The Necessity of Self-Criticism
with John McWhorter
I sometimes get flak for changing my position on issues, as I have many times over my career as a public intellectual. But I’m not going to apologize for changing my mind when new information comes to light or when I discover an error in my prior thinking. In this clip from one of my Q&A sessions with John McWhorter, a reader tries to take me to task for reevaluating my too-hasty praise for the documentary The Fall of Minneapolis and its claims about George Floyd’s death. I’m not having it. Admitting to my mistakes and correcting my errors isn’t a sign of weakness—it’s integrity.
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Self-criticism and willingness to change your perspective demonstrates:
- Open-mindedness
- Respect for others even if their opinions are different than yours (if you changed your opinion then there's a pretty good chance you were influenced by one or more people that you previously disagreed with)
- Humility
- Personal responsibility -- you're committed to making yourself a better person
But, then, isn't everybody like that (at least, that's what they think about themselves)? The answer is no -- most people are not like that.
The question on my mind is how American black conservatives are going to react to the Anti-Trump law-fair which has recently culminated in his conviction after a Totalitarian show trial. To remain silent is now impossible given that the black vote is critical to Biden and that the crisis will now deepen and metastasize and could easily end in civil war. It has not escaped anyone’s notice that the much public media now consists in nothing but a Orwellian propaganda effort to instigate inter ethnic Pogroms, aiming to poison race and create ethnic hatred in America. Who benefits if we thereby paralyze our government and democracy and instigate actual civil conflict? Who benefits when we fight among ourselves and break the traditional rules of our ideal of a government based on an elected representative elite? What say my Gurus, Glenn and John?? Is the game rigged? If so, by who?