An Australian credit card site has compiled a list of the top 25 most badass personal finance bloggers. What does it take to be a badass personal finance blogger? I have no idea. “Badass” is not a term I would ever use to describe myself, but I’m there — and so is new GRS staff writer Adam Baker.
Several folks on the list — including Baker and me — got our very own “badass” caricatures. These things bust me up. Take a look:
Funny, funny stuff. Speaking of badass personal finance information, here are some other great money stories from around the web:
First up, Kiplinger’s has compiled its list of fabulous freebies for 2009. “We looked for primo goods and services, they write. “No useless junk allowed.” The list includes free videogames, free birthday stuff, merchants with free shipping, sources of free software, and more. Many of these will probably be familiar, but I found some new places to explore.
Next, Matt at Debt-Free Adventure shares tips on how to save money on just about everything. One of his secrets? Spending filters. Jabs says that a spending filter is an idea or a concept — like the 30-day rule or the public library — that can use to sift your Wants, leading you to spend less.
At The Simple Dollar, Trent outlined 21 ways to reduce spending without making your life miserable. This a fine list of frugal ideas.
Speaking of miserable: Sherri at Serene Journey offers some great advice in the ironic secrets of the perpetually unhappy. I have friends who are usually happy; I have friends who are always miserable. The “secrets” Sherri cites make up much of the difference, I think. (I’d add one other secret: “Compare yourself to others.” That’s a sure-fire way to make yourself miserable.) This is a fantastic article.
GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve your financial goals.Savings interest rates may be low, but that’s all the more reason to shop for the best rate.Find the highest savings interest rate from Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Everbank, and more.
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Hi J.D., I just want you to know that you are making my life more cluttered because you keep linking to blogs I haven’t seen before that I then become addicted to.
I think the piece on unhappy people is very relatable to financially unsound people … many of the same mindsets apply.
Love the cartoon!
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Wow, those racist caricatures are really offensive. What’s next, portraying personal finance bloggers as hook-nosed Jews sitting on piles of diamonds? Why on earth does anyone think this is okay?
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JD,
Those caricatures are TRULY HILARIOUS lol…
I want you to know that I appreciate the effort you place in providing links for those who have yet to reach your third level of personal finance. They are truly inspirational and with practice and plenty of discipline will help us achieve the financial goals we desire.
Take Care.
PS. Rose — I personally don’t find anything racial about them whatsoever. I believe they were posted for entertainment purposes only. If you take those caricatures as seriously as you do your finances, you may just be the one holding the piles of cash in time
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Congrats fells… I was also deemed one of the 25 “bada$$” PF Bloggers – hilarious post! Those pictures are truly awesome… so much creative and humorous effort.
Thanks for the link JD.
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Hi JD,
Thanks so much for linking to my article. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I read the “bad-ass” article this morning it was great with a lot of great sites. Well done on achieving bad-ass status…don’t know what it takes to get that either but I guess just keep doing what you’re doing
All the best!
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I do love the caricatures.
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Yo Yo Yo. JD actin like the Jay-Z of the PF blogosphere. Yo dog you got mad skills that are off the hizzle, shizzle. Way to go boyyyyyyy.
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Why on earth does anyone think this is okay?
You know why. White privilege: they’re soaking in it. They’ve never had to be the ones constantly making a choice to either “dress white” and ignore their culture or acknowledge their culture and accept that people see their clothes and immediately assume they’re thugs, thieves, foul-mouthed, and violent.
So for them, because they can just try on the stereotype without anyone actually thinking they belong to that group, because the part of the stereotype that signals “real” is skin color, it’s hilarious. For them, it’s a costume they can try on virtually with no repercussions, so why should they care that they make life harder for people who look like the stereotype and can’t get away from it? Skin color comes *right off* like the bling, doesn’t it?
JD, you talk a lot about responsibility. Don’t you think you also have a responsibility to not glamorise or endorse this kind of nonsense even if you’re not the one it hurts? Or maybe even *especially* since you’re not the one it hurts?
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HAHAHA
I love those pictures. What a great way to draw some attention to yourself too. A linkbait story if I ever saw one.
Now the question JD – Why you spending all your money on bling bling? You think gold is a great investment?
Way to rank with the best.
