85 Comments

It seems that we are moving away from being color blinded to only seeing color. As a Gen Xer, I was raised and lived color blind and now I'm being told I was wrong. Up is down and down is up.

Thank you for a great article.

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Because universities do not want the negative publicity that comes from one of the professors being called a racist, the professor can't get a fair hearing from the administration. This can only be settled in the courts, and this professor needs to sue the university, and more importantly, the students to make them prove their damages. A precedent needs to be established where false claims of racism, and make believe damages, becomes a form of defamation that creates a hostile work environment if the university takes the side of the accusers in these types of instances.

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I’m struck by the fact that these students are hoping to become lawyers Their professor has described a hypothetical case, specifically because he thinks they may encounter something similar in their careers as lawyers. The students themselves will benefit from trying such a case, both financially and—one hopes—in furthering the very anti-racism they claim to promote.

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Wonderful. What a treasure you are, John McWhorter.

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Your analogy of anti racism as a new religion is perfect. I really enjoy your take on a variety of issues especially this one. I wish your ideas were more known by common people, not those seeking intellectuals. I think common people would see your ideas and really come to see someone who is measured in their calm on dramatic topics.

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founding

"But in all of this, we are taught not to make sense. We are taught to suspend our rational faculties in favor of larger, abstract, and often incoherent imperatives valued as demonstration of our moral fitness."

amen! thank you for this.

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"...on a certain level students like this are enjoying themselves." I get that feeling about many other performative manifestations of outrage.

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founding

I’d like to know what the anti-racists think happens next. If White Privilege is truly an original sin, and the source of all problems, what is the solution? The irony is the complete lack of agency this mindset engenders is a trap. Kendi’s tyrannical “Department of Anti-Racism” is definitely not the solution.

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Keep on keepin on, Professor McWhorter. We need more smart and well-spoken critics like you. Some of us still care to know the best that has been thought and written.

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To say they are faking it is the wrong idea. I’m trans, a Muslim woman was filling my prescription at a pharmacy once, she called me sir. I flipped out and said, “fuck you!” I’m not black, but I have been that overly sensitive 21st century young person. Why did I say “fuck you” to a young woman, maybe an immigrant, or child of immigrants. Why did I call and complain to Walgreens customer service line about their “transphobic staff.” I wasn’t making up the hurt, I was a lemming, I was doing what I had seen other lemmings do, and I had a therapist telling me my feelings were valid. They will validate your feelings all the way to the radical extremist groups. I think the student who had “heart palpitations” doesn’t have to be faking it for them to not have actually experienced heart palpitations, and for it to be a clear case of over reacting. They are just another lemming. Charles Mackay would help these people more than therapy.

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Outstanding . Worth the subscription so dar .

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Thank you for laying it all out there. It’s hard to observe madness all around and even discover it’s been adopted by people we love and once admired.

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John,

Technical correction: the "na-ge" incident occurred at the University of _Southern_ California.

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There is a softness that has set into people that can be tracked back to pumping up self esteem at the cost of self respect. A friend of mine works for a large company that dedicated itself to helping their employees feel valued. It's gone too far and now people in the company are too comfortable airing their societal/racial grievances on conference calls or on text exchanges.

Imagine dialing into a conference call for work and hearing people talk about race, their hate of Trump and of Trump supporters.

That's where we are today. It's time for tough love. Enough is enough.

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Thank you John for your clear and insightful thoughts on this matter.

Also, thank you for having the courage to be a voice of logic and reason in a time when #feelings, tribalism, and politics fuel the loudest, almost deafening, voices. Please keep doing what you do, it gives me hope that we'll find a way to move to a world when every person "not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character - " including Jason Kilborn.

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Excellent piece, but you introduce the possibility that the student might have a psychological condition and then dismiss it out of hand. Also, Black people are not the only ones that are currently being treated in this way when they make hysterical statements of injury.

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