The Dangers of Difference

What is it about difference that can turn otherwise sane, even kindly, individuals into mean-spirited, foul-mouthed hysterics?  As a white person growing up in the South of the 1940s and 50s, I certainly had many occasions to ponder this question.  Neighbor ladies who...

The Banality of Racism

In her writings about Adolph Eichmann, the political philosopher Hannah Arendt spoke about the “banality of evil.”  This was a new concept to me when first I read her work; I thought of people like Eichmann as the most extreme examples of white...