Jon Wisniewski's op-ed in yesterday's D is ridiculous. Just read it; there is no sense in it at all. I would attack it fully here, but I just sent in a response to the D, so I'll hold off until I can just link that.
I just want to say that this is the new form of racism--the argument that it is we liberals who are doing all the discriminating and that identity politics is the only form of discrimination current in our pluralistic democracy. If everyone would just focus on individuals and not worry so much about race or creed or color, everything would be fine. The core argument is that fighting discrimination actively by fighting prejudice is a fight that has been won--now we can move on to just being individuals together. This is vile, unsubstantiated, and cruelly deceptive.
It is undeniably true that identity politics has caused a lot of problems, probably a lot of harm. I am unconvinced that it has done more harm than good--I think it is safe to say that America today is genuinely more equal than it ever has been. But the fight against prejudice (note how Wisniewski uses the term "discrimination" rather than "prejudice") is long from over.
America's greatest historical moments have all occurred while fighting against prejudice; all its darkest moments have occurred while ignoring it. Let not this moment be a dark one for America.
There's some sense in there somewhere, but Wisniewski's op-ed reads like a stream of consciousness sort of thing without a lot of thought behind it.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading your response.
I think that identity politics are currently doing more harm than good, but I don't think that Wisniewski's argument makes the case for that. There's still plenty of racism and prejudice out there, but I don't think that identity politics-based stuff like what Wisniewski attacks are doing much to fight it.
If he thinks that "fighting discrimination actively by fighting prejudice is a fight that has been won," he should say so directly rather than insinuating it.
The most ridiculous part of the op-ed is the "entirely separate from all of history and modern society" thing. The first comment in Dartlog gets it right.
The op-ed doesn't deserve to be taken seriously. It's a shame that it was published.
Indeed, we finally live in a colorblind America. See this link.
ReplyDelete