1. With the frigid weather occupying Prince George's County
and beyond, I was content to continue to follow links on Twitter again today. I
learned more even more about racial tensions in the world of feminism, much of
that tension focused on Jessica Williams' public statement that she sees
herself as unqualified to take over has host of The Daily Show and her
indignant response to a piece written by a white feminist, The Billfold's Ester
Bloom. Bloom argued that Jessica Williams was a victim of Imposter Syndrome, a
name for the way underqualified men round up their resumes for jobs and
qualified women round down -- when, in fact, they are
qualified. Ester Bloom suggested that Jessica Williams was selling herself short and recommended that she get the best Lean In
group of all time together and this group could give Williams a pep talk. That's all she needed. Williams found the
Bloom piece offensive, both condescending and presumptuous. She resented being considered a
victim. She told Bloom, "you don't
own me".
By today, Ester Bloom had apologized, writing, "I was wrong. I was
offensive and presumptuous; I messed up, and I’m sorry. Williams should not
have had to deal with this shit: my calling her a 'victim' of anything, my
acting like I know better and could diagnose her with anything, all of
it." I learned from reading other responses to Bloom's piece that this was
not a superficial show biz dust up, but that Bloom's well-intentioned
presumptiousness, as a white feminist, came off as oblivious and maternalistic and
it struck a nerve in many of Jessica Williams' followers, far beyond the world of
entertainment. The resentment runs deep.
I'm thinking back on my days in the English Department at Lane Community College, thinking back on our well-intentioned, and sometimes successful, and sometimes not, to hire minority faculty in our department. It turned out to be more complex than I thought it would be -- I had a very simplistic understanding of how this might work out when I was division chair, as well as when I served on several search committees at Whitworth College as the Affirmative Action representative, (and wasn't always welcome).
I don't have anything intelligent to say -- only that I'm understanding how even the best of intentions can come off as presumptuous, pater/maternalistic, and oblivious.
I guess I'd rather have good intentions and be eager to learn, and possibly be naively offensive, than have undermining intentions and be defensive, closed-minded, and cynical -- attitudes I experienced a lot in my academic work and read a lot in my many tours of the World Wide Web.
I'll keep reading and listening, not in service to some bankrupt, lazy, divisive, scornful idea like political correctness, but in pursuit of understanding some fraction of the messy, complicated, many-sided, frustrating, often foggy truth reality realities of living in the USA.
2. Even when in pursuit of understanding, a guy has to eat -- right? My favorite bean is the black bean and so I cooked some up and created a chicken broth based soup with onion, carrots, celery, red pepper, and canned diced tomatoes, seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, basil, bay leaves, and crushed red pepper. I cooked it up early in the afternoon and then let it stew for a couple of hours before heating it up again and enjoying a solid meal, a perfect way for the Deke to combat the respiratory infection she's fighting and for both of us to stand up to this current Maryland cold snap.
3. Back in the fall of 1984, the Portland Trail Blazers played the L. A. Clippers in a preseason game at Mac Court in Eugene. MQ and I went together and after the game we both were mightily impressed with a player we had never heard of. He ran the floor, hustled for rebounds, could score, and played relentless defense. Who is this guy? Well, it was Jerome Kersey, and this evening I read the sad news that Jerome Kersey died at the age of 52. That great hustle and passionate play defined Kersey's career. I'll continue to think back to the years he played and remember him with a ton of enjoyment.
I'm thinking back on my days in the English Department at Lane Community College, thinking back on our well-intentioned, and sometimes successful, and sometimes not, to hire minority faculty in our department. It turned out to be more complex than I thought it would be -- I had a very simplistic understanding of how this might work out when I was division chair, as well as when I served on several search committees at Whitworth College as the Affirmative Action representative, (and wasn't always welcome).
I don't have anything intelligent to say -- only that I'm understanding how even the best of intentions can come off as presumptuous, pater/maternalistic, and oblivious.
I guess I'd rather have good intentions and be eager to learn, and possibly be naively offensive, than have undermining intentions and be defensive, closed-minded, and cynical -- attitudes I experienced a lot in my academic work and read a lot in my many tours of the World Wide Web.
I'll keep reading and listening, not in service to some bankrupt, lazy, divisive, scornful idea like political correctness, but in pursuit of understanding some fraction of the messy, complicated, many-sided, frustrating, often foggy
2. Even when in pursuit of understanding, a guy has to eat -- right? My favorite bean is the black bean and so I cooked some up and created a chicken broth based soup with onion, carrots, celery, red pepper, and canned diced tomatoes, seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, basil, bay leaves, and crushed red pepper. I cooked it up early in the afternoon and then let it stew for a couple of hours before heating it up again and enjoying a solid meal, a perfect way for the Deke to combat the respiratory infection she's fighting and for both of us to stand up to this current Maryland cold snap.
3. Back in the fall of 1984, the Portland Trail Blazers played the L. A. Clippers in a preseason game at Mac Court in Eugene. MQ and I went together and after the game we both were mightily impressed with a player we had never heard of. He ran the floor, hustled for rebounds, could score, and played relentless defense. Who is this guy? Well, it was Jerome Kersey, and this evening I read the sad news that Jerome Kersey died at the age of 52. That great hustle and passionate play defined Kersey's career. I'll continue to think back to the years he played and remember him with a ton of enjoyment.
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