[lbo-talk] Race & Opinions

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Thu Feb 19 08:57:56 PST 2004


Doug:
> You've got a point, but isn't it just a bit troubling that the people
> who make this kind of argument are usually white men?

That is not how I would identify myself, or for that matter, how many people around me would identify me. Thus, to some I am gay (because I do not like sports, guns, and trucks), to others I am a 'n-word-lover' (because I live in a predominantly Black neighborhood), to still other I am either a "crazy Polack" or a "Commie-Yid" (because of my origins and political orientation) -- all of which are anti-theses or the "white male" identity in this country.

But the identity issues aside - living in Baltimore for 12 years taught me the following things: - that any ethnic minority group is a diverse as any other minority group - that diversity covers some really good characters and some really bad characters - any politics that asks for blank endorsement based on group identity and downplays that within-group diversity is a bunch of steaming crap that stinks equally bad in any group; and - that conveying the above to many of my liberal/progressive/left comrades is more difficult than I initially thought.

Wojtek



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