Me and White Supremacy ~ by Layla F. Saad

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor ~ by Layla F. Saad, 2020, race relations

This book challenges white people to do the essential work of unpacking our biases, and helps us dismantle the privilege within ourselves so that we can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color.  And it shows us, in turn, how to help other white people do better, too.  It gives us the language to understand racism and to dismantle our own biases by walking step-by-step through the work of individually examining:

• My own white privilege
• What allyship really means
• Anti-blackness, racial stereotypes, and cultural appropriation
• How to change the way I view and respond to race
• How to continue the work to create social change

BIPOC

I've already discovered that BIPOC is used 285 times in this book.  (The book's on my Kindle, which tells me such stuff.)  Here's what it means:

The acronym BIPOC stands for "Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color."  Its aim is to emphasize historic oppression of all people of color.

POC stands for "People of Color" and is primarily used to describe any persons who are not considered white in the United States.  It emphasizes common experiences of systemic racism.  POC was in dictionaries as early as 1796 and, thus, is a much older term than BIPOC.

Many people prefer BIPOC over POC because they view the use of POC as lumping all people of color togther.  BIPOC acknowledges that people in Black and Indigenous communities face different, and often more severe, forms of oppression and erasure, especially when it comes to the racial oppression that permeates the history of the United States.

We have seen a massive surge of awareness of systemic. racial injustice recently.  As people all over the world protest, many are also working to educate themselves about the history and persistence of systemic racism.  Who's interested in reading this book with me?

Update:  Click here, and join me on my book discussion blog.

Justice

I have a word blog called Joyful Noiseletter, where I ponder word meanings.  Harvard offered the public an ethics class on "Justice" in 2009, so I posted the word "justice" on my word-blog and an invitation to join the class discussion here on my book-blog.  After watching each week's video posted by Harvard, a group of friends met at my house to talk about it.  You can explore "justice" with us, if you are interested, by answering any of our weekly questions:

1 ~ cannibalism

2 ~ guardrail
3 ~ taxing the rich
4 ~ owning myself
5 ~ selling a kidney
6 ~ cheating a child
7 ~ racial profiling
8 ~ what we deserve
9 ~ ethnicity
10 ~ civic virtue
11 ~ patriotism
12 ~ same-sex marriage

We covered two subjects each week, as I showed in my overview post.

Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? ~ by Michael J. Sandel, 2009

What are our obligations to others as people in a free society?  Should government tax the rich to help the poor?  Is the free market fair?  Is it sometimes wrong to tell the truth?  Is killing sometimes morally required?  Is it possible, or desirable, to legislate morality?  Do individual rights and the common good conflict?  Michael J. Sandel’s “Justice” course is one of the most popular and influential at Harvard.

Question of the Week ~ same-sex marriage

With respect to marriage, the government should: a) Recognize marriage only between a man and a woman. b) Recognize both traditional and same-sex marriage. c) Get out of the marriage business, and leave it to private associations.
a.
b.
c.

(Click to enlarge image below.)

Question of the Week ~ patriotism

“Patriotism is not a virtue but a vice, a prejudice in favor of one’s own kind that we should try to overcome.” Do you agree?

Question of the Week ~ civic virtue

Should the law aim at making citizens virtuous? How do you answer Aristotle’s claim that the point of politics is more than just mutual security and economic exchange? Isn’t the purpose of politics to encourage civic virtue and promote the common good?

Question of the Week ~ ethnicity

Is it unfair for universities to consider race or ethnicity as a factor in admissions? Answer yes or no, and then please tell us why.

Question of the week ~ David Letterman

David Letterman, host of The Late Show, makes over $30 million per year, while the average schoolteacher makes less than $55,000. Is that just?  Answer yes or no, and then please tell us why.

Question of the Week ~ racial profiling

 

“Racial profiling by the police is unjust, even if it might make us somewhat safer.”  Do you agree with that statement?  Answer yes or no, and then please tell us why.

