Tag: racism

Language, Random Ruminations, Tommy T1 Comment

Today on Tommy T’s Random Ruminations – Ants and Uncles edition

Tommy T

There’s a lot of jibber-jabber from the right-wing about Tim (Look! We have a black friend, so we can’t be racist) Scott’s responding to President Biden’s first address to congress. Most of it centers around the “Uncle Tom” thing currently bouncing around in hashtag land. I’m a musician. And an engineer/producer. I’ve had (and still have) a number of black friends and associates. And yes, I’ve heard the “Uncle Tom” thing used. By them. I’ve never heard one white person call a black person an “Uncle Tom”. Not one. It’s  a term exclusively used by black Americans to describe someone … Continue reading Today on Tommy T’s Random Ruminations – Ants and Uncles edition

Adrastos, Books, Diary, Film, Fog Of History, Gret Stet Politics, Race2 Comments

To Kill A Legend

Peter Adrastos Athas

Many writers have only one great book in them-Joseph Heller and Catch-22 immediately comes to mind-but only a few have the self-awareness to publish just that one great book. Harper Lee was one of that number until the “re-discovery” of Go Set A Watchman, which is being published tomorrow. I am neither a fanatical Lee devotee nor one of those people who say that To Kill A Mockingbird perpetuates the white savior complex. I like the book, but haven’t re-read it in many years. I’ve seen the film multiple times and believe that much of the cult of Atticus Finch comes from Gregory Peck’s brilliant  performance in … Continue reading To Kill A Legend

Current Affairs, Science15 Comments

White Guilt

John Derbyshire is racist, but I’m not. This isn’t just me talking, it’sScience! I tookthis survey, called the Implicit Association Test, whichDerbyshire told Gawker’s Maureen O’Connor he had taken to determine if he’s really racist. He calls it “the best quantifier we have to date” on peoples’ attitudes toward race, because it flashes pictures of black people and pictures of white people, and then words that are positive and negative, all in rapid succession. You are supposed to push a particular button on your keyboard as quickly as possible in response to the images. It’s supposed to test your reflexive … Continue reading White Guilt