Things that went whizzing by that I want to remember: First: This is gonzo—not Elie Mystal, but rather John McWhorter. What would McWhorter have preferred to the Civil and Voting Rights Acts?: Elie Mystal: Review of Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America by John McWhorter: ‘McWhorter… says that Black people have no pride. Framing the civil rights era as a benevolent gift from Whites, he writes: “Segregation had been outlawed from on high, with black Americans not having had to endure the long, slow clawing our way into self-sufficiency regardless of prevailing attitudes that other groups had dealt with…. This had an ironic by-product: It meant that black people could not have a basic pride in having come the whole way…”
Cathy Young from Reason writes: "Just read your blogpost and felt compelled to point out that Elie Mystal's quote is somewhat out of context. I still find McWhorter's argument on this point less than persuasive, but he certainly doesn't wish the Civil Rights Act hadn't happened, and he acknowledges the role that black Americans played in getting segregation outlawed..."
Regarding "Why China’s Elite Tread a Perilous Path", one could also say ‘Wealth, power and fame are no defence against the arbitrary power of the [state]".
I don't know anything about Gideon Rachman - and don't have access to the article - but there seems to be an especially British expectation that "wealth, power and fame" should protect the holder from the exercise of state power.
Cathy Young from Reason writes: "Just read your blogpost and felt compelled to point out that Elie Mystal's quote is somewhat out of context. I still find McWhorter's argument on this point less than persuasive, but he certainly doesn't wish the Civil Rights Act hadn't happened, and he acknowledges the role that black Americans played in getting segregation outlawed..."
Regarding "Why China’s Elite Tread a Perilous Path", one could also say ‘Wealth, power and fame are no defence against the arbitrary power of the [state]".
I don't know anything about Gideon Rachman - and don't have access to the article - but there seems to be an especially British expectation that "wealth, power and fame" should protect the holder from the exercise of state power.
Re: McWhorter
Those folks who clawed there way to self-sufficiency have been declared honorary "White Folks". Some day black folks will be honorary whites.