Weekly Roundup
All Is Not Quiet In the Library Catalogs
For FAIR’s Substack, a library cataloger who wishes to remain anonymous writes about navigating the changing landscape of library cataloging.
One of the first questions I was asked in my hiring interview was to confirm that I would agree to catalog materials that I, personally, found offensive. After all, libraries—and, by extension, catalogers—are supposed to be guardians of free speech and intellectual freedom. We do not know who will be looking for the materials and for what purpose, and so we have to be fair, accurate, and objective in order to make it easier for the material to be found. But it seems that now the overriding duty of the cataloger is to protect the patrons from the harm that the records (not even the materials!) may cause them.
Filling Heretics' God-shaped Hole
For her Substack Broadview, FAIR Advisor Lisa Selin Davis writes about her experience attending the Dissident Dialogues festival in New York City.
The organizers managed to gather some really big names and tackle some really big ideas. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, newly minted Christian, and her former mentor Richard Dawkins, old school atheist, tangled over religion. Briahna Joy Gray and Eli Lake “debated” Israel and Gaza, if you can call berating each other debating. What’s the future of feminism? Can liberalism be saved? Does anyone care about Uyghurs? Steven Pinkner, Kathleen Stock, John McWhorter, Greg Lukianoff—all the heterodox heartthrobs. No wonder some tickets were pricier than a Taylor Swift concert!
Is America Racist? Reggae Fans Aren’t So Sure
For The Free Press, Ben Kawaller reports from the Dallas Reggae Festival:
Given that my series Ben Meets America is all about learning from different communities and attempting to bridge our sociopolitical divides, the 'one love' crowd seemed like my kind of people...
Interviewing folks at a reggae festival introduces no small degree of selection bias: the 'Don’t worry, be happy' crowd probably have unusually sunny outlooks. But the responses I got at least complicate the idea that Americans are living in a racial hellscape.
Centered, Not Centrist: The Middle Way Out Of Tribalism
For The Black Sheep, Gillian Florence Sanger writes about how, amidst the pressure to conform to groupthink, opting for nuance is an act of rebellion—what some might call a ‘middle way.’
Instead of disparaging those who embrace complexity, it would serve our societies to recognize the power of those who are willing to break free from the pressure to think only within the confines of approved group narratives. If we ourselves are the black sheep in the way we think, we can serve ourselves by recognizing this immense strength and courage we hold. We’re not passive observers, but active contributors to a new paradigm.
A person’s colour is no clue to their opinions
For The Times, Tomiwa Owolade writes about the recent controversy surrounding author Zadie Smith and why we should never assume we know someone’s politics based on their immutable characteristics.
Inferring political opinions exclusively from someone’s background is an abdication of curiosity. Anyone who cares about diversity ought also to care about pluralism: the principle that people who share a cultural background can nevertheless differ in their beliefs.
We should never assume that someone is, or ought to be, progressive by virtue of their race. Some black and brown people are progressive. Others are liberal or conservative. Some are ideologically indifferent. Others shift from one position to another. But this is not because of their race. It is because of their personality, their upbringing, their interests: that irreducible quality inherent in all of us that should never be forsaken for a narrow fixation on group identity.
How Modern "Anti-Racists" Reject the Philosophy of MLK - with Coleman Hughes
For The Equiano Project, Inaya Folarin Iman speaks with Coleman Hughes about his new book The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America, society's current obsession with race, the appropriation of MLK's philosophy by contemporary “anti-racists,” and much more.
The civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. championed a colourblind ideal - judging people by their character, not their race. However, the modern "anti-racist" movement has betrayed this vision, rejecting King's push for unification and racial non-discrimination.
Exploiting the moral authority of the civil rights era, these activists have manufactured a revisionist, race-reductionist ideology antithetical to King's struggle for a society that transcends skin colour. Their racial identitarianism represents a regressive retreat from King's achievements towards an equitable, integrated society defined by our shared humanity.
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The Owalade article doesn't link to the article, nor does it when I googled it.