Yes, point the way forward, instead of looking back. Find the gifts: what did this incident teach us, what did we get a chance to practice through this, what did it inspire us to do?
Great post. Completely agree that the video will not solve the problem because it can always be interpreted differently based on people's schemas of interpretation. There's a great paper on this by the anthropologist Charles Goodwin on the Rodney King trials called "Professional Vision" that is really good and worth reading. That said, I was pleasantly surprised Team Blue accepted Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal with good grace; so things can change. But the NYT analysis of the videos of this case suggests to me that this one will be hard to interpretively stabilize.
I think what's also so different in this case is that the Trump administration is not doing what administrations typically do which is to say: we will do all we can to investigate and let the courts decide. That's going to complicate matters quite a bit.
Minor quibble about the efficacy of mockery but this is a very sober, thoughtful and helpful analysis. Thank you.
Thanks! What's your mockery quibble?
I wrote this a few months back, let me know what you think: https://open.substack.com/pub/ericaetelson/p/if-ridicule-could-bring-down-trump?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&shareImageVariant=overlay&r=3xtfn
Yes, point the way forward, instead of looking back. Find the gifts: what did this incident teach us, what did we get a chance to practice through this, what did it inspire us to do?
The best and most constructive take I’ve read about a way to respond after the killing of Renee Good.
Great post. Completely agree that the video will not solve the problem because it can always be interpreted differently based on people's schemas of interpretation. There's a great paper on this by the anthropologist Charles Goodwin on the Rodney King trials called "Professional Vision" that is really good and worth reading. That said, I was pleasantly surprised Team Blue accepted Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal with good grace; so things can change. But the NYT analysis of the videos of this case suggests to me that this one will be hard to interpretively stabilize.
I think what's also so different in this case is that the Trump administration is not doing what administrations typically do which is to say: we will do all we can to investigate and let the courts decide. That's going to complicate matters quite a bit.