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@Cairsten, I take your point, but when you write: “They’ve never had to be the ones constantly making a choice to either “dress white” and ignore their culture or acknowledge their culture and accept that people see their clothes and immediately assume they’re thugs, thieves, foul-mouthed, and violent.”
I am confused. I presume you are talking about black/african american culture (I am not frm the US so do not mean to offend if I use the wrong term). For me culture implies something that has been around for many years, whereas the clothing I associate with “thugs, thieves” are hoodies and a lot of bling. The stuff that is in the caricatures. Has that dress style really been around long enough to be considured part of the culture? I don’t mean to offend, I am just confused, and wondering why anyone would aspire to that dress.
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Love the caricatures! and congratulations on being one of most bad-ass PF bloggers out there
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Just goes to show that no matter what you post, someone’s going to have a negative opinion about it!
For what it’s worth, I enjoyed the caricatures. It’s such a contrast with your personalities!
-Erica
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For you folks out there screaming racism, I can’t understand quite why. It’s a MUSICAL genre. If they were caricatured as heavy metal stars and not rap stars, is that racist? Or country stars, is that racist? Why does music have to be assigned a color? There are plenty of white boy rappers who dress like this too. Why do people always have to scream ‘racism’ at every turn? That makes things racist when they don’t have to be. Your yelling about ‘racial differences’ brings out more racism than the art itself, (which to me, just looks a bit too silly/young for a professional blog, but hey, I suppose everyone has to have a little fun sometimes).
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Funny, I could swear I have commented here several times before with no mention of disapproval *or* racism. That would be because those posts did not hold up caricatures based on a stereotype of a minority culture and present them as funny. I understand that that may be a difficult distinction to grasp when the instinctive response to any mention that something might be racially offensive is to close ranks.
I’m not actually willing to do Racism 101 in the comments of this post, though, so I’m done talking. JD’s response is going to determine whether I keep reading or not; it’s been a good resource, but I can find good resources elsewhere that don’t require me to grit my teeth.
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@Brenda, #11:
I see two people leaving brief, to-the-point comments without capslocking or insults. Is that “screaming” and “yelling”? This is my first time leaving a comment on GRS in months, maybe over a year. Is that “at every turn”? If you disagree, go right ahead and disagree, but I fail to see why disagreeing should include portraying anti-racist commenters as hysterical loudmouths. The only people who benefit from that sort of characterization are people who want to keep getting away with racist behavior.
This culture is awash in racism. We’re all mired in it. Everyone is going to screw up and do something unintentionally racist, like saying “I’ve been gypped” or referring to “Indian summer” or thinking that caricatures of finance bloggers as blinged-out rappers are funny; we’re trained from birth to think and say these things, and it’s very easy to see them as normal (which they are, in the sense of being extremely common in our culture) and right (which they aren’t, despite being extremely common in our culture). When someone points out that unintentional racism, the responsible thing to do is listen, accept that we screwed up, work on fixing it, and commit to keeping a closer eye on ourselves and trying not to perpetuate racist culture. That’s behavior that reduces racism. If someone points out unintentional racism and we react defensively, we’re essentially defending racist behavior and thought and saying that no one should ever question it. Is that a stance you really want to take?
As for people responding to anti-racist comments with racist comments, I am sadly forced to agree that this happens quite a lot, but I would lay the blame at the feet of the people who are voicing the racist comments. If I ask someone to stop hitting a child and a nearby person then hits me, I suspect you would not suggest that I was to blame for that person’s violent behavior. If I ask someone to recognize they’ve promoted something racist and other people then make racist comments in response, I am likewise not responsible for their racism. They are, and they’re the ones you should direct your outrage towards.
Like Cairsten, I’m really hoping to see JD’s response to all this.
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Thanks for the daily link. I enjoyed browsing through all of them!Your badass caricatures are awesome!
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I think Brenda is spot on -why do some people feel the need to see “isms” in everything? How anyone can see racial issues here is just bizarre. I feel for JD, having to put up with this sort of ridiculous overreaction to his excellent blog.
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All very silly. What makes this a race related caricature (as someone else mentioned) is your own internal dialogue.
The topic is “badass” personal finance. So, rappers portray themselves as badass – it’s part of their schtick – who else does – bikers do, would you have been insulted if all the writers were shown as bikers?
