In my post about Colin Kaepernick's latest lucrative deal from a major American corporation, announced literally the day after he attacked July 4 as a "celebration of white supremacy," I mentioned his new Disney producer in passing. For those unfamiliar, her name is Jemele Hill, a racialist and hardcore progressive who was ousted from her ESPN show on account of poor ratings. She'd previously been suspended for repeated violations of the network's social media guidelines, including calling President Trump a white supremacist and urging boycotts after Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones threatened to bench players who "disrespect[ed] the flag." Now that she's long gone from ESPN (though apparently drawing a paycheck from the same parent company) and working as Kaep's producer, this sort of inflammatory outburst is likely considered a feature, not a bug or liability:
If you vote for Donald Trump, you are a racist. You have no wiggle room.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) July 19, 2020
Might Disney care to comment on this? Sixty-three million Americans voted for Donald Trump in 2016. According to Pew Research, 16.4 million Black people participated in that election, eight percent of whom pulled the lever for Trump, based on exit polls. That equates to roughly 1.3 million African-Americans who voted for the president. Are they included in the "no wiggle room" racist category? How does that work, exactly? And how do we classify the four million-plus Latinos who voted for Trump, using the same tabulation methods? Then there's this little chestnut, mined by a Twitter buddy:
yes, my mother voted for trump. she's been voting republican since post bill clinton
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) March 19, 2017
Any "wiggle room" on that one? Maybe she only means people who vote for Trump this time, so she's generously offering her mother a chance to redeem her self-hating racism or something. Hill's provocation is more blunt and incendiary than others' comments, but recall that former mayor and presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said that all Trump voters are at least enablers of racism. There are surely vile racists who support Donald Trump, as there are horrible people with appalling views who will vote for Joe Biden. One can certainly make the case that Trump has pursued highly controversial policies on racially-tinged issues, and has said some things that are widely viewed as racially insensitive. When such moments arise, knocking the politician is fair game; if the attacks are unfair, strong pushback will rightfully ensue. But it's the worst sort of demagoguery to proclaim that tens of millions of your fellow citizens all voted a certain way, or are planning to vote a certain way, for the worst possible reason -- and therefore must be smeared and dismissed as bigots. It's "irredeemable deplorables," except all of them, this time. Super healthy, no? This is an insight into our current moment:
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I can understand why some people have, over the past years, reluctantly come to view many of their fellow citizens in a very bad light.
— Yascha Mounk (@Yascha_Mounk) July 19, 2020
What strikes me as odd about this political moment is how many people seem to *want* to see their fellow citizens in the worst possible light.
I'll leave you with two commentary forays into racially-charged issues. The first is from a New York Times op/ed contributor (might his insane pronouncement make anyone "feel unsafe," or whatever the nonsense standard is these days over at the Times, as wrong think-complicit editors are forced out and free-thinking moderates flee amid bullying and abuse?):
I hope people realize that there are many white Republican voters in this country if they're given a choice between renting a room in their house to a person of color or burning down the house, they will elect to burn down the entire neighborhood. It's not just a small fringe.
— Wajahat "Wears a Mask Because of a Pandemic" Ali (@WajahatAli) July 19, 2020
And second, exhibiting a very different approach, is GOP Senate candidate John James thoughtfully defusing a race-related controversy surrounding his opponent:
Look, no one can pick their great-great parents. One of the best things about America is the promise that the circumstances of the past shouldn’t determine our futures. I’m running because, sadly, for too many Michiganders it still does. That needs to change. pic.twitter.com/pGujK16KA4
— John James (@JohnJamesMI) July 19, 2020
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