Rejecting Racial Determinism

<p>Here, John and I begin with an assessment of a sharp, thoughtful <a href="https://quillette.com/2021/06/24/the-limitations-of-black-conservative-thought" target="_blank"><em>Quillette</em></a><a href="https://quillette.com/2021/06/24/the-limitations-of-black-conservative-thought" target="_blank"> piece</a> by black intellectual Aaron Hanna which is critical of black conservatives. (Both John and I have written responses which <em>Quillette</em> will publish.) This lead us into philosophical terrain, where we engage questions about free will, ethnic/racial differences in culture and so on. We go on to discuss critically a recent <em>New York Times</em> piece by Jenée Desmond-Harris, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/opinion/race-america-defund-police.html" target="_blank">“Which Black People Should You Listen To?”</a> Her answer, which we dispute: not people like us! We critically assess Thomas Sowell's "black rednecks" argument, that black culture reflects the legacy of Scotch-Irish norms common to Southern/Appalachian enclaves. And we agree to disagree about the merits of Charles Murray's new book, <em>Facing Reality</em>, where I find more merit than does John.</p><p>As always, I’m curious to know what you think.</p><p><em>I originally posted this earlier this week for paying subscribers. I’m now releasing it for the general public. If you want to get the </em><strong><em>full episodes early</em></strong><em>, plus other exclusive content and benefits, please subscribe now. Let’s keep doing the work!</em></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/e_xc9fyt8ms" target="_blank">0:00</a> A peek inside Glenn’s writing process</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/e_xc9fyt8ms?t=211" target="_blank">3:31</a> Aaron Hana’s critique of Thomas Sowell and Shelby Steele</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/e_xc9fyt8ms?t=830" target="_blank">13:50</a> Extending the presumption of free will to black communities</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/e_xc9fyt8ms?t=830" target="_blank">19:31</a> Who gets to opine on race matters?</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/e_xc9fyt8ms?t=1929" target="_blank">32:09</a> Black rednecks</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/e_xc9fyt8ms?t=2671" target="_blank">44:31</a> Is the “acting white” phenomenon real?</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/e_xc9fyt8ms?t=3238" target="_blank">53:58</a> A critique of Charles Murray’s new book …</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/e_xc9fyt8ms?t=4332" target="_blank">1:12:12</a> … and a defense of same</p><p>If there's a short segment (under 2:20) from this episode that you thought was especially good, please share the timestamps in the comments—we’re looking to spread the word on Twitter.</p> <br /><br />This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://glennloury.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">glennloury.substack.com/subscribe</a>