Quoting Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream Speech” is a risky move. King’s words mean an awful lot to an awful lot of people. And opinions are especially strong about how they should be interpreted. His famous line about judging people by the content of their character, and not the colour of their skin, can be (and has been) misinterpreted to argue that any effort to fix racial disparities is anti-white. Others suggest that any policy that advocates for colour-blindness is anti-black. The truth, as it often does, lies somewhere in between.
Good convo. The really interesting part to me about King’s quote is no one seems to focus on the “judge” part. Fact is, people just don’t like feeling like they’re being judged, period, especially when the judgment is negative. “So you think you’re judging my character and finding it lacking? Well f-u that’s what!” Certainly Kings point was, if you’re going to pass judgment, do it on something of substance, not something superficial like color. This is where, admittedly, DEI proponents have a point: if unconscious bias (which is real) negatively impacts your judgment of my character, then even that can’t be trusted. But anyway all of that assumes you’re not doing blatantly racist stuff like saying “all (insert color here) people suck!” 😂😭
"So you think you’re judging my character and finding it lacking? Well f-u that’s what!”"
Haha! Yeah, this is very true. But t's also a real problem that seems to be getting worse. Or maybe I'm just getting old😅 The default response to criticism, or even questioning of an idea, is hardly ever reflection or admission of fault anymore. It's whataboutism and anger (and blocking on the internet).
If nobody can admit fault anymore, it certainly makes progress difficult.
Good convo. The really interesting part to me about King’s quote is no one seems to focus on the “judge” part. Fact is, people just don’t like feeling like they’re being judged, period, especially when the judgment is negative. “So you think you’re judging my character and finding it lacking? Well f-u that’s what!” Certainly Kings point was, if you’re going to pass judgment, do it on something of substance, not something superficial like color. This is where, admittedly, DEI proponents have a point: if unconscious bias (which is real) negatively impacts your judgment of my character, then even that can’t be trusted. But anyway all of that assumes you’re not doing blatantly racist stuff like saying “all (insert color here) people suck!” 😂😭
"So you think you’re judging my character and finding it lacking? Well f-u that’s what!”"
Haha! Yeah, this is very true. But t's also a real problem that seems to be getting worse. Or maybe I'm just getting old😅 The default response to criticism, or even questioning of an idea, is hardly ever reflection or admission of fault anymore. It's whataboutism and anger (and blocking on the internet).
If nobody can admit fault anymore, it certainly makes progress difficult.