It's in the very piece in question:

Ta-Nehisi Coates in Between the World and Me wanted to teach his son that America is set against him; I want to teach my kids the reality of their lives in the 21st rather than early-to-mid-20th century. Lord forbid my daughters internalize a pathetic—yes, absolutely pathetic in all of the resonances of that word—sense that what makes them interesting is what other people think of them, or don’t.

But I'm sure there are a lots of examples.

The article references (the omnipresent) Ibrahim X. Kendi.

I was reading McWhorter's substack and McWhorter appears to have a particular dislike of Kendi-- who apparently called McWhorter a self hating uncle tom.

I wouldn't know who McWhorter is but for a dustup between the two recently. I am familiar with Kendi's work, he's built himself a nice little empire.

That's funny because it's the opposite for me.

lol

i doubt anyone has a hard time imagining biden calling his staffers dumb f*ck

Just read his wiki and I'm not surprised that I haven't been more exposed to McWhorter.

afaiu that's the culture in DC

not that I'm defending it, but Biden's an old hand out there, so it would make sense that he's completely bought in

We were talking about the claim that racism defines black people.

I would have thought it was dumb s***

Yes. I said that was what the McWhorter piece was arguing against and you wanted to know who makes that claim and I said Coates and then you asked for a quote or citation and I showed you right in the article where it all happens.

Show me where Coates says the thing we were actually talking about. You claimed that Coates claims racism defines black people. That's the quote or citation I asked for. Are you trolling?

Aren't all group identities formed by out-group animosities?

I didn't realize that was controversial.

McWhorter is claiming it and I'm citing McWhorter. If you think I'm going around digging through Coates articles or books to prove that McWhorter isn't arguing at straw people then you're mistaken.
Now you accuse me of trolling but it feels like your approach here has been in bad faith-- first with your mischaracterization of McWhorter's piece and now this. I understand that your argument is that nobody actually thinks like McWhorter is characterizing them as thinking-- and it's true that you likely won't find anyone saying "blacks are defined by racism"*-- McWhorter doesn't even say that people say that-- that's my paraphrase of his piece.
*which you know already hence the bad faith

There is also language and culture and issues stemming from geography and human migration

Animosity which way?

Also doesn't seem so

Which way

If you mean in which direction, that's too simple

Better to mean in what terms.



Otherness is the essence of identity; at least, it's its sine qua non.

The animosity might be more a posteriori - scarcity, pride, etc.

Each begs the question. Well, not geography, but the world is merely a stage, as the bard claims.

Diversity is shattered glass.

Geddy Lee, obviously

Perchance the living still may look
Into the pages of this book,
And see the days of long ago
Floating and fleeting to and fro,
As in the well-remembered brook
They saw the inverted landscape gleam,
And their own faces like a dream
Look up upon them from below.

I will say though that it is sorely off-putting to be asked by the state what is my ethnicity and my only options are "hispanic" and "not hispanic".

It feels both privileging and diminishing.

I think you're allowed to put whatever you want.

Political venn diagram I have kokori and ianaww overlapping bigly.

Sorry missed this. But it's a good question.

I'm not sure I know the answer, though

talk with people you like about subjects that interest you. seems so obvious to me