XDA

"But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now....
[For whites] the legacy of discrimination...must be addressed, not just with words but with deeds..."

For many, this was interpreted as a call to discuss, and then make progress on, the issue of race in America.

Most of the smart people in America knew that we needed to engage in a discussion about race like we needed new, gaping big holes in our heads.

Some others, however, took the bait, spoke their minds and are, as was easily predictable, now being called filthy racists for their trouble. Like property law Professor Paul Campos about the OldGuy at Instapunk (a somewhat popular blog which is often merely a spoof, like The Onion, and difficult to place precisely on the right/left political continuum). Here is part of Campos well reasoned refutation of OldGuy -- "utterly insane rant...disgusting filth." Wow. How enlightening.

Not only did Campos dismiss OldGuy's heartfelt and sober statements (some of which are easy to disagree with) as worthless racist garbage, but he conducted an utterly unjust, selective guilt by association and singled out Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit for opprobrium merely because Glenn Reynolds has linked to Instapunk in the past (although not to the OldGuy piece on race). I guess Campos is saying that Glenn Reynolds should have known back then that InstaPunk would post something bad on race in the future. But get this! Reynolds once linked to the site after the OldGuy piece. Oh, the horror! Certainly, 'reasons' Campos, Reynolds is just like the Nazi approving Germans who enabled Hitler's rise to power. Yeah, Professor, just like them.

I'll note in closing that Campos used the n-word numerous times and called Allen Iverson "uppity." Not that Campos is a racist or anything. He's mostly just bereft of meaningful insight, which is a bit of a problem for a writer of opinion pieces. But you see actually how little use it is to discuss race in the current political climate. You can be called a racist just for quoting someone else. It's like Br'er Rabbit and the tar baby, the tar of the racist spreads to every limb and digit that touches it. Wait. Can I refer to Joel Chandler Harris? Is his work in the Index of Prohibited Books, proscribed by the left for racism? Oh no, now it's on me!

Labels: Paul Campos; Newspaper Troll II

# posted by Roger Fraley @ 1:34 PM