I have another theory (not fully thought through). There is actually very little racism against minorities in most spheres (there may always be pockets). What is called “structural racism” is likely the overhang of racist legacies but is increasingly problems of class rather than race (eg policing issues). We live in a society much close…
I have another theory (not fully thought through). There is actually very little racism against minorities in most spheres (there may always be pockets). What is called “structural racism” is likely the overhang of racist legacies but is increasingly problems of class rather than race (eg policing issues). We live in a society much closer to MLK’s vision than activists will admit. Likewise the huge progress in gay rights has normalized gay marriage and families, etc. So, all of a sudden, activists are left without causes. Racism, sexism, homophobia have largely legally been overcome.
Transgenderism comes along claiming to be the next cause. It’s easy to claim they are discriminated against because many people do feel a revulsion. I do--the ick factor is real. Ah ha! As a good liberal I can overcome that revulsion! I can join the next civil rights cause! I can prove my liberal bona fides by embracing the cause, even as young people in my life are suddenly engulfed by it--as a longtime friend explained, “We must support our young people!”
For me personally, I suddenly woke up when I discovered Nina Paley, a favorite filmmaker and artist, was canceled. Wait, what, why? Down the rabbit holes I went.
I no longer prove my liberal bona fides by embracing trans “rights.” But having experienced being a liberal supporter of trans “rights” without thinking about it much, I think I understand the path many have walked. Like many cult supporters, I didn’t join a cult, I thought only that I was supporting a good cause.
I would find your comment helpful and instructive except that I don't agree that there is "very little racism in most spheres". I see humanity consumed and convulsing with prejudice and bigotry. I am white, and I have no problem identifying the racism in other white people. Just the fact that I live in a smallish town in Rhode Island which is purely white, with almost no black people living here, is clear evidence of racism. The white landlords won't rent to black people. A lot of white people do a good job of pretending that the race issue is over, but it isn't. Institutional racism remains in place, not because of institutional forces, but because of racism. In the U.S., black people remain poorer than whites, and it is not because of class. In fact, the disparity in class is BECAUSE of racism. So you see, it's the other way around from what you said: Racism keeps black people in a lower class.
I see racism everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. The U.S. Supreme Court is full of conservative racists. If they weren't racist, then they would not keep ruling that affirmative action is unconstitutional. It is the most effective solution to racism, so naturally a court of white people will rule against it.
Yes, we can agree to disagree on this particular topic. I'm sorry that your community seems so hostile to people different from them. But the jurists ruling against Affirmative Action are applying a principal that discrimination based on skin color is wrong. There are black intellectuals (Glenn Loury, etc) who agree that AA is wrong and moreover ineffective. One can be anti-AA and yet believe in equal civil rights for all groups.
But I won't try to convince you of this. I believed what you believed until recently. I will note that many of the anti-racism activists who preach skin-color essentialism (dividing us into affinity groups, accusing many of us of unconscious racism) also tend to endorse the gender stereotypes common in trans activism. I think it consistent to resist essentialism in all its forms whatever the identity attribute.
But don't listen to me! The trans stuff has unmoored me from all my formerly rock solid beliefs! Best wishes for the New Year!
No, we are not going to agree to disagree on this topic, and wishing me a happy New Year doesn't end the conversation. If you don't believe that racism exists in the U.S. except in a few "pockets", you are most likely a racist yourself. The evidence is all around us to be seen. It isn't hidden, and there are no economic or social factors keeping it in place. It is being kept in place by racist people, not just the people who are openly racist, but the ones who pretend there isn't a real problem. The world that you seem to believe in -- one in which all our problems will work out because people are essentially rational and honest -- just doesn't exist.
I'm living in a white community, not because I want to, but because this was where my mother lived in her final years, and once I was here (to watch over her), I decided to stay because I didn't have a car and finding a new place without a car isn't easy. When I was looking for a roommate about five years ago, a black man showed up on a bicycle to see the apartment. The first thing he said was that he was sorry for not telling me he was black. It was clear that he was terrified to be in a white neighborhood. He was afraid he'd be stopped by the police just for biking through the area. This is just one experience I've had. At 73, I've had a lot of them.
By the way, the people who divide society into "affinity groups" are the racists, not the ones who just want everyone to get along. Identity politics was put in place by the bigots precisely because THEY are the ones who hate this group, hate that group, hate this group, hate that group -- don't you see? That forces the rest of us to see the world in the same "essentialist" way that they do so that we can fight their bigotry.
Haven't you noticed that the people who hate one group tend to hate them all? The same person who hates blacks will also hate homosexuals and will also hate Jews and will also be a misogynist. It all ties together. They hate everyone who is different from them. In other words, THEIR group (whatever it is -- usually white, male, straight and Christian) is the "essential" group, and all the others are hated.
