The right has some problems in a similar way to the left--there is no getting around that the extremists will ruin any given cause if you don't sideline them. Ben Shapiro said something similar to your position here, Helen. Good on those who do not reward bad behavior, though Shiloh should not be harrassed or her family doxxed.
Brilliantly dissected as always, Helen. I miss you on Twitter but I fully understand your need to stay away from it! I hope you and your family are well x
I think there is a better argument. You still won’t be convinced, but I’m now giving the steelman case (as I see it) for supporting her. I don’t actually believe this strongly enough to donate to her, but I think it’s a reason why one could support her in this case.
To start with, Shiloh Hendrix is not a woman of great social or economic power. The way she talks, her mode of dress, her excessive tattoos, the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a Mr Hendrix in the picture, all of this codes as lower/working class. She is the sort of person who has not done particularly well in the last thirty years or so, but who also would be described by Robin DiAngelo as having White Privilege. If so, she hasn’t cashed in on that privilege in a particularly effective way. I certainly see use of racial slurs toward a small child as outside of social norms, but Shiloh lives in an environment in which such expression is far more common.
So a woman who probably lives on the edge said something rude to a child. Not something I’d do or condone, but at the end of the day not that big a deal. And yet this video was promulgated with the intent of ruining the life of this lower class American woman. She committed a misdemeanor— said something rude in a public setting — and the mob came for her with the intent of having her serve time for a felony. The purpose of publicizing this was to create a Great Racial Incident and to gratuitously destroy the life of a woman who doesn’t have that great a life to start with. For a minor offense.
By rewarding her, we reduce the incentive to take minor transgressions and totally blow them out of proportion. The fact that the man doing the recording was a pedo is just a bonus.
I thought I’d seen it all on there, but this race war commentary has mindwormed some understandably fed up normies. It looks like a race to the bottom on both sides. Super ugly and worrisome.
Arguments over the N-word are really just symptoms of the underlying conflict. That for a long time there has been an asymmetric political norm which accepts some people have the right to engage in ethnic/racial affinity self-interest and others do not. Most visibly that Black people have this right but it is wrong for White people to engage in it - the key takeaway from the competitive money-raising is that this asymmetry is breaking apart. Its a crude way of signalling this, but I believe its a necessary step on the way to a realistic discourse about racism.
So should this asymmetry break down, what do you think these state of race relations look like? Because I find it pretty unlikely that with enough white people shouting the n word in public, black people will reign in their racist tribalism and the racist whites will duly correct course. Surely more likely is that the most obnoxious racists of each group will just get bolder and bolder off the back of each other's behaviour?
A very thoughtful post. Racism in the form of slurs is ugly even if it will always exist.
I think the word has become a bit, for lack of a better word, fetishised. For good reason but it's become unhelpful and often ignores context.
As an example, me and my white friends became huge fans of Dave Chappelle, and in particular his Rick James homage in the Charlie Murphy sketches. A prominent line was "F**k your couch N**** (the A version) and for a while we would repeat it ad nauseum whenever we were together.
Once a friend's wife (Black) heard us and was appalled. One never knows what people think but I think I'm accurate in her never treating me the same since. But we were just honouring a great Black man who would have strongly approved of our reenactment.
In a similar vein there is a Chris Rock sketch where if I remember rightly he expressed the "If you don't want to be treated like a N****, don't behave like a N***"". Now of course it's proper that a Black man makes this critique, but if you're a Chris Rock fan of any colour and share the sentiment, how is that wrong, apart from the racial context, which sort of then becomes self-reinforcing.
McCormick says that because cancelled teachers in 2020 didn't have a successful fundraiser, Hendrix's fundraiser is racist? Most people didn't even know about GiveSendGo in 2020. They got famous only after they got hacked. Kyle Rittenhouse was nationally famous, but even he managed to only raise $250,000 on GSG. People are more aware of it now.
Next: You are judging the use of the N-word in your cultural context.
Wrong context.
In the 'hood in the US, lots of people call each other the N-word, including people who aren't Black. It's penetrated the culture. It doesn't mean the same thing to them as it does to you. When Hendrix said "If that's the way he's gonna act...", she was reminding the dude behind the camera what the word meant in context.
Matt Walsh has it right: You and woke right-wingers are uncomfortable with the situation because of your cultural biases and ignorance. Hendrix doesn't deserve to be canceled, let alone threatened or harmed, and people donating to her are not only helping her, but casting a vote against out-of-control cancel culture. Perfectly understandable.
This was excellent, thank you.
The right has some problems in a similar way to the left--there is no getting around that the extremists will ruin any given cause if you don't sideline them. Ben Shapiro said something similar to your position here, Helen. Good on those who do not reward bad behavior, though Shiloh should not be harrassed or her family doxxed.
Brilliantly dissected as always, Helen. I miss you on Twitter but I fully understand your need to stay away from it! I hope you and your family are well x
I’m going to pop in tomorrow!
