"Us" versus "Them"
Perhaps it is my age, or perhaps it is my experience, but I have a visceral and negative reaction towards anyone who seeks to divide us up. I see such framings as that I used for the title of this post as seeking to designate some as "other" and thus not worthy of respect nor or recognition of rights.
On the one hand, in some ways I might qualify for many examples of "Us" - I was born into an upper middle class family, both parents having degrees from an Ivy League college, both being professionals. I am myself the graduate of a prestigious liberal arts college, with several advanced degrees. My spouse is a Mayflower descendant, and a descendant of a Revolutionary War general.
Yet I easily qualify for status as "Them" - my family is of Eastern European Jewish descent, I am an active union member, I participated actively in the civil rights movement as a late adolescent and young adult, and - oh my god - I am a public school teacher. I am a liberal and a progressive. I am a Democrat. Members of our extended families (including by marriage) are gay -Native American - Black - Hispanic.
I am willing to label words and actions, but not people. That is, someone who discriminates or acts or speaks in a racist manner needs to have that appropriately labeled, yet does that irrevocably place that person beyond redemption? I wonder. If we do so, are we not as guilty as are those we consider racists in reading out some of
On the one hand, in some ways I might qualify for many examples of "Us" - I was born into an upper middle class family, both parents having degrees from an Ivy League college, both being professionals. I am myself the graduate of a prestigious liberal arts college, with several advanced degrees. My spouse is a Mayflower descendant, and a descendant of a Revolutionary War general.
Yet I easily qualify for status as "Them" - my family is of Eastern European Jewish descent, I am an active union member, I participated actively in the civil rights movement as a late adolescent and young adult, and - oh my god - I am a public school teacher. I am a liberal and a progressive. I am a Democrat. Members of our extended families (including by marriage) are gay -Native American - Black - Hispanic.
I am willing to label words and actions, but not people. That is, someone who discriminates or acts or speaks in a racist manner needs to have that appropriately labeled, yet does that irrevocably place that person beyond redemption? I wonder. If we do so, are we not as guilty as are those we consider racists in reading out some of