Quote:
Originally posted by jbduke
...the mass media have done a good job of manufacturing some convenient arch-villains that the public can recognize and universally condemn, so that everyone can feel good about how wonderfully pure they are, since they are not Rupp. In addition to allowing many to feel good about themselves, it takes many off the hook who do not fit the profile of pure evil that the popular Rupp profile does, but who nevertheless do not have pure souls.
If those of us who know better can change this construction, then we can help change the world by making it easier for people to see that the more virulent forms of racism (by virtue of being more prevalent) come in more discrete outfits (e.g. 28 and 40).
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Mr. Grammar Guy just sent me an e-mail saying he can't get onto the board this morning, for some reason, so would I please correct your use of the word "discrete". He thinks you mean "discreet". I'm not 100% sure of this, since I don't understand the reference to 28 and 40. But I'm just passing the message along.
There's another mass psychology item which functions in this examinations of an individual's actions and motivations, and that's "us/them" thinking. In America, we tend to see everyone and everything in binary terms. Either you are a racist or you're not. You're a good guy or a bad guy. You're friend or foe. You're saint or sinner. Us or them. This simplism is very debilitating, I think, and part of the problem with the American culture today. We cant think in terms of multitude possibilities, can't respond adequately to a complex, nuanced situation with many possible outcomes.
Rupp may have been very racist, but struggling to overcome it. Or he may have been a racist with some more egalitarian "blind spots". Or he may have seen the political value in acting certain ways. Or lots of other possibilities. But it's easier for us to just dismiss him out of hand, so we put him in a category, and ignore anything else that happens.
Rut, I'm not saying you're doing this, although you might be. I'm saying this kind of thinking is very prevalent in our society, and I think it's inhibiting to complete understanding of our circumstances.