What's so interesting about Kirk and Rufo and their attacks on DEI is that neither of those smug, arrogant, sneering jerks has done anything of value in their miserable lives. Yet, they feel perfectly entitled to judge whether other (non-white) people deserve their achievements, position, stature, etc.
When Obama was elected my conservative mother asked me if we could stop harping on race now. I replied that when cops stopped killing black kids for specious reasons, maybe we could think about it.
It isn’t brought up much, but I’ve felt that maybe a contributing factor to the protests in the summer of 2020 was the video of Amy Cooper threatening to call the police for someone having the temerity to expect her to leash her dog where she was required to leash her dog. For many white Americans, I think the video of George Floyd being murdered, accompanied by the shrill normalcy of that woman representing the more mundane side of the same coin, was a bridge too far. Like, we could have just kept tsk- tsking about Mr Floyd’s murder, in part, because that seemed so foreign to us. It may have seemed more abstract and far removed from us because we can’t imagine someone we know standing on another man’s neck, but we can all imagine a co worker or an aunt or a neighbor being just casually racist and cruel. You mentioned that some motivation for the protests was wanting to be as far from endorsing Trump as possible but I think not wanting any part of Amy Cooper might have contributed as well.
"“Normalcy,” in U.S. history, has never entailed a racial reckoning, but rather a combination of ignoring, upholding, and complying with structural racism." I always enjoy your writing and this essay gave me a lot to think about and put so much history into perspective. I remember when Obama was running for President and I had conversations with people about how important I thought it was that a Black man be elected President. People would comment that it was important to elect a Democrat and shied away from the fact that he would be the first Black man elected President. We must do better.
Have you ever noticed how cities across America tend to honor Dr. King? (And Cesar Chavez in California)
The default is to name a major arterial “Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd.” Usually, with a non-standard, extra large sign. Somehow the honor is placed to satisfy two criteria: 1) it is the least used by white drivers and 2) it avoids having real estate agencies having to say the quiet part, “this neighborhood is not for you folks.”
What's so interesting about Kirk and Rufo and their attacks on DEI is that neither of those smug, arrogant, sneering jerks has done anything of value in their miserable lives. Yet, they feel perfectly entitled to judge whether other (non-white) people deserve their achievements, position, stature, etc.
Classic white privilege.
When Obama was elected my conservative mother asked me if we could stop harping on race now. I replied that when cops stopped killing black kids for specious reasons, maybe we could think about it.
Excellent article. Thank you.
A brilliant essay and analysis. This political and social pattern isn't unique to America, although America, as with many issues, is the exemplar.
It isn’t brought up much, but I’ve felt that maybe a contributing factor to the protests in the summer of 2020 was the video of Amy Cooper threatening to call the police for someone having the temerity to expect her to leash her dog where she was required to leash her dog. For many white Americans, I think the video of George Floyd being murdered, accompanied by the shrill normalcy of that woman representing the more mundane side of the same coin, was a bridge too far. Like, we could have just kept tsk- tsking about Mr Floyd’s murder, in part, because that seemed so foreign to us. It may have seemed more abstract and far removed from us because we can’t imagine someone we know standing on another man’s neck, but we can all imagine a co worker or an aunt or a neighbor being just casually racist and cruel. You mentioned that some motivation for the protests was wanting to be as far from endorsing Trump as possible but I think not wanting any part of Amy Cooper might have contributed as well.
"“Normalcy,” in U.S. history, has never entailed a racial reckoning, but rather a combination of ignoring, upholding, and complying with structural racism." I always enjoy your writing and this essay gave me a lot to think about and put so much history into perspective. I remember when Obama was running for President and I had conversations with people about how important I thought it was that a Black man be elected President. People would comment that it was important to elect a Democrat and shied away from the fact that he would be the first Black man elected President. We must do better.
Have you ever noticed how cities across America tend to honor Dr. King? (And Cesar Chavez in California)
The default is to name a major arterial “Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd.” Usually, with a non-standard, extra large sign. Somehow the honor is placed to satisfy two criteria: 1) it is the least used by white drivers and 2) it avoids having real estate agencies having to say the quiet part, “this neighborhood is not for you folks.”