Iqra’i

That awesome speech Obama gave? He wrote it himself. It’s very nice to hear a politician who writes as well as Aaron Sorkin, but more than that, it’s incredibly refreshing to hear a politician who acknowledges complexity and nuance. There are few more complex issues in America than race, and far too often we fail to do it justice.

Helen articulates what I saw in my “diverse” high school:

…the generation of liberals just now coming of age thinks of itself as post-race, post-gender, and post-class. To their way of thinking, these old divisions were only ever constructs of a regime we have since transcended and shouldn’t matter anymore.

It’s easy to claim that we’re colorblind — that we don’t see race, or if we do it’s only a question of skin color. But that’s not just an impossibility in American society, so saturated with racism (as well as sexism, classism, etc.), it’s not even desirable. Race, like gender and class, fundamentally informs identity. I don’t want someone to mistreat me because I’m a woman, but I’d prefer that to someone who refuses to recognize that I’m a woman.

I don’t — fundamentally can’t — understand the black experience, but when I talk about race I’ve found it a useful check to ask myself how I would respond were a man to say the same thing about gender issues. (If you’re a straight white man, I’m not sure what you do beyond, well, listening.)

Privilege is, unsurprisingly, discussed far less often on the right than on the left, but that discussion is equally — perhaps more — important for conservatives. We don’t strive for equality; we recognize the inevitability of hierarchy, and often we welcome it. But we also understand that along with a privileged position comes responsibility, and when we fail to see that we are privileged, it’s easy to ignore the duties.

The white man’s burden isn’t to bring civilization to the world; it’s to recognize his position so he won’t be an ass about it.