I know you're trying to make a joke, dear, but I don't feel your analogy is accurate.
For example, you have two people--let's say for the same of discussion, they are Americans of the same class, educational, and religious backgrounds. One happens to be white, one black. If they were speaking about child molestation, and then the white person brings up Michael Jackson, that is an instance of bringing up race in a conversation where race need not have been highlighted. Surely, in this day and age, the troubles of the Catholic church have had a more widespread cultural influence than the exploits (true or not) of one token representative of that group. It is the choice of tangent that operates as a signal. It is a matter of pigeonholing; it is a method of demarcation.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-23 07:11 pm (UTC)For example, you have two people--let's say for the same of discussion, they are Americans of the same class, educational, and religious backgrounds. One happens to be white, one black. If they were speaking about child molestation, and then the white person brings up Michael Jackson, that is an instance of bringing up race in a conversation where race need not have been highlighted. Surely, in this day and age, the troubles of the Catholic church have had a more widespread cultural influence than the exploits (true or not) of one token representative of that group. It is the choice of tangent that operates as a signal. It is a matter of pigeonholing; it is a method of demarcation.