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Antiracism has a “Turbulent Priest” Problem—a reply to Tim Wise
Tim Wise left a comment on Handy Examples of Famous Antiracists Saying or Implying All White People are Racist. When I started to reply, I saw antiracism’s turbulent priest problem and decided to make this an open letter.
When I refer to antiracism and antiracists, I’m using the term that was adopted after the civil rights movement by Ivy League liberals like Derrick Bell and Kimberlé Crenshaw who wanted to oppose racism while rejecting the anti-capitalism of Du Bois, King, and, after he left the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X.
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Dear Tim,
Thank you for saying, “Sometimes you make good and interesting points.” Sometimes you do, too.
Your next line, “But this is not one of those times” didn’t surprise me. To paraphrase Upton Sinclair, I’m asking you to understand something that your salary depends on you not understanding. Belief systems blind believers. You may say that applies to me too, and I’m sure it does in some ways, but it’s easier for me to understand identitarian antiracism than it is for you to understand universalism or socialism. I was once like you, a liberal who prioritized social identity. I thought a world where women ruled would be better than this one and race mattered more than class here. Maggie Thatcher changed my…
