This post will begin a multi-week discussion of race. It will also mark the final post before TLF will require a paid subscription to access all material. Specifically:
-The weekly Wednesday essay and recording will remain free;
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I promise to keep the thoughts coming!
Race. The issue is always a powerful undercurrent in American life and occasionally an eruption. We are living through one such eruption today. The moment is calling to us and asking who we are, as individuals and as a country. However we think of ourselves as individuals, however we think of ourselves as Americans, however we feel called to respond -- or not -- it is not bad to be asked these questions.
In the coming weeks, I plan to share my thoughts about reparations, affirmative action, critical race theory, what it means to be a good American, equality vs equity in America, the roles of meritocracy and privilege in America, and more.
Today I share with you two short columns published over the last two weeks by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. He is one of the New York Times conservative columnists. I don't follow him closely, but my general impression is that his point of view would be considered more centrist than conservative in most of the country. In any event, these two pieces offer a rare, dispassionate appraisal of at least some of the key issues rattling around often confusingly in public dialogue. In my opinion, he does an excellent job of teasing the issues away from the rhetoric. Ultimately, in the second column, he offers a theoretically plausible way forward towards "sanity" as he calls it, or to a kind of workable synthesis.
Here they are, both quick reads. What Progressives Want and What Conservatives are Fighting; The Excesses of Anti-racist Education.
Race