This is a very shrewd point. Where I see the distinction here is there is a conflation with ideas/beliefs /culture and (I hate to use the term) immutable characteristics.
If I have a bad idea, or set of ideas, I can change them.
If I have a bad immutable characteristic, X, I can try to be “less X...” according to Robin. Which just doesn’t make sense to me in terms of race, and barely in terms of culture. Suppose “white culture” is codified and exists, I should try to be less that? Is it not possible that if white culture exists it’s a mix of good and bad traits that we should evaluate independently?
We’re also dealing with poorly defined (or perhaps undefinable) concepts. Are Jews white? Is Jewish culture white? What about Irish? What about Italians? They weren’t always considered as such by everyone.
There are probably people who could lecture me on their operational definitions of ‘white’ and ‘whiteness.’ But at that point it sounds like you’re just redefining “right” and “wrong” to whatever you define as “non-white” and “white” respectively.
Any idea or belief is on the table and open to debate. Me being automatically bad by the nature of my ancestry just sounds like a caste system.
This is a very shrewd point. Where I see the distinction here is there is a conflation with ideas/beliefs /culture and (I hate to use the term) immutable characteristics.
If I have a bad idea, or set of ideas, I can change them.
If I have a bad immutable characteristic, X, I can try to be “less X...” according to Robin. Which just doesn’t make sense to me in terms of race, and barely in terms of culture. Suppose “white culture” is codified and exists, I should try to be less that? Is it not possible that if white culture exists it’s a mix of good and bad traits that we should evaluate independently?
We’re also dealing with poorly defined (or perhaps undefinable) concepts. Are Jews white? Is Jewish culture white? What about Irish? What about Italians? They weren’t always considered as such by everyone.
There are probably people who could lecture me on their operational definitions of ‘white’ and ‘whiteness.’ But at that point it sounds like you’re just redefining “right” and “wrong” to whatever you define as “non-white” and “white” respectively.
Any idea or belief is on the table and open to debate. Me being automatically bad by the nature of my ancestry just sounds like a caste system.
Ultimately, I think the way to interpret White Fragility is “conflict theory” and we’re treating it like “mistake theory” and making a mistake in doing so.
EDITS: Links