Note that in The Merchant of Venice Shylock is punished by forcing him to allow his daughter to marry a Christian.

That is incompatible with the early 19th- c racializing of anti-Semitism.

Carrol

-----Original Message-----
From: Science for the People Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cox, Carrol
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2018 2:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Racism was . . .Joel Kovel

"White Racism: A Psychohistory", the review  quotes from Joel's book: racism is "a set of beliefs whose structure arises from the deepest levels of our lives.” 

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This is both simply untrue _and_ profoundly ahistorical. For most of human history racism did not exist. Features of racism began to appear in the 16th c. but it did not begin to flourish in its modern (pseudo-science) form until after July 4, 1875 when a state grounded in slavery pronounced that "All men are created equal."

One can debate endlessly about the details and precise history, but any explanation of racism that does not ground itself in recognition that racism is a social construct is wrong. It is not grounded in Human nature" etc. It is strictly historical.

Carrol