Politically incorrect in some respects, but PC in others?
We have, of course, come a long way as a nation and a people. We now understand, at least I hope we do, that race is not a fact of nature, not a biological reality; it is, rather, the product of history, an ideological construct that has taught men and women what physical attributes to notice and what meaning to attach to them. Even the most apparently immutable racial characteristics can be altered by a single act of miscegenation. If there is no biological support for racial differences, then there is no biological justification for racial inequality. It is no dreamy romanticism to insist that there is but one race. Although race is unreal, the consequences of racism have been real enough. If race is a fiction, it is a fiction worth disposing of once and for all, since it has done far more harm than good and since it more often than not has proven a national disgrace.Race may not be a substance with an essence in its own right, but as a reference to a cluster of genetic lineages which exhibit certain physical characteristics (with some variability), is there not some reality to it, more than the author is willing to concede? The use of the word "immutable" is misleading.
Then there's the panegyric...
Related:
Obama will be using the occasion for the inauguration of his second term as well.
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