[Vision2020] Diversity 1,2,3

[Douglas]

Visionaries,

In sum, there is no such thing as the white race, and they have been guilty 
of some awful crimes.

Cordially,

Douglas Wilson



At 06:19 PM 10/31/2003 -0800, you wrote:
>Rodney asks:
>
> >So here we sit, long story short, in the city of Pullman (founded by
> >whom?), in the State of Washington (constituted by whom?), in the hallowed
> >halls of WSU (started by whom?), surrounded by wheat fields (first tilled
> >by whom?), poised in front of our digital displays (invented by
> >whom?--forget about who manufactured it), arguing over the merits and
> >contributions of, well, just about our very existence I guess.
>
>Far from demonstrating your point about the "obvious contributions of the 
>white race," Rodney, I think your paragraph demonstrates how easy it is 
>for us to imagine that "white race" means something.  There's just one 
>race:  human.  Internal variation among various groups of humans exceeds 
>variation across groups.  (Take a look at the AAA "Statement on 'race,'" 
><http://www.aanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm>www.aanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm). 
>Definitions of what constitutes "white"
>have varied immensely across time.  Are the Spanish white?  Are the 
>Jewish?  Both Sephardic and Ashkenazi?  And what about the Greeks, the 
>Slavs, and the Italians?  Different ages have given different answers.
>
>Your examples seem to imply that the city of Pullman, the state of 
>Washington, WSU, and computers are the "inventions" of white people -- and 
>we might even say white men -- and in one sense, they are.  In a nation 
>founded on the principle that black people are property, that women are 
>property, that non-white/non-English-speaking immigrants are dangerous, 
>and that the First Nations are to be exterminated, one wouldn't expect to 
>see many women, people of color, or immigrants empowered to found 
>colleges, states,
>or towns.  My goodness, my grandmother was born into a United States in 
>which women couldn't vote, in which Native People couldn't vote, in which 
>most black people were not permitted to vote.  We couldn't go to most 
>colleges, couldn't work in most offices, couldn't hold elected office, 
>weren't allowed access to many professional positions . . .
>
>Nevertheless, there would be no Pullman without the Chinese who built 
>railroads, cities, and businesses from East to West, all while they being 
>denied the most basic of human rights.  Our nation developed as it did in 
>part because of the prosperity and wealth created by a slave economy for a 
>small white elite; there would have been no cotton mills in New England 
>without slaves in the South.  No university without the French, who 
>founded the very first one in 1170, closely followed by the Germans, the 
>Portuguese and the Spanish -- only some of whom are presently defined as 
>"white" in the U.S.  No rule of law without Hammurabi's Code -- thank you, 
>Turkey and Iraq.  No democracy without the Athenians and the Iroquois -- 
>but in 1915, we didn't want too many of those "non-white" Greeks to 
>immigrate, and we'd done our best to extirpate the Iroquois.
>
>Why would my existence, or yours, be endangered by acknowledging that 
>everything of value to us did not come from the hands or brain of a white 
>person (whatever we imagine that to mean) and that the systematic 
>privileging of some people in our society has resulted in 
>injustice?  Diversity is not a word I'm particularly crazy about as a 
>rallying point:  I think justice works a whole lot better.  A racist 
>society is not a just one.  A sexist society is not a just one.
>Finally, Rodney asks,
>
> >Would you, in your OFFICIAL capacity at WSU'S Office of Diversity and
> >Human Relations, EMBRACE the inclusion of the League of the South as a
> >student group?  [Hint: the words "official" and "embrace" are emphasized
> >for a reason.]
>
>Would I, as the Director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Allies Program 
>or as a member of the HRD staff (my OFFICIAL role at WSU), EMBRACE a 
>student branch of the League of the South?  The opportunity would not 
>arise.  You're thinking, perhaps, of Student Affairs?
>
>Would I strive to prohibit the establishment of a student League of the 
>South?  No, I emphatically would not.
>
>Would I encourage critical thinking among its members, and public dialogue 
>and debate about the goals and purpose of the League and its role on our 
>campus?  Absolutely.  With all my heart.
>Melynda Huskey
>(preparing to put four candles on a chocolate cake for the sweetest 
>birthday boy in Moscow)
>
>
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