It’s about a music genre, not a race.
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Hey J.D. and Adam,
Bling looks real nice on you
Congrats on the bad-ass status.
Now I’m making myself miserable comparing myself to the bad-asses
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“Lighten up Francis”…For those of us old enough to know that phrase.
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Word JD….word
Seriously though, congrats! That’s a great honor and you and Baker certainly deserve the props…yo!
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These were awesome for sure – my George Washington even got some bling. Congrats to all mentioned!
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Brenda and SM have already said what I was going to. Rose Fox and Cairsten are seriously confused.
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Folks, I am very sensitive to issues of bias, whether they’re gender-based, religion-based, race-based, or from any other source.
In my forty years, I’ve come to believe that discriminating based on stereotypes of any sort is wrong. I’ve taken classes on inter-cultural communication. I’ve organized seminars on racism and week-long programs about gender discrimination. Though I’m by no means perfect, I am very sensitive to this stuff. I go out of my way here at GRS to write in such a way that purposely avoids -isms.
That said, Rose and Cairsten are both correct. People can inadvertently do things that are offensive to other people. Sometimes this is due to ignorance. Sometimes this is due to deep-seated prejudices. And sometimes, yes, sometimes this is because the offended person’s response is itself racist. That is, the “recipient” of the offense harbors their own stereotypes and prejudices that cause them to be offended.
Which is the case here?
I find absolutely nothing offensive, nothing racist about these caricatures. If I thought there was even a remote possibility that they were offensive, I would not have posted them. But to my eyes, they’re not based on race in any way, and my first response is to think that those who believe they are based on race are making some racial judgments of their own.
When Kris and I read your complaints last night, we were baffled. Seriously. We spent a long time looking at the caricatures, trying to puzzle out the problem. We couldn’t find it. It didn’t make sense to us. Even after reading your follow-up comments, it makes little sense to me. These are not caricatures based on race. To me, they’re caricatures based on a segment of popular culture, a culture like “goth” or “redneck” or “jock”. In this case, it’s “rap” culture.
Even that is a little broad for what I see happening here. I cannot speak for the artist’s intent (I’ve had no communication with the site that produced these), but it seems to me that for an article about money writers, they looked for a culture that featured prominent displays of materialism as a way to be funny. It worked. These caricatures are funny because this is not who we (the financial writers) are. We don’t flash our wealth. We’re not “bad-ass”. We don’t possess those attitudes.
The artist might have made other choices, too. Maybe she could have portrayed us as bankers or investors. If I were doing this myself, I would have based the caricatures on rich comic-strip characters (Scrooge McDuck, Richie Rich, Daddy Warbucks, etc.). But choosing rap culture is not inherently racist. In fact, I find it a little racist to claim that “rap culture” is equivalent to “black culture”, which is the logical leap that’s being made here.
Are all rappers black? Are all African-Americans rappers? And Cairsten, why do you perceive these people as “thugs”, “thieves”, “foul-mouthed”, and “violent”? I don’t. But I do associate rappers with a sort of braggadacio, a swagger, a “tough-guy” act. And I associate them with flashy materialism. That’s what the caricaturist is going for here, and I think it works.
When I saw these caricatures, I didn’t think about skin color at all. Even after the two complaints, I still don’t perceive them as being related to skin color. Rose and Cairsten, I understand your concerns here, and I think they’re noble — I do — but I also think they’re misguided in this instance.
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I didn’t think the cartoons were about race at all. Like others have said, the joke is that they are rap artists, who can be of any race (and nationality, actually), but are united by flashy shows of wealth and a badass persona.
Um, so on another note, I loved the links posted.
I used to compare myself to others constantly, and it never made me anything but miserable. Then coincidentally, a couple of people who I envied (yes, I’ll admit it) fell on some really hard times, and I realized how incredibly stupid I was to assume that just because that person made more money or had a flashy job that their life was perfect. I learned to be content with the great things in my own life, and to be truly happy for the good things in other peoples’ lives.
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That was a truly classy and well-written response JD.
Thanks for the links.
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JD, I’ve always thought you were a classy guy, but your response confirmed it. Excellent work.
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I agree 100% with your response, JD. The cartoons are innocent and funny and anyone who thinks otherwise is being influenced by their own internal dialogue. As said above, you are one classy guy. Keep it up!
