Neil Turkewitz
Aug 23, 2017 · 2 min read

Alas, I too wish you hadn’t jumped in to muddy what had been clearing waters and the beginning of finding common ground. Tis a pity. No more than a pity, but somehow you felt the need to intervene.

You write: “You accused Needforname of spouting “racist BS” — this is a very strong term, and your redefinition of it into something that applies to everyone (nobody fully grasps the challenges faced by others) is pure bullshit.” But that’s pure and unadulterated nonsense, especially because your parenthetical (nobody fully grasps the challenges faced by others) is not the same as the concept which you are proposing (my definition of racism is something that applies to everyone). I recognize — and have expressly stated, that “nobody fully grasps the challenges faced by others.” If we want to improve the world, our mission is to come as close to that ideal as possible, knowing that its full realization will elude us. The path is important.

In the conversation I was having with needforname, I articulated a definition of racism that includes not only ill will or hatred, but a failure to recognize institutional or structural impediments to racial equality and justice. By failing to recognize these impediments and by clinging to a belief that we have already achieved a colorblind society, good-intentioned people (like needforname) end up feeling resentment surrounding issues of race (which they see as no longer relevant) and that opportunities for whites are diminished by virtue of the continued focus on race. If you think that this is a universal sentiment (that this form of racism “applies to everyone”), I think you are completely wrong. I am part of “everyone.” I don’t feel this way. And hopefully more dialogue and greater efforts to understand and find compassion will lead more and more people to reject this form of racism. Indeed, I hope that needforname is on this path. Both for him and for society.

Finally, let me observe that I agree with you that I was wrong to say that needforname was “spouting racist BS.” It was too harsh, and I have already apologized to needforname. I believe in the power of communication to effect change, and this wasn’t a particularly good way of expressing myself. I will endeavor to be better.

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