At least Joe Taylor seems to think so.
Oh, well…
Blunted at Blunted on Reality actually responded as well as I could, and Tomato Observer gets blogrolled immediately, but here are my specific responses:
Actually blunted, this is an old, old gripe that has no basis.
Joe, read my site. Find something you consider racist other than my partisanship for Black issues. In fact, read Where we stand, published right here on OSP.
I wonder if you consider women's rights activists to be sexist. Is Abe Foxman racist? How about all the people that march in St. Patricks Day or Columbus Day parades?
I'm curious too why you think masking my being Black is a good idea. Do you mask being white? Can you? Being Black, the culture, the experiences, is part of my identity and I will mask it no more than I will mask my American-ness: an equally conceptual, socially constructed affair. If you can speak of American interests…America being as diverse as the Black communities…you can speak of Black interests.
I'll cross-post this thread at P6.
and
Just occurred to me:
Anyway, Earl Dunovant is black. He's not black like some people I know, who simply have a black skin; Earl is a self-professed "black partisan" who has a strong black identity. He quotes Malcolm X: "Who taught you, please, who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the color of your skin, to such extent that you bleach, to get like the white man? ... Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate, the race that you belong to?"
Now, Malcolm X is an interesting figure. Reverse everything he says - i.e. replace white with black, etc. - and you get something that David Duke et al would say. What I quote above is pure, unadulterated racism;
Let's try that reversal you suggest:
Who taught you, please, who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the color of your skin, to such extent that you bleach, to get like the Black man? ... Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate, the race that you belong to?
Doesn't parse. Because no one taught white people to hate themselves. That's that the whole "replace Black with white" this is just so much bullshit. It makes as little sense as grabbing Gloria Steinam's stuff and replacing every instance of "men" with "women."
Finally—seriously finally—you really should have linked to the post you're complaining about so people could see I was linking to Ampersand at Alas, a Blog talking about womens issues.
I've spent much of the time I normally spend checking the news in responding to the discussion Joe Taylor initiated with his flame. That's gotten me all thoughtful and shit. That plus the fact that the news for the next few days will be pure momentum effects inclines me to share a few developing thoughts and concerns.
I want to start with Open Source Politics. I was one of the original members. I dealt in detail with many of them, read maybe four of each five member blogs. This flame is not a reflection on the site, its outlook, approach or philosophy. Don't consider it as such.
I've also noticed a couple of folks who find it a problem that his attitudes are held by a progressive. Well, yeah.
But you know what? Had he kept it to himself or simply expressed them to me, it would be exactly the sort of thing I don't give a shit about.
I would not like to see any sort of ostracism; numbers count, and as long as he supports positions that I benefit from I want his number counted as regards those positions. I can handle the ones where we disagree just fine…I will not forget them, trust me.
I do feel he would benefit from associating with a more open-minded sort. No, that's wrong. He needs to hang with a more experienced sort…someone who's managed to navigate between the Scylla of liberal guilt and the Charybdis of conservative anger to an actually humane position.
Given the way he's approached this, that someone ain't gonna be me. But I would not dissociate myself from any position or organization we coincidentally support because of his presence.