I present to you the words of Kristen Clarke, Biden’s future head of the DoJ’s Civil Rights division:
“Melanin endows blacks with greater mental, physical, and spiritual abilities — something which cannot be measured by Eurocentric standards.”
This is just one quote from her letter, which goes on at length about black superiority.
I think the problem we have right now is we have two sets of standards. People that have been reintroducing racist concepts into government, academia and the media shouldn’t be surprised when there is a similarly racist backlash.
> The book, she said, “was generating wide acclaim for its racist views” and her intention in opening the letter “with an absurd claim that Black people are superior based on the melanin in their skin” was to “hold up a mirror to reflect how reprehensible the premise of black inferiority was set.”
> “It was meant to express an equally absurd point of view — fighting one ridiculous absurd racist theory with another ridiculous absurd theory,” Clarke explained, “and the goal was all about [exposing] the ugly racist underpinnings of the Bell Curve theory. It was deeply personal and profoundly important to Black students and other students of color who felt that their right to be on campus was challenged. And frankly, the fight that we were leading as students is a fight that I am still very much a part of today.”
> So she sets the record straight over 20 years later
The record is set straight in the first sentence of the letter, which explains the intended role of the things presented : In response to those who defend The Bell Curve (“Defending The Bell Curve,” Opinion, Oct. 24, 1994), please use the following theories and observations to assist you in your search for truth regarding the genetic differences between Blacks and whites.
So she sets the record straight over 20 years later, only after being appointed by Biden, that she was only pretending to be racist. Yeah... sure..
From your own link:
Later, in an interview with The Crimson, Clarke suggested that "The information [contained in the letter] is not necessarily something we believe, but some information that we think those pursuing a true understanding of The Bell Curve theory should either address, ignore or refute."
So it's false to say she is only addressing the matter now; she responded to questions about it at the time.
While claiming to have been unable to detect any irony in the letter co-authored by Clarke, the Crimson editorial is pseudo-objective at best, and at worst comes off as an example of insincere concern trolling.
At the time her response was that she doesn't necessarily believe in black superiority... it's just something people should address.
Does this sound ok to your ears? If this was a white supremacist, we would all correctly be shouting about how it's a dog whistle and not an acceptable response.
I wish more people would read 'How to Be an Antiracist.' I believe he's absolute right in that the only way forward is to call out racist beliefs from everyone, not selectively.
Selectively excusing racist beliefs from "our side" will only open the door to more racism.
Trying to peel individual phrases off from the context of the whole letter (which you oddly chose not to cite) isn't helping your argument. And if she were a white supremacist, that would be an extremely different situation from someone who's a member of an oppressed minority making snarky remarks about a book that she perceives as pseudoscientific race baiting. You've really misrepresented this whole episode, but thanks for your concern.
> At the time her response was that she doesn’t necessarily believe in black superiority…
“We” is not the same as “I”. She was speaking on behalf of a group, and a group which may not have even discussed their actual beliefs on the truth of the “theories and observations” presented, as that was not the purpose for which they were (explicitly, in the letters own terms) presented.
> So she sets the record straight over 20 years later, only after being appointed by Biden, that she was only pretending to be racist. Yeah... sure...
OMG! You're right! And Terry Pratchett went to his grave prostylizing a flat earth model because he never officially made a statement that his satirical novels were just that - satirical.
I think that you are being disingenuous in not pointing out the context as a rhetorical device to point out hypocrisy and absurdity of racist views, but I don't think you should be downmodded for bringing this to light given the comment chain above you.
“Melanin endows blacks with greater mental, physical, and spiritual abilities — something which cannot be measured by Eurocentric standards.”
This is just one quote from her letter, which goes on at length about black superiority.
I think the problem we have right now is we have two sets of standards. People that have been reintroducing racist concepts into government, academia and the media shouldn’t be surprised when there is a similarly racist backlash.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1994/11/4/clarke-should-r...