Progressives Should Be Ashamed
A great comment today at Talking Points Memo:
"One of the characteristics of privilege is that people without privilege are expected to constantly account for themselves. An African-American in a prestigious job faces accusations of "you're not really qualified; you were just hired to make a quota". A woman who is a victim of sexual assault has to convince others--sometimes, even the police--that she didn't "deserve" what she got. Gay men and lesbians advocating marriage equality have to present an image of perfect loving eternally pair-bonded couples. The barrage of demands for Israel to apologize for its own existence is the same kind of bigotry, and people who call themselves "progressive" should be ashamed to tolerate it."
Hopefully, that's all I will have to print about the subject today.
"One of the characteristics of privilege is that people without privilege are expected to constantly account for themselves. An African-American in a prestigious job faces accusations of "you're not really qualified; you were just hired to make a quota". A woman who is a victim of sexual assault has to convince others--sometimes, even the police--that she didn't "deserve" what she got. Gay men and lesbians advocating marriage equality have to present an image of perfect loving eternally pair-bonded couples. The barrage of demands for Israel to apologize for its own existence is the same kind of bigotry, and people who call themselves "progressive" should be ashamed to tolerate it."
Hopefully, that's all I will have to print about the subject today.
Comments
To my disappointment, but no great surprise, this imperative has been squashed under the usual cries for either the dismantlement of Israel - which as stated is a form of bigotry - or the dismissal, with contempt, of every and any criticism of Israel as bigotry itself, which amounts to amoral political extremism.
Meanwhile, a great number of people couldn't care less, and make much of that position - which indifference partly abetted the holocaust, and is in its own way also destructive.
If we are going to have a rational view of Israel and its situation, we need to stop retreating to ideological absolutes and discuss it like a bunch of grown-ups. Maybe 5% or less of what I've read or heard about the flotilla crisis - in newspapers, blogs, radio - does that. The rest is a clash of prejudices and claptrap about who everyone is and isn't.
One solution to such a problem is to get rid of such racist quota policies, and quickly. Because with these policies in place, people actually do get hired on skin color instead of real qualifications. The policies demand it, after all. And the ones who get by on hard work instead of meeting a quota get insulted and lumped in with the others.
By the way, people on the Left use that criticism of Clarence Thomas all the time (the one you quoted). These liberals feel is it is OK to be racist against someone if they have the "wrong" political views. They also use the "Uncle Tom" epithet not against submissive blacks, but instead against any black who defies their narrow view of accepted black political views.
Every time I think of a strong intelligent charismatic black man, I do not think of Obama or Sharpton or Rangel, I think of Alfonzo Rachel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C2CjR-kvVM
1. People like George W. Bush got everything they ever had in life because they were members of the rich white power structure in this country. The day that sort of thing comes to an end, I'll worry about a few black firemen getting their jobs because of quotas.
2.Clarence Thomas is an ignorant, incompetent, corrupt tool. That's what I, for one, don't like about him. The only thing that his being black has to do with his current position is that it conned many Democrats into not opposing him the way they should have.
3. How did we get on this topic anyway? I was having so much fun beating up on Helen Thomas.
Rich white power structure? Black families can be rich too.