“Punching down” refers to people in a position of power abusing that power to silence people who criticize them or the structures of power that support them. “Punching down” is not any instance of a senior scholar publicly disagreeing with a more junior one.
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Senior scholars pointing out racist behavior by EVERYONE in the field, especially garbage like what McMaster got up to, is actually exactly what should be happening — senior scholars should use their privilege to protect the less powerful, especially BIPOC.
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Calling this “punching down” — and the similar criticisms Halsall has levied against other scholars — reveals the extent to which he misunderstands criticisms of systemic injustices in the field.
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Pointing out racism in a racist field is always a positive, and cannot be compared to senior scholars in that same racist field trying to quash criticism.
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Furthermore, I don’t know whether or not McMaster has apologized — apparently he’s still going around bragging about the whole incident — but I certainly know he has learned nothing from the ordeal.
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Within the last month, he has concern trolled about a black scholar “appropriating” blackness, called antiracist activists in the field “terrorists”, and denied that Thomas Jefferson — the patron saint of American white nationalism — used AS history in a racist way.
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He is, as far as can be told from his actions, the same McMaster who impersonated a gay Syrian woman in 2012. He has learned nothing.
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On “redemption”: in my experience, antiracists are actually among the most forgiving people — I know MULTIPLE former white nationalists, only within medieval studies, who have changed their views & started doing antiracist work. They have been welcomed with open arms.
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Antiracists understand the structures that underly racism, and are eager to welcome those who have recognized those structures and taken steps to deal with them. But the key is to actually learn and change.
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And just so you know, Paul, since apparently your entire understanding of the term “punching down” is when someone senior disagrees with someone junior, I’m a 27 year old grad student. Come at me.
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