A Bit Of A Gripe

[poliphilo]

I understand that racists are not necessarily bad people- just frightened ones- afraid of difference, afraid of the unfamiliar. 

This doesn't mitigate the fact that racism is profoundly stupid- and destructive of civil society.

You have racist views.  Fine.  Please keep them to yourself.

But if you talk to me in ways that assume that I share your views don't be surprised if I take it as a personal  insult.

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Jonathan Littel's novel The Kindly Ones demonstrates how it was perfectly possible to be an SS officer and at the same time a person of genuine sensibility

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

How disturbing. I think it's difficult to embrace such things, the notion that evil might not be consistent, in terms of behavior, and never as obvious to the eye as we imagine. Then again, there seems to be a constant drumbeat of reminders, while we remain somewhat willfully oblivious to the facts. I live next door to a veteran of the war in Vietnam. Jim is a kind and gentle old fellow, but the tales of his part in a very dirty war tell a different story.