Glenn Knoblock: Blinded by the obvious

The back and forth about racism in America, as illustrated through the columns of Tom McLaughlin, Alec Kerr and Maynard Thompson, are illustrative of the impact on the debate about race in our society at large. Imagine that ... in one of the least diverse counties in one of the least diverse states in America, a discussion of race is being led by a bunch of mostly old white guys (I’m not including Mr. Kerr in this descriptor because I have no idea of his age).

Unfortunately, many of the voices in this debate, mostly those on the conservative spectrum, are blinded by the obvious, responding to reason-based arguments like Mr. Kerr’s with false outrage based on what I can only guess are primarily hurt feelings, but also a type of pathology that implies that the blame for incidents of racism and bias rests not on the individual perpetrators and/or systems in place which allow it to happen, but rather on those who have been at the receiving end, oft-times with fatal consequences (think George Floyd), of these injustices.