Tag: Racism
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Whose Racism? Which Enlightenment?
By Kevin Currie-Knight ___ Like so much else, the Enlightenment seems to be a flash point in the contemporary culture wars. Some, like Douglas Murray and Stephen Pinker, suggest that we are moving too far away from “enlightenment values” like liberty, equality, and the idea of a universal human nature (to which they oppose the…
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Getting Personal About Race and “Transracial” Families
by Kevin Currie-Knight ____ Sheena (SUNY Oneanta) and Kevin (East Carolina University) continue an ongoing conversation about the idea of race and Sheena’s arguments about racelessnes. This episode gets more personal about Sheena’s and Kevin’s respective connections to “transracial” families. Sheena was adopted into a “transracial” family and Kevin is adopting a daughter who is…
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Beyond Polarization
by Bharath Vallabha___ Our society is becoming more polarized. Nuance and subtlety are marginalized as things are reduced to all-encompassing binaries such as red vs. blue. This is as absurd as sorting items in a house in terms of their color instead of their function. Who in their right mind would give up categories such…
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Race Skepticism and the Racial Satire of George Schuyler
by Kevin Currie-Knight ____ Kevin Currie-Knight and Sheena Mason (SUNY Oneonta) discuss Sheena’s theory of racelessness, why she is a race skeptic and eliminativist, and their mutual interest in the race satire of Harlem Renaissance writer George Schuyler. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRkhokQ2ol0&t=11s&ab_channel=ElectricAgora :05 – Why talk about race always seems so polarized and partisan 7:45 – Sheena is…
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The Enigma (and Necessity) of George Schuyler
by Kevin Currie-Knight ____ When we think of the Harlem Renaissance, names like Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston come readily to mind. Those with deeper knowledge might also think of James Weldon Johnson and Countee Cullen. Few are likely to think of George Schuyler. Despite being one of the most engaging black writers (and…
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Dilemmas of Difference
by Kevin Currie-Knight _____ When confronted with those different from us, when should we notice and take the difference seriously, and when is it best to look past the difference and act as if it doesn’t exist? To use the language of a modern discussion, should we be “colorblind” and move to treat people of…