Decades ago when I was a graduate student, I found myself in one of those extended bull sessions of a kind to which grad students in political science are prone, with half a dozen people discussing everything from texts in political philosophy to current affairs.
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It’s subtitled “A historical reflection,” but there’s not much reflection in Jeet Heer’s survey of race in The New Republic. Instead, “The New Republic’s Legacy on Race” is for the most part an enumeration of racial demerits, along with a shorter list . . . . Continue Reading »
President Obama’s words at the National Prayer Breakfast have become yet another controversy in the long list of his remarks that have provoked attacks and defenses. The first thing to notice before his provocative “high horse” warning is the characterization of the killings . . . . Continue Reading »
I want to come back to accusations that my column discussing Ferguson, Missouri is animated by racism. I observed that young black males attract the “special attention” of law enforcement, and that any population focused on by people with guns—even law enforcers—will suffer a disproportionate amount of police violence. I also made the observation that this sad truth is hard to avoid, because young black males are often rightly the focus of police attention. Continue Reading »
To determine the crux of a contemporary issue, we must first determine the crux of history. Continue Reading »
American liberals need conservatives to be racist as justification for resisting change to the status quo of our government in terms of social programs and “entitlement” spending. Does it follow that conservatives must be racist? Funny, I don’t feel racist. What brings this up? At . . . . Continue Reading »
On June 19, 2012, the Reverend Fred Luter was elected as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination. In many respects, his election was unremarkable: The convention was held in his hometown of New Orleans, where he is the pastor of the largest Baptist . . . . Continue Reading »
Jonathan Rowe has provided a couple of interesting discussions (one, two) regarding the founding of the United States and the problem of slavery. Even so, a couple statements seem problematic and pursuing them might be valuable as a defense:And Christianity, properly understood, is entirely . . . . Continue Reading »
Without a doubt a large number of white bloggers, both amateur and professional, can be found today, clicking away a post on how we ought to improve our attitudes toward our brothers and sisters of different a darker skin tone. I would challenge these authors to take it one step further: . . . . Continue Reading »
The cardinal rule of writing about race is: don’t. There are several reasons why. First, it is impossible to say anything new. Second, it axiomatically follows that it is impossible to say anything interesting. Third, it is impossible to avoid offense; or, in laboring to avoid offense, whatever . . . . Continue Reading »
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