From: Jonathan Davis (jonathan.davis@lineone.net)
Date: Fri Jul 19 2002 - 07:50:38 MDT
Background:
Carol M. Swain is a widely respected black scholar who has just written a
new book called 'The New White Nationalism in America: Its Threat to
Integration'. It is a controversial but apparently very interesting book on
how to counter the threat of growing white nationalism. The Chronicle of
Higher Education hosted a discussion with the author recently where she took
questions from various people. The questions and the answers are very
interesting, but one answer struck me as very odd. I have reproduced it
below for you all to read:
-------------------
Jared Taylor, editor, American Renaissance:
In 1999, Tatu Vanhanen of the University of Helsinki published a book called
Ethnic Conflicts Explained by Ethnic Nepotism. He surveyed the ethnic
diversity and level of societal conflict in virtually every country of the
world and found that diversity and conflict are closely correlated.
Why should we encourage increased diversity in America? Are we somehow
exempt from the correlation Prof. Vanhanen has found elsewhere in the world?
Carol M. Swain:
I am quite familiar with Vanhanen's arguments and the impressive dataset he
compiled. He argues that multiracial and multiethnic states cannot survive
long because assimilation across racial boundaries rarely occurs. I believe
that we have defied the odds for other countries because we are a Judeo-
Christian nation where the majority of people profess to be God-fearing,
prayerful individuals, who believe in a common creator and a brotherhood of
man. Both the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible have scriptures quite
inconsistent with racial hatred and racial superiority. For example, in
Genesis 1: 27, an account of creation is given in which all humans are
depicted as descending from a single human ancestor, Adam. Similarly, in
Acts 17:26, the Apostle Paul declares the peoples of all nations to be of
"one blood": "And [God] hath made of one blood all nations of men for to
dwell on all the face of the earth." And finally, there is the theme of the
unity of all Christians in Christ proclaimed in Galatians 3:26-29, which
says that all who follow Jesus constitute one unified people regardless of
caste, gender, or national origin -- "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there
is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all
one in Christ Jesus."
I believe America can avoid racial turmoil and conflict if she remembers her
roots and avoids the removal of God from the public and private spheres.
Indeed, after the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center public
expressions of faith were crucial in bringing together people of diverse
nations, ethnicities, and religions. In fact, Irving Berlin's "God Bless
America" almost became our new national anthem.
>From http://chronicle.com/colloquylive/2002/07/swain/
-----------------
I thought this an extraordinary episode in an otherwise excellent and
rational series of answers from this lady. Am I alone in being struck by its
oddness and absurdity?
Regards
Jonathan
http://www.limbicnutrition.com/blog/
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