Quote:
Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski
2. The more reasoned of Holocaust survivors I have met were quick to point out: "Sure Hitler hated our religion, but say what you will, the man was not a racist."
But I may have been the only one to actually listen to the interview with the Columbia student, so let me just drop a reminder here- Harris starts with "liberals want to act like no blacks commit crime." Okay, get that, I think the "all blacks good, all whites bad" posts here are the dumbest.
Then Harris starts summarizing crime stats and gets to "young black men are way more likely to commit crimes." I don't know, to me stats are sort of silly- if someone in my fam is the victim of a violent crime I don't think where we fit in on the "likelihood/stat" spectrum will make me feel much.
But then he takes the stats and says they justify mistreating/suspecting the next young black man that walks into your store. The Columbia student seems supportive of the thought, so maybe it's just me. BUT implying ALL black men are likely criminals, and in particular, the one you are now encountering, feeds the fear that leads to men with their hands in the air being shot, doesn't it?
And just as bad, treating a random black kid default as a criminal leads to the kid maybe deciding "might as well be," doesn't it?
Maybe this Harris guy was just adrift that day, maybe he walked it back the next interview, but I do think that sort thought is dangerously racist. IMHO.
Point is, so not sure of the need for arguing out this distinction?
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I was all ready to get excited about the idea of Hitler not being a racist - I mean, he had a detailed racial analysis, even if his notion of an "Aryan" race might conflict with notions of a "white" race.
But then you give a really nice explication of exactly how a generalization (Sebby's "fact") becomes a stereotype becomes bigotry. So let's focus on that. This is exactly right.
