Monday, February 03, 2003

Women on War and Fruit Salad 

The note on women and war reminded me of an old film. About a decade ago some students in a group we called SAVE (Students Advocating Valid Education) set up a debate on the local campus tv station which we recorded. The group leader went head-to-head with one of the more forceful black leaders on campus. He pretended to speak for all blacks, and when our student pointed out blacks who disagreed with him, he just called them "oreos," a common term at the time meaning someone who is black on the outside but white on the inside.
Then he got a head of steam up and started listing all the other possibilities: there were apples (Indians who were red on the outside but white inside, bananas (Asians) coconuts (Latin American) and so on. the message was clear: agree with us or we're going to make fruit out of you. The students called in the "fruit salad" film and it was a standard joke for a couple of years. Jewish professors reportedly saying there are no Republican Jews and that Norm Colman is only a Jew of convenience are of this stripe.
Obviously the folks on the bizarre left can't justify themselves logically, but if they keep up the pretense that they speak for all of their groups at least they have company. And those of their groups who disagree most logically not be really part of their group, not authentically at least. Another example of modern liberal logic that demands diversity but allows none.


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