tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post6347590567790190868..comments2024-03-29T03:19:09.227-04:00Comments on The Philosopher's Stone: LIFE GOES ONRobert Paul Wolffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-87039871639334061652022-02-13T15:20:15.430-05:002022-02-13T15:20:15.430-05:00Anon, if your concern with bloodlines goes beyond ...Anon, if your concern with bloodlines goes beyond the equine and bovine you need some serious couch time. Just curious, as your post is almost but not quite American English, what is your native language?aaallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-69948617408578260202022-02-12T21:05:34.154-05:002022-02-12T21:05:34.154-05:00Eh, okay. Call it guilt if you want. I think of it...Eh, okay. Call it guilt if you want. I think of it more like this: As neat as our glorious forefathers were, they still took part in a long tradition of dehumanizing whole communities of people for no real reason, and interestingly enough, this has had a lasting negative influence on the way we understand and deal with another. In fact, if we pay close attention to ourselves today, we can sometimes notice this negative influence at work, sometimes in minor ways, sometimes in major ways. Regardless, whenever we do notice it, IMO, it's best to acknowledge that it isn't a good thing, and make an effort to correct it. You know, rather than openly celebrate it. But YMMV.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-46534143079319981822022-02-12T15:56:52.788-05:002022-02-12T15:56:52.788-05:00So much pathetic white guilt on display here.
Yo...So much pathetic white guilt on display here. <br /><br />Your forefathers did not bring you into existence with such self-defeating truisms. But you will certainly succeed in weeding out your bloodline by instilling this nonsense into the minds of future generations. Repent before it is too late and do right by your ancestors and your people. There’s no glory or virtue in self destruction. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-51873446300104153422022-02-11T19:17:26.077-05:002022-02-11T19:17:26.077-05:00Eric,
No doubt that our unconscious fantasies, ...Eric,<br /><br />No doubt that our unconscious fantasies, likes and dislikes, biases, etc. affect all our decisions, not only about other "races", but also having to do with whether people are tall or short, fat or thin, attractive or ugly, smiling or frowning, etc. All of this has been studied and I don't question that. <br /><br />People who make important decisions about hiring practices or about patient care (which is not the case with my life) should be aware of possible unconscious biases of all sorts which may affect the rationality of their decisions.<br /><br />However, I still would not call someone who has unconscious racial biases a "racist", which seems to me to be an ethical qualification having to do with our conscious ethical<br />values and options. s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-61137126055631000852022-02-11T18:43:29.557-05:002022-02-11T18:43:29.557-05:00s. wallerstein: "So what if I have unconsciou...s. wallerstein: <i>"So what if I have unconscious racist biases?<br /><br />That's like saying that I have unconscious rape fantasies. Maybe I do, but the point (in ethics at least) is that I don't rape anyone, never have and never will.<br /><br />So too whether or not somewhere in my deep unconscious mind I have racist biases, in my daily life I don't discriminate against any racial group and I don't hate any racial group. That's what counts."</i><br /><br />(I am going to reframe this as "someone" rather than as "you, s. wallerstein.")<br />Someone may not knowingly make decisions or take actions that are discriminatory. But if they harbor those biases unconsciously or subconsciouly, it may still lead to their doing things or making choices that are discriminatory. A form of "racism without racists," as sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva puts it.<br /><br />The result can be that someone's actions when voting in an election, or voting as a member of a trial jury, or recollecting the events of an assault that one witnessed, or assessing the performance of a student or trainee can be affected by those biases of which one is unaware (and which one might even abhor). In the case of a doctor or nurse who consciously desires that there be no racial discrimination, it might mean being in spite of themselves less likely to take a patient's complaints as seriously if the patient belongs to a certain race as they might otherwise. In the case of a banker, it might mean being less inclined to offer a loan. And yet not being aware of the effect of their unconscious biases on their behavior.Ericnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-10454286302303350972022-02-11T17:54:05.963-05:002022-02-11T17:54:05.963-05:00Oops. I wrote "flag-burning" when I mean...Oops. I wrote "flag-burning" when I meant "cross-burning."Ericnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-76918690668969888422022-02-11T17:14:29.993-05:002022-02-11T17:14:29.993-05:00Gotta head out in a moment, folks - glad to finall...Gotta head out in a moment, folks - glad to finally be done with quarantine! Good conversation.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-22475945345194830952022-02-11T16:43:53.112-05:002022-02-11T16:43:53.112-05:00>Michael is claiming that all Caucasians either...><i>Michael is claiming that all Caucasians either consciously or subconsciously harbor racist sentiments against Blacks.