Linux drove me to get a Mac

CLIFFORD ILKAY clifford_ilkay-biY6FKoJMRdBDgjK7y7TUQ at public.gmane.org
Mon Jan 12 20:31:28 UTC 2009


E K wrote:
> "you should be able
> to understand how people can make sweeping and wrong generalizations
> about people of your ancestry, for example. I'll bet you don't like it
> when people do that. "
> 
> Does one have to resort to thinly hidden racism to make a point?

Oh please. Not the racism card. Perhaps I was too subtle. People who
have experienced racism first-hand, as I suspect the original poster may
have and I have, should be even more attuned to the folly of making
sweeping generalizations about groups of people than those who haven't.
That isn't to say that people who haven't experienced racism first-hand
can be excused for not being mindful of this or are insensitive. It just
means that having experienced the ugliness of racism or hostility just
for being a member of some identifiable group, that ought to make one be
more careful about not committing the same sins against others.

> The difference here was opinion, preference and belief.

Attributing things to "opinion, preference and belief" seems to be the
last resort of those who can't make an argument for or against
something. You don't have to look very hard on-line to find bigots who
say, for example, that "all Muslims are terrorists". They can also hide
behind the "opinion, preference and belief" shield but they would be
just as ignorant and wrong as someone who labels subscribers to this
list as "scary" just because some, perhaps many, of them happen to
promote free software.

You can argue that the case of the anti-Muslim bigots is worse but that
would be arguing over shades of grey. Mischaracterizations of the
"other" have historically led to rather unpleasant things and they
invariably start with seemingly innocuous things, like labelling the
"other" as "scary". In this case, that can have very real and negative
consequences if a sufficient number of people who share the same
ignorant beliefs as the original poster encourage politicians to pass
stinky laws like the DMCA in the U.S. and the contemplated Bill C-61 here.

> The conversation and intensity could have happened among any group of 
> the _same_ancestory_ who happened fanatical about their belief.

And it would have been just as stupid and unacceptable in that case.

> It is just a sad reality in Canadian hidden racism that you got first
> to check "your ancestory" before you make your inconvinient point.

Just like anyone else, the original poster has the right to say whatever
he wants, even if he says idiotic things, but I have every right to
challenge him if I disagree.
-- 
Regards,

Clifford Ilkay
Dinamis
1419-3266 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON
Canada  M4N 3P6

<http://dinamis.com>
+1 416-410-3326
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