"I hope it is clear that opposing whiteness is not the same as opposing white people. White supremacy is an equal opportunity employer; nonwhite people can become active agents of white supremacy as well as passive participants in its 1/
2/ "hierarchies and rewards. One way of becoming an insider is by participating in the exclusion of other outsiders. An individual might even secure a seat on the Supreme Court on this basis. On the other hand, if not every white supremacist is white, it follows that not all
3/ "white people have to become complicit with white supremacy-that there is an element of choice in all of this. White people always have the option of becoming antiracist, although not enough have done so. We do not choose our color, but we do choose our commitments.
4/4 "We do not choose our parents, but we do choose our politics. Yet we do not make these decisions in a vacuum; they occur within a social structure that gives value to whiteness and offers rewards for racism." ~George Lipsitz
Well said!
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
1. The basic scientific fact of Critical Race Theory is that “race” is a biological fiction and an socio-historical construction.
2. The basic historical fact of Critical Race Theory is that “race” was created and legislated for specific and demonstrable purposes.
3. The basic sociological fact of Critical Race Theory is that the creation of “race” was subordinating & has created a human social hierarchy which has affected, even structured, our most basic social systems, including law, citizenship, labor, human geography, and institutions.
Most corporate DEI training is simply law suit avoidance education, so why would we be surprised there's money in it? Antidiscrimination and workplace harassment laws exist and corporations need to "safely" navigate this terrain. DEI is modern capitalism at work. 1/
2/ And the folks who create the training are generally well educated in the field, hold the appropriate degrees, and those who present often are likewise. Why shouldn't they make money for this service to corporate America?
3/ In addition, I've even met people who were very positively impacted by DEI training at their workplace. It helped them step outside of their own small social world and contemplate the experience of others, even if they didn't vibe with everything.
To be outright anti-deconstruction is to reject the Biblical understanding of sanctification; it is refusal to "be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Rom 12:2), to "take every thought captive" (2 Cor 10:5), and to "plow up your fallow ground" (Hos 10:12). 1/
2/ Do we not know, as Christians, that sin has far-reaching effects? Not only has sin brought about spiritual and physical death, but sin has broken man’s community with God (Gen. 3:24-25), broken his community with neighbor (Gen. 3:16; 4:1-8; Gal. 5:14-15), corrupted his
3/ economic activity (Gen. 3:17; Isa. 3:5; Mic. 2:2), corrupted his habitation and environment (Rom. 8:19-21), and has even distorted his very mind and reason (Matt. 15:19; Rom. 1:28; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:18).
I think it's clear why many social justice oriented Christians appear tepid in the eyes of the Right in their anti-abortionism: they simply don't understand the legal question as easily disentangled from the social conditions that overwhelmingly lead to abortion. 1/
2/ By far, the strongest statistical correlate to abortion is poverty. I mean, hands down. (There is an interesting spike when considering the uber-wealthy, but that's a small group.) And when you see one party championing illegality yet likewise championing libertarian style
3/ social policies, even blaming the poor for their own poverty and condemning the morals of single mothers rather than changing the conditions that make single motherhood so overwhelmingly difficult for many, it makes it truly hard to take their anti-abortionism to be more than
1. See a great evil that the Bible condemns being practiced by "Christians," now or in the past.
2. Wonder, "how could 'Christians' engage in and defend such evils?"
3. Begin to examine their justifications, historical or contemporary.
4. See that their justifications include specific doctrines and interpretations of the Scripture.
5. Learn that these doctrines and interpretations have a contingent history and connect well with contingent a-Biblical social doctrines and worldy ideologies.
6. Realize that you yourself have received and believed many of these doctrines from your own socialization (society, family, church).
7. Come to find there are other possible doctrines, interpretations, and traditions employed both currently and historically.