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June 12, 2003

Reading Blogs

Reading blogs can be a real educational experience. There are some very articulate people out there who have interesting things to say. One way to find them is to randomly select entries from recent lists or by following links on blogs you already read. If I like what I read then I grab the entry into NNW and if I still like it a week or so later, I add it to the links on this blog.
Why mention this? Well some people appear to go out of their way to find blogs that agree with themselves. They are more interested in the person than the content. Hence there are 'right wing' blogs that push and link to other 'right wing' blogs or 'left wing' blogs that do the converse. Surely it is the individual that matters?
This whole stream of thought was triggered by a throw away line in a blog entry which read: Paul is a conservative of color. I stumbled over this blog when following a chain of links. I read a few articles and was sort of interested and added the site to NNW. Then I checked out a few more articles but that line was hanging around in my head and so I went back and checked that I had got it right.
This may seem common sense to others but that phrase bothers me. I understand that someone could be 'colour conservative' (always wearing grays and neutral tones), but why was the phrase arse about (please excuse the 'French' but this is a stream of conciousness entry). Then the penny dropped. The reference was to the skin colour of Paul (whoever Paul is). Why? Surely Paul is entitled to an opinion regardless of his skin colour? Does it really matter whether he is a conservative with or without colour? For that matter can one really be "without colour"?
The reference was to an article about and article about an article about an article about the KKK (confused yet)? Some dude interviewed 3 KKKers many years ago who told him that they were not racist (dunno, sort of like canibals telling you they don't like meat). He posted a recent blog entry about this. Someone else attacked the article. He responded. Paul got involved and Paul makes some really valid points (like three is not a valid sample and can you really believe what three KKKers say to a journo) BUT he makes these points as Paul. Why should it be important that he is "a conservative of colour".
I know that it is just a "Politically Correct" term for categorising Paul but does it really matter. Would Paul's argument be less valid if he were white? What if he were a member of "National Action" (white racist group in Australia) or the equivilent "association of colour"? His arguments stand (and stand very well) independently of his PC classification!

Posted by Ozguru at June 12, 2003 11:06 AM

Comments

Errm, hi, I'm Paul, and thank you for the kind words about what I wrote. I can't speak for Steve H. (through whose article you found mine), but I think that he was only following my lead in the preamble of my article. I felt that it was important that, prior to talking about the KKK, I disclose that I'm mulatto because A) as a non-white, I have had the chance to be on the business end of racism, and B) having this experience, one might be tempted to say that my view might be slanted quite heavily against the KKK to begin with, as I'd definitely have something of a conflict of interest with its worldview. I just felt (and continue to feel) that, when dealing with such a serious matter, it is important to put all my cards on the table, and let the readers decide accordingly. At any rate, thanks for stopping by and reading the posting in the first place. Cheers, Paul

Posted by: Paul Jané at June 12, 2003 11:06 AM

Cool. I also found myself on the receiving end - not because of my colour but because of my Asian friends when I was an undergraduate (National Action was targeting the only university which did not have overseas students quotas in an attempt to limit the entry of Asian students). I just felt that your points were way more important than the colour of your skin. Thanks for the feedback.

Posted by: Ozguru at June 12, 2003 11:06 AM

Don't you know that if you're a minority every word you utter is a statement for your entire race??? ;-)

Posted by: Glenn at June 12, 2003 11:06 AM

I don't know about the US and Australia, but certain "proactive" anti-discrimination features like reservations for jobs and education has started taking it's toll on the "majority" class. In some educational institutions, the reserved quota exceeds 50% and I find that ridiculous!

Posted by: jivha at June 12, 2003 11:06 AM

Sell your comments at http://www.redpaper.com

Posted by: Scoop at June 12, 2003 11:06 AM

I suspect that this will come back to haunt me... During the short amount of time that I have been doing this blogging thing, I have tended to steer away

Posted by: Paul Jané at June 12, 2003 11:06 AM

Insularity in the blogverse jgw makes the point about blogging that "some people appear to go out of their way to find blogs that agree with themselves ... Hence there are 'right wing' blogs that push and link to other 'right wing' blogs or...

Posted by: om_blog at June 12, 2003 11:06 AM