We often use college course abbreviations to describe the various levels of social justice discussion. Someone might refer to a “101-level” conversation when we’re talking about identifying racism as a social construct rather than a biological reality. Trying to access the specific ways in which racial constructs impact the lived experiences of people might qualify …
Category Archive: anti-racism
Oct 10 2012
Making it count
One of the most frustrating aspects of being involved in a social justice movement is coming to grips with the sheer scope of the problem. Social inequalities are grounded, more often than not, in centuries of history and the evolutionary detritus of human cognition. We can point to a handful of successes like the American …
Sep 27 2012
Sikivu Hutchinson in Vancouver this Saturday
If you’re not reading the Black Skeptics blog, I have just one question. If you are reading, you’re already well acquainted with the perfect blend of passion, fact, and relentless courage that is the writing of Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson. You may have even seen her in this discussion with Richard Dawkins: If you’re in the Vancouver …
Sep 17 2012
More divisiveness: my conversation with Tauriq Moosa continues
Last week I posted an e-mail correspondence between myself and South African BigThink skeptic blogger Tauriq Moosa. He was kind enough to follow up his e-mail, and I am posting my response here. You will notice that I am quoting from his e-mail without printing it in its entirety. I am hoping to avoid a …
Sep 14 2012
My application to BigThink
Some of you may remember the story of Satoshi Kanazawa, a “scientist” and “researcher” who made fame by raising some “tough questions” about the relationship between race, IQ, and health outcomes. He also pondered the evolutionary reasons why black women are just so damn unattractive (hint: it’s because they have so much testosterone – I’m …
Aug 27 2012
The eye of the beholder
One common claim that comes up in discussions of social justice issues is the following, predominantly uttered by a member of the majority group: I am against all kinds of discrimination. In fact, I am never hesitant to call others on their own prejudiced behaviours! What usually follows is the word ‘but’, and then some …
Aug 23 2012
Today’s word-boner: Ta-Nehisi Coates
One of the great tragedies of my life is that while I love language, I can barely find enough time to write as much as I want, let alone read. There are writers out there like Teju Cole, Amanda Marcotte, Jamelle Bouie, Sikivu Hutchinson, Touré, Greta Christina, Tim Wise, and countless others whose ability to work …
Aug 17 2012
Movie Friday: Picking cotton on a racist field trip
On Wednesday my girlfriend and I went to a live comedy show at a place called Falconetti’s in Vancouver. The comedian was talking about babysitting his nephew (who is of Chinese descent) and hearing his wife sing to the toddler the kid’s song “I’ve been working on the railroad“, and expressing his comical shock and …
Jul 27 2012
Movie Friday: @Toure and microaggressions
One of the things we discussed in the interview I posted yesterday is the power that the internet has to democratize the flow of information. I used the term ‘anarchic’ intentionally, because when nearly everyone can access the mechanisms of broadcast, the hierarchy of media enterprise is quickly obliterated. All of a sudden, the size …
Jul 23 2012
The one-way mirror of racial privilege
One of the most powerful tools we have when trying to parse an argument is the analogy. We can take the elements of a position, plug them in to a different context, and then press ‘play’ to see whether or not the argument still logically follows. So when a religious apologist talks about the perfect …
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