Thread by @drantbradley

This entire kerfuffle boils down to one thing: in 2022, white people, esp. males, fear being called “a racist” above anything else. Racism is a mortal sin. The psychology of how this functions on the right & the left is extraordinary. Both are driven by anxiety.

https://twitter.com/william_e_wolfe/status/1533133084954136586

Progressives will make sure they have #BLM, etc. in their Twitter bio even though they don’t have actually black friends, as seen in their wedding photos. They make a point to signal that they read current on black opinions, etc. “Oh, yeah, I’ve read X…”, etc.

Conservatives will avoid the topic like the plaque or will socially isolate themselves in spaces where they can talk about race without being called “a racist.” Or they’ll find a black person who says what they believe. “A black person says what I think, so I can’t be racist…”

The anxiety about avoiding the charge of being “racist,” and the concomitant anxiety about potentially being called such, undermines civil discourse because whites today have to *prove* that they aren’t racist. Both individuals & institutions must publicly prove this or else.

What’s the “or else,” it can range from being cancelled, people assuming your org is racist, or living with the fact that people believe you to be an immoral or bad person. This is why Mr. Wolfe sent the frantic email to Mr. Meador. Wolfe’s response: “no, I’m not a bad person.”