from a standpoint which was neither provable nor disprovable. It was simply asserted. Whether leveling claims against colleagues or against wider society, it became sufficient to fall back simply on the evidence of one’s own perceptions. If one person pointed to evidence that proved America had become less racist, another person could say that he knew this not to be the case. Why? His own “lived experience” (as though there is any other kind). In many ways, it was a clever move to make. For it is true that no individual’s personal experience can ever be fully comprehended. But neither can it
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