I don’t apologize for being white; that was my parents’ choice, not mine. My ancestors immigrated to Pennsylvania and Ohio after the Civil War; they never owned any slaves. I am confident I never received any benefits that should have gone to a more deserving African-American. I oppose some forms of affirmative action, and I’m not keen on rioting as a “solution” to problems with policing, at least where the political system is realistically open to change.
On the other hand, I don’t have any trouble understanding why African-Americans have issues with law enforcement in some communities, and with the judicial system almost everywhere. I can fully appreciate how irritating it would be to be the subject of an unwarranted stop-and-frisk. I do support some forms of affirmative action. Most importantly, I am perfectly willing to acknowledge that, by every available index, life in America is better for white people than for African-Americans, so I view complaints about the unfairness of the system by white people as being ridiculous and pathetic.
With that as background, the questions I will explore today are:
- To what extent are American reactionaries entitled to our sympathy?
- What, if anything, should be done to help them?
Here are my reactions:
1. Bigots: No sympathy whatsoever. There is no point in pandering to racial prejudices, period.
2. Misogynists: Ditto.
3. Fundamentalist Christians: Give them a break. While support for gay rights in particular may seem self-evident to some members of the left, we need to recognize that it runs against thousands of years of tradition in the West. You can’t reasonably expect that to disappear overnight. Some accommodation to strongly held beliefs, at least for a transitional period, would reduce right-wing Christians’ sense of martyrdom.
4. Victims of globalization and technological change: Government support is essential. The wealthy have enjoyed the vast majority of the benefits of globalization and technological change. We need to find better ways to compensate the victims. That is the discussion we should be having today; protectionism and the scapegoating of minorities is not the answer.