Northam Now Says (1) He's Not Sure Which Guy He Is In The Picture And/Or (2) He Can't Be Sure That's Him At All
facepalm
I dunno, man. I don't think either of these is a particularly strong defense:
A. I'm not sure that's me...I might be the guy in the Klan costume
B. I took so many pictures in blackface that I'm not sure whether that's one of them.
OTOH, I'm not sure that appearing in blackface once in 1984 means that you are forever unfit for public office. The public discussion currently seems guided by the assumption that every such transgression is a moral mortal sin. I'm not sure how bad something like this really is. Is it a moral mortal sin? Are we sure it's not more on the Damn that wasn't a great idea end of the spectrum? Perhaps in the Dude, that was kind of an asshole thing to do sector of moral space? Something can be stupid and regrettable without being an indication of deep and undying racism. In matters of offensiveness, it seems that the average reaction of reasonable members of the average relevant group is extremely important. I guess I'd have thought that reaction would be rather more like Dude WTF were you thinking? F*ck right off with that stupid shit. That is a fairly high degree of dumbassery. Don't talk to me for, like, a day and a half. But I dunno. I hesitate to ask black people I know because it seems to much like So, speaking as a black man, and for all black men, what is your opinion of this?
I never felt the allure of this stuff, nor thought it was that funny. I'm fine with some reeeeeally "transgressive" humor...but this just never seemed that funny to me. But I also don't think it's Literally The Worst Thing Ever. But my opinion doesn't really carry any weight in this case. I do think we've got to resist the idea that every dumbass racist thing somebody says or does is deserving of the social death penalty.
I have no position on Northam in general, but am inclined to think that clamoring for his head over this is a bit too much. But I think it's obvious that, if the average reasonable black person in the street disagrees, that has to be weighed very heavily.
I dunno, man. I don't think either of these is a particularly strong defense:
A. I'm not sure that's me...I might be the guy in the Klan costume
B. I took so many pictures in blackface that I'm not sure whether that's one of them.
OTOH, I'm not sure that appearing in blackface once in 1984 means that you are forever unfit for public office. The public discussion currently seems guided by the assumption that every such transgression is a moral mortal sin. I'm not sure how bad something like this really is. Is it a moral mortal sin? Are we sure it's not more on the Damn that wasn't a great idea end of the spectrum? Perhaps in the Dude, that was kind of an asshole thing to do sector of moral space? Something can be stupid and regrettable without being an indication of deep and undying racism. In matters of offensiveness, it seems that the average reaction of reasonable members of the average relevant group is extremely important. I guess I'd have thought that reaction would be rather more like Dude WTF were you thinking? F*ck right off with that stupid shit. That is a fairly high degree of dumbassery. Don't talk to me for, like, a day and a half. But I dunno. I hesitate to ask black people I know because it seems to much like So, speaking as a black man, and for all black men, what is your opinion of this?
I never felt the allure of this stuff, nor thought it was that funny. I'm fine with some reeeeeally "transgressive" humor...but this just never seemed that funny to me. But I also don't think it's Literally The Worst Thing Ever. But my opinion doesn't really carry any weight in this case. I do think we've got to resist the idea that every dumbass racist thing somebody says or does is deserving of the social death penalty.
I have no position on Northam in general, but am inclined to think that clamoring for his head over this is a bit too much. But I think it's obvious that, if the average reasonable black person in the street disagrees, that has to be weighed very heavily.
posted by Winston Smith at
1:45 PM
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