Limits to the Left’s Subjectivism? (Rachel Dolezal)

American Spectator ^ | George Neumayr

[RoosterRedux]

The Rachel Dolezal story has put the Left in an awkward spot. An obviously white woman who has long presented herself to the world as black, Dolezal is testing the Left’s commitment to its own radical subjectivism.

Frustrated by comparisons of Dolezal to the transgenderism they embrace, many liberals have declared the two cases completely different. But they have failed to show one, at least not a substantial philosophical difference. In both cases, a human being seeks to erase an immutable trait in order to assert a “self-definition” that exists in the mind, not the body.

If humans have a right to define the “authentic self” without regard to their given human nature, why should that right be restricted to one fixed trait but not all of them? The Left has no answer to this question. All it can do is flail and argue that being transgender is somehow morally better than being transracial because the former is more trendy and societally approved.

It is odd to hear the same people who a few weeks ago were arguing that the right to self-definition trumps all considerations now laying down conditions for it. Apparently Dolezal can’t claim “transracial” status because not enough people have “experienced” the condition and not enough doctors have recognized it as real. Dolezal could point out that these were some of the same objections raised at the beginning of the transgender movement.

[yoe]

V.

President Barack Obama called Jason Collins to congratulate him on his "courage".

13. “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”...Saul Alinsky..Rule #10

[demshateGod]

We conservatives get a kick of this, thinking that lefties are suffering cognitive dissonance, but they’re really not. The reason we’re conservative is because we care about logical consistency based on higher authority. The reason they’re liberals is because they’re blown by every wind of doctrine. They, by the characteristics that make them liberals, are incapable of even sensing inconsistency in any this.

[MrB]

Does checking the black box on a loan app count as stealing opportunity?

[dware]

I used to be pschizophrenic, but we’re ok now.

[MrB]

That’s multiple personalities.
I’m identifying as multiple people!

[GOPJ]

If humans have a right to define the “authentic self” without regard to their given human nature, why should that right be restricted to one fixed trait but not all of them?

YES. We can be 'black' when we want to get into Yale. We can declare ourselves 'women' when we want a business loan - then to top it all we can be veterans when we buy a house. Right?

It's that easy? Can we really do that?

Liberals have gone loony. It's breathtaking...

[Political Junkie Too]

Maybe, if the loan is prominent and given only to a few. Maybe a better example is checking black on a college grant for African-Americans.

Again, it's about mucking with liberal minds when they're in a twist, not about being 100% accurate. Let them defend; it diverts there focus away from other things.

-PJ

[mosaicwolf]

I watched a Black gentleman on FOX News this morning come up with a typical leftist redefinition of an issue when the facts get in the way.

He said, and I paraphrase here, There is a difference between being Black and being an African American. Claiming to be Black is OK but being an African American is not. Say what?????????????

[MrB]

They really stepped in it with the whole “identify as” BS.

Now people can “identify as” whatever specific special privilege they want to try to force on our society.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING!

[Maceman]

Ergo, if one wants to enjoy White privilege, simply self-identify as White.

Absolutely. So now we can condemn black people who engage in the microaggressions of taunting (or worse) their trans-white peers for acting white.

[Political Junkie Too]

Identify as a 62 year old senior and claim social security benefits.

Illegal aliens identify as American citizens and demand to vote, get an American passport, and back tax credits.

-PJ

[driftless2]

The left painted itself into a corner, then stepped back on the fresh paint claiming they weren’t leaving noticeable footsteps.

[MrB]

I’ll even be more “liberal” and “identify as” whatever gives me the most advantage in any situation.

And, of course, anyone that objects is a “-phobe” and a “hater”.

[Political Junkie Too]

I've read stories of the opposite in the past, of how PC newspaper editors would change a writer's story from "black" to "African-American," even if the story was about a Jamaican or a Nigerian. It was the word "black" that scared them.

-PJ

[Political Junkie Too]

And an -ist.

-PJ

[wideawake]

"I notice you're wearing a Lieutenant Colonel's dress uniform and wearing a Medal of Honor ribbon. Are you a veteran?"

"I don't understand the question."

'What I'm saying is, you're wearing that decoration, were you ever in combat?"

"Look, it's not really a matter of true or false. Maybe I was severely wounded while saving the lives of three of my brothers-in-arms, maybe I technically wasn't. But I identify as a combat veteran - I've done some marching on my own, I grew up playing Risk, I've watched Full Metal Jacket and Saving Private Ryan about a hundred times, I gave myself this high-and-tight - I have this feeling, this experience of feeling, and I own it. If you want to say maybe it's a bit of creative nonfiction, okay."

[Political Junkie Too]

Caution! Objects in mirror are blacker than they appear.

-PJ

[Billthedrill]

Anything is better than being a ginger...

OMG - I believe you've solved it! From No Soul to All Soul. I may have to reconsider my position...

[AZLiberty]

It’s about time I tried out a new tagline. This thread seems appropriate.