If this is going to turn into a "racism v. free speech" debate, I would opt for free speech regardless of any threats to "make a scene." If Rakesh is deeply offended by Carrol's comments, he can take her to task himself. But the speed to which some of us rush to censorship of banishment to Siberia to someone who let's slip some part of the racism that is a part of all of us never ceases to amaze and depress me.
I agree that the comment about being "politically white" reflects a cavalier attitude that can only result from racism, but it's not like the rest of us can throw stones.
I'm sure Rakesh can take care of himself in this matter.
Yours,
Eric
Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> I'm getting offlist mail from someone who threatens to "create a scene"
> unless I do something drastic to Carrol Cox for his slur against Rakesh.
> Carrol regrets only the tone of his comment, not its substance, and is
> silent on what the phrase "politically white" means.
>
> This all pisses me off immensely. Apparently a group of leftists of various
> sorts, all committed in some fundamental sense to a nonracist,
> nonexploitative society, find it impossible to have a serious discussion
> without escalating to nuclear level. It's no wonder we're so weak: the
> model of war, as Foucault put it in the passage I posted here a few weeks
> ago, seems to be applied first to people who should be comrades. Apparently
> my founding wish of this list, that people engage across traditional
> boundaries, was hopelessly naive. Boundaries are so comforting, especially
> when you're losing.
>
> Doug