There's a certain element of unfairness in grilling a Kwanzaa critic when Christmas critics get a free pass.
Senator Glenn Grothman was grilled by CNN's Ashleigh Banfield on Kwanzaa
There's nothing surprising in this. It's okay to criticize very large groups (who are only mildly annoyed) and very small groups (who have no voice and live daily with dismissive subjugation).
Real decency cares about people and ideas despite the depth of disagreement and physical differences.
Sen. Grothman should have been more sensitive to the good sentiments Kwanzaa promotes, and Ashley Banfield should have acknowledged that Banfield was making a lot of sense.
If we can't discuss the unattractive histories of key personalities within popular movements because we're afraid we'll upset a lot of people, we limit our understanding of each other and the ideas that transcend those personalities.
Don't misunderstand me, sometimes the personalities behind movements should make us skeptical. Every human organization - religious, judicial, political, academic - has its embarrassing aberrations. For example, from my own tradition: List of scandals involving evangelical Christians ->
Started: 2013-01-03
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