</i><br /><br />I think that's actually putting my position too strongly, as is this bit from earlier:<br /><br />><i>I am going to give you a little push-back on your assertion that every Caucasian in the United States necessarily, subconsciously harbors anti-Black, racist sentiments. While I agree that this is probably true of a lot of American Caucasians, I do not believe it is necessarily true of all American Caucasians.</i><br /><br />I don't think I used the words "necessarily true of all white people" at any point. I'm really not clear on what would justify the use of such language, particularly the term "necessarily." What could it possibly mean, and how could one purport to demonstrate, that "100% bigotry-free white person" is as contradictory or absurd as "17-sided quadrilateral"? <br /><br />I think a better (albeit convoluted) way to express my position may be to echo Eric's helpful use of the term "spectrum," and say that it seems <i>overwhelmingly unlikely</i> that anyone in "my part of the world" (phrased with deliberate looseness - but applicable to white Americans, yes) is <i>entirely devoid</i> of attitudes that allow of placement <i>somewhere</i> on the spectrum of bigoted attitudes. (It took some work to come up with this articulation, so it's quite possible I'm overlooking something that calls for revision.)<br /><br />I hope it's clear that this is compatible with my acknowledging the praiseworthy efforts, accomplishments, and character of people like s. wallerstein's friend.<br /><br />I get why this can be attacked as unfalsifiable. I think that's a legitimate worry, but not a decisive objection; partly because it seems an over-simplification to equate "unfalsifiable" with "vacuous" or "meaningless/nonsensical," but more importantly, because in many cases, it seems a straightforward inference from insensitive/exclusionary/preferential etc. behavior or language to unconscious bigotry. And I also get the worry that this position unhelpfully obscures the distinction between hate-speech etc. and the sort of innocuous gaffe I describe in my same-sex wedding hypothetical. That's a legitimate worry, too, but I don't think it's relevant to the truth-status of my position.<br /><br />Thanks, finally, for the words of encouragement not to be too hard on myself. It's kind of embarrassing how often I have to hear that. :)Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-68203105102229000932022-02-11T16:43:16.604-05:002022-02-11T16:43:16.604-05:00So what if I have unconscious racist biases?
That...So what if I have unconscious racist biases?<br /><br />That's like saying that I have unconscious rape fantasies. Maybe I do, but the point (in ethics at least) is that I don't rape anyone, never have and never will. <br /><br />So too whether or not somewhere in my deep unconscious mind I have racist biases, in my daily life I don't discriminate against any racial group and I don't hate any racial group. That's what counts. s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-12725428788715749992022-02-11T16:36:57.721-05:002022-02-11T16:36:57.721-05:00"Personally, I am troubled to read/hear so ma..."Personally, I am troubled to read/hear so many self-identified left-of-center people expressing approval of Biden appointments that are based on identity characteristics such as race, gender, and sexual orientation with little or no consideration of the policy positions held by the appointees. We don't need more pro-corporate, pro-police/pro-prosecutor, pro-security state judges."<br /><br />I guess there are no left of center gay, Black/brown, female/trans folks. He can narrow it down to Black women because there are literally hundreds (thousands?) of folks fully qualified to serve as a SC Justice. Among those hundreds (thousands?) there are at least a score or so of any combination so why not considering there has yet to be even one? aaallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-91342376008325174702022-02-11T16:09:50.352-05:002022-02-11T16:09:50.352-05:00I posted yesterday after reading a Twitter quote f...I posted yesterday after reading a Twitter quote from Samuel Moyn.<br /><br />I had been searching for his name to see if he had made any public remarks about the report of Biden's presidential commission on possible changes to the Supreme Court, which was released in December. (Sherillyn Ifill, a very prominent black civil rights attorney, served on the commission.)<br /><br />Here are some questions.<br /><br />Does it matter if all of the justices on the Supreme Court are white men? Or all Catholics? Does it matter if none is openly gay?<br /><br /><b>Was Ruth Bader Ginsburg racist?</b> Did she have some racist views? Does it matter?<br /><br />Ginsburg reportedly hired only one black law clerk during her nearly 40 years as a judge. (That's reportedly like 0.6% of her hires.) Why so few?<br /><br />(One of the criteria frequently cited in determining how well qualified someone is to be nominated and confirmed to the Supreme Court is whether they have had experience as a law clerk and for which court and judge they have clerked.<br /><br />Was John Roberts right that the way to stop discrimination by race is to completely eliminate consideration of race in all hiring? And if that means no blacks qualify for the Supreme Court, then so be it?) <br /><br />Biden is now considering candidates to replace the retiring Breyer (who should have announced his intention to retire early last year instead of waiting until now; Dem Sen Luján is currently out after a stroke).<br /><br />Biden has vowed to nominate an African-American woman.<br />Is it racist for a president to take this approach?<br />Should it be unconstitutional?<br />Would opposition to the nomination be ethical if the opposition were based on disagreeing with making a selection on the base of race & gender?<br /><br />Personally, I am troubled to read/hear so many self-identified left-of-center people expressing approval of Biden appointments that are based on identity characteristics such as race, gender, and sexual orientation with little or no consideration of the policy positions held by the appointees. We don't need more pro-corporate, pro-police/pro-prosecutor, pro-security state judges.Ericnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-58252707117975488122022-02-11T16:01:15.083-05:002022-02-11T16:01:15.083-05:00Eric,
