Hello everyone. I'm Jane Coaston, senior politics reporter at Vox with a focus
on conservatism (Ezra will be back from vacation next week).
"Antiracism… is now a new and increasingly dominant religion”
writes
John McWhorter, “it is what we worship, as sincerely and fervently as many
worship God and Jesus.”
McWhorter is a Professor of English at Columbia University, a contributing
editor to The Atlantic, and an outspoken critic of what he calls “third-wave
antiracism.” He believes that our increasingly religious national discourse
around race -- with its focus on “safe spaces,” “wokeness” and “white
privilege” -- is not only wrongheaded, but even dangerous.
But McWhorter isn't that easy to pin down. He acknowledges racism’s pernicious
effects on communities of color, but believes that while we are busy calling
out individual racism, we are ignoring the issues that most impact black
lives: an endless War on Drugs, an unequal education system, and attacks on
reproductive and voting rights.
In this conversation, we explore what terms like “woke” and “diversity”
actually mean, the types of issues that really do impact black communities,
the legacy of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, the potential virtues of virtue
signaling, why
The Phantom Menace was (objectively) a terrible movie and
much more.
I hope y’all have as much fun with this conversation as I did.
References:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/why-third-wave-anti-
racism-dead-end/578764/" target="new">John's essay "The Virtue Signalers Won’t Change the World"
Book recommendations:
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Rainforest-Language-Papua-
Guinea/dp/1616209046" target="new">
A Death in the Rainforest: How a Language and a Way of Life Came to an End
in Papua New Guinea by Don Kulick
https://www.amazon.com/American-Pastoral-Trilogy-
Vintage-International/dp/0375701427" target="new">
American Pastoral by Philip Roth
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper
Lee
by Casey Cep
Follow Jane on Twitter
@cjane87
Want to contact the show? Reach out at
[
[email protected]](mailto:
[email protected])
News comes at you fast. Join us at the end of your day to understand it.
Subscribe to
Today, Explained
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
megaphone.fm/adchoices
Read more
Hello everyone. I'm Jane Coaston, senior politics reporter at Vox with a focus
on conservatism (Ezra will be back from vacation next week).
"Antiracism… is now a new and increasingly dominant religion”
writes
John McWhorter, “it is what we worship, as sincerely and fervently as many
worship God and Jesus.”
McWhorter is a Professor of English at Columbia University, a contributing
editor to The Atlantic, and an outspoken critic of what he calls “third-wave
antiracism.” He believes that our increasingly religious national discourse
around race -- with its focus on “safe spaces,” “wokeness” and “white
privilege” -- is not only wrongheaded, but even dangerous.
But McWhorter isn't that easy to pin down. He acknowledges racism’s pernicious
effects on communities of color, but believes that while we are busy calling
out individual racism, we are ignoring the issues that most impact black
lives: an endless War on Drugs, an unequal education system, and attacks on
reproductive and voting rights.
In this conversation, we explore what terms like “woke” and “diversity”
actually mean, the types of issues that really do impact black communities,
the legacy of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, the potential virtues of virtue
signaling, why
The Phantom Menace was (objectively) a terrible movie and
much more.
I hope y’all have as much fun with this conversation as I did.
References:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/why-third-wave-anti-
racism-dead-end/578764/" target="new">John's essay "The Virtue Signalers Won’t Change the World"
Book recommendations:
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Rainforest-Language-Papua-
Guinea/dp/1616209046" target="new">
A Death in the Rainforest: How a Language and a Way of Life Came to an End
in Papua New Guinea by Don Kulick
https://www.amazon.com/American-Pastoral-Trilogy-
Vintage-International/dp/0375701427" target="new">
American Pastoral by Philip Roth
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper
Lee
by Casey Cep
Follow Jane on Twitter
@cjane87
Want to contact the show? Reach out at
[
[email protected]](mailto:
[email protected])
News comes at you fast. Join us at the end of your day to understand it.
Subscribe to
Today, Explained
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
megaphone.fm/adchoices
Read less