One of the most fascinating case studies to consider when trying to underline the point that race is socially constructed (rather than an emergent property of biology) is the gradually-shifting definition of ‘whiteness’. ‘White’ was a label that has seen many redefinitions over the years in North America, as people who were previously forcibly excluded …
Category Archive: crapitalism
Jan 01 2013
Those poor Wall Street CEOs
One of the fascinating aspects of privilege is the way in which it totally skews your perception of what ‘average’ is. I would think, for example, that things like street harassment or sexual assault or other forms of misogynistic abuse are fantastically rare. After all, I’m a guy who spends a lot of time with …
Dec 04 2012
PPP looks about to snap
Imagine you had to talk to Republicans. Every day. And pretend they weren’t idiots. How long do you think you’d last before you just snapped? Public Policy Polling looks like its patience is wearing thin: 49% of GOP voters nationally say they think that ACORN stole the election for President Obama. Wefound that 52% of Republicans …
Nov 29 2012
The accuracy of the elephant’s tail
If you want to make sense of a lot of what it happening in US national politics, I’ve found Chris Hayes’ show Up! to be a consistent source of diverse and thought-provoking analysis. As an avowed and unashamed ‘man of the left’, he manages to break issues out of the left/right divide and instead field panels …
Nov 24 2012
Tom the Dancing Bug gets ‘traditional’
After the election, Fox News’ resident zeppelin opined: The demographics are changing. It’s not a traditional America anymore, and there are 50 percent of the voting public who want stuff, they want things. And who is going to give them things? President [Barack] Obama. He later “clarified”: If you look at the exit polling, you’ll see …
Nov 22 2012
The terrible burden of religious persecution
Part of the reason I have such a difficult time taking complaints about the “persecution” of Christians in North America (and indeed, most of the world), is because by degrees they demonstrate again and again that they have simply no fucking clue what persecution looks like. To wit: Jamaica’s public transport authorities have banned lay …
Nov 19 2012
Oh, Canada…
It’s really easy (and fun!) to point out the raft of egregious racism that in many ways defines the American political landscape. Part of the appeal of framing racism in an American context is that cornerstone of Canadian identity: rage/jealousy of our bigger brother. Without our American counterparts against which to contrast ourselves, the challenging …
Nov 19 2012
SERIOUSLY?! Episode Six
Happy Monday, all! The Rev and I were at it again, this time taking on a pair of stories of political nonsense from the United States. Video and links are below the fold:
Nov 15 2012
The black vote is the Maine problem
One common utterance you’ll hear when people go on the defensive about a racist statement or behaviour is that they couldn’t possibly be racist because they “have a black friend”. This “black friend” is sometimes a spouse, sometimes an actual friend, but just as often it’s a co-worker or someone they do business with, or maybe …
Nov 14 2012
Oooooo-klahoma where the racism’s sweepin’ down the plains
If you talk to conservatives about racism, one of their most common rhetorical positions is that liberals are “the real racists” because they (we) can’t seem to shut up about race. We’re obsessed with race – we see racism everywhere! But not conservatives. Conservatives treat everyone identically and don’t even notice race, or if they do notice …
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