Yes, he was expressing his anger with how h...Eric,<br /><br />Yes, he was expressing his anger with how he was treated by the prese, which, by the way, was what Hunter Thompson was also expressing.<br /><br />"Indefensible"? Why? It was certainly defensible under the 1st Amendment. Indefensible in the sense of being inappropriate? There we go again, the political correctness police at work.Another Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-20090844650090292172022-02-11T15:55:59.823-05:002022-02-11T15:55:59.823-05:00Well, I disagree with both Eric and LFC.
Everythi...Well, I disagree with both Eric and LFC.<br /><br />Everything that Eric states is of course true – a person “can” (i.e., it is possible) to be married to a person of a different race, and still be racist; a person “can” have close friends of a different race, and still be racist. All of these possibilities are of course possible; etc., etc.<br /><br />But that is not the point of my response to Michael. Michael is claiming that all Caucasians either consciously or subconsciously harbor racist sentiments against Blacks. I do not believe this is true, and vehemently reject it as true. Likewise, I do not agree with LFC that everyone on Earth necessarily harbors some bias against others who are racially or ethnically different. This may be true of a lot of people, or even the vast majority of people, but I do not believe it is true of everybody – and I am not naïve or Pollyannish.<br /><br />Another Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-24586984355164565152022-02-11T15:37:06.197-05:002022-02-11T15:37:06.197-05:00Another Anonymous @7:13am,
I cannot tell from wha...Another Anonymous @7:13am,<br /><br />I cannot tell from what I have read of the Ann Arbor councilmember's case what the context of the Facebook discussion was. <br />Was he trying to communicate that he was upset by how he had been treated by some members of the press? And was his use of the Hunter S. Thompson quote his way of saying that (1) he shared the sentiment expressed in the quote that the press can be vicious and that (2) he had himself felt victimized by the press?<br /><br />If the answer to those questions is "yes," the use of the quote is indefensible.<br /><br />It's one thing to use language like that in a book review or history class when directly quoting and responding to what someone else has said or written.* That's fine and should (must) continue. It's something else entirely to quote that kind of material as a way of expressing your own feelings, when no effort is made to distance yourself from or criticize the hateful language that is included. I have no sympathy for that kind of behavior.<br /><br />(* I think this was part of the plot of Sandra Oh's tv show "The Chair.")Ericnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-17958108563511094582022-02-11T15:23:19.518-05:002022-02-11T15:23:19.518-05:00p.s. posted before seeing Eric's comment above...p.s. posted before seeing Eric's comment above.LFChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13551197682770555147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-14470006852326923062022-02-11T15:22:18.730-05:002022-02-11T15:22:18.730-05:00I pretty much agree with Michael about unconscious...I pretty much agree with Michael about unconscious or implicit bias (I think I prefer those phrases to "unconscious bigotry," but I think the meaning is very similar).<br /><br />I think AA and S. Wallerstein are perhaps misconstruing the point here. By definition, unconscious bias is bias that a person is not conscious of having, but it comes out in behavior and/or unreflective assumptions. There is plenty of psychological research, I believe, showing that it exists.<br /><br />That said, it's a different problem than conscious bigotry or hatred, and I don't think anyone is equating the two or saying they're equally bad. Nor, as Michael said, is it a matter of criticizing particular people for unconscious bias (no one is doing that).<br /><br />Finally, this is not something limited to one group -- everyone probably has unconscious biases. (There may be some rare exceptions.) The issue is that, in a society still working to come fully to grips with a long history of racism and in which many deep racial inequalities persist, it is unconscious bias held by members of the dominant group(s) that is likely to have the most immediate negative effects. <br /> <br />P.s. I actually don't think there's a great deal of disagreement here -- some of it is that we're using terms in different ways.LFChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13551197682770555147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-73884126590262788512022-02-11T15:20:50.257-05:002022-02-11T15:20:50.257-05:00Agree with Michael @1:43pm.
This being "prim...Agree with Michael @1:43pm.<br /><br />This being "primarily a philosophy blog," wouldn't it be useful to define what one means by being "racist" or being "a racist" before spilling pages of ink debating whether someone is or isn't? (I think misunderstandings of definitions being used is a large part of what got Whoopi Goldberg into hot water last week.) I'm sure I have posted here on this topic in the past, but I don't have time at the moment to look for the post. So I will briefly restate a bit of what I mean.<br /><br />(1) You don't have to be a flag-burning member of the KKK to be racist.<br />(2) A person who is sexually attracted to people of a certain race can simultaneously be racist against that race (Thomas Jefferson, Strom Thurmond). A person who has married a person of a certain race, or who has adopted children of that race, can also have racist feelings or beliefs about that race.<br />(3) Someone can consider a person of a certain race a good friend, yet simultaneously have racist feelings or beliefs about that race.<br />(4) A person can have racist feelings or beliefs about a race yet approve of certain individuals of that race. So a person could have racist views of blacks yet still prefer Obama as a presidential candidate over his white competitors.<br />(5) An African American can hold racist beliefs about black people. The fact that someone is black him- or herself does not necessarily mean that they cannot be racist against blacks.<br />(6) The feelings or beliefs someone holds about a race can ostensibly be positive yet still be racist. (People of that race are good with money. People of that race are extremely smart. Women of that race are sooo sexy!)<br /><br />Racism, like so many other -isms, exists along a spectrum. In recognition of this, social scientists often resort in their studies to using indirect devices such as various <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogardus_social_distance_scale" rel="nofollow">social-distance questions</a> and <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/initiatives/task-force-implicit-bias/implicit-bias-test/" rel="nofollow">implicit-association tests</a> to try to tease out and quantify degrees of racial bias and racism. (I do not intend in mentioning this here to start an argument over the validity of these instruments.)<br /><br />So Joe Rogan could sincerely consider himself non-racist and describe himself as such on his podcast yet also hold some racist beliefs and tell jokes, or show approval of jokes, with racist content or implications.<br /><br />Similarly, Joe Biden could simultaneously hold Mandela and MLK in high esteem and run for the White House three times with black partners, yet also have a history of gaffes such as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/31/biden.obama/" rel="nofollow">calling</a> Obama in 2007 "the first mainstream African-American [presidential candidate] who is articulate and bright and clean" or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/09/us/politics/joe-biden-poor-kids.html" rel="nofollow">saying</a> in 2019 "poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids."Ericnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-3241458743875826342022-02-11T15:19:14.663-05:002022-02-11T15:19:14.663-05:00"...I reject the opposition to the teaching o..."...I reject the opposition to the teaching of critical race theory in public schools, so long as it restricts itself to teaching the history of slavery in this country and the persecution and oppression of African-Americans..."<br /><br />As with your reference to "political correctness" (now become "wokeness"), we should take care not to accept the memes of those who would oppress us. Critical Race Theory is a graduate level approach to certain aspects of law. Teaching about slavery and Jim Crow is merely teaching history, regardless of the grade level. The plutocratic-funded right has long supported those who would weaponize the darker sides of our simian nature (mental health is also a factor - check out a few conservative sites and the comments).<br /><br />https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/how-a-conservative-activist-invented-the-conflict-over-critical-race-theory<br /><br />Perhaps much of the PC/wokeness in academia to which you object is an artifact of administrative bloat - you know - idle hands and incompetence, etc.<br /><br />Of course, we could have taken Reconstruction seriously as well as hanging Jeff Davis and Alexander Stevens, etc...<br /><br />Re: Rogan - TRT and HGH, enough said.<br /><br />aaallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-49774947470414405992022-02-11T15:13:01.275-05:002022-02-11T15:13:01.275-05:00Michael,
I agree with s. wallerstein.
