To:
letters@guardian.co.uk Date: Wednesday 11 May 05 |
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Dear Martin,
Judging from what you
write in "The
shame in Spain" (nice
title, by the way), you
obviously didn't agree with
anything I wrote to you on 16
April and 3 May in
response to "The Middle
Kingdom Mentality".
I hadn't realised
that you are a Marxist, who in
my experience, are generally
intellectuals who believe they
understand the world and
human nature better than most,
but in many respects are badly
mistaken, and while meaning
well, in fact, help create or
make worse many of the
problems they wish to resolve.
What you write about
expressions of white
"racism" towards
black football players in
Spain, makes matters worse,
not better, for black people,
because you confirm them in
their role as victims of white
men's "racism". It
castes you in the role of a
knight in shining armour,
fighting the dragon (of white
racism) and protecting the
fair (or rather, black)
damsel, but what it does is
force the damsel into a
passive, victim role
(confirming her fears of
inferiority). Perhaps that is
what the knight in his
shinning armour, and the
damsel, subconsciously
want, thus creating niches for
themselves in the
socio-economic environment, but
I am quite sure that it is not
in the enlightened
self-interest of either of
them.
If I went to a
football match, China vs.
England, and found that half
the Chinese players were
Europeans, I would be very
disappointed and if some of
the spectators started jeering
the white Chinese players, I
would understand why. It is a
question of identity,
in which race is an important
component. I associate the
Chinese with certain racial
characteristics, and if they
are missing I have difficulty
accepting them as being
Chinese. That, I suggest, is
the reason why England's black
players were jeered in Spain.
They expected the English to
be white, just as I expect a
Chinaman to look Chinese. By
misinterpreting that as
"racism" you are
doing a great and dangerous disservice
to everyone.
By denying the
importance of race, confusing and
condemning as
"racist" any
expression of, especially
white (European), racial
identity, you are
attempting to suppress deep
and powerful feelings. You may
seem to be succeeding (aided
by the shock we are all still
under caused by the Nazi's -
not just criminal, but insane
- misuse of the concept of
race), but sooner or later
they will reassert themselves.
They need to be accepted,
understood and channelled in
rational and humane fashion,
not suppressed. Otherwise, you
will help create (are already
well on the way to creating)
the very racial conflicts that
you seek to avoid.
I don't know much
about Marx, except that he
meant well and was a great
admirer of Darwin - to the
extent of wanting to dedicate
Das Kapital to him. However, I
don't think he could have
really understood the
implications of Darwin's
theory of evolution in respect
to man's animal origins. Which
are that our entire
socio-economic order is deeply
rooted in our animal nature,
which our capitalist,
free-market economy has
developed and been honed to
exploit (fear, greed,
competitiveness, the desire
for a free or cheap lunch, for
power, social status etc.).
This is why in many respects
it works so well.
Unfortunately, apart from
being inherently unjust and
inhumane, it is also fundamentally
unsustainable. Roger Hicks
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