Monthly Archives: June 2023

Orthodoxy

Media, National media, National news, The William Tell Show, Thursday posts, , , , , ,

White Americans are nearly as blind to their racism as ever before

An orthodoxy is a system of ideas that adherents insist one must accept without question.  In other words, a set of dogmas.

Every media outlet has one.  It may be implied or explicit; flexible or rigid; narrow or broad; but it’s there.  It defines what ideas that media outlet will allow to be expressed.  In publishing media, it determines what will and won’t get published.

An obstacle facing me in my hopes of getting published, is that I seem somehow always to run afoul of a given media outlet’s orthodoxy.

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Transference, BLM and anti-Semitism

The Way of Peace, Thursday posts, , , , , ,

When I hang out at Dunkin’ Donuts in the morning, I have a prescribed spot, in a corner, by the door.

This morning this woman came in scowling.  She was deeply resentful about something.  Once she got her order and began to head out, it became clear that the something had changed.  Whatever she’d been resentful about before was no matter; what she resented now was my skin color.

Transference is the removal of emotions, normally negative, from connection with one idea or situation, and attaching the same to a different idea or situation.  This incident this morning was an epiphany for me of how easily it happens, and how evil it can be.

Continue reading Transference, BLM and anti-Semitism →

“I don’t see color.”

Thursday posts, , , ,

6 ways allies still marginalize people of color — and what to do instead

It’s common for allies to tell people of color, “I don’t see race.” Despite possibly good intentions, this denies the unique experiences of people with racial differences and important aspects of their identities.   ***

 Instead of ignoring race completely, you can say something like, “I wish race didn’t have an impact on the way people are treated.” This acknowledges that racial differences do exist and affect how people navigate the world, while still expressing your belief that everyone should be treated the same.

It’s one thing to admit that the color line has not vanished from society. It is another thing to insist that it never can; in fact, that it cannot be allowed to. It is yet another thing to deny the extent to which it has vanished, for some people.

The late Brian Williard quizzed me several times as to the racial makeup of my congregation. I couldn’t give him an answer. I honestly can’t answer the same question now.

If you were to ask me to name several white members of my congregation, or several black members, I wouldn’t be able to answer right away. I’d have to sit down and think about it.

If race is the first thing you notice about a person, that’s on you, not me.

And I feel sorry for you.

Originally posted 2016-03-09.

Podcast — Hiatus

Podcast, The William Tell Show

Taking a break this month.

Friday 05/05/23, my laptop sustained water damage. The hard drive, or at least the operating system, disconnected. At this moment, it is in the hands of a trusted, techy, church member wunderkind who may or may not be able to fix it. At least, he said, he may be able to retrieve the data, which I warned him includes 16 gigs of porn.

For the duration, I’m using the computers at the central branch Enoch Pratt Free Libary — and am without any means to record.

If this genius can fix it, well and good. If I must replace it, I’ll have to jump through some hoops: I was financially able to pay “cash” for it when I bought it two years ago, but now to replace it I’ll have to find credit.

Either way, I hope to “see you” again in July!