01-31-2019, 02:25 PM
I haven't said a thing about anyone here, but some white folks in the thread are basically hair on fire because I said there was a resonance between having privilege (something pretty darn clearly associated with whiteness in this country) and opting out of vaccinations.
And it's a little weird to have my observations attacked as evidence of my "trying to force the rest of [you] to join [my] hair shirt club."
First, that assumes that I'm just talking to other white people here. A weird assumption, and not one that makes sense.
Second, acknowledging that racism is a real thing, along with the associated concept of whiteness, doesn't seem like it should be a huge stretch these days. I don't think it's a "hair shirt club" thing to ask how race might play a part in a particular phenomenon. There's a big difference between "this is entirely about race," and, "I think considering race as a factor could help us understand this." I'm in the second camp, as my comments here indicate.
Nobody said that not vaccinating kids wasn't stupid, no matter who makes the decision. The insistence that the ONLY CAUSAL FACTOR is stupidity is, well, not supported by the evidence.
White fragility is characterized by overreaction and hyper-defensiveness at the mention of whiteness as relevant to a social phenomenon or problem.
And it's a little weird to have my observations attacked as evidence of my "trying to force the rest of [you] to join [my] hair shirt club."
First, that assumes that I'm just talking to other white people here. A weird assumption, and not one that makes sense.
Second, acknowledging that racism is a real thing, along with the associated concept of whiteness, doesn't seem like it should be a huge stretch these days. I don't think it's a "hair shirt club" thing to ask how race might play a part in a particular phenomenon. There's a big difference between "this is entirely about race," and, "I think considering race as a factor could help us understand this." I'm in the second camp, as my comments here indicate.
Nobody said that not vaccinating kids wasn't stupid, no matter who makes the decision. The insistence that the ONLY CAUSAL FACTOR is stupidity is, well, not supported by the evidence.
White fragility is characterized by overreaction and hyper-defensiveness at the mention of whiteness as relevant to a social phenomenon or problem.