Will Shetterly's Blog, page 103
June 18, 2015
For anyone who thinks Jews were not always white in the US
I periodically meet people who think Jews weren't always white in the US. Until today, my stock answer was something like this comment I left atAmazon.com: How Jews Became White Folks and What That Says About Race in America: Jefferson Davis's Secretary of State was Judah P.Benjamin. If the Confederate States of America thought Jews were white, everyone thought Jews were white. Nathan C made
June 15, 2015
A database of US police killings: The Counted
Until there's an official site used for reporting police killings, this should be useful:The Counted: people killed by police in the United States in 2015 – interactive | US news | The Guardian.
June 14, 2015
A database of hoax hate crimes: fakehatecrimes.org
I haven't investigated it, but the casual glance suggests it may be useful for anyone interested in the phenomenon.fakehatecrimes.org
June 13, 2015
Idea for a web site: Who's Trying to Get Who Fired?
Today's first entry:Activists Want Black Host Who Blamed Teens For McKinney Pool Fight FIRED | The Daily Caller No, I hope I won't be posting more of these.
June 12, 2015
Did Spokane's NAACP head commit hoax hate crimes?
Rachel Dolezal is accused of lying about her race, but since race is a social construct, that only interests me as a student of the history of race--I figure people can identify as any race they choose. What interests me is what other writers don't mention in their headlines: did she lie about hate crimes? From Questions raised about race of Spokane NAACP head | The Seattle Times: Spokane police
June 11, 2015
Shakespeare understood the internet's outrage culture
"The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." —William Shakespeare
June 10, 2015
How free speech is like the Geneva conventions
Just as the Geneva conventions are about the conduct that's wrong in war no matter whether it's done by you, your allies, or your enemies, free speech is aboutthe conduct that's wrong in intellectual disagreement no matter whether it's done by you, your allies, or your enemies. Because free speech is more often opposed than supported, I used to think it was a goal, but now I see it's just a
June 7, 2015
June 2, 2015
The question to ask about torture and rape in art
A few days ago, I wrote a post that, unusually for me, I didn't post immediately. It was missing something. This morning, I readSomeone Has Done A Statistical Analysis Of Rape In Game Of Thrones. Where, unusually for me, I didn't leave a comment, but I thought this: The first question to ask about rape or torture in a story is not whether it's included, how often it's included, or how
May 22, 2015
Some feminisms I love, some I pity
A friend emailed me because she thought I was bashing all feminists withDear feminists upset by last week's Game of Thrones. I was initially annoyed, because I thought the title should make it clear I was addressing a specific subset of feminists. But the friend identifies as feminist and tends to assume all feminists are the same, so I thought I would spell this out: I identified as a feminist
