On Wed, 13 Oct 1999, Dr.Phyllis Rubenfeld wrote:
> Hi Steve,
> More debates??????? You can't be serious-do you think that Hitler just
> needed to hear more about the Jews, Catholics and Gypcies and the KKK
> about Blacks and Jews and things would work out differently-I'd support
> Teach-Ins for those disabled people who agree with Singer- We need more
> action!!!!!!!!!
> In Unity,
> Phyllis
>
I'm perfectly serious - the purpose of a debate is *not* to educate your
opponent - it's to educate the *audience*.
I think that we have to have people debate Singer in general forums.
While the NAACP has never, to my knowledge, shared a stage with an offical
of the Ku Klux Klan, there were plenty of African-American scholars who
debated Charles Murray, author of the book _The Bell Curve_, which
reiterated the tired old idea that there are significant differences in
average intelligence between different racial groups. The book also
suggested public policy changes based on the supposition that there are
significant and real differences in ability between these groups.
As far as I know, though, no conference devoted to African-American
studies ever invited him to one of their *own* conferences for a debate,
since that would be legitimizing Murray's proposals and alleged research
within their own discipline.
I think that the approach of being willing to debate Singer *except*
disability-related conferences is a fair extension of the approaches used
by other minority groups in the past. On the one hand we have to deal
with the reality that Singer and his supporters will be putting these
things out on the table. On the other hand, excluding him from our own
forums sends the message that we, as scholars, activists, etc. will not
embrace that debate - about the value of our lives - as legitimate within
our own community.
Stephen Drake
Not Dead Yet
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