Prof. Sandy Levinson comes off as a friendly sort though on his blog has had a more jeremiad tone that strongly lashes out against what he sees as glaring issues. I think he lays it on a bit thick, but blogs at times are there to vent. For instance, Reality Check (Rewire) used to have comments and some of them to me was a bit much. I understood the need to have a safe space, so to speak, to strongly state one's views all the same.
Anyway, is one thread a Trumpy (BB) that shows a bit more nuance (bit of a trap, really, given how locked in he is all the same) than another (BP) basically refused to recognize our systematic racism. Even historically. Hey some older black athlete praised Trump. Must mean his racism is open to reasonable debate. Compare this that provides some examples and argues Trump's racism is America's racism. After all, he needed help.
One thing this piece does is share the blame. Trump is a particularly virulent form of something that taints this country. As with other bad things, there are degrees. So, if something is bad (let's say a virus, which racism is in a fashion), it can be weak (like a vaccine) or strong. So, how bad Trump matters even if his alternative (and his party is corrupted here -- both sides aren't the same here, sorry) would be bad too.
The piece also suggests that it goes beyond how far the Republican Party itself has gone. On some level, it is broader than that. Even those who are not Republicans don't oppose him enough since on some level he is not completely foreign to our society. So, let's say, certain Democrats went to his wedding(s). Or, he is not seen as so totally improper (my example would be like if a cat ran for POTUS -- we wouldn't have horse race coverage here, so to speak, would we? it would simply be "hey, a cat can't be POTUS ... come on now!"). In so doing, society normalizes him.
And, part of this is that we are still a racist country, who even if we don't like it, accept racism is part of life in some fashion. And, then something really horrible happens, we are upset, but then let it keep on going w/o completely changing things to stop it from happening in the future.
Anyway, is one thread a Trumpy (BB) that shows a bit more nuance (bit of a trap, really, given how locked in he is all the same) than another (BP) basically refused to recognize our systematic racism. Even historically. Hey some older black athlete praised Trump. Must mean his racism is open to reasonable debate. Compare this that provides some examples and argues Trump's racism is America's racism. After all, he needed help.
One thing this piece does is share the blame. Trump is a particularly virulent form of something that taints this country. As with other bad things, there are degrees. So, if something is bad (let's say a virus, which racism is in a fashion), it can be weak (like a vaccine) or strong. So, how bad Trump matters even if his alternative (and his party is corrupted here -- both sides aren't the same here, sorry) would be bad too.
The piece also suggests that it goes beyond how far the Republican Party itself has gone. On some level, it is broader than that. Even those who are not Republicans don't oppose him enough since on some level he is not completely foreign to our society. So, let's say, certain Democrats went to his wedding(s). Or, he is not seen as so totally improper (my example would be like if a cat ran for POTUS -- we wouldn't have horse race coverage here, so to speak, would we? it would simply be "hey, a cat can't be POTUS ... come on now!"). In so doing, society normalizes him.
And, part of this is that we are still a racist country, who even if we don't like it, accept racism is part of life in some fashion. And, then something really horrible happens, we are upset, but then let it keep on going w/o completely changing things to stop it from happening in the future.
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Thanks for your .02!