Letters to the Editor
-
Rebuke your brother... with love
Terrific piece, Mr. Kamiya. Two thoughts:
(1) I think the uproar over Rev Wright is more pernicious than “fake shock.” I think it’s veiled indignation over an unambiguous challenge to white (like me) privilege – a privilege maintained comfortably only if disguised. At its ugly core, it’s not just “How dare you call us bad!” It’s “How dare you call us bad (you inferior piece of crap)!” Come on now, dig down. Ugh.
(2) Fear, fear, fear, fear… Michael Moore got it dead on – even before Fahrenheit 9/11 - in Bowling for Columbine. Huddled together, surrounded by the empowering angry rhetoric of some distorted form of patriotism, we get to feel bigger and righter and safer than we ever truly are. But true patriotism is a better shield when it’s inspired not by fear but by shared goals and values, by recognition of the power of community. For me, the most incredibly impressive dimension of Obama’s race speech was the courage it took to challenge the campaign-threatening danger of revealed racism WITHOUT the easy shield of divisive anger, the courage to retain nuanced perspective and empathy, to see us ALL as brothers/sisters. For my money (and vote), there’s the true patriot.