THE THIRD ESSAY I begin with The Gadfly Papers’ final essay because it is the most openly deceptive. Author Todd Eklof titles it, “Let’s be Reasonable,” and calls it “A Rational Frame Regarding Charges of Racism and White Supremacy within the Unitarian Universalist Association.” The phraseology itself is suspect. Scientific studies of the brain […]
Thoughts on Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and “Keeping Things Vague”*
I came of age in the 1960’s, a turbulent decade of civil rights struggle, the Vietnam War, mega-rock concerts, and also iconic assassinations: John and Robert Kennedy, and of course, Martin Luther King. No less emblematic of the ’60’s was the folk music scene, the acknowledged queen and king of which were singer-songwriters Joan Baez […]
Thoughts on Hurtful Hats
Roman Catholic Bishop Roger Foys has officially pronounced Covington Catholic High School’s youth free of sin in last month’s dustup at the Lincoln Memorial. “We should not have allowed ourselves to be bullied and pressured into making a statement prematurely,” he says of earlier comments, based on a short video of Covington boys apparently mocking […]
White Supremacy, “Selma,” and Resistance
I’m reflecting on white supremacy this morning. I’m reflecting on cultural differences that too easily go unrecognized, not least by myself. I’m also reflecting as a “white” person on discomfort I hear expressed toward the term, “white supremacy.” I can understand why Euro-Americans of good intent express discomfort with it. But for my own part, […]
Me, Too Meets 9 to 5
Nine to Five (or as it’s sometimes known, 9 to 5) was a popular 1980 comedy in which three secretaries, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, and Dolly Parton, connived to “fix” their overbearing (male, naturally) boss. It was one of several movies in those years, which looked at gender roles–male/female power differentials–in the workplace. (Tootsie was […]
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