The older 1970's language of racism was, I think, more useful in describing social interactions than the current vocabulary of anti-racism. Those words being bias, prejudice, discrimination.
For example, it is entirely possible that Glen's greeter could have been a racist, but then, they might simply have been intimidated by celebrity, or unaccustomed to interactions with black persons, which is a form of bias, I guess, but not necessarily racist.
It seems to me we humans make judgments about each other all the time based on the available evidence: a haircut, mode of dress, behavioral idiosyncrasies, cultural markers—it is involuntary. We are not all comfortable with all people equally.
Some of it is threat assessment, and some of it is just the gossipy nature of human beings. We check each other out. The attempt to change this is futile, or worse, self-delusion. Fortunately, we don't have to act on our own first impulses.
My own personal experience tells me that things now are much worse that they were ten years ago, and, unscientifically, I blame anti-racism. Usually when you tell someone they have cause for righteous anger—they believe you, their resentment grows. I'm afraid I have noticed recently that the simplest social interactions now can carry a subtext of hostility. I wish it weren't so.
If I had to blame someone, it would be Obama, who set race relations back 30 years. His white mother was a socialist, his white grandmother was a communist, and he was steeped in the culture of class warfare. Today, he's the first ex-president to remain in D.C. and to hold court with current Administration officials. Shameless.
Every time I think about the "hope" candidate, and that ubiquitous poster in 2008, and the profound cynicism of it all—all I remember is how sucked into it I was, how badly I wanted to believe in it. I wonder if he ever wonders about how much damage he did with all us stupid white people.
It was a great poster. After decades we all wanted to believe we were past all this nonsense. Boy, were we wrong. Obama legitimized racial grievance as if it was some undiscovered truth. In a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic society, he took sides. He was the President of ALL. Americans, but you’d never know it. Now, he’s the first post-President to remain in D.C. He hangs with the rich and famous, his net worth having exploded. He is a living mockery of those who voted for him.
The older 1970's language of racism was, I think, more useful in describing social interactions than the current vocabulary of anti-racism. Those words being bias, prejudice, discrimination.
For example, it is entirely possible that Glen's greeter could have been a racist, but then, they might simply have been intimidated by celebrity, or unaccustomed to interactions with black persons, which is a form of bias, I guess, but not necessarily racist.
It seems to me we humans make judgments about each other all the time based on the available evidence: a haircut, mode of dress, behavioral idiosyncrasies, cultural markers—it is involuntary. We are not all comfortable with all people equally.
Some of it is threat assessment, and some of it is just the gossipy nature of human beings. We check each other out. The attempt to change this is futile, or worse, self-delusion. Fortunately, we don't have to act on our own first impulses.
My own personal experience tells me that things now are much worse that they were ten years ago, and, unscientifically, I blame anti-racism. Usually when you tell someone they have cause for righteous anger—they believe you, their resentment grows. I'm afraid I have noticed recently that the simplest social interactions now can carry a subtext of hostility. I wish it weren't so.
If I had to blame someone, it would be Obama, who set race relations back 30 years. His white mother was a socialist, his white grandmother was a communist, and he was steeped in the culture of class warfare. Today, he's the first ex-president to remain in D.C. and to hold court with current Administration officials. Shameless.
Every time I think about the "hope" candidate, and that ubiquitous poster in 2008, and the profound cynicism of it all—all I remember is how sucked into it I was, how badly I wanted to believe in it. I wonder if he ever wonders about how much damage he did with all us stupid white people.
See my June 8 comment on this subject:
https://open.substack.com/pub/bariweiss/p/tgif-june-8-2023-wildfires-nyc-donald-trump?r=ydu56&utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=17106368
It was a great poster. After decades we all wanted to believe we were past all this nonsense. Boy, were we wrong. Obama legitimized racial grievance as if it was some undiscovered truth. In a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic society, he took sides. He was the President of ALL. Americans, but you’d never know it. Now, he’s the first post-President to remain in D.C. He hangs with the rich and famous, his net worth having exploded. He is a living mockery of those who voted for him.