tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476718104065067972024-03-05T06:25:45.541-05:00Langue or Parole?Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.comBlogger412125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-61789501706849867222022-05-03T08:51:00.001-04:002022-05-03T08:51:00.164-04:00<p> <span style="font-family: georgia;">Emmanuel
Joseph Sieyès est né le 3 mai 1748. Connu pour sa participation à la
Révolution française et à l'établissement de l'Empire napoléonien, nous
lui devons également le néologisme de <i>sociologie</i>. S'il est vrai
qu'on trace ce mot à l'oeuvre d'Auguste Comte, même les dictionnaires
les plus prestigieux accordant le premier usage du terme au philosophe
français, il faut reconnaître que Sieyès l'a néanmoins utilisé bien
avant Comte. Dans son article "Sieyès et le non-dit de <i>la sociologie </i>: du mot à la chose", Jacques Guilhaumou montre l'évidence des manuscrits non publiés dans lesquels </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sieyès à commencer d'une science de la société, d'où son néologisme <i>sociologie.</i></span></span></p>Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-83415987322453636462022-02-01T23:29:00.001-05:002022-02-01T23:29:00.183-05:00Black History Month<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">From <i>Gospel of Freedom</i> by Jonathan Rieder</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span>“</span></span></span></span>King did not rest his optimism on faith in the American dream, or the ordained nature of freedom in America. Instead, he found solace in his deep love of black people and the exceptional spirit of the slave ancestors.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span>”</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span>“</span></span></span></span>The clergy [affirmed] that hatred and violence have no sanction in our religious and political traditions. That was a flagrant untruth. Violence and hatred were utterly Southern traditions when it came to black people. But it offered a nice aspirational note.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span>”</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span>“</span></span></span></span>The ideology of moderation was mostly myth. [...] Activist black ministers reacted to the moral evasions of white religion, and Southern Christianity in particular, with disdain and indignation. The Reverend C. Herbert Oliver recalls, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span><span>‘</span></span></span></span></span>All these preachers were preaching Jesus and God</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span><span>’</span></span></span></span></span>s love. Yet they were satisfied with people being thrown in jail, and you can</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span><span>’</span></span></span></span></span>t get a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. The Christianity that existed in Alabama was not the Christianity of the Bible.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span><span>’</span></span></span></span></span> It still galls the Reverend C.T. Vivian, a legend of the nonviolent movement, that Southern whites profess to believe in every jot and tittle of the Bible and had the nerve to talk about a Christ of love. Yet they still hated millions of people for no reason other than the color of their skin. The preachers knew their congregants weren</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span><span>’</span></span></span></span></span>t Christian, but they refused to condemn segregation or support a civil rights movement that was trying to create a world that reflected the love ethic of Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span>”</span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span><br />
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Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-63219910614113978922021-03-18T09:00:00.021-04:002021-03-18T09:00:00.129-04:00Today in Literature: Stéphane Mallarmé<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO7p8WgEPmYvWNy6srjlTEZ7TF6EovtWnUUXS8oL1iwrp8eIAPPiuqBQ-heUkT8Ay0kLVAWbhlqHwIFdT3Fvf0UNVVERdLj9ZYkr1v7Q0KZT2H0cI1CnIlP_2dLWkkj-RFv-NgicOrhUY/s2048/snow-daffodils.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO7p8WgEPmYvWNy6srjlTEZ7TF6EovtWnUUXS8oL1iwrp8eIAPPiuqBQ-heUkT8Ay0kLVAWbhlqHwIFdT3Fvf0UNVVERdLj9ZYkr1v7Q0KZT2H0cI1CnIlP_2dLWkkj-RFv-NgicOrhUY/w200-h150/snow-daffodils.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A great poet of the <i><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Symbolism-literary-and-artistic-movement" target="_blank">symboliste</a> </i>tradition, Stéphane Mallarmé was born on March 18, 1842. As nature labors from winter towards spring here in much of the Northern Hemisphere, Mallarmé</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s poem </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Renouveau</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">”</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> seems particularly suited to the season. Here is the first quatrain of the sonnet:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Le printemps maladif a chassé tristement,</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">L</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">hiver, saison de l</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">art serein, l</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">hiver lucide,</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Et, dans mon être à qui le sang morne préside</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">L</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">impuissance s</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">étire en un long bâillement.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As sickly spring comes sadly hunting</i></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><i>W</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>inter, lucid winter, season of serene art,</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In my being with its dreary blood presiding,</i><br />