I think there is a better argument. You still won’t be convinced, but I’m now giving the steelman case (as I see it) for supporting her. I don’t actually believe this strongly enough to donate to her, but I think it’s a reason why one could support her in this case.
To start with, Shiloh Hendrix is not a woman of great social or economic power. The way she talks, her mode of dress, her excessive tattoos, the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a Mr Hendrix in the picture, all of this codes as lower/working class. She is the sort of person who has not done particularly well in the last thirty years or so, but who also would be described by Robin DiAngelo as having White Privilege. If so, she hasn’t cashed in on that privilege in a particularly effective way. I certainly see use of racial slurs toward a small child as outside of social norms, but Shiloh lives in an environment in which such expression is far more common.
So a woman who probably lives on the edge said something rude to a child. Not something I’d do or condone, but at the end of the day not that big a deal. And yet this video was promulgated with the intent of ruining the life of this lower class American woman. She committed a misdemeanor— said something rude in a public setting — and the mob came for her with the intent of having her serve time for a felony. The purpose of publicizing this was to create a Great Racial Incident and to gratuitously destroy the life of a woman who doesn’t have that great a life to start with. For a minor offense.
By rewarding her, we reduce the incentive to take minor transgressions and totally blow them out of proportion. The fact that the man doing the recording was a pedo is just a bonus.
I thought I’d seen it all on there, but this race war commentary has mindwormed some understandably fed up normies. It looks like a race to the bottom on both sides. Super ugly and worrisome.
Weird! You weren't concerned when it was only the Left doing it 🙄
Arguments over the N-word are really just symptoms of the underlying conflict. That for a long time there has been an asymmetric political norm which accepts some people have the right to engage in ethnic/racial affinity self-interest and others do not. Most visibly that Black people have this right but it is wrong for White people to engage in it - the key takeaway from the competitive money-raising is that this asymmetry is breaking apart. Its a crude way of signalling this, but I believe its a necessary step on the way to a realistic discourse about racism.
So should this asymmetry break down, what do you think these state of race relations look like? Because I find it pretty unlikely that with enough white people shouting the n word in public, black people will reign in their racist tribalism and the racist whites will duly correct course. Surely more likely is that the most obnoxious racists of each group will just get bolder and bolder off the back of each other's behaviour?
So strange that you're only concerned about it now; when it was only the obnoxious anti-white racists getting bolder, it wasn't a Thing for you.
Glad you're taking it seriously now 🙄
A very thoughtful post. Racism in the form of slurs is ugly even if it will always exist.
I think the word has become a bit, for lack of a better word, fetishised. For good reason but it's become unhelpful and often ignores context.
As an example, me and my white friends became huge fans of Dave Chappelle, and in particular his Rick James homage in the Charlie Murphy sketches. A prominent line was "F**k your couch N**** (the A version) and for a while we would repeat it ad nauseum whenever we were together.
Once a friend's wife (Black) heard us and was appalled. One never knows what people think but I think I'm accurate in her never treating me the same since. But we were just honouring a great Black man who would have strongly approved of our reenactment.
In a similar vein there is a Chris Rock sketch where if I remember rightly he expressed the "If you don't want to be treated like a N****, don't behave like a N***"". Now of course it's proper that a Black man makes this critique, but if you're a Chris Rock fan of any colour and share the sentiment, how is that wrong, apart from the racial context, which sort of then becomes self-reinforcing.
No. Your arguments collapse under scrutiny.
McCormick says that because cancelled teachers in 2020 didn't have a successful fundraiser, Hendrix's fundraiser is racist? Most people didn't even know about GiveSendGo in 2020. They got famous only after they got hacked. Kyle Rittenhouse was nationally famous, but even he managed to only raise $250,000 on GSG. People are more aware of it now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GiveSendGo
By the way, those fired teachers that McCormick claims couldn't raise $50? They ended up doing pretty well.
This one won $575,000:
https://adflegal.org/press-release/va-school-board-pay-575k-change-policies-end-adf-lawsuit-behalf-wrongly-fired-teacher/
This one won $450,000:
https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/stark-county/2024/12/18/gender-issue-lawsuit-brought-by-vivian-geraghty-settled-by-schools/77053778007/
This one won $400,000:
https://www.thefire.org/news/ohio-professors-pronoun-use-lawsuit-delivers-first-amendment-victory
I could cite you a bunch more; you get the idea.
Next: You are judging the use of the N-word in your cultural context.
Wrong context.
In the 'hood in the US, lots of people call each other the N-word, including people who aren't Black. It's penetrated the culture. It doesn't mean the same thing to them as it does to you. When Hendrix said "If that's the way he's gonna act...", she was reminding the dude behind the camera what the word meant in context.
Matt Walsh has it right: You and woke right-wingers are uncomfortable with the situation because of your cultural biases and ignorance. Hendrix doesn't deserve to be canceled, let alone threatened or harmed, and people donating to her are not only helping her, but casting a vote against out-of-control cancel culture. Perfectly understandable.
This is the flip side of Robin DiAngelo on how to enrich yourself off white folks.