After picking up my new copy of National Review (not yet available online), I noticed that the first book under review was 'We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism', by NR writer John Derbyshire. Unsurprisingly, the review--courtesy of New York Post film critic Kyle Smith--is a rave ("delightful", "wide ranging", and "gratifying").
Derbyshire is extremely politically incorrect, with beliefs that go well beyond the normal bounds of right-wing opinion on race. What is most interesting here, however, is Smith's reaction to Derbyshire's racial views, because that reaction is indicative of right-wing opinion on race. Here's Smith:
[A]ny liberal who bothers to read this book will probably denounce it as, at best, racially insensitive. Derbyshire doesn't care.
This would perhaps be laudable on Derbyshire's part if in fact the book steered completely clear of racism. Smith's next paragraph, however, reads:
Borrowing (mischeviously) his terminology from the racist CCNY professor Leonard Jeffries, Derbyshire notes that "Ice People" (Asians and whites) are almost completely segregated from Sun People (blacks and non-white Hispanics) in public schools...[Derbyshire] can't resist adding that "Sun People kids are, in the broad generality, unacademic and unruly."
Yeah, yeah, the natives never know how to behave. But note Smith's tone here. He finds this all so charming and "mischevious". He goes on to add that, "Derbyshire knows that even many fellow conservatives will be clearing their throats and checking their watches at such points, and he delights in that discomfort." Terrific. To people like Smith, showing any discomfort about actual racism is all so P.C. And it is this attitude, more than Derbyshire's nonsense, that defines the conservative approach to race.
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COMMENTS (6)
Yeah yeah, that's all well and good for a bunch of soft-handed DC nobodies to make themselves feel clever. But bottom line Isaac, Derb and all the rest of the bigots have to live by: "That's MR President to you, Cracker."
Yeah yeah, that's all well and good for a bunch of soft-handed DC nobodies to make themselves feel clever. But bottom line Isaac, Derb and all the rest of the bigots have to live by: "That's MR President to you, Cracker."
The racism of conservative pundits is often more imaginative because they know more words. They know how to weave in and out of subtexts; and how to circumnavigate any particular context with just the right selection of euphemisms.
So, are they more or less dangerous than less subtle skinhead types holed up in militias out in boonies practicing close order drill and dreaming of being the Christian equivalent of Osama bin Laden?
Or, perhaps, more to the point, how dangerous are the folks out there trying to bring them all together? And who are they?
george
The racism of conservative pundits is often more imaginative because they know more words. They know how to weave in and out of subtexts; and how to circumnavigate any particular context with just the right selection of euphemisms.
So, are they more or less dangerous than less subtle skinhead types holed up in militias out in boonies practicing close order drill and dreaming of being the Christian equivalent of Osama bin Laden?
Or, perhaps, more to the point, how dangerous are the folks out there trying to bring them all together? And who are they?
george
Derb is living in America but is a Brit married to a Chinese woman, so that kind of clues you in to why he includes Asians are part of the ubermensch. He also has a few kids.
I always find it a tad obnoxious when people come to the United States and then criticize the hell out of it. If he can't stand the "sun" people who live here, he can take his flabby old ass back to the north of England and be surrounded by his tribe of pallid ice people. I doubt they would be quite as welcoming to his Asian wife though. I also should be noted that he lives on Long Island, where his kids are part of a mosaic and accepted. If his kids are segregated from hispanics and blacks, you can be damn sure it has s ... view full comment
Derb is living in America but is a Brit married to a Chinese woman, so that kind of clues you in to why he includes Asians are part of the ubermensch. He also has a few kids.
I always find it a tad obnoxious when people come to the United States and then criticize the hell out of it. If he can't stand the "sun" people who live here, he can take his flabby old ass back to the north of England and be surrounded by his tribe of pallid ice people. I doubt they would be quite as welcoming to his Asian wife though. I also should be noted that he lives on Long Island, where his kids are part of a mosaic and accepted. If his kids are segregated from hispanics and blacks, you can be damn sure it has something to do with the attitudes of the parents (and yes, bi-racial couples can be racist)
hey, guys like Derb used to call people like me "mud" people. Now he is calling us "sun" people. Taken a certain way - and accounting for the inherently racist pov - I am actually rising in the estimation of my racist critics.
hey, guys like Derb used to call people like me "mud" people. Now he is calling us "sun" people. Taken a certain way - and accounting for the inherently racist pov - I am actually rising in the estimation of my racist critics.
Didn't Derbyshire grow up in British-run Hong Kong? I've always thought that he exemplifies the kind of racial paternalism on display at the height of the British Empire. The poor fellow, he was just born a century too late, is all...
Didn't Derbyshire grow up in British-run Hong Kong? I've always thought that he exemplifies the kind of racial paternalism on display at the height of the British Empire. The poor fellow, he was just born a century too late, is all...
I seem to remember a conservative president who made a personal issue out of leaving no children behind. Was he worried about "sun people" being left behind? I also remember a sainted liberal senator, recently departed, who helped that president pass the legislation the president sought. Was he thinking of different children than the president? Just asking. Wouldn't want to cause discomfort.
I seem to remember a conservative president who made a personal issue out of leaving no children behind. Was he worried about "sun people" being left behind? I also remember a sainted liberal senator, recently departed, who helped that president pass the legislation the president sought. Was he thinking of different children than the president? Just asking. Wouldn't want to cause discomfort.