I know folks like this. Many ‘End Up Pretending to Agree’ with Certain Opinions on Race So They Don’t Get Embarrassed on Twitter.
Rarely do I fear my tongue. I do admit that my wording is changed so the thought police who lurk here, cut, paste, and lie to social media about my articles.
During an interview aired on Friday’s broadcast of PBS’ “Firing Line,” Columbia University Professor and author John McWhorter argued that many people “end up pretending to agree with ideas” on race because they’re afraid of being attacked on social media.
We have this from Professor McWorther.
“So, the common idea that you get nowadays, black kids tend not to do as well on standardized tests. Well, instead of saying, how do we get black kids to do better on them? Which is something that has happened in the past, the new idea is that you say, let’s just get rid of the test. Because the test must be racist. You don’t have to specify how. But if the black kids don’t do as well on it, the test is a racist practice. That’s a real leap. That is a hyper-radical way of looking at things that I think most people, if presented with the mechanics of the argument, would think of as rather cruel, frankly, to black kids. That’s not the way to run a society, most of us would think. Some people might be able to make a case for it, but most of us wouldn’t agree with that. But, instead, we’re being taught that if you’re not an anti-racist, you’re bad, and we’re going to embarrass you on Twitter. And, as a result, many people end up pretending to agree with ideas like this.”
