On Mon, 11 Aug 1997, john konopak wrote:

> Rather, it is productive to oppression to allow the myth that racism is
> a myth to persist without examining in whose interest it remains that
> racism should be seen as merely a weakness of individuals, rather thatn
> s fixture in the sustaining culture.

Well, it is combination of the "weakness of individuals" and the
"sustaining culture". The "weakness of individuals" is the fear of being
free. ie. we are  reluctant to face the fact that we are free beings and
therefore responsible for the kind of society we construct for ourselves.
As individuals, we tend to comfort ourselves by believing that society
acts only on us, rather than us acting on society. The individual sees
opportunity as only coming from outside themselves and never orginating from
within themselves. (Incidently, this philosophy of opportunity leads
people to value competion over cooperation.) In other words it is believed
that individuals should not (and/or cannot?) *give* opportunities to other
individuals. A "good" person only  *takes* opportunities and never
*gives* them....which of course in reality is morally naive.

Harry Veeder