I think the Nazis who hung my grandmother's 15-year-old sister in the town square were born innocent. I think the myriad familial, communal and social forces that shaped their selves, and turned them into Nazis, did more harm to their souls than it did to those of their victims.
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I guess I just don't understand why one needs to affirm the existence of free will, and an agency that stands outside of genetics, early childhood experience, social context, and history to hold people accountable for their actions.
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Replying to @EricLevitz @DavidAstinWalsh
It is precisely because of this narrative of white innocence that stymies efforts to hold people accountable.
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Not saying you are doing this, but “this white woman who joined a mob to overturn Congress was poisoned by propaganda” obscures the extent to which there is real investment and belief that is not simply the product of Fox News et al.
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Replying to @jbouie @DavidAstinWalsh
Sure. Obviously, Fox News reflects a pre-existing demand for reactionary, anti-black accounts of political reality that derive from social forces that long predate Rupert Murdoch. So I'll concede that my tweet was a bit glib in that respect...
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I think that people must be held accountable for their actions. I think all Americans have a duty to unmake our nation's racial hierarchy, and pay recompense to its victims...
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But I don't see how insisting that individual evil derives from social context and experience rather than from some essential feature of the evildoer -- an agency that emanates from within, undetermined by space or time -- forbids accountability...
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I think that you are positing a dichotomy that elides the excluded middle. We do make history and have agency, even if we do not make history as we please or exercise pure individual agency. 1/
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Replying to @LeoECasey @EricLevitz and
Carried to its logical conclusion, your argument would require us to excuse Trump himself from responsibility for Wednesday's insurrection. 2/
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Replying to @LeoECasey @EricLevitz and
I think it is one thing to argue that there are others who bear a greater responsibility for what happened Wednesday than the woman who died -- Trump, Hawley, Cruz, McCarthy, Scalise, for starters. 2/
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yes, I think the focus on punishment and containment has to be on the generals of white supremacy (Trump & crew) and not on the foot soldiers. Unfortunately USA system is designed to come down foot soldiers & ignore generals.
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Replying to @HeerJeet @LeoECasey and
This thread reminds me of
@ContraPoints video on Justice. Worth watching if you haven't seen it: https://youtu.be/smQsfNw_7V40 replies 0 retweets 0 likesThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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