Thanks for your well-reasoned and heartfelt response. I think people would be open to crictism--even on concepts like white suprency or white priviledge--at least to what these concepts stand for as symbols. But most people aren't open to it, or they fear it. As well they should. In the "anti-racist" world of moral absolutes, redemption and forgiveness do not exist, and--at least according to various manifestos and screeds that have been shoved down my throat in various settings, even reaching out across racial lines or seeking to understand anothers' perspective makes one suspect. The message is: just don't even try to understand us, you never can, you never will. People who spew this sort of dogma rarely have the courage of their convictions. Thus, they claim to be seeking "justice" when in reality, it's fairly obvious that it's vengeance and retribution they want. I would honestly have more respect for someone who just owns it rather than hiding behind the veil of righteous indignation. How does no tolerance for attempts to seek understand, no possibility for forgiveness or redemption make the world a better place? I'm still waiting for a coherant answer. Thank you for sharing your truth about voting for Trump. There was a time, not so long ago that I would have had nothing to say to you. But that is just the sort of nonsense we have to move beyond. We can't simply judge someone based on how they vote, what they believe, or their ideological leanings. There have already been enough shamings, cancelations, exiles, whitch hunts over what amounts to the basic freedom we have to think what we want to. American is increasingly becoming quite Orwellian, as schools and work places deploy ideological thought police and have no qualms with expelling or firing anyone for their legally exercised rights to free speech and freedom to think. Are there people that hold uninformed, misinformed, stupid, ugly or simply abhorrent beliefs? Yes, but unless they interfere with their duties, we can't move forward by simply making everyone and everything we dislike go away. That's a childish response in what is increasingly becoming a very immature society. On a side tangent...I always used to think centrists were cowardly milksops who just couldn't make up their minds or have the courage to take a firm stand on an issue. I'm quickly beginning to realize that it is the centrists who have not abandoned the notion that people with different points of view can still have civil discourse. They are the sentinels who keep the (increasingly) violent extremists on both sides from tearing us all to pieces. The ability to see and listen to multiple perspectives and respond in a respectful and rational manner is fast becoming a unicorn among rare skills. Thanks again. I very much enjoy this dialogue, and your writing.
