Re: Apology to Damien Broderick

Mike Linksvayer (ml@gondwanaland.com)
Sun, 6 Sep 1998 11:26:46 -0400

On Sun, Sep 06, 1998 at 12:02:05PM +0000, Damien Broderick wrote:
> That was wonderfully ungracious, but thanks anyway, Mike.
>
> I had supposed that a white man with a black `significant other', like
> Mike, would understand at a gut level how sickening such an implication
> would be, even if it were unintentional, and hasten with some anxiety to
> correct the erroneous impression.

No, I have never quite understood why people react so strongly to race, and having a black SO hasn't enlightened me. I don't mind being called a racist, as I feel it is next to impossible to engage in vigorous discussions about economics, politics, or society without earning that rebuke from someone. I am rather ashamed that I am the one who hinted as racism in this case.

I am eager to correct any and all of my errors. Unfortunately grace is not one of my strong points. I will take this episode as another lesson in how to avoid being ungracious.

So, I apologize again to Damien and the list for giving anyone an erroneous impression that I think Damien is a racist. He clearly is not a racist and I have never thought him to be one.

> Perhaps the time and bandwidth taken by such exchanges are wasted, but I
> view them as a small price for maintaining civility on the list.

Agreed.

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