I had written another post about the Brown Bag discussion pointing to revrose.com's post on the subject and complaining about the tone that people seem to feel the need to take.
I don't get why Ivy-League educated folks seem to think that slams on people's intelligence are a crucial part of anti-oppression conversations, for example.
But a few people commented, and a few more emailed, that I was being oversensitive and unreasonable, and that Rev Rose hadn't said what I thought she had.
And in this case, I decided that:
A. 50 Million Elvis fans might not all be wrong. If a decent number of people felt I was misinterpreting the post, then maybe they were right.
B. My billable hours cannot take another Brown Bag conversation. I cannot or at least should not goof off and write a bunch of blog posts right now. I have lots of law stuff to do, and a GA panel to prepare for.
C. My psyche cannot take any more nasty emails because I said something somebody doesn't like in the Brown Bag conversation. Which lend credence to the theory that I'm oversensitive because everyone knows you shouldn't take mean things people say on the internet seriously, but they still bother me.
So I took it down and put up "Oh, forget it," in its place.
On some level, I still think I interpreted RevRose correctly and her link to the history of the Brown Bag test, which certainly we couldn't possibly know about and still disagree, was as condescending as I initially took it.
But I really don't want to start this whole thing over again.
So I produce cuckoo clocks and fine chocolates. I'm Switzerland.
You kids have fun.
CC
2 comments:
A few points, CC.
1. "I don't get why Ivy-League educated folks seem to think that slams on people's intelligence are a crucial part of anti-oppression conversations, for example."
I couldn't agree with you more. Intellectual snobbishness is rampant these days.
2. "50 Million Elvis fans might not all be wrong. If a decent number of people felt I was misinterpreting the post, then maybe they were right."
I disagree. How you feel is very important.
3. Personally, I can't believe this brown bag thing continues to be an issue or that it ever was.
It's not the brown bag. The brown bag is just a beautiful, near-perfect symbol to use in the discussion of the real underlying tension among UUs about anti-racism. It takes something that those skeptical of AR work (it's a brown paper bag! what could be racist about using brown paper bags to carry your lunch in?) and those committed to AR work (in which the perpetuation of white supremacy within the African American community through the use of a skin color hierarchy is particularly cruel sign of how pernicious racism is) can perceive differently and both feel right about, when they might feel more shaky talking about the theoretical constructs and principles underlying their certainty about the brown bag.
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