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.
Yeah, I kind of agree with Salsassin about claiming "colorblind". I mean, I can see who's black, (or more often in America, half-black, 3/4 black, 26.4% black), just don't use that perception as a basis for judgement. Now, as you get to know people, you can factor in their experiences, but you just don't START with that.
As a fellow Gen X, by "color blind" we simply mean that we've tried living life by MLK's powerful axiom: "Judge others not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." However, we're now told such judgment itself is racist and we must automatically assign a person more value because they have darker skin, or a certain sexual expression, or...whatever the de juer surface characteristic of the moment may be. TLDR: MLK is done, and intersectionality reigns.
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.
The problem is that someone has to be solvent enough to refuse the severance offered in exchange for a release. And, you can't be sure that you won't be appearing before a tribunal just as "woke" as the university that fired you. It takes someone with true intestinal fortitude to take up this fight. I am in awe of those who have that level of conviction. Jodi Shaw is one such person.
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.
Exactly -- if a student gets heart palpitations from just seeing the redacted form of the word on an exam describing a hypothetical situation, how do they hope to be able to deal with an real-life legal case involving racial discrimination?
Not saying Mike Judge is a genius or anything, but is there any creator whose work "ages" better? Virtually everything he's ever done, I've gone from "this is stupid" to "this is better than I thought" to "this is smart and insightful AND hilarious".
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.
Well, as one of the 'common people' I have had no problem accessing the Profs thoughts. I am guessing there are many, like me, that have read some of the great work he's done but I know there are many that know who he is and got a spring board to his other work from a brilliant and very funny segment he did on MSNBC. If you type into Google 'john mcwhorter brian williams' you will undoubtedly come across it. Social culture does have its place in informing the common people and exciting them enough to follow up on that excitement. I trust you and yours are well and keeping safe. Cheers :)
No problem. I hope you found it ok and that it was useful. I have watched that segment quite a few times as not only is it, for me, entertaining but it seems clear that both the Prof and Brian Williams have a very friendly relationship. It's almost like watching a couple of mates just chatting over a drink and makes for a very accessible segment. Anyway, I hope you are well and staying safe. All the best, Puffin
"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."
that is part of the basic description of a sociopath. never underestimate the toxicity of organizational sociopaths in this kind of collective social pathology, it tends to spread rapidly when there is a vacuum of real leadership.
"vacuum of real leadership" is a very mild, almost euphemistic description of their relationship with "leadership".
I look at these eminently respectable and qualified Presidents and Deans and it seems their sole commission is A) squeeze the donor class and B) "keep the school out of the papers". If the latter involves indulging the most transparent abuses of neoracism, so be it. Most of the affected professors are reluctant to make a clean and noisy break, for what little that reluctance ever seems to get them.
Correct. Most of it is easily explained by social scientists that study how sociopaths and narcissists function in dysfunctional organizational cultures.
Most of the executive-admin function in higher education simply needs to be demolished and replaced. It is hyper-toxic and can't be "fixed" inside the system because the system has been exploited by the sociopaths for so long that they have erected massive barriers to reform. Parasitic immune system. Or, it is like a flesh-eating bacteria, the infected tissue just has to be cut out to save the patient.
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.
What happens next is a dystopian neomarxist corporate-state with a self-legitimating ideology of Rainbow Totalitarianism and high levels of economic inequality, imagine a hybrid of latin-x caudillismo, Stalinism/Maoism and Mugabe's Zimbabwe, or something like that.
The neomarxist Rainbow Totalitarians will inherit the existing police state and military-industrial-complex. That is already evident in Team Biden trying to expand the surveillance state so as to define any political opponents as potential "terrorists".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Never colorblind, just not color obsessed. And that is what these fanatics are.
Yeah, I kind of agree with Salsassin about claiming "colorblind". I mean, I can see who's black, (or more often in America, half-black, 3/4 black, 26.4% black), just don't use that perception as a basis for judgement. Now, as you get to know people, you can factor in their experiences, but you just don't START with that.
As a fellow Gen X, by "color blind" we simply mean that we've tried living life by MLK's powerful axiom: "Judge others not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." However, we're now told such judgment itself is racist and we must automatically assign a person more value because they have darker skin, or a certain sexual expression, or...whatever the de juer surface characteristic of the moment may be. TLDR: MLK is done, and intersectionality reigns.
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.
This is happening now at smith with Jodi Shaw.
The problem is that someone has to be solvent enough to refuse the severance offered in exchange for a release. And, you can't be sure that you won't be appearing before a tribunal just as "woke" as the university that fired you. It takes someone with true intestinal fortitude to take up this fight. I am in awe of those who have that level of conviction. Jodi Shaw is one such person.
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.
Exactly -- if a student gets heart palpitations from just seeing the redacted form of the word on an exam describing a hypothetical situation, how do they hope to be able to deal with an real-life legal case involving racial discrimination?
They don't realize that the futuristic movie Idiocracy was not an instruction manual, it was satire.
Err..."predictive satire" as it were.
Not saying Mike Judge is a genius or anything, but is there any creator whose work "ages" better? Virtually everything he's ever done, I've gone from "this is stupid" to "this is better than I thought" to "this is smart and insightful AND hilarious".
lolol
Wonderful. What a treasure you are, John McWhorter.
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.
Well, as one of the 'common people' I have had no problem accessing the Profs thoughts. I am guessing there are many, like me, that have read some of the great work he's done but I know there are many that know who he is and got a spring board to his other work from a brilliant and very funny segment he did on MSNBC. If you type into Google 'john mcwhorter brian williams' you will undoubtedly come across it. Social culture does have its place in informing the common people and exciting them enough to follow up on that excitement. I trust you and yours are well and keeping safe. Cheers :)
Thanks, Puffin, for bringing the MSNBC segment to our attention!
No problem. I hope you found it ok and that it was useful. I have watched that segment quite a few times as not only is it, for me, entertaining but it seems clear that both the Prof and Brian Williams have a very friendly relationship. It's almost like watching a couple of mates just chatting over a drink and makes for a very accessible segment. Anyway, I hope you are well and staying safe. All the best, Puffin
"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.
"...on a certain level students like this are enjoying themselves." I get that feeling about many other performative manifestations of outrage.
that is part of the basic description of a sociopath. never underestimate the toxicity of organizational sociopaths in this kind of collective social pathology, it tends to spread rapidly when there is a vacuum of real leadership.
"vacuum of real leadership" is a very mild, almost euphemistic description of their relationship with "leadership".
I look at these eminently respectable and qualified Presidents and Deans and it seems their sole commission is A) squeeze the donor class and B) "keep the school out of the papers". If the latter involves indulging the most transparent abuses of neoracism, so be it. Most of the affected professors are reluctant to make a clean and noisy break, for what little that reluctance ever seems to get them.
Correct. Most of it is easily explained by social scientists that study how sociopaths and narcissists function in dysfunctional organizational cultures.
Most of the executive-admin function in higher education simply needs to be demolished and replaced. It is hyper-toxic and can't be "fixed" inside the system because the system has been exploited by the sociopaths for so long that they have erected massive barriers to reform. Parasitic immune system. Or, it is like a flesh-eating bacteria, the infected tissue just has to be cut out to save the patient.
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.
What always happens when collective guilt is applied to individuals.
What happens next is a dystopian neomarxist corporate-state with a self-legitimating ideology of Rainbow Totalitarianism and high levels of economic inequality, imagine a hybrid of latin-x caudillismo, Stalinism/Maoism and Mugabe's Zimbabwe, or something like that.
The neomarxist Rainbow Totalitarians will inherit the existing police state and military-industrial-complex. That is already evident in Team Biden trying to expand the surveillance state so as to define any political opponents as potential "terrorists".
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.
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.
Outstanding . Worth the subscription so dar .
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.
John,
Technical correction: the "na-ge" incident occurred at the University of _Southern_ California.
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.
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.
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.