<i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Impotence stretches into a long yawn. </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(my translation)</span></div>
Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-70908252679131409032021-02-17T06:53:00.004-05:002021-03-12T10:37:00.821-05:00BHM Reading #2: The Color of Compromise<p><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img class="book_img img-fluid lazyloaded" data-src="https://media.thegospelcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/03125105/jemar-tisby-color-compromise.jpg" height="200" itemprop="image" src="https://media.thegospelcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/03125105/jemar-tisby-color-compromise.jpg" width="131" /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Have you been trying to decide which book to take off your to-read list and to actually read? I am here to help. You need to read <i>The Color of Compromise</i>. If it was not on your to-read list, it should have been. If it is still on your to-read list, then take it off. You need to read it. I do not mean that you need to read it in a decade or two. I do not mean that you need to read it when you finish the six other books that you are currently reading. I mean that you need to read it now. You need to read it before you read <i>The Iliad</i> or Shakespeare or <i>The Tale of Genji </i>or <i>One Hundred Years of Solitude </i>or <i>Institutes of the Christian Religion</i> or anything else that is clamoring on your to-read list. You could easily check the book out of a library, but if you have to purchase the book, just the Foreword by Lecrae is worth the price. Each subsequent chapter is an invaluable add-on that you could never pay for sufficiently. Read this book. In fact, you should buy this book for others and make them read it as well. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">I have read this book, and I am currently incentivizing my 11-year-old son to read it. </span></span></span>You need to read this book. Buy it, borrow it, listen to it, but one way or another <i>read this book</i>.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">This is not a review of the book, and I have less to say about it than I have shared about <i>Critical Race Theory: An Introduction</i>, because this book is a historical survey, not a theoretical work. It covers all of the major periods of U.S. history that American Christians would be familiar with. But it rounds out most of that history in ways that we choose to whitewash or ignore: “Historically speaking, when faced with the choice between racism and equality, the American church has tended to practice a complicit Christianity rather than a courageous Christianity. They chose comfort over constructive conflict and in so doing created and maintained a status quo of injustice</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">” (p. 17).<span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is a timely diagnosis and history of complicit Christianity, because the same watered-down, morally relativistic and pragmatic Christianity has been insidiously at work in the Trump era, when staggering numbers of evangelical Christians have stood for political party and a wicked leader (i.e., Donald J. Trump) over truth and morality. </span></span></span>And before anyone takes issue with Tisby</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>’</span></span></span></span>s diagnosis of complicit Christianity as too harsh, I should probably mention that Tisby goes on to say, </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“Given the history, <i>complicit</i> is a weak word for describing how American Christianity has often interacted with race. [...] In reality, white Christians have often been the current, whipping racism into waves of conflict that rock and divide the people of God</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">” (p. 17).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Please <a href="https://www.zondervan.com/9780310113607/the-color-of-compromise/" target="_blank">read</a> <a href="https://jemartisby.com/books/the-color-of-compromise" target="_blank">this</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Color-Compromise-American-Churchs-Complicity/dp/0310597269" target="_blank">book</a>.<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-75315881628226674262021-02-16T09:02:00.006-05:002021-08-23T20:13:08.792-04:00Principles of Critical Race Theory<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The following principles come from chapter 1 of <a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2021/02/bhm-reading-1-critical-race-theory.html" target="_blank"><i>Critical Race Theory: An Introduction</i></a>, </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“</span></span>Hallmark Critical Race Theory Themes.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">”</span></span></span><b></b><b></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Christians could disagree with one or all of these ideas, but not a single one is inherently hostile towards Christian beliefs and practice. Indeed, if the central ethic of Christianity is love towards one</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>’</span></span></span>s neighbors, then all of these CRT principles should interest any Christian, not just an academic researcher. Furthermore, given how racist the history is of most Christian organizations and institutions in the U.S., such organizations should be actively researching and humbly learning from Critical Race Theory in an effort to align themselves better to guiding principles of our religion.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The six principles below are all direct quotations from <i>Critical Race Theory: An Introduction</i>, except for numbers 2 and 5, which are paraphrases. I follow each principle with my own explanation.