Question of the Week ~ cheat a child?

Suppose a child goes into a store to buy a loaf of bread.  The shopkeeper realizes that he could shortchange the child.  But he worries that if he did so, other customers might find out, and he would lose business.  So he gives the child the correct change.  Does the shopkeeper’s action have moral worth?  Answer yes or no, and then please tell us why.

Question of the week ~ selling a kidney

Should it be legal for people to sell one of their kidneys on the open market? Answer yes or no, and then please tell us why.

Question of the week ~ owning myself

If I own myself, does it follow that I should be free to sell myself into slavery if I wish to do so? Answer yes or no, and then please tell us why.

Philosopher John Locke believes that your “unalienable right” to liberty does not include the right to kill yourself. Is he right? What does your liberty entitle you to do with yourself? Where do the limits come from?

John Locke believes that government, once it is set up, should be guided by the principle of majority rule. However, he also believes that the purpose of government is to protect people’s rights, including their “unalienable” right to property. What if these two goals conflict? What if a poor majority wants to tax a rich minority?

Question of the week ~ tax the rich

Would it be just to tax the rich in order to provide health care for the uninsured poor? Answer yes or no, and then tell us why, if you like.

Question of the week ~ guardrail

Community residents want to install a guardrail on a dangerous stretch of mountain road, after several people have driven off the cliff and died. But city officials say that expense would leave the city with no money for parks, business development, or even garbage removal. Should the city install the guardrail? Answer yes or no, and then tell us why, if you like.

Question of the Week ~ about cannibalism

Suppose four shipwrecked sailors are stranded at sea in a lifeboat, without food or water. Would it be wrong for three of them to kill and eat the cabin boy, in order to save their own lives? Answer yes or no, and then tell us why, if you like.

Justice ~ What's the right thing to do?

Is torture ever justified? Would you steal a drug that your child needs to survive? Is it sometimes wrong to tell the truth? How much is one human life worth? What do you think and why?

"Justice" is one of the most popular courses in Harvard’s history. Now Harvard opens its classroom to the world. Professor Michael Sandel challenges us with difficult moral dilemmas and asks our opinion about the right thing to do. He then asks us to examine our answers in the light of new scenarios. The results are often surprising, revealing that important moral questions are never black and white. This course also addresses the hot topics of our day—affirmative action, same-sex marriage, patriotism and rights. Here are the twelve classes:

Oct 12 ~ The Moral Side of Murder / The Case for Cannibalism ~ 1
Oct 19 ~ Putting a Price Tag on Life / How to Measure Pleasure ~ 2
Oct 26 ~ Free to Choose / Who Owns Me? ~ 3
Nov. 2 ~ This Land is my Land / Consenting Adults ~ 4
Nov 9 ~ Hired Guns? / Motherhood: For Sale ~ 5
Nov 16 ~ Mind Your Motive / The Supreme Principle of Morality ~ 6
Nov 23 ~ A Lesson in Lying / A Deal is a Deal ~ 7
Nov 30 ~ What's a Fair Start? / What Do We Deserve? ~ 8
Dec 7 ~ Arguing Affirmative Action / What's the Purpose? ~ 9
Dec 14 ~ The Good Citizen / Freedom vs. Fit ~ 10
Dec 21 ~ The Claims of Community / Where Our Loyalty Lies ~ 11
Dec 28 ~ Debating Same-sex Marriage / The Good Life ~ 12

Every week, starting Monday, October 12th, I'll ask a question (or two) from each of these topics. You are welcome to watch Harvard's weekly video, do the readings they provide (not all episodes have related readings), and come here to see what's being said. I'll post a link on the sidebar of Bonnie's Books that will bring up ALL questions in this series, and you can answer earlier questions as well as the current one. Here's this week's question: Does morality interest you enough that you'll join us in exploring the ideas?



"Justice" ~ let's think about this stuff together.