I have always counted myself as solidly liberal and a "democratic socialist"--and I still do.
Lately, I have been troubled by "The Stranger"-style liberal who constantly uses profanity and obscenity as a badge of moral courage and cultural sophistication. "As---'," "fascist," and "awesome" seem to roll out of his/her mouth like nectar out of Hebe's goblet.
Its use of demeaning, ugly racist epithets contributes to violence against white people as well as Asians. By employing such language as "cracker," "whitey," "Chinaman," "honky," The Stranger endorses the view of white people as oppressors, ridiculous, not worthy of respect, and Asians as less than deserving of respect as a race, more like caricatures of Charlie Chan, Fu Manchu, with the unpleasant associations that the word "Chinaman" implies.
These are the first steps towards the violence and hate directed against whole categories of human beings.
Those who decried George W. Bush's famous--or infamous, depending on how you look at it--"Either you're for us or against us" now seem to have secret admiration for their nemesis insofar as they, too, have adapted that viewpoint in regards to their political and cultural adversaries," i.e., those who don't march in lockstep with their views as regards to, in particular, questions of race, sexuality, and gender.
Surely there is room within a liberal perspective for other "story-lines" about these issues.
Does Jimi Hendrix "belong" only to African-Americans any more than the Enlightenment of the 18th century belong only to Europeans?
The viciousness that I have witnessed in Internet blogs--especially Yelp Talk--raises questions for me of how open-minded and tolerant some liberals actually are.
http://www.yelp.com/topic/seattle-is-there-another-site-besides-yelp-where-one-can-write-reviews-of-businesses-and-other-organizations
If one is critical of certain attitudes, views, and/or behaviors of a specific minority group, does that mean one must be a would-be member of a white supremacy group? Sounds like GWB again.
I used to be a proud liberal, I still am a liberal, but not so proud anymore.
-
Lately, I have been troubled by "The Stranger"-style liberal who constantly uses profanity and obscenity as a badge of moral courage and cultural sophistication. "As---'," "fascist," and "awesome" seem to roll out of his/her mouth like nectar out of Hebe's goblet.
Its use of demeaning, ugly racist epithets contributes to violence against white people as well as Asians. By employing such language as "cracker," "whitey," "Chinaman," "honky," The Stranger endorses the view of white people as oppressors, ridiculous, not worthy of respect, and Asians as less than deserving of respect as a race, more like caricatures of Charlie Chan, Fu Manchu, with the unpleasant associations that the word "Chinaman" implies.
These are the first steps towards the violence and hate directed against whole categories of human beings.
Those who decried George W. Bush's famous--or infamous, depending on how you look at it--"Either you're for us or against us" now seem to have secret admiration for their nemesis insofar as they, too, have adapted that viewpoint in regards to their political and cultural adversaries," i.e., those who don't march in lockstep with their views as regards to, in particular, questions of race, sexuality, and gender.
Surely there is room within a liberal perspective for other "story-lines" about these issues.
Does Jimi Hendrix "belong" only to African-Americans any more than the Enlightenment of the 18th century belong only to Europeans?
The viciousness that I have witnessed in Internet blogs--especially Yelp Talk--raises questions for me of how open-minded and tolerant some liberals actually are.
http://www.yelp.com/topic/seattle-is-there-another-site-besides-yelp-where-one-can-write-reviews-of-businesses-and-other-organizations
If one is critical of certain attitudes, views, and/or behaviors of a specific minority group, does that mean one must be a would-be member of a white supremacy group? Sounds like GWB again.
I used to be a proud liberal, I still am a liberal, but not so proud anymore.
-
No comments:
Post a Comment