Uppity-Negro.com

Good Morning, Mr. Chips is an older (March, 2001) essay, but still a good read:

The general polarization of sexual, political and racial constituencies in this country, if not the world, are fueled by this curious, institutionalized system of self-delusion. Human beings are a summary of their own experiences. We hate mysteries and we are instant gratification junkies, looking to shade in all the answers on the SAT's, anxious to scratch off the window on the lottery tickets. Anxious to neatly categorize and file every human experience and becoming anxious when we cannot do so.

Racism, to me, is a set of misaligned algorithms, such as my hypothesis above, where anxious and uninformed people, threatened by the unknown, snap through a similar set of turns of logic, arriving at the conclusion that some humans are less human than they are, and the lack of respect and dignity the racist affords these people is therefore somehow justifiable in the eyes of God.

I'd toss in a quote from Trent Lott's BET appearance at this point, but kind'a doubt it would help much. Absolutely no bonus points for guessing which line. Not a one.

The liberal is, to my thinking, the most dangerous racist of all. The liberal is someone who has convinced himself he is an intellectual and above such things. The liberal denies the institutionalized nature of racism, that racism is genetically encoded into our social custom, and that we are all participants in the perpetuation of this diseased mentality.

Similarly, linking to an entry or two at TAPPED wouldn't be terribly productive either. Wouldn't have seen the things myself if Atrios hadn't mentioned them. I gave up on those folks even before the Ballenger thing.

If you don't know what the Ballenger thing is -- and I ain't going into it again -- I almost envy you.

Blacks and other minorities are often the most racist of all. Palestinians, often portrayed as cruel terrorists and evil men, are in reality some of the kindest and most gentle people on the planet. But, if you've been kicked around long enough, even the gentlest soul grows cold and hard and develops their own set of algorithms that can often justify even the most unthinkable acts.

That's the point when a lesser writer -- like me -- would ask, "Is there anybody out there I haven't offended?"

Priest just keeps on going.

The whole piece is good. Read it.

Funny thing is, that wasn't the piece I visited his site looking for, but I couldn't find the one I'd wanted. Maybe it was a USENET post, not an essay; it's been a while. Long enough that anything I dredge from my sievelike memory in an attempt to describe it would do terrible violence to the man's words, and quite possibly his point.

Luckily,

Renunciation is a state of nonattachment, acceptance of this going away. Impermanence is, in fact, just another name for perfection. Leaves fall; debris and garbage accumulate; out of the debris come flowers, greenery, things that we think are lovely. Destruction is necessary. A good forest fire is necessary. The way we interfere with forest fires may not be a good thing. Without destruction, there could be no new life; and the wonder of life, the constant change, could not be. We must live and die. And this process is perfection itself.

today's Daily Dharma comes close. Or close to what I took away from what he'd written, anyway.