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">1. “</span></span>Racism is ordinary, not aberrational</span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><b>”</b> (p. 8)</span></span>. To say that racism is ordinary is not to say that it is good or acceptable. Rather, racism is part of our social fabric, to the point that we don</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>’t even recognize it many times. This is a moment for humility in admitting that the Church is often racist and, more broadly, that systemic racism <i>does </i>exist.<br></span></span></span></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">2. Racism is maintained by </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“</span></span>interest convergence</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">”</span></span> or </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“</span></span>material determinism</span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><b>”</b> (p. 9).</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> If you rolled your eyes (or wanted to roll your eyes) at the above mention of systemic racism, then this second principle will help to understand the reality of systemic racism. We should not need slave whips or lynching trees to be persuaded that racism exists (Christians in the 19th and 20th centuries had slave whips and lynching trees and still did not believe in racism as a social evil). </span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“I</span></span>nterest convergence</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">” is the idea that white people do not have any direct interest in eradicating racism. At times, white interests <i>converge</i> with anti-racist interests, and so something positive occasionally results. The point for the church is the need to recognize our general investment in white interests and to throw ourselves equally into the interests of others. (As a side note but related to this point, I would strongly urge you to study a variety of liberation theologies, particularly evangelical liberation theologies, although you should always start with Gustavo Gutiérrez.)<br></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">3. “</span></span>Race and races are products of social thought and relations</span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><b>” </b>(p. 9)</span></span>.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> We must - we <i>must</i> - accept that </span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">race” is a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20construct" target="_blank">social construct</a>. That</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>’s it for this point</span></span></span>. If you don</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>’t accept that (and I don</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>’t assume that everyone does, because I know a lot of different kinds of people)</span></span></span>, then let</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>’s talk.<br></span></span></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">4. “</span></span>Each race has its own origins and ever-evolving history,</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">”</span></span> a concept referred to as </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“</span></span>differential racialization</span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">”</span></span></b> (pp. 9-10). In other words, while race is a harmful social construct, not everyone who has suffered from racism has suffered in the same way. This is an important recognition on the part of critical race theorists, particularly in the U.S. context, because racism does not refer only to the experience of African Americans, as significant as that experience is in our national and ecclesiastical history.<br></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6oXROSgmnW9kXnLLOFRLXcsuUUMcfI4EDS2Y3rDTyMiwL84fALKaOIg0vtCkWIIK0uJ9CwAjKQX4MONo1QB9GRzTthyZQuG8dwKRDKAdccj7Ke7WRuY9Cfmy9aBO2c9dYemN3vNdeEy0/s2048/benjamin-elliott-mTO7l5D7CbQ-unsplash.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1535" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6oXROSgmnW9kXnLLOFRLXcsuUUMcfI4EDS2Y3rDTyMiwL84fALKaOIg0vtCkWIIK0uJ9CwAjKQX4MONo1QB9GRzTthyZQuG8dwKRDKAdccj7Ke7WRuY9Cfmy9aBO2c9dYemN3vNdeEy0/s320/benjamin-elliott-mTO7l5D7CbQ-unsplash.jpg" width="320"></a></div><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">5. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">No person has a single, easily stated, unitary identity; this concept is known as </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“</span></span>intersectionality</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">”</span></span> and </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“</span></span>antiessentialism</span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">” </span></span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">(p. 10</span></span>).</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> Conservative Christians in the U.S. probably experience an internal, even visceral, resistance to this statement much like they do towards statements about social constructs. Rather than getting into identity formation here (and why I, as a convinced and orthodox Christian, consider myself to be a convinced, postmodern anti-essentialist and anti-foundationalist), let me simply remind us that, whatever we consider our identity to be, Jesus Christ <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+16%3A24-26&version=NIV" target="_blank">called us to utterly renounce that identity</a>.<br></span></span></span><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">6. “</span></span>Black, American Indian, Asian, and Latino writers and thinkers may be able to communicate to their white counterparts matters that the whites are unlikely to know</span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">” </span></span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">(p. 11).