> QueeneMUSE@aol.com wrote:
>
> > It's the Star Belly Sneech story.
>
> One of my favorites. To me it illustrated how stupid the whole race/difference
> thing is...
Actually, it's stories like this that are stupid; they support the myth that the whole "race/difference thing" is just a matter of some irrelevant exterior features (or, at least it's often used for this purpose; it could be that Dr. Seuss was thinking of something else when he wrote it). Well, it ain't that simple. A far more intelligent story is that of I.M. Weasel and I.R. Baboon(1), the episode where they switch bodies. Initially the smart and successful Weasel suffers from Baboon's bad image (he's descriminated against), but by being himself he eventually restores his former position, and gaines everyone's respect once more. With baboon it's vice versa; he gets a free ride on weasel's good reputation, but by his dumb and obnoxious behaviour he ruins it and becomes an outcast once more.
(1) From the makers of "Cow & Chicken", in case you didn't know. See: http://members.tripod.com/~nfspd/cowandchicken/