Hello friends, welcome to the new year. What better way to ring in 2024 than dipping into the deep and familiar well of the culture war? Friend of the blog Chris Rufo put another one on the scoreboard recently with the resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay. Gay was dragged into the fire over
Excellent writing as always. I think there's a deeper issue in that Elites will tolerate marginalized folks until a sacred cow like academia is damaged. Then the toleration ends abruptly, because that's the source of Elites' status. Without the prestige, the goofy ideas would be unable to justify themselves. We just watched a leftist institution bare their actions in spite of their proclaimed rhetoric, and making it quite clear who owns the house and who is just a guest living there...
i'm not sure how successfully i made my way through this essay packed with theories and critiques of them from multiple directions. but what i draw from it most powerfully is what you reiterate at the very end: it's not only the reactionary right who don't want to hear "solidarity forever", others who frame the obstacles to black success in limiting ways like afro pessimism also fail to broaden the lens enough to see the ultimate need for all of us to focus on the severe dangers that unchecked capitalism has exposed us to, meaning the way forward must include focusing on the root of that problem. (very long sentence.) not denying racism, and not reifying it as permanent.
Excellent writing as always. I think there's a deeper issue in that Elites will tolerate marginalized folks until a sacred cow like academia is damaged. Then the toleration ends abruptly, because that's the source of Elites' status. Without the prestige, the goofy ideas would be unable to justify themselves. We just watched a leftist institution bare their actions in spite of their proclaimed rhetoric, and making it quite clear who owns the house and who is just a guest living there...
i'm not sure how successfully i made my way through this essay packed with theories and critiques of them from multiple directions. but what i draw from it most powerfully is what you reiterate at the very end: it's not only the reactionary right who don't want to hear "solidarity forever", others who frame the obstacles to black success in limiting ways like afro pessimism also fail to broaden the lens enough to see the ultimate need for all of us to focus on the severe dangers that unchecked capitalism has exposed us to, meaning the way forward must include focusing on the root of that problem. (very long sentence.) not denying racism, and not reifying it as permanent.