</span></span> This principle is related to the development of </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“</span></span>legal storytelling</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">”</span></span> in which minorities share their experiences with(in) the justice system in part to undermine the master narrative of impartial justice. This point should be non-controversial, so again, please try to calm any resistance that you may feel. We are not all authorities or experts even on matters that are close to our experience. But we are all experts on our personal experience. So at least in regard to that experience, we deserve to be listened to and taken seriously - a principle of even greater urgency and application in relation to the downtrodden and marginalized.</span></p>Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-29177839014227136502021-02-02T23:07:00.012-05:002021-04-30T12:22:28.717-04:00BHM Reading #1: Critical Race Theory<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Ways to Observe Black History Month</b> </span></h3><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">We have many options if we want to study, understand, or celebrate Black History this February. I am going to propose two readings this month with a focus on systemic racism and Critical Race Theory (CRT) because such readings will help us understand racism today and also discover a positive path forward in loving our neighbors and thereby being faithful Christians.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Christian Complicity in and Incomprehension of Racism<br /></span></h3><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It is no longer sufficient, nor has it ever been sufficient, to declare our opposition to slavery. Every sermon I have ever heard against slavery has been one too many because they all insult our intelligence and leave us comfortable and complacent (or worse, smug in our moral superiority to blighted colonial Christians) in our own evil, whether individual, collective, or structural. As Christians, of course we oppose slavery. It is high time to stop patting ourselves on the back for moral opposition to something that has been outlawed and morally repugnant for long over a century in the United States and to start understanding our current reality. That means humbly learning and admitting how racism continues on systemically and how it manifests itself, even if slavery and lynching have been overcome as the most horrific manifestations of it.<br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>The Important Role of CRT in Christian Theological Expression</b></span></h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img class="a-dynamic-image a-stretch-vertical" data-a-dynamic-image="{"https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/414TizogpSL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg":[217,346],"https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/414TizogpSL._SX311_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg":[313,499]}" height="200" id="imgBlkFront" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/414TizogpSL._SX311_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="125" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;">You may not be aware that in November of 2020, the Council of Seminary Presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention (including, unfortunately, such evangelical mouthpieces as Danny Akin and Al Mohler, who do not speak for me) decided that they could affirm the Baptist Faith and Message (BFM) but not Critical Race Theory. The bizarre statement raises myriad legitimate questions, which many Baptist and other Christian <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/pastor-dwight-mckissic-says-hes-leaving-sbtc.html" target="_blank">pastors</a>, <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2020/12/critical-race-theory-examined-and-analyzed/" target="_blank">theologians</a>, and <a href="https://thewitnessbcc.com/southern-baptist-seminary-presidents-reaffirm-their-commitment-to-whiteness/" target="_blank">historians </a>have touched on: Do these six seminary presidents, presumably intelligent men, even understand CRT? Do they think that any generally secular school of thought, or even more systemized philosophical system, is illegitimate in research undertaken from a Christian worldview? Do they actually think that CRT is a statement of faith like the BFM, and therefore unacceptable? Do they perhaps believe that BFM is somehow presented as the Gospel, or God's own unmediated truth? And the one that most intrigues me, do they have any idea how human language works? The answer to that last question, I am more and more convinced as I continue (in spite of myself) to study conservative evangelical and fundamentalist theologians, is no. And because so many of our Christian theologians and other leaders do not understand language, they sometimes introduce that fundamental and fatal flaw into everything from their theories of biblical inspiration to hermeneutics to their interpretations of cultural phenomena. It is high time that academic research and higher education undertaken from a serious Christian worldview seek to understand the best of both Christian thought <i>and </i>secular thought, unless we do not believe in at least some sense that all truth is God's truth. Even supposedly "Christian" systems of thought like dispensationalism, covenant theology, Calvinism, Arminianism, or confessions and creeds like the Baptist Faith and Mission are human creations with profound flaws, little more than our meager efforts, in the words of W.E.B. DuBois, to "read the riddle of the world" (<i>The Souls of Black Folk</i>, p. 82). Some readers may be waiting for several qualifications to this paragraph, but I should not need to make them explicit. Let's just be mature Christian thinkers, shall we?