Presenting my It Has to Be Read. selection for the month of May, Why Does Everything Have to Be About Race?: 25 Arguments That Won't Go Away by Keith Boykin.
I also just ordered this book, Frank. It's not going to change things in all likelihood, but maybe it will move me. I remember being in sixth grade in Burns Flat, Oklahoma, where almost all the students and teachers were white and our pretty young teacher who we all adored told our class one morning that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been killed the day before and a classmate proudly said that her parents were so glad and our class all nodded in agreement. Our teacher immediately said with tears in her eyes, "Oh no, class . . . Dr. King was a GOOD man!" This was my first memory of internal dissonance about anything that I can recall.
I have a thought about how we can solve the media problem you talked about. We should do what Finland does and outlaw lying in the press. Now, what do they mean by "lying"? I'm assuming it's not expressing a bad opinion. It is asserting facts that aren't true. I think this distinction is possible. I realize it would take a lot of work. Maybe there'd have to be an official "fact checking" site something like Snopes. It would, of course, make our press more boring. But in my opinion, if you want excitement, read novels or comic books, not a newspaper.
Here's an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about. One of my Facebook friends posted a meme that showed a church that was using a water slide for baptism. It included a picture of a water slide up on the altar. I thought, "that can't be real." I checked Snopes, and sure enough, it said it was false.
I also just ordered this book, Frank. It's not going to change things in all likelihood, but maybe it will move me. I remember being in sixth grade in Burns Flat, Oklahoma, where almost all the students and teachers were white and our pretty young teacher who we all adored told our class one morning that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been killed the day before and a classmate proudly said that her parents were so glad and our class all nodded in agreement. Our teacher immediately said with tears in her eyes, "Oh no, class . . . Dr. King was a GOOD man!" This was my first memory of internal dissonance about anything that I can recall.
Excellent podcast, ordered the book, need to have these arguments solidified for future conversations. Thank you
I ordered 2 copies. One for me and one for my neighbor. We were discussing your podcast. Thank you for bringing him in for the discussion.
I have a thought about how we can solve the media problem you talked about. We should do what Finland does and outlaw lying in the press. Now, what do they mean by "lying"? I'm assuming it's not expressing a bad opinion. It is asserting facts that aren't true. I think this distinction is possible. I realize it would take a lot of work. Maybe there'd have to be an official "fact checking" site something like Snopes. It would, of course, make our press more boring. But in my opinion, if you want excitement, read novels or comic books, not a newspaper.
Here's an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about. One of my Facebook friends posted a meme that showed a church that was using a water slide for baptism. It included a picture of a water slide up on the altar. I thought, "that can't be real." I checked Snopes, and sure enough, it said it was false.