I would no...Michael,<br /><br />I agree with s. wallerstein.<br /><br />I would not share your sense of guilt under comparable circumstances, nor would I conclude that I must be a subconscious sexist. Until Obergefill was decided in 2015, the vast majority of marriages were between members of the opposite sex, and this continues to be true today. Your asking for information about the ‘husband” does not, in my mind, expose a subconscious disrespect for individuals involved in a same sex relationship, nor would I regard it as a gaffe. In fact in light of Obergefill, the word “husband” can refer to a female in a same sex marriage, and the word “wife” can refer to a male in a same sex marriage. This is not true of the words “groom” or “bride,” but even if those words were used inappropriately, it would not, in my mind, expose a subconscious antipathy for, or even discomfort with, same sex relationships.<br />Another Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-46726407280459149462022-02-11T14:58:04.717-05:002022-02-11T14:58:04.717-05:00Michael,
Don't be so hard on yourself.
Bigot...Michael,<br /><br />Don't be so hard on yourself.<br /><br />Bigotry is about the way you treat others, not about whether you only have pure thoughts on certain subjects. <br /><br />As far as I can see, you're making a genuine effort not to treat African-Americans or LGBT people in a discriminatory manner. Not everyone does that. Why group yourself and others who make genuine efforts not to treat others in a discriminatory manner together with those who don't make such efforts? <br /><br />Virtues have to do with human beings and human nature, not with some saintly ideal of purity. There are real bigots out there, people who hate and discriminate against marginalized groups. You're not one of them, so relax, feel good about yourself for once. s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-66922462602827856742022-02-11T14:45:32.979-05:002022-02-11T14:45:32.979-05:00I'm not sure I get the point that it's cir...I'm not sure I get the point that it's circular to infer a person's unconscious bigotry despite their conscious denial of bigotry.<br /><br />For example, I think I have claim to consider myself an LGBT ally. But if someone mentioned to me in conversation that they were attending their girlfriend's wedding, and I reflexively responded by asking for information about the husband (I have in fact committed similar gaffes, by the way), then arguably, one way to interpret this utterance is as an inadvertent expression of an unconscious assumption that opposite-sex marriages are or ought to be considered "the norm" - an assumption that I've tried pretty hard to interrogate and reject, but only imperfectly, it would appear. Unconscious bigotry, in other words. (Maybe a poor choice of words?)<br /><br />I think of my position as a somewhat tentative doubt that I or any like-minded individual - or even perhaps the most dedicated and praiseworthy among us, e.g. wallerstein's friend - can be entirely successful in eradicating bigotry from our minds. The position follows naturally from the interpretation of the "gaffe" I describe as unconscious bigotry.<br /><br />I want to stress that this doesn't make any of you shitty, discreditable people in my mind. Maybe it'd help to think of it as just an implausible psychological notion - wouldn't be the first I've had!Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-88899213341381198322022-02-11T14:24:24.858-05:002022-02-11T14:24:24.858-05:00s. wallerstein,
Thank you for your quote from Aud...s. wallerstein,<br /><br />Thank you for your quote from Auden’s superb poem, “September 1, 1939.” As he writes in the poem, this is a lesson that “all schoolchildren learn[.}”<br /><br />When our daughter was in third grade, she had an experience which troubled and confused her. A new student had arrived in her class, an immigrant from, I believe, Yugoslavia. During recess, the group of students she played with ostracized the new student – would not communicate with her, or include her in their games. Our daughter went out of her way to insist that the group include the newcomer. After a couple of days, the newcomer was fully accepted in the group, and then the group, including the newcomer, started ostracizing our daughter. She was very upset and did not understand why this was happening. Why was the girl whom she had befriended mistreating her? We tried to console her, but finally I said something to the effect, “Marlowe, in the course of your life you are going to run into many people like this. Do not take it personally. She is weak, where you are strong.” Marlowe disassociated herself form the group and joined a new group, which appreciated her more. She continued to fight and stand up for her fellow students whom she felt were being mistreated and bullied.<br />Another Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-14833337544855848762022-02-11T14:07:52.624-05:002022-02-11T14:07:52.624-05:00Michael,
