re: #114 aurelius

Uh, what?

I don’t really think that is what our host is saying, and stating a truth is not racist in itself. It’s what kind a narrative you are using it in that makes the difference.

Harriet Tubman’s views and actions were quite radical and outside the mainstream.

This is a truth that is not inherently racist. It’s what one does with that statement which let’s the mask slip. Example:

A) For this reason I believe Tubman should be honored for her courage in the face of adversity. She took extraordinary actions, at risk of life and limb, to secure the passage to freedom for escaped slaves.

B) For this reason I believe Tubman’s views and actions should be denounced as lawless, and her advocates and supporters be pilloried.

This is the sort of thing I believe our host is attempting to illustrate. Not that stating a truth is by itself racist, but that using said truth as a vehicle to demonize someone by association (in this case Kagan with Marshall) is potentially racist.