The entirety of conservative political thought is now "replacement theory" paranoia. First, that Dems and the left broadly are trying to physically replace white people with brown folk from other countries...
But then if that fails, we're plotting (supposedly) to replace the dominant uncritical white narrative of America (as a shining city on a hill) w/a critique that holds the nation up as a font of racist evil. In short, we're trying to replace the people or the story, or both...(2)
This is what people sound like when they've been so high on their own hegemony for so long they've never had to think about sharing physical or narrative space with people different than themselves. So pluralism feels like oppression to them...(3)
They cannot stand the thought of being one among equals, of not being the floor model of an American anymore, or having to hear other perspectives on the nation's history, including the good, bad, AND ugly. They prefer the propaganda version...(4)
As for replacement, immigration isn't what drives demographic change, so the theory fails on its own terms. Demographics are changing bc white median female age is 44 (tail end of fertility): 14 yrs older than median Latina age even for documented Latinas...(5)
So the idea that mass migration is a plot to maintain power is not only paranoid it's nonsensical: migrants aren't what change the numbers. There just aren't enough fertile white folks to maintain hegemony. Suck it up...(6)
As for the story we tell, the idea that the dominant group, historically, should always be in control of the national narrative is preposterous. All events are experienced in different ways by different groups. To teach history from multiple frames is called scholarship...(7)
To teach it solely from the rah-rah, cheerleader perspective is to commit memoricide against persons of color: the erasure of their stories and narratives for the benefit of your own and your continued domination.
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All you need to know about conservatives when it comes to debates about racism in America is this: these people believe the Civil Rights Act was wrong to prohibit racial discrimination in the private sector bc they think property owners' rights outweigh all else (thread)...
They admit this if you push them. Sometimes you don't even have to. Ben Shapiro says it openly, for instance. Which means the "progress" they brag about in "prohibiting discrimination" and systemic racism is progress they don't even support having happened (2)...
Had it been up to them, for instance, lunch counter operators could have continued to prohibit Blacks from dining at their establishments. Oh sure, they'll say they personally find those businesses' racism awful and would personally have not shopped/eaten there...(3)
Conservative Christians attack Critical Race Theory for supposedly teaching that whites today should be held responsible for the sins of their fathers & are inherently racist. Yet they believe humans are held responsible today by God for original sin, & are inherently sinful...
2/ Fact is, CRT doesn't say whites are inherently racist, bc it rejects the notion of races as categories with inherent tendencies/traits. And the idea that the nation should be responsible for its history of oppression is not a CRT idea. It's a basic moral principle of justice..
3/ But the right DOES believe in inherent tendencies. Sinfulness for humans (all Eve's fault of course, bc they like blaming women for things), for instance. And it is right-wingers who embraced The Bell Curve which suggests biological inferiority for Black people...
A year after the murder of George Floyd, it seems that much of the focus of anti-racism efforts has been on challenging white people to change personally rather than challenging structures of inequity...And yes, I know people maintain systems but stick with me here...
2/ If the issue is a justice system predicated on domination & control, implicit bias training is bullshit. The structure demands what it demands...The system produces inequity regardless of personal cop/DA/judge/jury bias...
3/ It does this by operating on a logic that says we need to have a top-down social control mechanism (police, courts) cleaning up the mess of a society we allow to produce chaos bc of mass inequity...
1/ A thread on Israel/Gaza, from the perspective of an Anti-Zionist Jew. And no, that doesn’t mean self-hating. Self-hate is what shandas like Alan Dershowitz are guilty of, being such cheap dates they’ll sell out their values for an embassy switch to Jerusalem. Please read on...
2/ To defend Israel's latest actions you must do better than 'Hamas is bad.' First, the moral propriety of one side's actions can't be determined by the actions of another, esp. when the actions of the 1st are harming persons who are not to blame for the actions of the second...
3/ By the standard being argued here, the Nazis could have said "Stalin is bad," and thus "we must kill all the communists"...likewise, Stalin could say, "Nazis are bad" and thus "we must kill all opponents of communism." It's a never-ending cycle of amoral rationalization...
Because what this says, by definition, in her own words, is that Jewish nationalism requires dead Palestinian children. Not that she's wrong, but if you realize this and still support that nationalism, you are broadcasting your venality for all to see...
This is one of the reasons I've rejected Zionism since I was a kid in Hebrew School. I never could get my head around why my people's desire for land and power should take priority over the lives of others--and THEIR land. And "God said so" is a bullshit answer...
There are 3 basic theoretical frames re: race in the U.S. Broadly speaking we can call them liberal race theory, critical race theory, and conservative race theory. It's worth understanding how their premises differ especially w/all the distortions re CRT...
So, liberal theory assumes the structures and foundations of society are basically fair and just, but we're falling short in securing the blessings of liberty for all bc of inadequate recognition of the problem, resource inadequacy, inadequate training/education, etc...(2)
According to liberal theory, with more money, more training, more awareness, the system can be made to work for all. This is pretty much the Barack Obama school of thought (3)...