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.