[Vision2020] salad bowl/was Interfaith Panel Thurs. May 15

Tue May 13 18:17:46 PDT 2008

Kai,

I absolutely disagree with you.  I think the 'fruit salad' concept more accurately describes our society than the 'melting pot' and I certainly favor the continued existence of your daughter and family as well as my own.  My kids are also a mix of ethnicities, and to a lesser degree, cultures, and there's plenty of room for them in the bowl.

I'm not arguing that the melting pot is a bad idea at all.  I'd have preferred it to be an accurate description of our society.  But the people who over the years have called me a  fucking Iranian/Iraqi/raghead have subtly indicated to me that they don't accept my identity as an American, one I clung to while growing up far away.  [Let me add that this has only happened to me once in Idaho, while it happened way too often in California.  And I'm not looking for anyone to apologize to me or feel sorry for me; I'm simply presenting why my experiences have led me to this opinion]

So I think it's silly for me to think I simply blend in in the melting pot.  I don't, no matter how much I would have preferred my appearance not to be an issue.  But I am part of the mix, as are my kids.  I don't think it gets us to apartheid, and it's certainly not how I live.

Sunil

From: editor at lataheagle.com
To: sunilramalingam at hotmail.com
CC: vision2020 at mail-gw.fsr.net
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Interfaith Panel Thurs. May 15
Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 17:59:41 -0700

"In the fruit salad, the components are 
clearly distinct; ethnic boundaries are intact, and reflexively "rooted" 
identities are secure and stable"

In this world, my daughter would not exist. 
The "ethnic boundaries" would not have allowed for a Euro/Native American/Latina 
child because the "ethnic boundaries" would have been crossed.
(Euro/Latina is redundant, Spain, which 
conquered much of the Americas, is a European country)
So, lets see, a white guy with a German 
surname, Eiselein, marries a woman with a Spanish surname, Rodriguez, who's 
father is a full blooded Coeur d'Alene, and they produce a child that fits into 
none of the "ethnic boundaries" and "rooted identities" thereby screwing up the 
flavor of the entire freaking "salad".

Reminds me of a story I read a long time 
ago in which a white father was explaining was explaining to his child 
how apartheid was like a parfait, with distinct lines and levels (With 
clear/white being at the top, of course.) I would be at the top, my ex would be 
much lower, but above blacks, and our daughter would be somewhere between 
us.
Sorry, not buying it. This 'fruit 
salad" rationale has too much potential to lead straight back to apartheid 
and Jim Crow.

From: Sunil Ramalingam 
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 5:23 PM
Cc: vision2020 at mail-gw.fsr.net 
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Interfaith Panel Thurs. May 
15

I don't think anyone's saying 'Separate,' Kai.  I'll bet 
Chas does say 'Equal,' though.

Sunil

> From: editor at lataheagle.com
> To: chasuk at gmail.com; hend5953 at vandals.uidaho.edu
> 
Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 16:53:13 -0700
> CC: vision2020 at mail-gw.fsr.net; donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com
> 
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Interfaith Panel Thurs. May 15
> 
> Fruit 
salad? Or to put it more simply, "Separate, but equal"?
> 
> 

> Now, where have I heard that before?????
> 
> 
--------------------------------------------------
> From: "Chasuk" 
<chasuk at gmail.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 4:36 PM
> To: 
"Mo Hendrickson" <hend5953 at vandals.uidaho.edu>
> Cc: "Donovan 
Arnold" <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com>; 
> 
<vision2020 at mail-gw.fsr.net>
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Interfaith 
Panel Thurs. May 15
> 
> > On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 3:26 PM, 
Donovan Arnold
> > <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com> asked:
> 
>
> >> Why are some people so obsessed with a person's gender, 
race, religion, 
> >> and
> >> sexual orientation? Does 
it matter?
> >
> > On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 3:54 PM, Mo 
Hendrickson
> > <hend5953 at vandals.uidaho.edu> replied:
> 
>
> >> It is important that we realize the inherent worth in all 
people
> >> for what they have to contribute to the betterment of 
our nation and 
> >> world.
> >
> > And:
> 
>
> >> We all should be trying to make spaces for diversity to 
enter
> >> into the conversation so that one day we won't need to 
rely on those
> >> categories.
> >
> > For Mo's 
first point, unconditional agreement. For his latter point,
> > I 
provisionally agree, as long as we are not talking about
> > 
homogenizing those categories to the point that they are nonexistent.
> 
> I'm not a melting pot proponent (an assimilationist). I'm a fruit
> 
> salad proponent (a multiculturalist). The Mauritian Catholic priest
> 
> Henri Souchon spoke of fruit salad and fruit compote. I wish I 
could
> > quote him directly, but I am depressingly monolingual. But I 
can
> > quote from someone who explicates his point very well:
> 
>
> > http://folk.uio.no/geirthe/Multiculturalism.html
> 
>
> > "... Souchon sees two possible scenarios for Mauritius 
regarding the
> > relationship between ethnic boundaries and the 
formation of identity
> > categories oblivious to ethnicity. He calls 
them the fruit salad and
> > the fruit compote, respectively. In the 
fruit salad, the components
> > are clearly distinct; ethnic boundaries 
are intact, and reflexively
> > "rooted" identites are secure and 
stable. In the fruit compote, on the
> > other hand, the different 
fruits are squashed and mixed together with
> > substantial use of 
force. (This metaphor, it may be noted, is a
> > variant of the 
American melting pot metaphor.) The result of the
> > compote de fruit, 
in père Souchon's view, would be uprootedness,
> > nihilism and 
confusion. He himself therefore supports the fruit salad
> > 
variety..."
> >
> > I was in a bookstore in Vancouver, B.C. a 
few years ago and read some
> > translated Souchon expressing these 
ideas, and they spoke to my
> > cosmopolitan soul. I've thought of 
myself as a fruit salad guy ever
> > since.
> >
> > 
Chas
> >
> > 
=======================================================
> > List 
services made available by First Step Internet,
> > serving the 
communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> > http://www.fsr.net
> 
> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> > 
=======================================================
> >
> Kai 
Eiselein
> Editor, Latah Eagle 
> 
> 
=======================================================
> List services 
made available by First Step Internet, 
> serving the communities of the 
Palouse since 1994. 
> http://www.fsr.net 
> 
mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> 
=======================================================

=======================================================
 List 
services made available by First Step Internet, 
 serving the 
communities of the Palouse since 1994.   

http://www.fsr.net                       

mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
======================================================= 

Kai Eiselein
Editor, Latah 
Eagle
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