In a recent post Ann started with,
I hesitate to write posts like this because voicing ones opinion can so easily cause drama these days.
I agree with her about that, and…
I hate racism, but I tend to be prejudiced in favor of blacks. I had some black friends in high school, and some members of my family were prejudiced and were upset about my friendships. I think there is still a lot of discrimination against them (and other minorities) and would vote to have that changed. I also have the same worries that The Economist has,
Our cover this week argues that a set of illiberal ideas about how to tackle American racism will only hinder progress. Leaders like Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King used vigorous protest and relentless argument to push society towards their vision of equality of opportunity and equality before the law. Most Americans still hew to that classical liberal ideal, as do many of those who marched with justified anger over the killing of George Floyd by a white policeman in Minneapolis. But a dangerous rival approach has emerged from American universities. It rejects the liberal notion of progress. It defines everyone by their race, and every action as racist or anti-racist. It is not yet dominant, but it is dynamic and it is spreading out of the academy into newsrooms and boardrooms. If it supplants liberal values, then intimidation will chill open debate and sow division to the disadvantage of all, black and white.
I agree. If the liberal idea of equal opportunity and justice for everyone loses, we all do. Fingers crossed.
July 9, 2020
What is wrong with so much of mankind that we cannot just love everyone? Even today, so many are judged by their looks or color. So shallow and wrong. People have so much anger, and take it out on others who are different.
Yes. 🙁
I grew up with friends of color and different race than mine. My family always never had “different” in our upbringing or vocabulary. One good friend from high school was Pakistani…two of my brothers married Mexicans. I was raised to know we’re all equal. Race uproar is not the answer…peaceful action is. But, sadly, it will never be. Centuries of fighting in the world’s history is proof, & it will go on.
The majority of Americans think things should be changed. Fingers crossed something constructive can be done. I agree, history is not encouraging.
I’ve always based my opinion of a person on how they act not by the color of their skin. It would be a much happier world if everyone could do that.
Yes!
Just say ditto to the first three comments that were already written and that’s how I feel and I also agree with you
Let’s hope they come up with some constructive ideas. It’s encouraging that the majority of Americans seem to agree with us.
I keep coming back to these words, “But a dangerous rival approach has emerged from American universities. It rejects the liberal notion of progress.”
It’s easy for me, a white woman living in an all white neighborhood, to look back at my lifetime and think there has been progress in race relations. And there has been but if I was a black person looking back at that same timeline of progress—integrated schools, voting rights, less red lining—it wouldn’t be an abstract concept. It would be their reality and one they would have had to fight for every step of the way. I can understand college age black kids not wanting to wait another generation for what should be their God give right to be equal.
The Economist goes on to say that rejection of liberal progress “… defines everyone by their race, and every action as racist or anti-racist.” I don’t believe we as a nation are in danger of that becoming mainstream but I do believe we can’t ignore those restless voices. It really is time for America do some soul searching. I compare those restless voices to the anti-war protesters of my younger days. At the time older people scorned them but history has crediting them for ending the war. I predict, I hope, the same will happen here regarding ending racism.
From what I’m reading the majority of Americans think there hasn’t been enough progress and want to improve things. A lot of them have joined the peaceful protests.
“I don’t believe we as a nation are in danger of that becoming mainstream…” I’m not as sanguine as you are. They don’t have to become mainstream, they just have to resort to enough violence to create a backlash. Don’t forget, Nixon won on law and order in 1968. A friend of mine at Cornell was a graduate student and anti-war activist. She thought it was legitimate to blow up banks, etc. because the system was so corrupt.
I think the majority of protestors now want peaceful change, but it doesn’t take many people destroying statues of Washington, etc. to give the opposition plenty of ammunition. That has not been missed by the administration.
Also, about the anti-war protestors. Do you think the poor kids who had been drafted and served in the horror of Vietnam deserved to be spit on and vilified? No liberal values there.
I worked with many black people when I was in the hotel business
those 5 years ago in another lifetime!
they became dear friends. I spent time in their homes. well two anyway.
and I was welcomed with open arms. I laughed with the girls as we did the dishes (no dishwasher there) and I slept on the floor of the living room one night when it was raining too hard to get back home. those are good memories. of lovely decent people sharing what little they had. I remember a lot of laughter. I was with friends.
maybe that’s the problem. we ‘white’ people don’t take the time or have the opportunity to become friends. I don’t have answers. it’s a deep and multi faceted problem of all societies. and I fear it will be with us for a long time to come.
The majority of Americans think that something should be done to stop the discrimination. The trick is to start working on solutions.
I have had experiences along the same lines. I worked with two Korean girls, and I would have comments about them. Nasty, snide little remarks. I always replied we would all be a lot better off if more people were like them!
I always wonder how I would feel if I had lived where in a home where a lot of racism was voiced…I don’t think I would have been influenced…yet if it had been instilled with me from birth I cannot honestly say.
And I have always wondered how I would feel if I was the one discriminated against. Or all my ancestors discriminated against.
My maternal great grandparents were Irish… they immigrated during the potato famine. The Irish were severely discriminated against even here (at least on the East Coast, “Irish Need Not Apply”). My grandmother could never mention the English without having it “the dirty English”, and for good reason. By the time I grew up in California the view of the Irish was much more positive, especially on St. Patrick’s Day.
As far as racism in our family, there was definite prejudice against blacks and Jews. As I said, some people were upset that I had black friends. It turned out it wasn’t just me, one of my cousins later married a black, another a Jewish woman. But this was in a small town in California not too far from bigger cities. It would probably would have been harder in other areas.
Uncross those fingers and remember to vote on November 3.
No problem there. That’s where I do my protesting. 🙂
Wishing love, good health, and peace for all.
Thank you! We could all use it. 🙂
I don’t quite understand this rival perspective. “It rejects the liberal notion of progress. It defines everyone by their race, and every action as racist or anti-racist.” Rejecting the idea of progress is obviously ridiculous, but how is it wrong to see someone’s action as racist or anti-racist. Isn’t it a good thing to reject racism wherever you encounter it?
The idea is you cannot be non-racist. Either you are actively trying to change society or you’re subconsciously racist and need to do some soul-searching. Under that view I would be classified as a racist, and I’m guessing you would too. No, no soul searching here. I have contributed money to equal justice for all. Blacks haven’t been the only victims, but fair courts would help them a lot.