Problematizing as Witch Hunting

Discussion

Lee Jussim:

"There is a certain, let’s call it sensibility, in modern left intellectual circles that includes the ability to “problematize” almost anything in order to, supposedly, reveal the depths of various forms of oppression (White supremacy, Euro-colonial hegemony, patriarchy, etc). It is certainly true that some practices can be identified that unambiguously reflected these (e.g., slavery, invading countries, prohibiting women from voting). But these are so obvious that they do not need to be “problematized.” One need not do any work to “reveal” slavery or conquest as oppressive.

The skill of “problematizing,” therefore, is really only necessary for things that, to the untrained naked eye, do not look like racism or oppression. But once one gets in the swing of things, you can problematize literally anything."

(https://unsafescience.substack.com/p/is-everything-problematic?)

Examples

Lee Jussim:

• “Is Math Racist?” Article title.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/sns-tns-bc-edu-math-racist-20191010-story.html

quote from the article: “"Nowhere in this document says that math is inherently racist," she said. "It's how math is used as a tool for oppression."

• Calls to rename The Masters Golf Tournament and “master bedroom” because “master” is racist.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/the-masters-name-change-racist

https://www.yahoo.com/now/from-master-bedrooms-to-blacklists-what-will-it-take-to-change-racist-terms-in-our-everyday-language-193858660.html.

• Oxford students vote to replace clapping with silent “jazz hands” because clapping is ableist

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/oxford-students-vote-to-replace-clapping-with-silent-jazz-hands-w25dsspd0

• Calls to remove Gandhi’s statue from Leicester, UK, because he was racist.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-53025407

• Ex-British Member of Parliament calls Kelloggs cereal Rice Crispies racist because the elves that appear on the box are White:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-53060894

• Student petition to remove Lincoln statue because of racism.

https://badgerherald.com/news/2020/06/26/uw-students-petition-to-remove-abraham-lincoln-statue-on-bascom-hill/

• Trying (too) hard not to be racist is racist.

https://babe.net/2017/12/01/sorry-white-people-but-trying-too-hard-not-to-be-racist-is-low-key-kind-of-racist-23405