A pattern
of stereotypes is not neutral. It is not merely a way of substituting
order for the great blooming, buzzing confusion of reality. It is not
merely a short cut. It is all these things and something more. It is
the guarantee of our self-respect; it is the projection upon the world
of our own sense of our own value, our own position and our own
rights. The stereotypes are, therefore, highly charged with the
feelings that are attached to them. They are the fortress of our
tradition, and behind its defenses we can continue to feel ourselves
safe in the position we occupy.
2
When, for example, in the fourth century B. C., Aristotle wrote his
defense of slavery in the face of increasing skepticism, [Footnote:
Zimmern: _Greek Commonwealth_. See his footnote, p. 383.] the
Athenian slaves were in great part indistinguishable from free
citizens Mr. Zimmern quotes an amusing passage from the Old Oligarch
explaining the good treatment of the slaves. "Suppose it were legal
for a slave to be beaten by a citizen, it would frequently happen that
an Athenian might be mistaken for a slave or an alien and receive a
beating;--since the Athenian people is not better clothed than the
slave or alien, nor in personal appearance is there any superiority."
This absence of distinction would naturally tend to dissolve the
institution. If free men and slaves looked alike, what basis was there
for treating them so differently? It was this confusion which
Aristotle set himself to clear away in the first book of his Politics.
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