Your "essentialism" argument is backfiring on you.
I have another theory (not fully thought through). There is actually very little racism against minorities in most spheres (there may always be pockets). What is called “structural racism” is likely the overhang of racist legacies but is increasingly problems of class rather than race (eg policing issues). We live in a society much closer to MLK’s vision than activists will admit. Likewise the huge progress in gay rights has normalized gay marriage and families, etc. So, all of a sudden, activists are left without causes. Racism, sexism, homophobia have largely legally been overcome.
Transgenderism comes along claiming to be the next cause. It’s easy to claim they are discriminated against because many people do feel a revulsion. I do--the ick factor is real. Ah ha! As a good liberal I can overcome that revulsion! I can join the next civil rights cause! I can prove my liberal bona fides by embracing the cause, even as young people in my life are suddenly engulfed by it--as a longtime friend explained, “We must support our young people!”
For me personally, I suddenly woke up when I discovered Nina Paley, a favorite filmmaker and artist, was canceled. Wait, what, why? Down the rabbit holes I went.
I no longer prove my liberal bona fides by embracing trans “rights.” But having experienced being a liberal supporter of trans “rights” without thinking about it much, I think I understand the path many have walked. Like many cult supporters, I didn’t join a cult, I thought only that I was supporting a good cause.
I would find your comment helpful and instructive except that I don't agree that there is "very little racism in most spheres". I see humanity consumed and convulsing with prejudice and bigotry. I am white, and I have no problem identifying the racism in other white people. Just the fact that I live in a smallish town in Rhode Island which is purely white, with almost no black people living here, is clear evidence of racism. The white landlords won't rent to black people. A lot of white people do a good job of pretending that the race issue is over, but it isn't. Institutional racism remains in place, not because of institutional forces, but because of racism. In the U.S., black people remain poorer than whites, and it is not because of class. In fact, the disparity in class is BECAUSE of racism. So you see, it's the other way around from what you said: Racism keeps black people in a lower class.
I see racism everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. The U.S. Supreme Court is full of conservative racists. If they weren't racist, then they would not keep ruling that affirmative action is unconstitutional. It is the most effective solution to racism, so naturally a court of white people will rule against it.
Yes, we can agree to disagree on this particular topic. I'm sorry that your community seems so hostile to people different from them. But the jurists ruling against Affirmative Action are applying a principal that discrimination based on skin color is wrong. There are black intellectuals (Glenn Loury, etc) who agree that AA is wrong and moreover ineffective. One can be anti-AA and yet believe in equal civil rights for all groups.
But I won't try to convince you of this. I believed what you believed until recently. I will note that many of the anti-racism activists who preach skin-color essentialism (dividing us into affinity groups, accusing many of us of unconscious racism) also tend to endorse the gender stereotypes common in trans activism. I think it consistent to resist essentialism in all its forms whatever the identity attribute.
But don't listen to me! The trans stuff has unmoored me from all my formerly rock solid beliefs! Best wishes for the New Year!
No, we are not going to agree to disagree on this topic, and wishing me a happy New Year doesn't end the conversation. If you don't believe that racism exists in the U.S. except in a few "pockets", you are most likely a racist yourself. The evidence is all around us to be seen. It isn't hidden, and there are no economic or social factors keeping it in place. It is being kept in place by racist people, not just the people who are openly racist, but the ones who pretend there isn't a real problem. The world that you seem to believe in -- one in which all our problems will work out because people are essentially rational and honest -- just doesn't exist.
I'm living in a white community, not because I want to, but because this was where my mother lived in her final years, and once I was here (to watch over her), I decided to stay because I didn't have a car and finding a new place without a car isn't easy. When I was looking for a roommate about five years ago, a black man showed up on a bicycle to see the apartment. The first thing he said was that he was sorry for not telling me he was black. It was clear that he was terrified to be in a white neighborhood. He was afraid he'd be stopped by the police just for biking through the area. This is just one experience I've had. At 73, I've had a lot of them.
By the way, the people who divide society into "affinity groups" are the racists, not the ones who just want everyone to get along. Identity politics was put in place by the bigots precisely because THEY are the ones who hate this group, hate that group, hate this group, hate that group -- don't you see? That forces the rest of us to see the world in the same "essentialist" way that they do so that we can fight their bigotry.
Haven't you noticed that the people who hate one group tend to hate them all? The same person who hates blacks will also hate homosexuals and will also hate Jews and will also be a misogynist. It all ties together. They hate everyone who is different from them. In other words, THEIR group (whatever it is -- usually white, male, straight and Christian) is the "essential" group, and all the others are hated.
Your "essentialism" argument is backfiring on you.