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My theory is more primitive: a critical mass of white Americans would rather not have something than see black and Latino Americans get it too. A good rule of
by slavat 16y ago
My theory is more primitive: a critical mass of white Americans would rather not have something than see black and Latino Americans get it too.
A good rule of thumb: any time you see some white liberal accusing others of racism or complaining about the plight of minorities, that person invariably lives in a white neighborhood and--if they have children--sends their children to a white private school or to a "good" public school in their white neighborhood.
While I couldn't pin down her current place of residence, in the article she mentions returning to New York, and according to an old article[1], at one point she lived on the Upper-West Side of Manhattan. I don't know if she still lives there, but where ever she lives now, you can be certain it's not on Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard or anywhere else where the minorities she pines for predominate.
tl;dr version: hypocritical white liberal accuses others of racism.
[1] http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-01-08/features/1995008099_1_katha-pollitt-feminism-reasonable-creatures http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-01-08/features/1995008...
- elblanco 16y agoAre you claiming that the Upper-West Side is only white? Isn't that a kind of racism? Minorities can't get rich and own houses in a fancy part of town? She might be the only white person in her building for all you know. I suspect that many perceived racial biases are more class biases. It's interesting that you chose places with people of different skin colors as her theoretical avoidance zones. I suspect she'd be just as unlikely to hang around in poor white areas as well.
- slavat 16y agoI live in NYC. The Upper-West Side is predominantly white, affluent and liberal. That was my point. And there is no chance in hell that she is the only white person in her building. As for her disliking poor whites, I have no doubt that she does. Rich white liberals love to promulgate policies that harm poor whites, such as race-based affirmative action and illegal immigration.
- edderly 16y agoThat's as irrational as saying "if you like poor black people so much, why don't you become one?".
- slavat 16y agoActually, it's more like pointing out the contradiction of someone who constantly professes their love for egg salad and attacks others for not feeling the same way never actually bothering to eat any egg salad themselves. She is one of these hypocritical diversity cheerleaders who loves to accuse others of racism while doing everything she can to minimize her exposure to the diversity she demands everyone else embrace.
- edderly 16y agoI suppose a ardent communist might agree with you, however, I think your logic is flawed to assume that where a person lives determines their character or renders them powerless to attempt to empathize with someone of a different race and economic status. If you were talking about the impact of immigration you might have a point, such that politicians and 'liberals' maybe less affected by migrants moving into, usually, poor areas. Here though, she theorizes that an innate lack of empathy with different races may account for American attitudes. Personally, I think her argument is flawed or at best too narrow, simply because many countries are fairly happy to live with people of the same ethnicity in poor conditions.