to ray benton, chicagoite
from bill dugger, ex chicagoite

hey ray, good to hear from you.  An example of a hardened mode of inequality
in the USA is racial discrimination against African Americans.  European
Americans now have their racist attitudes reinforced, not by men in white
robes and capes with tobacco juice running down their chins, but by media
pundits, scientific bell curve riders, judges, and many other leaders of all
our institutions.  Affirmative action, a watered down attempt to adjust at
the margins, has convinced most European Americans that the problem has been
solved and that racial discrimination no longer exists--objecting African
Americans are now seen by the culture of contentment as just a bunch of
whiners.  So, it has become much harder to attract African American students
to public universities in the key states of Texas and California.  (Numerous
articles in New York Times)   Also, public school systems in most of the
major cities are withering up due to white flight and the growth of private
schools--all racist phenomena but all rationalized away by the best and the
brightest of American life.  In short, the mild marginal changes of the 1960s
and 1970s have caused the support mechanism for racism to become much more
sophisticated.  The enabling myths of racism have become "scientific"  (bell
curves and such) and "democratic" (reverse discrimination and such).  With
tougher enabling myths, racism itself has become more entrenched in this
culture.  So President Clinton can mouth all kinds of wonderful things, but
then act in such a way as to cut off any real attack on racism at the knees.
And, European Americans know just what he is doing and they support him in
doing it--except for the dwindling crowd who prefer the hoods, robes, and
tobacco juice.

Now, when folks like me raise the issue of reparations and such, we are
considered so far out of it as to not even warrant attention.  Before the
hardening of racism, before its most recent innoculation against real reform,
reparations and other real reforms were at least worthy of attention.  Now,
they are not.  That is one example of what I mean.  I think other similar
arguments and evidence  in re sexism, jingoism, and classism could also be
dug up pretty easily.

What do you think Ray?