“ I'm surprised you didn't note one of the most important points I usually bring up with the SLAVERY IS THE WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED IN AMERICA AND IT'S THE ONLY THING THAT DEFINES US!”
Well, unusually enough for a member of the Wokerati, he didn’t actually mention slavery. His concern seems to be much more to do with the financial …
“ I'm surprised you didn't note one of the most important points I usually bring up with the SLAVERY IS THE WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED IN AMERICA AND IT'S THE ONLY THING THAT DEFINES US!”
Well, unusually enough for a member of the Wokerati, he didn’t actually mention slavery. His concern seems to be much more to do with the financial oppression of various nations across the world. Which, don’t get me wrong, is a fair point.
The problem is that “overthrowing the west” is just asinine as a solution to that oppression.
And I don’t necessarily agree that “every race would have done what white people did”, but mainly because I think your framing is wrong. The Atlantic slave trade or genocide of Native Americans and the stealing of their land isn’t what “white people” did, it’s what Americans and Europeans of that time did.
I have no doubt that there are many other cultures who wouldn’t have done the same thing. And, in WWII say, “white people” fought against other “white people” as they tried to genocide another group of (mostly) “white people”. People of colour (the Japanese) we’re on the same side as the Nazis.
I’m constantly at pains to de-racialise these issues. Race, in addition to not being a real thing, is an almost uniquely unhelpful lens through which to view human behaviour.
“ I'm surprised you didn't note one of the most important points I usually bring up with the SLAVERY IS THE WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED IN AMERICA AND IT'S THE ONLY THING THAT DEFINES US!”
Well, unusually enough for a member of the Wokerati, he didn’t actually mention slavery. His concern seems to be much more to do with the financial oppression of various nations across the world. Which, don’t get me wrong, is a fair point.
The problem is that “overthrowing the west” is just asinine as a solution to that oppression.
And I don’t necessarily agree that “every race would have done what white people did”, but mainly because I think your framing is wrong. The Atlantic slave trade or genocide of Native Americans and the stealing of their land isn’t what “white people” did, it’s what Americans and Europeans of that time did.
I have no doubt that there are many other cultures who wouldn’t have done the same thing. And, in WWII say, “white people” fought against other “white people” as they tried to genocide another group of (mostly) “white people”. People of colour (the Japanese) we’re on the same side as the Nazis.
I’m constantly at pains to de-racialise these issues. Race, in addition to not being a real thing, is an almost uniquely unhelpful lens through which to view human behaviour.