Robert Fisk

[Bradford DeLong]

>On Wed, 2 Jan 2002, Yoshie wrote:
>
>>  I take it that Fisk was trying to say, a little hyperbolically, that
>>  he could identify with those who blindly attacked him, merely because
>>  he looked "Western," unable to understand what forces were actually
>>  responsible for their oppression, much less how to counteract them
>>  effectively; and also that he could imagine what circumstances were
>>  likely to breed such murderous rage and make it indiscriminate.
>>  That's a way of looking at the world that a certain kind of literary
>  > and sociological imagination teaches you.

You really don't get it, do you?

A lynch mob chases an innocent man, eager to beat and possibly kill 
him not because of anything he has done but because of the color of 
his skin. One can say that one understands the sources of their fear 
and rage. One can regret the upbringing that has given them such 
a--racist--way of responding to the world. No matter how much 
literary and sociological imagination one has, only a murderous 
racist can say that in their place one would join the lynch mob.