Friday 18 November 2016

The great divide

Two of our regular commenters have mentioned this on separate threads. H/T David Preiser and Sue Sims



“…………a Nigerian lady of supposedly great gifts named Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, though it soon became apparent that she was in an impenetrable fog about the recent election. She gave a highly emotional rendering of the election, saying something about how it left her feeling very much alone, and I guess bereft. Why on Earth she was appearing before a British audience to discuss an American election I have no idea. If the BBC wanted to explore creative writing, I suppose she was their gal. But then what was I doing there?

“The conversation's downward spiral continued. A memorable moment was when Adichie notified me: "If you're a white man, you don't get to define what racism is. You really don't." I responded, "Do you know that the false consciousness, which is the theory you're talking about, is a Marxist concept?" She had not a clue as to what false consciousness meant, but you might think about its consequences for intelligent debate the next time you hear it employed by a lazy mind. Then la Adichie came up with more evidence of the president-elect's alleged racism. When Trump says that a judge "is unable to judge him fairly because he is Mexican, that is racist," she said. I supplied her with the judge's name, Judge Gonzalo Curiel, and suggested he is as white as me. We are both white men. Race was not at issue between us. My correction had no impact on her. She continued in her invincible ignorance.

On the other hand, for balance, here’s another take on it. “Watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Shut Down White Dude On What Racism Is”  (Huffington Puffington)
"White Dude!"


If nothing else, this is a small example of the media’s divisive political meddling.

3 comments:

  1. Wikipedia suggests she is Nigerian, not a US citizen...

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimamanda_Ngozi_Adichie#Personal_life_and_education

    While that doesn't disqualify her from commenting on the election, I think the "discussion", in context I think I was expecting two Americans to be discussing this "divisive" election.


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  2. I'm getting increasingly confused on who the real racists are? The hate speech from the progressives is on show every day.

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  3. There is no confusion about who the real racists are. Isn't it obvious?

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