I am going to give you a little push-bac...Michael,<br /><br />I am going to give you a little push-back on your assertion that every Caucasian in the United States necessarily, subconsciously harbors anti-Black, racist sentiments. While I agree that this is probably true of a lot of American Caucasians, I do not believe it is necessarily true of all American Caucasians. As an example, a subconscious racist reaction would be to doubt the credentials of an African-American professor, or physician, or attorney. A white person finding out that their insurance company has assigned them to an African-American physician may consciously have some qualms regarding whether the physician attended an accredited medical school, or had sufficiently good grades to qualify him/her as a competent physician, or was the beneficiary of affirmative action and would therefore feel uncomfortable be treated by the physician. I suspect this is rather common among American Caucasians, but I do not believe it is universal. I do not entertain such views, nor do I suspect s. wallerstein or Prof. Wolff, or many of this blogs readers, consciously or subconsciously entertain such views, and to maintain that I/we must subconsciously have such racist sentiments, when we do not have them consciously, would be circular, assuming these views must be held subconsciously when the individual denies having such views consciously. My daughter had a Black pediatrician. She was wonderful, and neither I nor my wife ever talked about her credentials or questioned them.<br />Another Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-80505752123102086572022-02-11T13:54:51.126-05:002022-02-11T13:54:51.126-05:00Here's the obituary of a guy whom I knew in co...Here's the obituary of a guy whom I knew in college, the leader of the university chapter of CORE (Congress on Racial Equality), white and Jewish. Read it and tell me if you believe that Michael Flug, who dedicated his life to the cause of African-American struggle was racist.<br /><br />https://forward.com/culture/428596/michael-flug-caretaker-and-maker-of-civil-rights-history-dies-at-74/<br /><br />By the way, why should be always take marginalized people at their word? Marginalized and oppressed people, just like their oppressors, will use all sorts of strategies to take advantage of others. Lines from a W.H. Auden poem:<br /><br />"Those to whom evil is done<br />Do evil in return".s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-18924953793790826302022-02-11T13:43:38.610-05:002022-02-11T13:43:38.610-05:00I genuinely appreciate the pushback, AA. To echo L...I genuinely appreciate the pushback, AA. To echo LFC, these are very tricky and uncomfortable topics, and I don't claim to have it all figured out; it's quite possible that I've spent the last several years "over-correcting" myself and becoming a bit of a caricature. (A favorite quote from Wittgenstein: "Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself.") But I do think I'm more-or-less on the right track, even though I surely need to continue reflecting, revising, and testing out my position.<br /><br />In no special order, here are a few basic observations or ideas that have informed my present opinion; note that I'm not accusing anyone here of denying these:<br /><br />-Unconscious bigotry is definitely real, and often difficult (for the person themselves) to detect, admit to, and begin to correct. Our society has done many things throughout its history to promote conscious and unconscious bigotry; these things leave traces even on well-meaning people, and cannot be expected to disappear "quickly" or "easily."<br /><br />-Bigotry need not mean hatred, or an explicit desire for some group/individual to suffer or be wrongly excluded (or a belief that such an outcome would be deserved). It can also be less overtly violent; it can consist in negative stereotyping, culpable ignorance (as suggested e.g. by people's increasing awareness regarding gender pronouns), or skewed priorities and preferences - as in Rogan's case, or in the general case of racist "humor," which de-prioritizes respect for marginalized people, for the sake of something relatively trivial, like securing peer approval by way of "irreverent humor."<br /><br />-When marginalized people themselves indicate (or especially, when they very widely and frequently indicate) that certain behaviors or attitudes or statements constitute bigotry, it's good policy to take them at their word, even if the appearance of bigotry is much less striking to the offender.Michaelnoreply@blogger.com