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>A Suggested Reading for Week One of Black History Month</b> </span></h3><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rather than reading <a href="https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/seminary-presidents-reaffirm-bfm-declare-crt-incompatible/" target="_blank">the cringe-inducing statement from the Council of Seminary Presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention</a>, may I suggest that you <i>actually </i>read something by (not about) CRT theorists? In other words, go to the source. Many times, we avoid understanding out of ignorance; other times, we avoid understanding out of fear. We do not need to remain ignorant or fearful that actually reading existentialist, Marxist, feminist, post-modernist, or CRT theorists is going to corrupt Christian thinkers, and we most decidedly do not need to rely on John MacArthur or D.A. Carson to ineptly explain them to us. So for starters, pick up a book, like the third edition of <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479802760/critical-race-theory-third-edition/" target="_blank"><i>Critical Race Theory: An Introduction</i></a>, and you might be surprised to find out that it is not some anti-Christian, radical leftist, Communist, America-hating ideology. In fact, it is a grouping of thinkers and paradigms within the academic discipline of legal studies that has gradually moved into other disciplines as well. Would most Christian academics agree with every tenet or proposal of every CRT writer and researcher? Let me answer that question with a question: Do we have to ask (or answer) silly questions?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">According to the introduction of this suggested reading for week one of Black History Month, "The critical race theory (CRT) movement is a collection of activists and scholars engaged in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power" (p. 3). With nothing more than that quotation, can we think of biblical reasons that Christians might take at least a passing interest in CRT? Perhaps it is not enough information to preclude definitely a condemnation of CRT, but it should be enough to make us curious.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Later this week, I will share broad CRT approaches and principles that tend to unite CRT theorists. Spoiler: they will not be any more anti-Christian than this general definition (which is also not to say that they are overtly Christian or explicitly biblical).</i><br /></span></p>Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-6867590911915197942021-01-24T16:36:00.004-05:002021-01-24T16:43:09.771-05:00Does "Merit" Have Merit?<p></p><p style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="https://logos.textgiraffe.com/logos/logo-name/Merit-designstyle-i-love-m.png" class="transparent" height="320" src="https://logos.textgiraffe.com/logos/logo-name/Merit-designstyle-i-love-m.png" width="211" /></p>I have long held suspicion of the idea of "merit" in a variety of public policy areas, and especially in regard to immigration. My suspicion comes from the fact that most anti-immigrant policies that raise the idea of merit-based immigration present abstracted, materialistic, and ultimately selfish definitions of merit. But I just came across an idea in <i>Justice in Latin American Theology of Liberation</i> by Ismael García that demonstrates the actual merit of merit-based approaches in public policy.<p></p><p>Not in the context of immigration policy but rather in regard to elements of society worthy of leadership positions, García writes, "They are [...] people with a strong sense of calling and vocation to public service, in particular a sense of serving the poor. Such people deserve the privilege of holding positions of power and prestige. <i>It is within this sphere that the criterion of merit is a valid and relevant criterion of distribution</i>" (155;emphasis added).</p><p>García's proposal bases merit on character, not assumed economic benefits to society, although these should accrue if character and morality matter. In regard to immigration, I still believe strongly that the most relevant merit is the virtue of being human, and thus of an ability to claim the basic human right of migration. Like any human right, the right to migration can be forfeited. I do not believe that someone who committed a violent crime in one country should have an unfettered ability to travel to any other country. But even such forfeiture could potentially be overturned with time, repentance, and restitution. And as a compromise, perhaps we should seriously consider a merit-based immigration policy that focuses not on what migrants have produced or could produce but rather how they have contributed and could contribute at a civic level.<br /></p>Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-56331481475746605842021-01-20T12:00:00.002-05:002021-01-20T16:50:49.278-05:00Today in Language: There Is Hope After Carnage<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump talked about "this American carnage" in his inaugural speech. As with almost everything he spoke about publicly, he did not know what he was talking about. In reality, he brought the carnage with him. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">According to the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carnage" target="_blank">dictionary</a>, <i>carnage</i> is "<span class="sb-0"><span class="dt"><span class="dtText">great and usually bloody slaughter or injury (as in battle)." It would appear that Trump's usage was metaphorical. My usage here, as the usage of many others over the last two weeks, has turned from being largely metaphorical (do not try to recount Trump's "achievements" to me) to more closely literal (yes, he approved of the Capitol riot and storming and was responsible for it to an extent yet to be officially determined).</span></span></span></span></span></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span class="sb-0"><span class="dt"><span class="dtText">The last four years brought metaphorical carnage for the oppressed. Read "</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2021/01/19/immigration-refugees-detention-trump-argentina-dirty-war-239696" target="_blank"><span><span><span style="font-weight: normal;">It will take years to understand the abuse of immigrants and refugees under the Trump administration</span></span></span></a><span><span><span class="sb-0"><span class="dt"><span class="dtText">."