From PZ Myers:
Wow, the New York Times opinion pages keep reminding me of what a craphole they’ve become. The latest entry is by Gerard Alexander, an associate professor of politics at the University of Virginia, who appears to wag a finger at those dang liberals who keep pointing out that the electorate that voted Trump into office were mostly conservative white folks who were driven by racial bias.
Racist is pretty much the most damning label that can be slapped on anyone in America today, which means it should be applied firmly and carefully. Yet some people have cavalierly leveled the charge against huge numbers of Americans — specifically, the more than 60 million people who voted for Mr. Trump.
In their ranks are people who sincerely consider themselves not bigoted, who might be open to reconsidering ways they have done things for years, but who are likely to be put off if they feel smeared before that conversation even takes place.
“Consider themselves not bigoted”…well, now I’m convinced.
Party of Personal Responsibility.
I agree that liberals have become far too inclined to label people, thoughts, and behaviors racist and that doing so over every “racially sensitive” matter weakens the credibility and condemnatory power of the term. I also agree, as everyone should, that insulting people, particularly by assuming the worst about motives that only they can know with certainty, is generally not an effective way of convincing them to change. Indeed, conservatives have only become more resistant and less inclined to take liberals seriously, with some even wearing labels of bigotry as ironic badges of honor. While liberals get to feel morally superior, nothing really changes — except, you know, Trump becoming president.
On the other hand, I get frustrated when “sympathetic” liberals buy into the conservative narrative of liberal elitism as if there isn’t and hasn’t long been elitism among conservatives. Yes, I do look down on Trump supporters as absolute idiots and fools, but you can’t tell me that the nasty things they proudly say and imply about, say, non-conservatives and atheists aren’t a form of “moral self-confidence that smacks of superiority” toward me and others — pretty much anyone who isn’t just like they are. At least my superiority doesn’t lead to support for policies that would directly and intentionally hurt the people to whom I feel superior in the names of superstition and gut feelings. At least my resentment is largely a reaction to theirs rather than a seemingly necessary part of my ideology.