| From: | Stuart M. Willis hbiki@****.geocities.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | [OT]: Sorry, one more time and I'm over it: |
| Date: | Fri, 21 May 1999 19:52:58 +1000 |
>advantage of
>it or not. As soon as we can safely abolish quotas then we will have a
>utopian
>society.
It won't.
Your conception of 'justice' and 'non-racism' is treating everyone
absolutely equally, regardless of any factors.
that'd be nice is everyone was equal. and everyone had the same opportunities.
problem is we aren't equal, and we don't have the same opportunities.
so doing nothing to rectify those inequalities is going to achieve nothing.
it won't be just, it won't be utopian... it will just maintain the status
quo.
(I will give one quick example in the vain hope that you can understand:
For much of Australia's recent history Aboriginals were external to British
law. They had separate healthcare, wages, and work conditions. In fact, it
wasn't illegal to pay Aboriginals nothing. And this is often what occured.
They were simply granted lodging and food. Its a bit hard to acquire land
through effort when you are paid nothing; and its impossible to inherit
land when your family owns none. This was finally overturned with the
referrendum of 1967. Only then were the Aboriginal people as a whole
allowed to earn money equivilent to other Australians. Still its hard to
acquire land when other family's have been living off inheritances for
centuries. For example, I am living on property that has been in my family
for nearly 100 years. Same with the Pastrolists. Thats why there have been
large Aboriginal Land funds setup, to buy back - legally - traditional
Aboriginal land. That may seem, prime facie, racist. But doing nothing
would merely reinforce the racism of the past.)
In other words: Individuals do not exist in a cultural and historical
vacuum. They have a context which helps construct who they are, it is
integral to their being. 'Formal' Justice/Equality ignores all context -
destroying all notions of an individual.
That is the last thing I will have to say on this matter before I leave it
to die.
care,
s.
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