<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="sb-0"><span class="dt"><span class="dtText"><span>The la</span>st four years included metaphorical carnage of republican, democratic norms of U.S. society. Read "<a href="https://www.mischiefsoffaction.com/post/we-freaking-warned-you" target="_blank">We Freaking Warned You</a>."<br /></span></span></span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="sb-0"><span class="dt"><span class="dtText">The last four years developed economic carnage in the name of no apparently coherent philosophy or policy. Read "<a href="https://morningconsult.com/opinions/trumps-negative-effect-on-economic-growth/" target="_blank">Trump's Negative Effect on Economic Growth</a>."<br /></span></span></span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="sb-0"><span class="dt"><span class="dtText">The last year bro<span>ught social and health carnage in ignoring the simplest methods to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Read "</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/17/21176737/coronavirus-covid-19-trump-response-expertise" target="_blank"><span><span><span style="font-weight: normal;">The deep ideological roots of Trump’s botched coronavirus response</span></span></span></a><span><span><span class="sb-0"><span class="dt"><span class="dtText">."<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="sb-0"><span class="dt"><span class="dtText"><span>Most sadly, to me as a Ch</span>ristian, the last four years exposed the theological and moral carnage of staggering swaths of American Christianity. The tragedy, of course, is that it never had to b<span>e this way: read "</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://journalnow.com/opinion/columnists/thabiti-anyabwile-overturning-roe-v-wade-isn-t-worth-compromising/article_f24f705c-7af5-11e8-baea-cb1ca868ced5.html" target="_blank"><span><span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Overturning Roe v. Wade isn't worth compromising with Trump, my fellow evangelicals</span></span></span></a><span><span class="sb-0"><span class="dt"><span class="dtText"><span>."</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="dtText" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="MovingBack2Black | My journey to become debt-free" class="detail__media__img-highres js-detail-img js-detail-img-high" height="150" src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmovingback2black.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F02%2Flight_at_the_end_of_the_tunnel_by_choosemyownwaytoburn.jpg&f=1&nofb=1" style="display: block; height: 262px; width: 349.333px;" width="200" /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="sb-0"><span class="dt"><span class="dtText">It has taken much too long to get to this point, and at times it felt like we might not make it here. But we made it and I can finally and factually state: Donald Trump should never have been president and <i>he no longer is</i>. This means that there is hope, light at the end of this dark tunnel of fours years of metaphorical and literal carnage. Thank God, for hope and light ultimately come from him, when he raises up leaders, and when he brings them down. Thank God.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p>Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-79601422704254439032020-12-23T21:55:00.002-05:002020-12-23T22:03:54.738-05:00An Observation about a Kierkegaardian Observation on Academic Specialization<div class="separator"><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">From time to time, academia and academics are accused of over-specialization, of focusing on questions and research that have no impact in the real world. This critique is not new, even in </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">the 21st century when many think it is a new trend in academia. <span class="js-about-item-abstr">Søren Kierkegaard, early in adult life during his theological studies, made the same observation at a time when he was more enamored with the natural sciences than the theological sciences:</span> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span></span><i>Kierkegaard expressed his profound admiration for the natural sciences and all their <span> </span>practitioners—from those who calculate “the speed of the stars” to those who study “intestinal worms”—but at the same time he was compelled to admit that he thought they often merely stirred up clouds of “particularities” by means of which they might perhaps guarantee themselves “a name in the scholarly literature,” but nothing more.</i> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">—<i><span class="js-about-item-abstr">Søren Kierkegaard: A</span> Biography</i>, Joakim Garff, trans. Bruce H. Kirmmse, p. 52<br /></span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thus, nothing under the sun is new, and some people have always harbored an uneasiness about academic specialization and arcane research. Nonetheless, an observation is in order, in defense of academic and even arcane research:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It is entirely unclear what problem we should have with research that only ends up in highly specialized academic journals and is read by just a few other specialists. Before making this unfair attack on academic research, we should think about all of the </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“insignificant” actions we take on a daily basis, including in our work. If an electrician fixes one electrical outlet that only one or two human beings will ever use, is it a waste of time? Assuming that the answer is no, then how is it a waste of time for academic researchers to study the speed of the stars, intestinal worms, or even <a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-word-crypto-systematics.html" target="_blank">crypto-systematics</a>?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We can happily concede that Lil Wayne and Ariana Grande reach a much larger audience with their work than an electrician, most scientists, any world-renowned theologian, or pretty much anyone else living today. Does that make their work more significant or worthwhile? Hardly. But working in the humanities, I am accustomed to wildly misplaced priorities and <a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2014/02/analysis-john-mcwhorters-recent-article.html" target="_blank">utterly unhelpful metrics</a> in determining what is, in the end, worthwhile.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For anyone who will listen, I will simply point out that we should focus on the general and the specific, the broadly applicable and utilitarian as well as </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">specialized “particularities.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">” Above all, we must remember, </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">“</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the
realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor
planning nor knowledge nor wisdom</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)</span></span>.<span class="p"><br /></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p></p>Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-14466091134669675242020-03-22T22:10:00.001-04:002020-07-18T22:11:12.118-04:00Anselm Introduces the Incarnation and Redemption<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In <i>Cur Deus Homo</i>, Anselm begins his argumentation not with biblical theology or hard logic <i>per se</i>, but rather with an exquisite foretaste of both in a masterful turning-of-the-tables on those who want to argue that Christianity, specifically in the doctrine of the incarnation, makes no sense:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">"As death came upon the human race by the disobedience of man, it was fitting that by man’s obedience life should be restored. And, as sin, the cause of our condemnation, had its origin from a woman, so ought the author of our righteousness and salvation to be born of a woman. And so also was it proper that the devil, who, being man’s tempter, had conquered him in eating of the tree, should be vanquished by man in the suffering of the tree which man bore."</span></div>
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Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-90107736532672157642020-02-26T11:50:00.003-05:002020-02-26T21:15:38.965-05:00Today in Language: Victor Hugo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
year 1802 should not have been auspicious for French society, what with
the ominous cloud of imperialism and the uncertain legacy of the
Revolution hanging in the air. But Victor Hugo was born on February 26,
1802. One of the most versatile and profound French writers of the 19th
century, Hugo was at his best (not without contradiction and tension) expressing either urgent warnings about
the dangers and immorality of French conservatism or intimate
reflections on God and nature. The latter can be seen in the following
stanza from his poem « A Villequier » upon the accidental death by
drowning of his newlywed daughter.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Je viens à vous, Seigneur, père auquel il faut croire ;</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Je vous parte, apaisé,</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Les morceaux de ce coeur tout plein de votre gloire</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Que vous avez brisé ! </span></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Panorama Villequier - Actu - Infos - Normandie" class="detail__media__img-highres js-detail-img js-detail-img-high" height="255" src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.normandie-zoom.com%2Fblog%2Fimages%2Fimages-du-jour%2Fpanorama-chateau-de-villequier.jpg&f=1&nofb=1" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The village of Villequier,</i></span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>now part of Rives-en-Seine</i></span> </span></i></span></div>
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Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-26284614994260812812019-02-01T08:30:00.001-05:002020-07-18T22:11:56.998-04:00New Article on Colonialism and Languages<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQs7WOIvYeEn6nE3njyCa8K6KtfIXpaJpFJIjYbUjLfffEdKZPd5USSSwdaX1pk0nh0DJiF_2ajQERDLwVjQuFLuQbqGvj5HEnvh9c6pKst1aTGC9XX_P0XkpQpaCFLfQ-hG0C0mjOh8I/s1600/Brathwaite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQs7WOIvYeEn6nE3njyCa8K6KtfIXpaJpFJIjYbUjLfffEdKZPd5USSSwdaX1pk0nh0DJiF_2ajQERDLwVjQuFLuQbqGvj5HEnvh9c6pKst1aTGC9XX_P0XkpQpaCFLfQ-hG0C0mjOh8I/s200/Brathwaite.jpg" width="150" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Edward Kamau Brathwaite</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RxSyNkOnY-ultflyBTxXfz_wFJHlJ2HOuf6alIaX7r039VABGZ-BFVbuGokTvq7VTsydGKr5qz1jCgGhDJ37JTxPgFrDxIR41H24wMX5fLiEdD09zhBKhF01oyLVp7NnDJA-fS27ayg/s1600/Glissant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RxSyNkOnY-ultflyBTxXfz_wFJHlJ2HOuf6alIaX7r039VABGZ-BFVbuGokTvq7VTsydGKr5qz1jCgGhDJ37JTxPgFrDxIR41H24wMX5fLiEdD09zhBKhF01oyLVp7NnDJA-fS27ayg/s200/Glissant.jpg" width="151" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">Edouard Glissant</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The latest volume of the online journal <i><a href="https://postcolonialinterventions.com/" target="_blank">Postcolonial Interventions</a> </i>was just published yesterday, and I had an article in it titled “<a href="https://postcolonialinterventions.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/4.1jeremypatterson.pdf" target="_blank">Edouard Glissant’s and Edward Braithwaite’s Appropriations of Colonial Languages</a>.” The article brings together two prominent postcolonial writers who are both from the Caribbean but who are separated by linguistic boundaries (although they knew each other). For perfectly understandable but still unfortunate reasons, Caribbean studies often focus on just one linguistic tradition, and this publication is part of my small effort to bring theory and fiction together across those boundaries and traditions since they have so much in common.