Date:  Mon, 3 Nov 1997 16:27:56 -0600
From:  "Emerson, Jessie J" <jjemerso[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]INGR.COM>
Subject: Re: "race" (was PC Dictionaries?the N word? racism? race?)

It was my point that the division into races of pre-anthropologists was,
indeed, exactly how the word "race" as a "racist" term came to be used
in this country (and in Britain, as well); and not just against anyone
who happened to be black, but against anyone who happened not to have
"caucasian" features (Native American, Jewish, Asian, etc.). This same
application of "race" was one of the primary arguments of the Nazi party
in Germany, as well. I don't think it is possible to separate the use
of the word "race" in this country in this century from its origins in
the history of anthropology.

I will look for the article, thank you.

Jessie Emerson

> Maybe you have the origin of the word but how it came to be used in
> this
> country has nothing to do with either of those etymologies. Ask your
> self
> what race really means and try and define it sensibly and out of the
> way
> it is being used in this country and in this century and even for the
> last
> 500 plus years. Then look for an article by Lerone Bennett called the
> road not taken. Not the poem
>
>
> On Thu, 30 Oct 1997, Emerson, Jessie J wrote:
>
> > I believe the word race used in this context derives from Middle
> French
> > or Italian and means something like "generation" (please correct me
> on
> > this). And if I can remember anything from my anthropology courses,
> I
> > think that in the early or mid 19th century (before anthropology
> became
> > a science) that this term was used in conjunction with the division
> of
> > the world's population into Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid. Of
> > course, the Caucasians made up the divisions, so they got to be
> number
> > one.
> >
> > Jessie
> >
> >
> > >From Ditra Henry
> >
> > > The origin of all the derogatories that we all are so familiar
> with of
> > > course then stems back to the word race itself. Was this word
> just
> > > a convenient development to set up slavery in this country? or did
> it
> > > have
> > > other meanings before this? I doubt it. However just the
> emotions
> > > that
> > > have been aroused from this discussion is proof that racism is not
> a
> > > thing
> > > fo the past and that it is still thriving as a meaningful and
> integral
> > > part of this country.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >