Thursday, January 21, 2021

The OTHER "Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name"

White man speaks:

"If everything we face as a country ultimately has a root in racism then that's what the left believes and that's what he's willing to give them," Rove remarked.

First, it puts me in mind of Rand Paul whinging on FoxNews yesterday about the same thing:

Odd, in other words, why Mr. Rove is so offended by what seems to be to be an anodyne comment.  Context is all, I suppose, but what is Mr. Rove's context?  That we really should put American racism behind us and unify?  Shouldn't we consult with the victims of racism about that?  Or is it too offensive to take that into consideration?

And speaking of context: 

I read that tweet without seeing the "parent" tweet, and it struck me that comment could refer to a whole range of the political spectrum. I know the groups disappointed by the failure of mass executions. And I think about the groups who will be disappointed. People like to imagine the ideas of other people can be driven into the sea if only the right person will make the effort. “Real change” takes more effort than that; such as talking to people. If our problems are legion, treating our opponents as demons who can be cast out of the body politic is not really a solution.  I'm not suggesting we hug it out, but absent words, what change do we pursue?  Incarceration?  Death to our enemies?  Mass arrests?  We can pass another Voting Rights Act (and we should), but that doesn't mean voting rights are no longer a problem.  We've basically outlawed racism (it's such a pernicious category in the law it delegitimizes everything it touches).  Now if we could just agree on what "racism" is.

I don't see an alternative to that except talking about it; something Mr. Rove doesn't want us to do.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)