Society said:
Would it be easier to understand if she said 'This should not happen to white people'? Same kind of ignorance.
There's nothing
to understand; my comprehension is fine. I just felt that the comment you took issue with did not necessarily have to be interpreted in the manner it was, and I explained why I felt that way.
And no, saying "this should not happen to white people" is
in no way an equivalent statement, because whites are not afforded any special protections under the law in the US, and so my alternative explanation of the comment, as seen above, would not be applicable. Had he said "this should not happen to whites", well, there's only
one way you can interpret that--
not so with the statement that "this should not happen to any American citizen", which can also be interpreted in the manner I did in my prior post (which also seems the more reasonable interpretation based on the context).
I just felt that you were overreacting a bit to the comment, which most likely meant something akin to my previous interpretation of it and not your interpretation of it. My main point was that when
I read the statement, I didn't interpret it in the manner you did (i.e., as a flagrantly nationalistic comment), but rather in the manner that I explained in my previous post; because of this-- and because I sorta have a decent reading comprehension-- I felt that I should explain why I interpreted it in the manner I did, which I feel is entirely logical and consistent with the context. Had the person making the comment made some other racist/nationalistic remark, then that would color my interpretation of it-- but he didn't. In light of that, the explanation I posited above is, I feel, the best one for the comment.
To jump to a conclusion such as you did betrays some sort of bias, imo, though you may not want to hear that. I am
not saying that such irrational nationalistic feelings
do not exist in America today, because they certainly do-- and to far too great an extent imo. I'm just saying that
this particular comment is not an
instance of such jingoistic fervor. Understand?
I mean, did you even try to understand what I was saying, or were you just convinced (on spurious evidence, mind you) that this was some insane nationalistic commentary and thus barely gave my interpretation any thought whatsoever? Because I honestly don't see how you
can't come to the same conclusion I did unless A) you have a bias (well-founded or not; like I said, there's a lot of irrational nationalism floating around the US presently-- but that doesn't make this an instance of it necessarily), or B) there were other mitigating comments/cues that led you to believe that he meant what he said in the manner you believed him to.
In short, I stand by my interpretation of what was said, your hypothetical "this shouldn't happen to whites" comment (which is
entirely different, as noted) notwithstanding.