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In general, your race and background will shade the lens (no pun intended) through which you perceive things. It’s the reason why when a black person says racism, a white person first thinks says “Why are we bringing up isms?” or when a woman says sexism, a man thinks the same thing etc. It’s just the way it is. The powerless person will often see something (that may or may not be oppresive) and deem it as oppresive while the empowered won’t see it that way.
The caricatures here show bling which is usually associated with black people prior to being associated with rappers etc. However even the [learned] black community is moving away from being associated with this i.e. bling, sagging pants etc.
That said, I do think that while these caricatures might initially appear racist, a thoughtful look at what they represent (swag) is representative of a mindset and not a race.
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The simple fact that JD had to comment in defense of posting the cartoons shows exactly how laughable the internet can truly be.
Turn down the sensitivity meter people, lighten up, and laugh a little.
‘Fo shizzle.
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Great links and love the caricatures.
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Fred’s site did an incredible job with this post and it surely took the PF world by storm yesterday. I love these and am so happy that a lot of my friends were mentioned. Check out the writing on some of the descriptions as they were equally as enjoyable as the caricatures.
Great follow up comment by JD. All in all, this made my week.
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Congratulations, it looks like J.D. is in the #1 spot in this poll: http://twtpoll.com/r/p4hhp0
Congrats on being the most badass personal finance blogger!
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Kudos for the thoughtful response, J.D.
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Hey JD, our true homie – keep on blingin’ up on personal finance! You are awesome. Keep up the great work.
@Rose and Cairsten – I think you two have the most messed up minds around here. I am a fine black woman and when I saw the caricatures, I saw great relevance and I was even smiling. There was no racism here but because you are so stuck in it, you want to promote your -ism given any opportunity. Why can’t my white brothers be portrayed with some bling? They are doing some bad-a$$ stuff. Come one, why do you choose to see bad stuff all the time?
@Rose adn Cairsten, take your time to focus on your personal finance goals. Let the world live in happiness.
J.D, keep up the excellent work.
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omg just the IDEA of “bad-a$$” PF bloggers cracks me up!
Great links. I shared the one about “how to be unhappy” and lots of us are seeing ourselves in at least one or two items. Thanks!!
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Real racism is disturbing and wrong. This is funny and harmless. Rose Fox, I don’t know what race you are, but if you were ever exposed to real racism I think you may change your tune and worry about those ACTUALLY harmed by bigotry…..grow up.
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Wow. That went about like I expected. My Bingo card’s not quite full, but it’s getting there.
The Pause for Applause
“Unlike all those other white people out there, I’m an anti-racist.” (…) “I do anti-racist work and I try to educate other people about anti-racism.” (…) “Wait, did you hear me?”
The Culture Appropriator
“Damn, bro! You know I’m down with the homies, I ain’t no wack racist cracker, shiznit.”
Turning the Tables
“You’re being just as racist against white people, you realize. You’re being racist against me right now, you reverse-racist hypocrites!”
The Remove the Right To Be Angry
“You’re too sensitive… if you weren’t so aggressive, vocal, hostile, angry, or upset, people would listen to you and you wouldn’t get in trouble!”
The Utopian Eye-Gouger
“I’m colorblind, personally… why can’t we all just ignore race, it’s not like it’s even real… it’s not like I tangibly benefit from being white every day or anything! Can’t we all just get along?”
http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2008/03/06/sixteen-maneuvers-to-avoid-really-dealing-with-racism/
http://coffeeandink.livejournal.com/607897.html
2. Attack the person, not the argument.
Personal attacks end the discussion before it even starts! If you can accuse your opponent of “paranoia,” “white guilt,” “internalized racism,” “whining,” “overreacting,” “paternalism,” “condescension,” “being obsessed with race,” “bitching about racism at the drop of a hat,” or “taking things too personally,” you don’t need to bother addressing the content of their remarks. This will save you time and energy you can then devote to happier pursuits.
“It’s just a book/film/comic book/TV show!” (cartoon)
“Pointing out racism just makes it harder for us to achieve a colorblind society. You shouldn’t judge people based on their race.”
“Focusing so much on race just shows that you’re racist yourself.”
