Yesterday, I posted a critique of Will Smith on Twitter. Personally, given that I do investigatory work into workplace conflict including instances of physical and emotional abuse, harassment, and other breaches of psychological safety, I was especially disturbed by his recourse to violence in hitting Chris Rock coupled with the toxic masculinity encapsulated in modeling […]
racism
One of the most profound statements I ever heard on race and racism came from a game show host
Dragging Jesus Through the MAGA-Mud
Yesterday, Sean McDowell posted a tweet about Joshua Harris no longer calling himself a Christian: Sean McDowell: Joshua Harris apologizes to the LGBTQ community and announces he is no longer a follower of Jesus: (link: https://www.instagram.com/p/B0ZBrNLH2sl/) instagram.com/p/B0ZBrNLH2sl/ This prompted me to reply: Randal: Let’s be precise, please. I don’t know where he’s at, but he […]
Issac Watts and His Racist Hymn
With over 700 hymns to his credit, including classics like “When I survey the Wondrous Cross,” Isaac Watts is rightly considered one of the great hymn writers of Christian history. Another one of his most well known and best-loved hymns is “Jesus Shall Reign Where’er the Sun”. While I grew up hearing this hymn, I […]
Let’s discuss the Confederate Flag in Pop Culture
Here’s my Twitter survey question posted this morning. Is there still a place for the General Lee in pop culture memory or should we do away with images of the Confederate flag once and for all? Let me know your thoughts below. Given the car's prominent placement of the infamous Confederate flag, an image of slavery […]
A Word on Behalf of the Idiots
Note: the analysis of this article is based on outdated and incomplete information. For a fuller picture, please see my follow-up article here. Like the rest of the world, I was enraged as I watched footage of the students from Covington Catholic High School mocking and threatening Vietnam Vet and Omaha Elder Nathan Phillips. One […]
The Cross and the Lynching Tree: A Review
Cone, James. The Cross and the Lynching Tree (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 2011). The next time somebody responds to the Black Lives Matter movement by saying “All lives matter,” you might want to suggest that they read black liberation theologian James Cone’s magisterial reflection on the abominable history of lynching in America. The year is 1918 when a […]
Okay, so Laura Ingalls Wilder was a racist. Now what?
I grew up reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books. (Not quite, actually. I stopped reading them when I was about 12, but they were definitely pivotal in the early years!) The same is true of my daughter. Like me, she developed her love for literature beginning with that little house in the big woods. So we were […]
Is it wrong for First Nations people to refer to non-indigenous people as “settlers”?
A few days ago a group of First Nations people were riding the LRT (mass transit) to the National Gathering of Elders at the Edmonton Expo Centre when they were stopped by transit police and asked for proof of purchase. The encounter that ensued has resulted in charges of racial profiling. While I don’t think the […]
Against Trump’s Absurd Moral Equivalence Thesis
Today Donald Trump presented a moral equivalence thesis according to which protesters against racism are as culpable for violence that resulted in Charlottesville as the neo-Nazis, the Klan, and white nationalists whose views they were protesting. Unfortunately, some Christians have also courted this notion of moral equivalence. Consider, for example, this tweet from Michael Brown: […]
Politically Incorrect Roadside Signs
The other day I found myself wasting time at a site that has a wealth of old photos of the city I grew up in (Kelowna, BC) as well as the surrounding environs (the Okanagan Valley and southern British Columbia). I especially enjoyed the politically incorrect roadside signs and I’ve selected two for your viewing […]
Reflections on a racist Starbucks cup
In the last month there have been several instances of racism against Asian-Americans which have gained national headlines. We’re not talking about lynchings here but rather racial slurs finding their way into mundane economic exchanges. The most recent occurred when two men ordered drinks at an Atlanta Starbucks. Instead of putting their names on the cups […]
Reflections on Jewsday: A Response to Paul Manata
Paul Manata’s most recent attempt to deflate my critique of the Cleveland Indians branding has left the fact that I’m a Canadian in the background and shifted to focus on a reductio. Paul points out that cultural stereotypes proliferate about Italians. So then if stereotypes about Indians are “bad” presumably then stereotypes about Italians are bad […]
If people are not offended then there’s no offense (and other terrible reasoning)
Now for the next piece of Paul Manata’s reasoning. He begins: “American Indians in general are not offended. It’s only Activists. Liberal, leftist activists. It’s a voting block. The point is to make them feel attacked and under the gun. Then claim your political party will stick up for them.” This leaves me deeply puzzled. […]
