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Okay, just for fun, let's take a crack at explaining these supposed contradictions John McWhorter claims typify "third wave" antiracism and thereby invalidate it. https://www.persuasion.community/p/john-mcwhorter-the-neoracists
1. Well, yeah. Nobody who is apologized to is obligated to forgive the apologizer. But the further context for this is that it's a damn trope by now that black people are hounded to forgive white people who abused them. See e.g. @KeefKnight's excellent show "Woke" on Hulu.
2. No, "pathological primitive ghetto people" is a white racist stereotype of black culture. Actual black culture is a thing, and like any culture it is composed of disparate individuals.
3. Try "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." And also elevate black voices, which does not in any way contradict the former.
4. Strive to empathize with the experiences of black people in America. But that won't make you a literal mind-reader. That's okay-- it's still worth doing.
5. Learn about other cultures that exist alongside yours. And sure, take part in them to the extent that you are welcomed. But it really shows that you don't understand another culture if you treat it as a costume, try to claim ownership of it, or make it a joke.
6. Make friends with black people, and demonstrate that you have a respectful friendship with them by not trying to invade their spaces when they decide they just want to be around other black people.
7. This one is more complex, but basically-- white flight is abandoning a neighborhood because it's filling up with black people. Gentrification is wealthy folks moving into poor neighborhoods and driving prices up to the point that poor people can no longer afford to live there.
8. If you're white and only want to date white people, that sure sounds like racism. If you're white and dating a black person specifically because they're black, that sure sounds like fetishizing.
9. White people should acknowledge that as white people we benefit from the racism of other white people. Black people don't have to do this for what I dearly hope are obvious reasons.
10. Test scores are a result of a variety of factors that aren't necessarily inherent aptitude, and black kids deserve the same quality of education that white kids get. This does not obligate black kids to be diplomats on behalf of their entire race to their white classmates.
Gosh, this was almost pathetically easy. I only had to think for a few seconds about each of McWhorter's supposedly logically self-contradicting statements before being able to parse them in a way that makes complete sense. It's almost as if these were constructed in bad faith!
Oh, and as a PhD in religion & cognition, can I just reiterate how absolutely tired it is to call an ideology you dislike a religion? If you want to say people are dogmatic, gatekeeping, strident, etc. then say that. You can certainly be any or all of those outside of a religion.
( @ETVPod, they're doing it again)
