Eminem (was: Influenced by GR?)

[jbor]

jody:

> If you're in the mood for speaking out, an apology might be more
> appropriate.

Certainly, if offence has been given where none was intended I apologise.

> My words, which you lifted out of context from my response to
> Terrence, do not "seek thereby to excuse two hundred or more years of racial
> oppression," but rather, to hi-lite the mythologizing and demonization of
> blacks (and whites),

Both Terrance's spiel and your words appeared to address the same topic,
viz, race relations in America. It seems to me that trying to imply that
slavery and racial discrimination in the United States are somehow mythical
is on a par with the Holocaust denials of that German professor.

>  I don't think Pynchon's work in GR or M&D would be as effective and thought
> provoking if it were merely a diatribe against "white suprematism."

I didn't say it would be. But now that you mention it, "amongst other
things", it probably is this.

> Democracy, like any of the better examples of western culture. is obviously
> not perfect, but it's the best chance poor disadvantaged people in the third
> world have of gaining control over the institutions used by the people in
> power- often of the same race- to keep them poor and disadvantaged. It
> doesn't come easy, though, and sometimes a little help from friends, at the
> risk of being called patronizing, can make a difference.
snip

More power to Freedom House of course, but the problem is that, on a global
scale, G-8 and such aren't really "democratic" at all. Sorry to call
statistics into play again (rather than the cosmic verisimilitude of pi, of
course), but what percentage of the world's population is black? And, tell
me, what percentage of G-8 were black? There seems to be a rather alarming
disparity to me.

> Don't gauge my level of cynism by whether or not I think there's a chance
> Pynchon will be widely read by the masses.

No, it was your parting sally which earnt the label.

>  And maybe that's for the best given the
> nature of things.

In other words, there's no hope ... we/they're not worth it ... so let's
just let everything be ...

best

----------
>From: jporter <jp4321 at IDT.NET>
>To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Re: Eminem (was: Influenced by GR?)
>Date: Tue, Jul 25, 2000, 11:45 PM
>