Tue Jul 06, 2021 10:47 am
#1857043
@kanga , I don't agree that your article is more nuanced.
The historical reality is that racism in the US is largely a matter of white prejudice, and to eliminate it you need to convince white society that it is wrong and unjust. Black people already know it is unjust. They don't need convincing.
Had Atticus Finch been black, the whole underlying message of Mockingbird would be lost. That is, that a decent right thinking white person accepted racism as fundamentally unjust, and wanted to pass that message to his children. It certainly left a very strong impression on me, as a relatively privileged white male, that such open minded thinking is the way forward, and that racism was and is plainly wrong.
It is one thing to argue that times have moved on, but the underlying message in Mockingbird still stands. The notion that Atticus was a white saviour is to miss the whole point. He wasn't a white saviour - he was a fair minded individual who believed people were equal. He was, and still should be, an important role model.
By the way, I selected the article from the Mail because it is not a subscription paper unlike, say, the Times and the Telegraph which also carried articles. The Mail may often take a certain line, but that does not mean it is always wrong.
It is one thing to promote inclusion. I don't have a problem with that. But, in my opinion, sometimes it is better to face issues head on. Racism is one such matter. Tucking it away in a politically correct cupboard is not, in my own opinion, the best way to eradicate it.
The historical reality is that racism in the US is largely a matter of white prejudice, and to eliminate it you need to convince white society that it is wrong and unjust. Black people already know it is unjust. They don't need convincing.
Had Atticus Finch been black, the whole underlying message of Mockingbird would be lost. That is, that a decent right thinking white person accepted racism as fundamentally unjust, and wanted to pass that message to his children. It certainly left a very strong impression on me, as a relatively privileged white male, that such open minded thinking is the way forward, and that racism was and is plainly wrong.
It is one thing to argue that times have moved on, but the underlying message in Mockingbird still stands. The notion that Atticus was a white saviour is to miss the whole point. He wasn't a white saviour - he was a fair minded individual who believed people were equal. He was, and still should be, an important role model.
By the way, I selected the article from the Mail because it is not a subscription paper unlike, say, the Times and the Telegraph which also carried articles. The Mail may often take a certain line, but that does not mean it is always wrong.
It is one thing to promote inclusion. I don't have a problem with that. But, in my opinion, sometimes it is better to face issues head on. Racism is one such matter. Tucking it away in a politically correct cupboard is not, in my own opinion, the best way to eradicate it.