2/ Racism arouses strong sentiments, but is fundamentally better understood as a cognitive technology rather than a moral issue
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3/ One clear phenomenon is that racism is effectively disrupted by personal relationships across race. Racism needs isolation to function.
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4/ Cities are less racist than the countryside imo. Even if neighborhoods are segregated, there is humanizing contact.
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5/ Social media is curious: it partly disrupts racism by hiding irrelevant context, partly amplifies via filter bubbles.
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6/ So in terms of capacity to disrupt racism as cognitive technology, online = between town and country. BUT a lot more room, so net plus.
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7/ The reason spelling-bee racists seem so funny is that their very choice of target marks them as living in uncool part of online world
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8/ So prediction: social media will eventually eliminate racism via ephemeralization, because on the social graph isolation is atrophy
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9/ Which isn't to say humans will turn into saints overnight. We'll still be star-bellied sneetches.
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10/ But race as central part of social identity has been disrupted. Racists today seem *technologically* odd like people who use land-lines
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11/ Once you know 1 person of given race personally, even if only online, and enjoy relationship, it's basically impossible to be racist.
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13/ Where racism is threatened, such as urban areas, it might react violently, but this is more like taxicab drivers rioting against Uber
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14/ As LBJ found out in 60s, gains against racism results in pent-up violence being released as people sense detente failing, but net gain
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Have you read Ian Haney Lopez's book "White by Law"? It documents a pretty strong case against your point.
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