The notion of a neutral and moderate middle is a prejudice of people for whom the system is working, against those for whom itâs not
âA lot of what are now considered moderate positions were seen as radical not long ago, when this country supported segregation, banned interracial marriages and then same-sex marriagesâ Photograph: Craig Lassig/EPA
âA lot of what are now considered moderate positions were seen as radical not long ago, when this country supported segregation, banned interracial marriages and then same-sex marriagesâ Photograph: Craig Lassig/EPA
Fri 28 May 2021 06.12 EDT
Last modified on Fri 28 May 2021 06.14 EDT
The idea that all bias is some deviation from an unbiased center is itself a bias that prevents pundits, journalists, politicians, and plenty of others from recognizing some of the most ugly and impactful prejudices and assumptions of our times. I think of this bias, which insists the center is not biased, not afflicted with agendas
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A year has passed since the brutal murder of George Floyd by the police. A year of countless protests, endless talks about inclusion and anti-racism, and millions holding their breath while watching the trial of Floyd’s murderer. Numerous Black Americans have been killed by police in the past, so why does it seem that Floyd’s death has brought about a particularly intense public response?
Some observers have pointed to the impact of social media and the pandemic, but little was said about the critical role of humiliation in this case. Yet no training in the world, not even “defunding the police,” is likely to bring systemic change if we do not understand how the dynamic of humiliation severely harms communities of color and what must be done to fight it.
People in Rochester, New York, react Feb. 23, after a New York grand jury voted not to indict police officers in Daniel Prude s death. Prude, a Black man, died after police put a spit hood over his head during an arrest March 23, 2020. (CNS/Lindsay DeDario, Reuters) We Still Here: Pandemic, Policing, Protest, and Possibility By Marc Lamont Hill $12.95 The thing we have to do to keep us alive could also be the thing that kills us, writes Marc Lamont Hill near the beginning of his remarkable book
We Still Here: Pandemic, Policing, Protest, and Possibility, neatly summing up the conundrum of being Black in America in the face of COVID-19, police violence and white supremacy.