Before there was the Muslim ban, there was the Birther Lie. Typically Trump: He pursed his lips and shrugged it off without a word after he could no longer plausibly go forward with the lie.
The mask coming off applies to a lot more than petty HR goblins.
Racism has always been a pillar of conservative politics. Like religion it too easily hijacks what should be vestigial portions of our monkey brains.
Different = Bad/Dangerous.
But I’ve got news for people who think this is a Republican phenomenon. On this very blog where I would have assumed that paying HamNo for content would self select an audience that would mininally include people who think racism is bad I got “well actually’d” in the comments by someone explaining to me that the genocide of Native Americans wasn’t that bad because “they weren’t angels” and they weren’t doing anything with this land anyway.
What passes for the Left in this country needs to have a serious reckoning with their own malignant racism before getting any brownie points for being better than the other guys. On a personal note, I just don’t believe y’all anymore.
I’m one guy and I don’t matter. But the assumption that people of color are gonna lineup behind the empty catch phrases and token candidates the Democratic Party has to offer seems like just the kind of racism I’m talking about.
"they weren’t doing anything with this land anyway"
The absolute arrogance of this statement. Like how did that person know this thing to be true, and confidently state it as such?
To your greater point, it wasn't that long ago that I got into an argument with a friend of a friend who was attacking muslims because of the supposed threat to LGBTQIA folks. I had to point out that white christians, at least in this country (and arguably world wide because they have a bigger, better armed military) are the bigger threat. I've had to explain to others why going after islam as a religion is, in fact, racist, because it's cover for going after brown folks. And there really is a strain of anti-semitism that, unfortunately, runs through the anti-genocide/pro-Palestinian crowd (I'm not making any claims about proportionality, just existence.)
We on the left need to own up to the existence of bigotry/bigoted people on our "side" and address it, rather than hide from it.
Were this purely a question of optics, I might agree. The trouble is that DEI was instituted at many corporate institutions as a way to provide evidence in the event of discrimination lawsuits. Such lawsuits often hinge on fairly subjective evidence of hostile workplace cultures, and unfortunately civil courts have proven to be amenable to the idea that a corporation is friendly to diversity simply because they hold the training or put verbiage in the employee handbook. You can check the court records; it's been successfully argued in the past, for example, that a workplace was not discriminatory in a legal sense because they had once a quarter DEI workshops etc. This is of course the only reason corporate America ever funded them in the first place, that and marketing. So it's a tough calculation, as much as I sympathize with your position.
The internal policies that companies carry out under the banner of DEI are obviously flawed in many cases (and ideally would be negotiated with unions and not just written by HR). But the public embrace of the concept of DEI is something that has a newfound importance given the state of our country. And many companies are disavowing the entire practice, which is just a way of throwing a lot of people under the bus to protect themselves.
I've found it funny how bigots can't decide which letters to hide their racism behind: DEI or CRT?
Fun little tidbit about critical race theory (I didn't take the class in law school but a friend of mine did and we talked about it): It PREDICTS that whites in government will try to ban the teaching of it. All of this junk about banning CRT and DEI just proves that the fundamental element of CRT, which is that society is built to oppress non-whites, is accurate
Our "over 55" townhouse HOA doesn't permit us to hang flags (except American or football team) or put signs with words IN OUR OWN DAMN WINDOWS. My own HOA fees went to an attorney so they could amend the bylaws and fine me $25/month if I persisted. (Hummingbird feeders are not permitted, either. My daughter calls it Little Russia.) My subtrefuge was placing a watermelon sign and mat at my front door. Literally moving from my 20 year home soon, but HOAs can be vicious.
Hamilton, sometimes you are so right on the money that I want to emblazon your writing on a billboard and force the unsuspecting public to read it and engage with these ideas. Brilliant
Yes. I "discovered" your Substack around a month ago, and I'm appreciating your views. You put your finger right on the power that the people have. The power that some businesses have always known they have (especially over the past 20 years, in the face of Republican outrage at "woke" words and actions).
