7 Degrees of Seperation (or 2 degrees from white male)

Many times I have found that I have a kernel of an idea, a concept. At a later time a I come across a writer / thinker / pundit who has the same or similiar notion and much more fully fleshes it out. This occurred again in a small part with Eugene Robinson's column in the Washington Post. This column has been a good deal of attention from others in the "chattering class". Jeffery Toobin of CNN has touched upon it and I have seen it referenced in other columns.


Two major points of the article


1) White Male is not an ethnicity it is not a gender. White Male is the standard by which all else is to be measured. White Male is the neutral and everything else is a deviation of that standard.


2) Much of the anger over the "wise Latina" comment is based upon the concept that a powerful, wealthy, white, male could not get away with saying such a thing. This is probably true. But, let's be honest the historical context of what it means to have been a white male and what it means to have been a latina is completely different in this country.


I read a quick note to the editor in this mornings paper. The writer stated that if a Senator doesn't realize that a man and a woman can look at the same set of facts and come up with two different answers, that person doesn't deserve to be a Senator.


This statement which has a humorous side to it relates back to the concept of the standard the normal. If White Male is the standard. Then if a White Male and a Minority Female look at the same set of facts and get two different answers. Well the White Male's answer is the normal or the standard and anything else must be less than correct.


As you can tell by all the above babbling I am not a writer by trade or study. Take a moment to read Eugene Robinson's Column.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/