One of my first graduate research projects after returning from three years in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia was a survey of enthocentrism in cultural geography textbooks during the first half of the 20th century. There were some really blatant examples, easy to identify, and painful to try to rationalize. No doubt the authors didn't consider themselves "racists" or "enthnocentric" and some were very prominant geographers. I still get depressed when I think of the thousands of students who read such texts, absorbing some of those poison messages.

The messages in the textbooks today are much more subtle, or maybe I'm lost my ability to descern them, being trapped in my own subculture and experience. But I still react strongly to what I read or hear as racist or ethnocentric remarks. And I do try to read between the lines and the alternative phrasing and not jump to conclusions. I'm sure I'll continue to challenge John Hardly, much as I hate to indulge in personal confrontation with little hope of changing someone's attitude; I did initially attempt to communicate with John by PM but he blew that off with what I perceived as great rudeness. So it goes!

Charley Noble