The real problem, I think, is something I wrote about a few years ago in a post titled, "What Would You Sacrifice?"
What would most Americans sacrifice in support of their views? Sadly, I think the answer is "not much". Europeans are better at it, I think, and better in general at standing up (and marching!) for what they believe in.
I couldn't agree more. I used to sort of be one of those annoying Freddie deBoer types who often found some clever, contrarian reason to be against manifestations of "idpol" particularly in corporate settings. And I found in particular the DEI banner to be one of the weaker and cringier of these manifestations. But now that racism and white supremacy have been forcibly and openly re-instated as the norm in American society, and the racists openly saying they're fighting DEI, it's time for anti-racists to openly embrace DEI. I mean the right now is openly saying that black people and women are incapable of flying airplanes and the only reason they're allowed to is because of DEI. DEI means a lot more than annoying HR trainings at this point
Yep, we linguistic literalists have to let go of our preference for "equality" instead of "equity." As for "inclusion" I've used it to call out DEI extremists for not including ME (inclusion is inclusion: even though I'm cis/white/middle class I still have a unique identity and lived experiences and as such contribute to diversity.) DEI is here to stay.
I'm also thinking about whether we should all change the common American greeting from "Hi" to ¡Hola! as a way of owning MAGA. I might try it out with the National Guard at the next protest (also bringing sandwiches to pass out to them: this can be the 21st century version of putting daisies in their gun barrels.)
I'm heartened at how many places here in Heartland USA (Bloomington - Normal IL), have kept their Pride signs, "all are welcome," etc signs up; Illinois State U has reinforced its DEI stand; there was a provocative leaflet this past week for a hate march -- the general community reaction is very negative and speaking up. We can't let the orange shadow dim our fires!
TESLA is hurting because of its leaders nazi salute and support of fascism.
Certainly we can give local and small businesses our money. It will take research to determine who is liberal and deserves the business and to avoid the fascists.
Local schools in my area are inclusive. Kids here would be pissed if that changed. But we are not in the ignorant superstitious South.
It isnt a huge majority though. There is a large and significant MAGA population. They are also vocal, organized and aggressive.
Liberals are too nice. Not organized. Not as vocal. Certainly not aggressive.
So who will start a list?
Nationally?
Locally?
Target? Sure.
Tesla. Ok.
Coors?
Hobby Lobby?
Do we send our kids to schools that cave?
Do we spend money in or even visit Red states even?
Canada gets it.
Play tough California. Tax fruits. Tax vegetables. Make the Red States pay. Even Blue states.
New York. Tax Wall Street.
Every Blue State.
Bus your poor to Florida and Texas.
Have them vote Blue.
Build some apartment buildings in rural areas there.
Montana, North and South Dakota too.
That is redistricting.
Where are the Black leaders?
Women leaders?
LGBTQ leaders.
White male non fascist leaders?
DEI is a good thing.
America is full of racist, misogynistic and ignorant voters.
Cant support DEI by losing elections.
To be honest some of it was and still is a non issue.
A few misspoke. Liars take one comment or one incident and the propaganda makes it a nationwide crisis hurting all women. Or all Whites. Or all straight males.
Can not debate liars.
Can not talk sense into the minds of morons.
When a white male christian conservative religious leader is jailed for their speech many might find out that the sky is falling was not just crazy talk.
He will turn on them too.
At that time the sky will be already on the ground and going under.
Before there was the Muslim ban, there was the Birther Lie. Typically Trump: He pursed his lips and shrugged it off without a word after he could no longer plausibly go forward with the lie.
The mask coming off applies to a lot more than petty HR goblins.
Racism has always been a pillar of conservative politics. Like religion it too easily hijacks what should be vestigial portions of our monkey brains.
Different = Bad/Dangerous.
But I’ve got news for people who think this is a Republican phenomenon. On this very blog where I would have assumed that paying HamNo for content would self select an audience that would mininally include people who think racism is bad I got “well actually’d” in the comments by someone explaining to me that the genocide of Native Americans wasn’t that bad because “they weren’t angels” and they weren’t doing anything with this land anyway.
What passes for the Left in this country needs to have a serious reckoning with their own malignant racism before getting any brownie points for being better than the other guys. On a personal note, I just don’t believe y’all anymore.
I’m one guy and I don’t matter. But the assumption that people of color are gonna lineup behind the empty catch phrases and token candidates the Democratic Party has to offer seems like just the kind of racism I’m talking about.
Indeed. See Bill Clinton and Sister Souljah. Or Joe Biden’s entire career.
"they weren’t doing anything with this land anyway"
The absolute arrogance of this statement. Like how did that person know this thing to be true, and confidently state it as such?
To your greater point, it wasn't that long ago that I got into an argument with a friend of a friend who was attacking muslims because of the supposed threat to LGBTQIA folks. I had to point out that white christians, at least in this country (and arguably world wide because they have a bigger, better armed military) are the bigger threat. I've had to explain to others why going after islam as a religion is, in fact, racist, because it's cover for going after brown folks. And there really is a strain of anti-semitism that, unfortunately, runs through the anti-genocide/pro-Palestinian crowd (I'm not making any claims about proportionality, just existence.)
We on the left need to own up to the existence of bigotry/bigoted people on our "side" and address it, rather than hide from it.
Were this purely a question of optics, I might agree. The trouble is that DEI was instituted at many corporate institutions as a way to provide evidence in the event of discrimination lawsuits. Such lawsuits often hinge on fairly subjective evidence of hostile workplace cultures, and unfortunately civil courts have proven to be amenable to the idea that a corporation is friendly to diversity simply because they hold the training or put verbiage in the employee handbook. You can check the court records; it's been successfully argued in the past, for example, that a workplace was not discriminatory in a legal sense because they had once a quarter DEI workshops etc. This is of course the only reason corporate America ever funded them in the first place, that and marketing. So it's a tough calculation, as much as I sympathize with your position.
The internal policies that companies carry out under the banner of DEI are obviously flawed in many cases (and ideally would be negotiated with unions and not just written by HR). But the public embrace of the concept of DEI is something that has a newfound importance given the state of our country. And many companies are disavowing the entire practice, which is just a way of throwing a lot of people under the bus to protect themselves.
I've found it funny how bigots can't decide which letters to hide their racism behind: DEI or CRT?
Fun little tidbit about critical race theory (I didn't take the class in law school but a friend of mine did and we talked about it): It PREDICTS that whites in government will try to ban the teaching of it. All of this junk about banning CRT and DEI just proves that the fundamental element of CRT, which is that society is built to oppress non-whites, is accurate
Thank you for this article. A great reminder that we can exercise some influence in small ways.
Our "over 55" townhouse HOA doesn't permit us to hang flags (except American or football team) or put signs with words IN OUR OWN DAMN WINDOWS. My own HOA fees went to an attorney so they could amend the bylaws and fine me $25/month if I persisted. (Hummingbird feeders are not permitted, either. My daughter calls it Little Russia.) My subtrefuge was placing a watermelon sign and mat at my front door. Literally moving from my 20 year home soon, but HOAs can be vicious.
HOAs are little fiefdoms for dipshits in middle management to lord over their neighbors with smugness and condescension. They should be outlawed.
Hamilton, sometimes you are so right on the money that I want to emblazon your writing on a billboard and force the unsuspecting public to read it and engage with these ideas. Brilliant
Yes. I "discovered" your Substack around a month ago, and I'm appreciating your views. You put your finger right on the power that the people have. The power that some businesses have always known they have (especially over the past 20 years, in the face of Republican outrage at "woke" words and actions).
The real problem, I think, is something I wrote about a few years ago in a post titled, "What Would You Sacrifice?"
What would most Americans sacrifice in support of their views? Sadly, I think the answer is "not much". Europeans are better at it, I think, and better in general at standing up (and marching!) for what they believe in.
Brexit was MAGA. Just the English version.
I couldn't agree more. I used to sort of be one of those annoying Freddie deBoer types who often found some clever, contrarian reason to be against manifestations of "idpol" particularly in corporate settings. And I found in particular the DEI banner to be one of the weaker and cringier of these manifestations. But now that racism and white supremacy have been forcibly and openly re-instated as the norm in American society, and the racists openly saying they're fighting DEI, it's time for anti-racists to openly embrace DEI. I mean the right now is openly saying that black people and women are incapable of flying airplanes and the only reason they're allowed to is because of DEI. DEI means a lot more than annoying HR trainings at this point
Yep, we linguistic literalists have to let go of our preference for "equality" instead of "equity." As for "inclusion" I've used it to call out DEI extremists for not including ME (inclusion is inclusion: even though I'm cis/white/middle class I still have a unique identity and lived experiences and as such contribute to diversity.) DEI is here to stay.
I'm also thinking about whether we should all change the common American greeting from "Hi" to ¡Hola! as a way of owning MAGA. I might try it out with the National Guard at the next protest (also bringing sandwiches to pass out to them: this can be the 21st century version of putting daisies in their gun barrels.)
Let me get this clear: are you implying that Donald Trump has NOT spent his life aspiring to be Black?
LOVE IT!! We've got to show--very visibly and loudly--that we don't share this regime's values.
I'm heartened at how many places here in Heartland USA (Bloomington - Normal IL), have kept their Pride signs, "all are welcome," etc signs up; Illinois State U has reinforced its DEI stand; there was a provocative leaflet this past week for a hate march -- the general community reaction is very negative and speaking up. We can't let the orange shadow dim our fires!
Target is losing money for rejecting DEI.
TESLA is hurting because of its leaders nazi salute and support of fascism.
Certainly we can give local and small businesses our money. It will take research to determine who is liberal and deserves the business and to avoid the fascists.
Local schools in my area are inclusive. Kids here would be pissed if that changed. But we are not in the ignorant superstitious South.
It isnt a huge majority though. There is a large and significant MAGA population. They are also vocal, organized and aggressive.
Liberals are too nice. Not organized. Not as vocal. Certainly not aggressive.
So who will start a list?
Nationally?
Locally?
Target? Sure.
Tesla. Ok.
Coors?
Hobby Lobby?
Do we send our kids to schools that cave?
Do we spend money in or even visit Red states even?
Canada gets it.
Play tough California. Tax fruits. Tax vegetables. Make the Red States pay. Even Blue states.
New York. Tax Wall Street.
Every Blue State.
Bus your poor to Florida and Texas.
Have them vote Blue.
Build some apartment buildings in rural areas there.
Montana, North and South Dakota too.
That is redistricting.
Where are the Black leaders?
Women leaders?
LGBTQ leaders.
White male non fascist leaders?
DEI is a good thing.
America is full of racist, misogynistic and ignorant voters.
Cant support DEI by losing elections.
To be honest some of it was and still is a non issue.
A few misspoke. Liars take one comment or one incident and the propaganda makes it a nationwide crisis hurting all women. Or all Whites. Or all straight males.
Can not debate liars.
Can not talk sense into the minds of morons.
When a white male christian conservative religious leader is jailed for their speech many might find out that the sky is falling was not just crazy talk.
He will turn on them too.
At that time the sky will be already on the ground and going under.
This reminds me of JohnTheDuncan's call for more woke in the face of what is going on. Agreed.
You have many sensible ideas and I'm glad I'm a subscriber. 😊
"Corporate" things are sometimes just plain cringe. Unfortunately, our whole capitalist founding displays this in excess.