[PEN-L:3800] Re: Papa Doc and the Social Construction of Race

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx>]

"This is how we define .. . in this country." This definition or usage
of "social construction" exhibits exactly the ambiguity of the term
which has led me to avoid it. If this is what people mean by social
construction of racism, then it is off the wall. It rather exhibits
Humpty-Dumpty construction of racism, and finds its support in
Lewis Carroll rather than (say) in Ted Allen.

Carrol


Michael Perelman wrote:

> A reporter supposedly asked Papa Doc, what percentage of the population
> of Haiti is white? Papa Doc responded 90 percent.  The reporter could
> not believe what he heard.  He asked several times to make sure that got
> the right answer.  Each time Papa Doc responded in an identical
> fashion.  Finally, Papa Doc turned to the reporter and asked to, how he
> defined black people in United States of America?  The reporter said
> that they were people with some black blood. Exactly, Papa Doc
> responded.  That is the way we define white people will in this country.
>
> --
> Michael Perelman
> Economics Department
> California State University
> Chico, CA 95929
>
> Tel. 530-898-5321
> E-Mail michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx