For those who don't know this reference...
Yes, we have many people doing horrible things all over the world, but people being vile because their ancestors had less sun than others is a special kind of pointless stupidity.
“Melanin endows blacks with greater mental, physical, and spiritual abilities — something which cannot be measured by Eurocentric standards.”
This is just one quote from her letter, which goes on at length about black superiority.
I think the problem we have right now is we have two sets of standards. People that have been reintroducing racist concepts into government, academia and the media shouldn’t be surprised when there is a similarly racist backlash.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1994/11/4/clarke-should-r...
> “It was meant to express an equally absurd point of view — fighting one ridiculous absurd racist theory with another ridiculous absurd theory,” Clarke explained, “and the goal was all about [exposing] the ugly racist underpinnings of the Bell Curve theory. It was deeply personal and profoundly important to Black students and other students of color who felt that their right to be on campus was challenged. And frankly, the fight that we were leading as students is a fight that I am still very much a part of today.”
https://forward.com/news/national/462089/bidens-deputy-ag-pi...
The full letter certainly seems consistent with that: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1994/10/28/blacks-seek-an...
Would you accept this statement from a white supremacist?
Again, we need consistent rules against racism. Otherwise you're opening the door to racists and extremists on both sides.
From your own link: Later, in an interview with The Crimson, Clarke suggested that "The information [contained in the letter] is not necessarily something we believe, but some information that we think those pursuing a true understanding of The Bell Curve theory should either address, ignore or refute."
So it's false to say she is only addressing the matter now; she responded to questions about it at the time.
While claiming to have been unable to detect any irony in the letter co-authored by Clarke, the Crimson editorial is pseudo-objective at best, and at worst comes off as an example of insincere concern trolling.
Does this sound ok to your ears? If this was a white supremacist, we would all correctly be shouting about how it's a dog whistle and not an acceptable response.
I wish more people would read 'How to Be an Antiracist.' I believe he's absolute right in that the only way forward is to call out racist beliefs from everyone, not selectively. Selectively excusing racist beliefs from "our side" will only open the door to more racism.
“We” is not the same as “I”. She was speaking on behalf of a group, and a group which may not have even discussed their actual beliefs on the truth of the “theories and observations” presented, as that was not the purpose for which they were (explicitly, in the letters own terms) presented.
OMG! You're right! And Terry Pratchett went to his grave prostylizing a flat earth model because he never officially made a statement that his satirical novels were just that - satirical.
The record is set straight in the first sentence of the letter, which explains the intended role of the things presented : In response to those who defend The Bell Curve (“Defending The Bell Curve,” Opinion, Oct. 24, 1994), please use the following theories and observations to assist you in your search for truth regarding the genetic differences between Blacks and whites.
Disgusted sure, I am with you on that.
But "can still exist?" With the number of stories just on HN about social media dark patterns and recommendation engine rabbit-holes?
It's difficult to understand that as anything other than puffery.
Racism is more crazy religion than ideology.
That's all this really is. The economy has moved forwards. People either moved to cities and upskilled (hence the hate for a mysterious metropolitan "elite") or they sat in rust belt towns complaining their disability cheque is late again and worrying someone poorer than them might get the money instead.
That's Trumps whole platform really. That's where the racism fits in. That is all the bs about draining swamps and elites. That's "make America great again". That's rolling back climate change rules (even the tiny ones the US actually has). Bolt on anti-abortion single issue voters and tax cuts for trillionaires to keep the senate on side.
This whole thing is what happens when you have 25 years of social and economic progress and people get left behind and refuse to make any effort to catch up...
Trumps base was/is made up of majority poor white rural Americans, with a coalition of racists and extremists bolted on. What's crucial in that is the majority are just poor white townspeople.
They lost their jobs because overseas laborers are willing to do the same work for less; because consumers don't care if the latest iPhone is made in Cali or in some Chinese interment camp. Same thing for coal and oil jobs. The world changed and these are the people who lost their livelihoods for it. I've been watching American politics my whole life, and Trump was the first politician I saw to truly acknowledge that there is a large portion of the population that are suffering economically for things out of their control and told them it wasn't their fault.
Leaving aside fault for the moment...
The jobs are gone. So we have a few options:
* people can do what I said, retrain, maybe move, do something else
* people can do nothing and get benefits to sit there doing nothing.
I don't think there is a third option, but let me know if I'm missing something?
The issue is, 80% of people refuse to the first one. They sit in rust belt towns and die deaths of despair.
So what do we do?
Trumps solution, which they have chosen, is nothing. We do nothing. No healthcare for them, no improved benefits, no retraining.
Since they chose that, I could live with it. But I don't want to be tied to them and live with the rest of the shitty things trump wants to do.
I'm more than happy to hear a solution here. I've tried not to blame anyone. I honestly believe that it wasn't their fault the coal mine (etc) closed. I just don't see an option beyond waiting for them to die before we can progress economically or socially.
And that's not really acceptable to me. I'm gay, and I don't think I should be forced to be a second class citizen just because other people are bitter about their life and voted for a Fuck Everyone candidate. I'm sure there are women who will want reproductive health rights that feel the same way. I'm sympathetic, I came from just suck a place. But there does come a point where I feel like saying "you're not dragging me down with you".
Full disclosure: I'm actually a brit. But we have the exact same thing happening here. Only its Boris Johnson and Brexit (which will last much longer than trumpism).
I hope you can understand where I'm coming from.