February 17, 2022

A majority can't be alienated.

That's not how it works.

And I'm not alone in this social critique that the political center has moved right. I've witnessed it first hand, and so has Robert Reich who served in Clinton's cabinet. He just released this video to illustrate the point.

h/t to Uncle Joe for posting the video on DU today.

February 1, 2022

I never cited Dr. Abdullah as an ultimate authority,

I found her description to be aligned with my understanding of what white saviorism is, based on many, many books and articles I've read over 25 years working for racial justice. She is not an "ultimate authority," she is one of an ocean of antiracist activists and scholars who have accepted this definition as a valid racial critique. I doubt you actually read my other posts because you would have seen my linked list of articles describing white saviorism, from those marginal, racist rags like The Atlantic, Sojourners, and Salon. Here are some more that you won't read so you can continue to spout uninformed opinions:

Why Hollywood’s White Savior Obsession Is an Extension of Colonialism (Teen Vogue)

How 'white savior' films like 'The Help' and 'Green Book' hurt Hollywood (Business Insider)

To Kill a Mockingbird, The Help, and the Regendering of the White Savior (James Madison University)

Working through the Smog: How White Individuals Develop Critical Consciousness of White Saviorism (Merrimack College)

HHRJ Online Symposium 2012: Avoiding the Trap: Aspirations, Anxieties, and the Appropriateness of Mass-Mobilization Awareness Campaigns (Harvard Human Rights Journal)

THE VASTNESS OF “WHITE SAVIOR” THEMES IN WESTERN MEDIA (Northeastern University)
^^^ Definition from this article: "White Savior Complex – mindset for a white person to provide help to non-white people in a self-serving manner. The role is considered a modern-day version of what is expressed in 'The White Man’s Burden' by Rudyard Kipling."

Enjoy the rest of your day!

February 1, 2022

Well, I'd agree with you except

for the fact that our current environmental problems were greatly exacerbated by the invention of cars, invented in the West. And while the Japanese may have been industrialized 150 years ago, their industrialization was based on what they were witnessing in Western (aka, white, or Euro-descendant) nations. So, yeah, I called it white culture and that's exactly what I meant.

Here's the Britannica entry about the Meiji era in Japan. Note how it specifically says that Japan's industrialization was inspired by Western industrialization. https://www.britannica.com/event/Meiji-Restoration

January 31, 2022

Yes.

On all points. There was a center once, before the two parties colluded in 1984 to control candidate debates exclusively themselves so that third party candidates are effectively blocked from national presidential debates and thus, denied them an affordable national platform to deliver their platform for the nation. Once they declared only two opinions were legit, the population followed choosing one side or the other.

http://|The League of Women Voters and Candidate Debates: A Changing Relationship
(Link source: League of Women Voters)

January 27, 2022

Thank you.

I replied the same upthread and the white fragility spat back at me was quick and hearty. Why do so many white liberals think they are exempt from racist culture because they voted for Obama? JFC, just try to see things through Black people's perspectives - especially when Black people tell us how they perceive the white narratives white people revere. TKAM was great for its time, but that was 60 years ago. Try to keep up with the times, white people! SO many great literary books that cover the issue of racism written by POC. Why must we cling to this Cold War book? (smh in white person)

January 27, 2022

Sorry you feel that way.

Dr. Abdullah's definition is the leading opinion among Black scholars. When Black people say white people don't listen to them and/or discount their experiences and perceptions of society, this kind of whitewash is exactly what they're talking about. As a white person, I understand loving TKAM, I loved it, too, when I read it in junior high in 1978. But it remains true that the main action in the story - a Black man on trial for allegedly raping a white woman - turns the narrative focus from the main action the plot revolves around to a white savior who swoops in to save a Black man from injustice.

More on the subject of white saviorism, by both Black and white people:

Now We Can Finally Say Goodbye to the White Savior Myth of Atticus - New York Times (no paywall)

6 HARMFUL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WHITE SAVIOR COMPLEX - Sojourners

The White-Savior Industrial Complex - The Atlantic

Oscar loves a white savior - Salon

What a White Savior is and Why it's a Problem - EverydayFeminism (short video)

January 26, 2022

"White savior" is a trope, it doesn't mean Finch saved Robinson.

Here's a good definition of white saviorism:

What is a white savior?

White saviors perpetuate the idea that "good" white folks have the authority and duty to swoop in and "save" the world, especially Black people, from oppression rather than following the lead of Black people, Dr. Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, a local chapter of the larger organization, wrote in an email.

Abdullah, who teaches pan-African studies at California State University and has a Ph.D. in political science, says "good" white folks are people who posture themselves as allies and may or may not be deeply entrenched in anti-racist work. These aren’t the white people who shout racial slurs or defend "All Lives Matter" on social media. Rather, Abdullah says, they're the "not apparently racist white folks," such as those who firmly believe they're not racist because "their best friend is Black."

It's within this power dynamic of white privilege and dominance - plus the stick-figure depth of all the Black characters - that TKAM doesn't hold up in the 21st Century. I have no problem with it being taught in schools, a long a the issue of white saviorism is taught along with it. Otherwise, it implicitly reinforces white supremacist social structures.

January 26, 2022

So, because I'm a bleeding heart liberal antiracist, I'm not gonna get too up in arms about this.

I'm also a librarian. There are a LOT of conversations around TKAM being a dated novel due to the white savior aspect of Atticus Finch. Here's one from WaPo from summer 2020 (link from the Internet Archive to bypass WaPo's paywall): https://web.archive.org/web/20200722131224/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/07/22/truths-kill-mockingbird-tells-about-white-people/

January 19, 2022

Bannon, et al, creating new Confederate currency.

That's what the headline should read. Who the fuck cares about how MAGAbots' investments fare? It's a given Bannon is looking to fleece the sheeple to line his own pockets, and they'll willingly get screwed on multiple levels.

But creating a currency targeted to secessionists? That's the story I want to read.

October 4, 2021

Interesting, but misleading that she mentions Enfield, MA.

Yes, it was flooded in the 1930s. However, it was only one of six towns that were flooded - and not to build a park, but to build a drinking water reservoir for Boston (Quabbin). Today the area is used for recreation, but its primary purpose was not to build a recreation area. I (a librarian) also can't find any credible information about Enfield, or any of the towns, being Black. This isn't to say there weren't Black folks living in the area that were displaced, but to claim that displacing Enfield & building Quabbin was done due to racism is misleading.