America’s Racist Fundament 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Neil Shpancer suggests that incidents of outright racist brutality, such as the recent killings of George Floyd and others for being while black, as horrifying as they are, may distract us from the true character of day-to-day racism. He argues that racism is embedded so deeply within American culture, laws, and public life that it propagates itself, even in the absence of individual acts of overt racism.
Here’s a bit, including four elements he identifies as blinding us to the systemic character of said systemic racism:
(snip)
- First is the process of habituation, by which nervous system activation decreases after prolonged exposure to a stimulus. In other words: things we get used to no longer register. . . .
- Second is internalization, defined as the integration of others’ attitudes, values, standards and opinions into one’s own sense of self. . . .
- Third is learned helplessness, defined as the sense of powerlessness arising from trauma or persistent failure. . . .
- Fourth is the one-two punch of confirmation bias . . . .
(Slightly edited for grammar and clarity.)
The Voter Fraud Fraudsters 0
Scott Lemieux rounds up a list of suspects.
(Surprise. They are not who Republicans tell you they are.)
Useless Trivia 0
I just learned from an episode of Forensic Files that the “SKU” in “SKU number” stands for “stock keeping unit.”
(I am a long-time fan of Forensic Files, because it’s about real science, not science fiction a la CSI.)
From the “No Self-Awareness” Dept. 0
Bob Molinaro, sports writer extraordinaire, catches the irony:
Slippage 0
I’m a Southern boy.
I grew up under Jim Crow, went to segregated schools, and used segregated facilities for functions that are common to all human beings.
I know from my own experience that the N-word doesn’t “just slip out.”
It’s either part of how you think, or it isn’t.
Yes, It Can Happen Here
0
Thom is not optimistic.
Monumental Reasoning 0
The Roanoke Times’s editorial board channels Isaac Newton’s third law of motion. A snippet (emphasis added):
For some Virginians, this is a disorienting moment, to the say the least. State Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield County, and a candidate for governor next year, took to Facebook to say: “Let’s be honest, there is an overt effort here to erase all white history.” This would be laughable if she didn’t mean it so seriously.
Taking down a statue is not “erasing” history. It’s re-appraising whether we’re honoring the right people from our history.
Stray Question 0
Really now, just who are the “sheeple” in this scenario?
