose
of the audition, no less, assuming basic competency.>>

I am talking about the possibility of some people being systematically
excluded from certain enterprises FOR NO OTHER GOOD REASON THAN THEIR RACE OR
GENDER. You keep on inventing reasons other than race and gender and saying
its o.k. for people to be excluded for those reasons. And of course, I agree.

<<There was an article recently in SciAm (within the last year) on race.
Race is hardly quantifiable by skin color or physical measurements - DNA
_is_ being used as a new classification method. It is reputed to be much
more reliable in showing similar groupings than the older methods. If
your definition of race is based skin color, then it's a very different
definition than mine. >>

Sure--there is only one race of humans. That's the only scientific
understanding of race. As far as the different variations within that race,
that's what geneticists busy themselves with and it has nothing to do with the
perception of group membership which is the sine qua non of our society's
ideas of race. Skin tone will not determine any reliable genetic pattern,
sure, but it will determine whether a real estate agent will kick you out of
their office without showing you properties, skin tone will determine if you
will be arbitrarily denied a job, and it will determine whether or not someone
ties you to your truck and drags you to death because they consider you 'a
nigger'.

Don

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