Someone recently addressed the following remark to me: ” a straight white male apparently lecturing people who are not straight white males about how they should respond to discrimination is always going to be viewed with scepticism.”
I’m going to repost my reply here, so that it’s right at the top of the page, and no one can be confused about where I stand.
1. I believe that solving problems of oppression and inequality requires, above all, a scientific understanding of the workings of the society that produces oppression and inequality.
2. I believe that someone putting more or less weight on an argument because of the race, sex, or sexual preference of the person making the argument is being unscientific, and is thus interfering with our ability to understand society and, therefore, our ability to change it.
3. I believe that such a person is, in the last analysis, acting in support of oppression and inequality.
4. I oppose those who support oppression and inequality, and I don’t give a shit what the race, sex, or sexual preference of such a person is.