‘Barack, I Didn’t Do It for This’: An Homage to Andrew Goodman
A. N. Pierson: But the distinguishing fact about the Aryan brotherhood is their violence, not their bigotry. Most people are mildly bigoted from time to time. We typically even tolerate more severe bigotry if the context of the situation recommends it: if the offender is a close friend or family member, or if a greater purpose, like moving the community forward, sits on the other side of the scale. Bigotry can be offset by other interests; violence cannot. (But then, there’s war.)
I know nothing about any intrigue involving Oprah and Wright, but I imagine his criticism was related to his antipathy for “middleclassness” (i.e., bourgeoisness, I assume). So what? Depending on how you define it, middleclassness is either one of the best, or the one of the worst, things about America. A critique of the sins of middleclassness could be semi-Marxist, or essentially conservative, depending on what values are attacked. What does this have to do with Obama?
