Roxane’s answer to “Do you consider yourself a proponent of identity politics?” > Likes and Comments
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I don't want to 'pile on' by any means. But I don't see why figures in the public eye who are taking on the problem of racism should be forced to take time to make people who benefit from racism feel happy about it. Of course every person has their own conscience. But this is what mine tells me, although maybe it's putting things crudely: The least I can do is as a benefiter from racism is to educate myself. And I don't think that someone who suffers from racism needs to make still more of an effort to 'collaborate' with me on fixing a problem that they didn't create. If being decent to other people didn't often require imagination, effort, doing one's homework (reading up on things instead of asking for explanations that have already been given 100s of times) and being willing to criticize one's self, we'd probably all be lovely people 24/7.
I think the problem is that they don't see their own identities as actual cultural identities. They don't understand that people from other cultures feel just as out of place in their world as they feel in ours.
Am I the only one who doesn't even know what this means? Maybe because I'm too old? Regardless--whatever Roxane says works for me!
I agree with your response but respectfully, I would say the question is uninformed. To say that it is stupid shuts down the conversation and misses an opportunity for dialogue and education.
Based on Ms. Gay's Twitter feed, it looks like she gets a lot of accusations lobbed at her about identity politics as a way to shut her down when she raises legitimate questions about how race matters in America. So my guess is she'd rather not have to also deal with those on a platform that's ostensibly about books. It amazes me that people use their access to writers on this platform - a kind of access that readers have not had before - in order to yell at them about politics. It's a waste of a remarkable opportunity.
Thanks for the clarification. It certainly sheds light in the issue. I understand.
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Dorothy
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Jan 07, 2020 01:32PM
I don't want to 'pile on' by any means. But I don't see why figures in the public eye who are taking on the problem of racism should be forced to take time to make people who benefit from racism feel happy about it. Of course every person has their own conscience. But this is what mine tells me, although maybe it's putting things crudely: The least I can do is as a benefiter from racism is to educate myself. And I don't think that someone who suffers from racism needs to make still more of an effort to 'collaborate' with me on fixing a problem that they didn't create. If being decent to other people didn't often require imagination, effort, doing one's homework (reading up on things instead of asking for explanations that have already been given 100s of times) and being willing to criticize one's self, we'd probably all be lovely people 24/7.
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I think the problem is that they don't see their own identities as actual cultural identities. They don't understand that people from other cultures feel just as out of place in their world as they feel in ours.
Am I the only one who doesn't even know what this means? Maybe because I'm too old? Regardless--whatever Roxane says works for me!
I agree with your response but respectfully, I would say the question is uninformed. To say that it is stupid shuts down the conversation and misses an opportunity for dialogue and education.
Based on Ms. Gay's Twitter feed, it looks like she gets a lot of accusations lobbed at her about identity politics as a way to shut her down when she raises legitimate questions about how race matters in America. So my guess is she'd rather not have to also deal with those on a platform that's ostensibly about books. It amazes me that people use their access to writers on this platform - a kind of access that readers have not had before - in order to yell at them about politics. It's a waste of a remarkable opportunity.
Thanks for the clarification. It certainly sheds light in the issue. I understand.
