Ah, I phrased that badly, sorry. When I said I'd change your phrasing, I wasn't trying to suggest you should edit your post--I actually had to reread my comment to figure out what about it could have possibly given you the idea I was demanding a rewrite--but rather to follow up on amazonziti's thoughts on the subject with my own.
I'm a little confused by your post in light of the clarification you make here, however--are you that suggesting that only capital-R Racists, people "for whom racism is a major aspect of their identity," are afraid of being called racist, or I am reading that wrong? Because I'd dispute that pretty strongly--there are plenty of people who have a very comfortable view of themselves as anti-racist who are deeply mired in white privilege and sometimes inadvertently (or purposefully, while convincing themselves they're just speaking truth to power) engage in racist behavior, and I think that more than anything is to blame for the kneejerk derailing and attempts to stop the conversation at all costs so many people display when the subject is raised.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-06-23 11:43 pm (UTC)I'm a little confused by your post in light of the clarification you make here, however--are you that suggesting that only capital-R Racists, people "for whom racism is a major aspect of their identity," are afraid of being called racist, or I am reading that wrong? Because I'd dispute that pretty strongly--there are plenty of people who have a very comfortable view of themselves as anti-racist who are deeply mired in white privilege and sometimes inadvertently (or purposefully, while convincing themselves they're just speaking truth to power) engage in racist behavior, and I think that more than anything is to blame for the kneejerk derailing and attempts to stop the conversation at all costs so many people display when the subject is raised.