I'm in despair, and a little angry
A letter to a friend
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I recently presented a lecture for the University of Colorado, Boulder's Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization. In this hour-long talk, available in video on Youtube and in text at Quillette, I describe and lament the constraint which political correctness imposes on vigorous public discussion about the causes of and remedies for persistent racial inequality.
A friend of mine later objected to my lamentations, and I just wrote him a letter, which I want to make public here. Please see below.
Doug: No offense taken.
But, I'm not only scared about where things are going. I'm in despair. And, I'll admit to a bit of anger.
I think the summer of 2020 was a disaster for the future of "race" in the country. I think it reflects Obama's mishandling of Ferguson and Baltimore and Sanford, FL. I think it bespeaks the complete bankruptcy of the political governing forces representing the interest of blacks.
I'm unreservedly cynical about "civil rights" claims. Mississippi crusades were a half-century ago—as long as from Appamattox to Versailles!
The race debate has become a distraction—and a hustle. Make the social contract better—for all Americans—and you'll solve the only part of the racial disparity problem that warrants government involvement.
These killings by cops and their aftermath are national theater—a macabre enactment of lies, bluffs and self-delusions... The impositions of police are not the first, or second or third-order factors in determining the quality of black life—way behind families and schools and jobs...
Of course I know that structures matter. But, I think a central fact of our time is the failure of blacks at every level—from criminal behavior to performance on college exams—to measure-up to the plentiful opportunities at hand. A racial blame game has emerged to cover these failures which increasingly seems to corrupt everything.
And the tragedy is, I'm the only one who's saying so...
GL
Dear Glenn, I feel despair also. I’ve spent the last 20 years as a staff member at a Los Angeles area community college, choosing to be there because I wanted to put my MFA to use in service to those who may not have had a chance under other circumstances. I’ve been and am impressed with the commitment of my colleagues who put much effort to serving their students. Really impressed.
But since 2015 I think, the atmosphere started to change. Once Trump became president it seemed cemented in a direction that seemed confused.
I’m a white woman, half Iranian - my dad immigrated in the early 1960s. I understand a bit about not fitting in as I was raised in a small town in central Illinois. But I noticed the attitude from some of my black and brown colleagues - not all - became more guarded although for the most part we shared the same politics - quite liberal.
I recall working an event in which a couple of Black Lives Matter rep were on a panel. One of them was so unpleasant to a young Latino man who shared a story about his brother who was on a police force. She was extremely unpleasant to him and went so far as to shame him in front of the crowd. This was my first experience with BLM.
Since the George Floyd killing my college has made many changes to accommodate BLM. There are book readings of the “in” books in which staff are strongly encouraged to attend, changes in the focus of my projects which seem dubious, and a general derisive attitude toward our campus police who did a very good job of protecting our campus. Other things that seem questionable but perhaps are good for feeling empowered - I don’t know. At first I tried to go along but in my heart overall the changes felt terribly wrong; divisive, short sighted. Sam Harris’s “Can We Return from the Brink” helped me tremendously. I probably have listened to it 20 times in that 6 months. And that brought me to listening to you and John. You’ve both been very helpful.
And I despair too. I despair for the future of our country as the extremes become angrier and louder on each side of the political pole, each fueling the other with increasingly extreme antics. Yeats poem comes to mind, “The center cannot hold.” And yet holding to the center - each’s own personal center is what must be done as the political, environmental and viral (both biological and technological) seem to have sped up past the point of human comprehension.
So yes I despair. But there are also moments of walking in nature, spending time with my favorite people, playing fetch with my cat - simple things - that take me out of mind and remind me that life continues and - as corny as it sounds - love is real.
This, in two paragraphs, is EVERYTHING:
"The race debate has become a distraction—and a hustle. Make the social contract better—for all Americans—and you'll solve the only part of the racial disparity problem that warrants government involvement.
These killings by cops and their aftermath are national theater—a macabre enactment of lies, bluffs and self-delusions... The impositions of police are not the first, or second or third-order factors in determining the quality of black life—way behind families and schools and jobs..."