“Minorities can be racist too, you know!”
if you actually want a starting place on what not to do when someone points out that there’s a racist stereotype at play in something you just said/did/posted, these are good places to start.
In any case, I was waiting for a response. I now have that response, and it’s removed a bit of clutter from my life. I can get personal finance from sources that don’t glorify racist caricatures or condescend irritatingly while denying the racism’s there. I have now unsubscribed from the feed, and will do so from this post as well.
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I’ve been reading GRS for a few months now and enjoyed Bringing the Bling as much as all the rest. Great blog J.D.! Keep up the great work. What’s up with all that bling on your caricatures?! lol
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Kudos, J.D.!
This discussion has been bugging me all day because I’ve studied visual rhetoric and I know the impact that even subtle messages can have on people over time. Rose and Cairsten raise interesting questions, and I don’t think people should be so quick to dismiss them.
I can’t say what’s right or wrong in this case, just that we need opposing voices in the dialogue.
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J.D., you are the tops when it comes to PF bloggers and your classy response to this “race” tempest in a teapot proves that you are a truly exceptional person. Racism, sadly does exist in our world, no matter how hard we try to make it go away.
We are all of different colors, but we come here to learn about one color. The color that I am focusing on nowadays is green. Green as in saving more of it, earning more of it and doing more nice things for our planet so my kid can enjoy a better world. Green is gorgeous.
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Oh JD you are totally badass. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.
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Folks, just because I don’t agree with Cairsten and Rose Fox, that’s no reason to be unkind to them. Their concerns are real — even if I think they miss the point.
Cairsten and Rose Fox have been valuable members of the GRS community for a long time. They’ve both contributed excellent comments to our discussions in the past. (And they’re doing so in this thread, even if I don’t agree with them.) I’ll be sorry if either (or both) decide that these caricatures warrant giving up the site for good, but that’s their call.
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LMAO at that drawing of you! hahahaha!
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LOL love the caricatures. @ Rose Fox: lighten up. Please.
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Dear JD,
Thanks for your great post and glad you liked your caricature. Your 2 comments above were so professional and I can see where everyone is coming from. We intended to entertain with the pics just wanted to say that the bloggers are cool and they help us all to get a little richer, both personally and financially. Blinging them up a bit. We had heaps of fun going through the blogs and doing a real indepth analysis. We also read a lot of comments and posts as you could imagine. We chatted to some other pf bloggers to get their suggestions too. And then decided who were worthy of being badass. I really appreciate all the comments and I hope it brightened up everyone’s day, and maybe its quite a good resource?
Congrats to JD and Adam.
Personally I love comparing Adam Baker’s real pic on his blog to his bada$$ one. Congrats to Adam for being the newest GRS writer!
@Brian – Thanks for the big ups.
@JMoney – George needed a bitta bling.
@MattJabbs – Love your work dude
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J.D.
I truly admire that you go out of your way to please such a diverse variety of readers.
I must opine that in this case, I believe Rose and Cairsten’s opinions are likely based on personal gripes and issues, and are certainly over-looking the true value of your content.
(It is the contrast in these animations to reality that is the entertaining part and clearly they are NOT to be taken literally.)
As a psychology major I deal with many people who are sensitive to a diverse range of topics because of their own biases and experiences that frequently shaped and distorted their realities.
The fact they attempt to “threaten” to leave your site simply because of some drawing that you — the author — didn’t even design yourself seems fairly immature and almost entertaining within itself.
You are a truly valuable and irreplaceable asset to the Personal Finance blogging community, and there will always be those who don’t agree with what you do. Criticism is simply a natural part of life, and when it cannot be justified logically, it should be dismissed as unwarranted.
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JD,
My take on the caricatures was pretty much in line with yours and I appreciate the very thoughtful way you articulated it in your comment. Thanks and keep up the great work.
LG
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@ Cairsten — The links you posted were really interesting, but I was put off by your “bingo card”. It’s “nice” to see all the ways people think others are racist. In fact, it sounds like there’s no possible way to not be racist. According to that list, even discussing race is racist. I don’t get it.
Sometimes if you see people as fitting into those boxes, it’s because you put them there, not because they actually belong there. If you see enemies in everyone around you, then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Boo-hoo, the trolls are unsubscribing. Congratulations, J.D., on a readership now more sane.
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