I'm standing a bit outside all this, since my connection to the British
world of disability studies has recently been weaker than it once was
but it seems to me that the discussion is likely a good one if it
results in a bit more civility in discussion of competing views. Of
course, it likely will not seem that way to the person or persons who
are personally savaged and I *know* that many diversity-sensitive and
inclusionary folks are VERY thin skinned when they feel they are being
criticized. Their immediate response, in my view, has been to cry victim
and demand an apology...while feeling that their critiques, regardless
of how personal they are are somehow justified.
Why do I mention this here? Because of the headline Bob refers to in
the Daily Mirror figuratively weeping over the "dumbness" of fifty-nine
million Americans in choosing someone not acceptable, apparently, to the
Daily Mirror. I don't know the Mirror's politics but from the reported
headline they are obviously left of center..... Why are they so
thin-skinned at a democratic (there are, so far at least, very few
reported problems in voting) outcome? The answer might be: because they
think that people who don't share their view, like those attacking
Shakespeare personally, are simply stupid and evil. Tell that often
enough to someone and that person stops listening to you.
So be careful of how critiques are framed: even righteous liberals (and
conservatives, for that matter, who in my view are similarly
constructed) can be vicious and bigoted when *their* precious views are
critiqued.
Timothy Lillie, PhD
Associate Professor
The University of Akron
Zook Hall 322
Akron OH 55325-4205
330-972-6746 (voice)
330-972-5209 (fax
-----Original Message-----
From: The Disability-Research Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bob
Williams-Findlay
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 6:45 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: The Shakespeare Tragedy
I find myself strangely caught between Shirley's world and Havor's.
Early this week Tom and I had an exchange of words; my posting on the
List concerning his Ouch article was detailed and reasoned, I felt. On
Ouch itself, I admit I reacted from the gut and penned off a short,
journalistic style sound-bite response.
Tom characterised this as "personal abuse" and suggested I should've
focused on his "views"; my retort was that I believe a person's style of
delivery is as much a part of the debate as are the views the individual
expresses. I, therefore, stood by my decision to characterise Tom as
behaving like a Victorian Headmaster when he addresses the Disabled
People's Movement.
The problem is where do you draw the line? I hear what Shirley is
saying; but am I being hypocritical by saying that I think she was
unwise to voice it in the manner that she has?
Today, the British newspaper, the Daily Mirror, ran the headline
something
like:
Are 59,000 Americans that Dumb?
I believe this is no different; my thought processes went there, yet the
price of liberty requires us to accept the challenge of the unthinkable.
Personally, I have distanced myself from Tom's views because many
contradiction some of the core values I have; no doubt what I do and say
outrage some people also.
It's hard not to be outraged and to want to scrap with those who you
feel threaten or undermine what you hold dear. I'm not saint in this
field and I've been attacked several times for my outspoken bluntness
during a counter-attack.
This said, I believe there's a great deal of validity in what Havor was
saying. Anger is a poor companion in a battle for people's attention.
Bob Williams-Findlay
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