I recently listened to this conversation between McWhorter and Loury regarding the oversimplification of what happened to Trayvon and the skeptical fallout thereafter and it made me think of this article. Thought its was a keen insight into what I have personally seen in the post Trayvon/BLM epoch and what I think is an important piece o…
I recently listened to this conversation between McWhorter and Loury regarding the oversimplification of what happened to Trayvon and the skeptical fallout thereafter and it made me think of this article. Thought its was a keen insight into what I have personally seen in the post Trayvon/BLM epoch and what I think is an important piece of what you are teasing out here. Could be at least a piece of the schism puzzle you are putting together.
"Those departures from reality in the service of racial justice narratives, which are almost obviously false, but which are never the less pressed by people, generates a backlash, and I wonder what cost that backlash actually exacts of us in the long run. A kind of cynicism. A kind of thinly veiled contempt from people...who in their heart of hearts, can't really endorse some of the campaign because they know it is built on sand and it asks them to be complicit in lying about things that have happened." Loury
"What you create is a skepticism and a certain quiet hostility, and if you encounter it you read it as evidence that racism persists, which unfortunately is what you actually kind of like, because that is your comfort zone." McWhorter
Shelby Steele's documentary "What Killed Michael Brown" explores some of the same threads Loury and McWhorter discuss here. Worth a watch if you haven't seen it.
One other very important piece that you noted briefly, but I think likely played a massive role, is the wildly exponential growth and clearly divisive effect social media played in everyone's perspective in the exact same post Trayvon/BLM epoch. How much do you think social media played into your changing views of your brothers and sisters and their views of you? I personally wouldn't be surprised if social media played a massively outsized role in the divisions you are describing.
Haidt's recent article is a must read in this vein:
I recently listened to this conversation between McWhorter and Loury regarding the oversimplification of what happened to Trayvon and the skeptical fallout thereafter and it made me think of this article. Thought its was a keen insight into what I have personally seen in the post Trayvon/BLM epoch and what I think is an important piece of what you are teasing out here. Could be at least a piece of the schism puzzle you are putting together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuEyDXsHux8
"Those departures from reality in the service of racial justice narratives, which are almost obviously false, but which are never the less pressed by people, generates a backlash, and I wonder what cost that backlash actually exacts of us in the long run. A kind of cynicism. A kind of thinly veiled contempt from people...who in their heart of hearts, can't really endorse some of the campaign because they know it is built on sand and it asks them to be complicit in lying about things that have happened." Loury
"What you create is a skepticism and a certain quiet hostility, and if you encounter it you read it as evidence that racism persists, which unfortunately is what you actually kind of like, because that is your comfort zone." McWhorter
Shelby Steele's documentary "What Killed Michael Brown" explores some of the same threads Loury and McWhorter discuss here. Worth a watch if you haven't seen it.
One other very important piece that you noted briefly, but I think likely played a massive role, is the wildly exponential growth and clearly divisive effect social media played in everyone's perspective in the exact same post Trayvon/BLM epoch. How much do you think social media played into your changing views of your brothers and sisters and their views of you? I personally wouldn't be surprised if social media played a massively outsized role in the divisions you are describing.
Haidt's recent article is a must read in this vein:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/
Just some thoughts.