Okay, sure. No problem. But do you seee how saying things like this...
"It sounds like people you favor (teenaged racist tweeters) are free to claim their victim status. People you don't favor (5-year-olds in poor schools being gaslit about meritocracy) just need to stop complaining."
...seems personal? When your replies are full of subtle and not so subtle accusations ("It sounds like people you favor...", "you cannot recognize agreement unless it comes from the right "type" of person", "That you assume...speaks volumes,") you don't get to, topically enough, play the victim.
Also, you're saying that I'm throwing too much stuff out there, but this reply is a 6 minute read! That's longer than the original article!! So I'll try to keep the following as brief as possible
No. I'm not saying that recognising victimhood is a bad thing (though I wouldn't use that word to describe genuine injustices). I'm saying that false victimhood is a bad thing. In fact, to my mind, "false victimhood" is a redundancy. Somebody who has been genuinely wronged and points it out isn't claiming victimhood, they're simply demanding justice.
When Verbiann talks about the "aggrieved walls of victimhood," I think she' referring to a phenomenon, which I see tragically often, where some black people simply cannot see themselves as anything but victims (no, I don't think this is limited to ADOS, I see it in a wide range of people of colour). They blame racism and white supremacy for everything. They see it when it's clearly not there. And in many situations, they're mentally defeated before they try, because "of course the world is against them".
Look through the comments on my Rittenhouse piece. Look at how many people's entire argument is based on; "we all know what would have happened if a black person was waling around with a semi-automatic weapon." And the truth is, we do! The New Black Panthers did just that at the Arbery trial. Unsurprisingly, the police didn't gun them down on sight. Yes, there are racial problems in the legal system. I see them clearly. But there's a difference between recognising that, and insisting that the system is always against black people despite all evidence to the contrary.
This is a psychological prison.
No, I don't believe we live in a true meritocracy. I understand that some black people start life from a position that's not level with their white peers. Though I would note that an actual meritocracy is an impossible goal. A little while ago I wrote an article where I noted that 7% of American voters say they'd never vote for a black candidate however well qualified. But of those same voters, 8% would never vote for a woman and, fully 24% of them wouldn't vote for a gay or lesbian candidate. I guess a trans candidate would have an even harder time.
Your path through life varies if you're tall vs short, rich vs poor, thin vs fat, beautiful vs ugly, and yes, black vs white. This last differs in that black vs white was an openly and legally enforced disadvantage until 60 years ago or so, and the hangover of that still affects people today. I understand all of this. But again, treating skin colour as the single univariate cause for all outcomes in life is hopelessly simplistic. And worse, teaches black people to see having black skin as the ultimate disadvantage in a world where that's no longer true.