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The other articles in this volume of the journal sound even more interesting than mine, particularly Laura Wright<span style="text-align: center;">’</span>s “<a href="https://postcolonialinterventions.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/4.1laurawright.pdf" target="_blank">‘<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Go Back to Africa</span>’<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">: Afrocentrism, the 2016 NFL Protests, and Ryan Coogler’s 2018 </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Black Panther</i></span></span></a>”<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">and </span></span><span style="text-align: center;">Elena Barreca</span><span style="text-align: center;">’</span><span style="text-align: center;">s </span>“<span style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://postcolonialinterventions.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/4.1elenabarreca.pdf" target="_blank">The Oral Heritage and Linguistic Heteroglossia of Post-Colonial Writings: Bob Marley and the Anglophone Caribbean as a Case Study</a>.</span>”<span style="text-align: center;"> Neither of us will read all of the articles, but you should check out at least one of those two!</span></span></div>
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Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-42975730696891454122018-11-01T14:39:00.001-04:002021-01-10T22:32:36.343-05:00On Immigration: Understanding open borders<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Open borders do not represent anarchy or a step to anarchy, nor do they represent an absence of borders. The <a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/10/immigration-misconception-1-open.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> in this <a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/04/fairly-universal-myths-about.html" target="_blank">series</a> on immigration explained those misconceptions. This post offers some basic definitions of open borders, with some concluding reflections.</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What Are Open Borders?</span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As indicated by the collocation "open borders," it is a situation in which few if any restrictions exist on the movement of humans, labor, capital, and goods across borders. An example would be the borders between states in the U.S., or states or provinces or regions in numerous countries. On the international level, the most obvious example might be the Schengen Area of the European Union.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">An important point is that even with such open borders, some restrictions exist. Unless the entire world had a universal open borders policy, restrictions will always exist in one direction or another. Furthermore, even with open borders, restrictions will always exist as long as nation-states do. The restrictions may not be on immigration, but rather on goods.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the premier advocacy groups for open borders around the world is <a href="http://openborders.info/">OpenBorders.info</a></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. Wherever you find yourself on the spectrum of immigration policy, the organization provides excellent, evenhanded, and dispassionately researched information to support open border policies, to represent opponents' arguments thoroughly, and to reply to objections. One <a href="https://openborders.info/moderate-versus-radical-open-borders/" target="_blank">blog posting</a> on moderate versus radical open borders explains how definitions and especially policy positions differ, even among those who broadly favor fewer restrictions.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>A Few Thoughts on Immigration and Open Borders</i></b><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Immigration is fundamentally good for human society. Some would want to say that only <i>legal</i> immigration is fundamentally good for human society. That is a questionable statement, but even if it were valid, it must be remembered that immigration is immigration - legal vs. illegal is an artificial and at times arbitrary imposition made on immigration by government. <i>Artificial </i>and <i>arbitrary</i> do not translate to <i>bad</i>, but they do indicate that...</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If immigration is good, then policy should focus on promoting immigration, not on restricting it. It also means that basic values guiding immigration policy should start with community and family, not apparent economic benefits (and less immigration control almost always translates to better economic benefits too).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Where immigration restrictions exist, they must depend on valid reasons, not political expediency. After all, in discussing immigration, we are not discussing fundamental moral and ethical values and responsibilities. Immigration in this respect is quite different from issues such as marriage or abortion. Along those lines, we must be able to distinguish between moral laws and pragmatic laws, just and unjust legislation, and necessary versus unnecessary border controls. More on that in the next post.</span></li>
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Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-18593616111427641782018-10-30T12:27:00.001-04:002021-01-10T22:30:29.729-05:00Immigration Misconception #1: Open borders are anarchic.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A misconception is a misunderstanding, one that probably leads to a misuse of language. We finally come to a misconception about immigration in this <a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/04/fairly-universal-myths-about.html" target="_blank">series on myths, fallacies, and misconceptions about immigration</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As a term, <i>open borders</i> is misused in two main ways, both of which come from the dishonesty inherent in our nature and in our political discourse. As this blog likes to emphasize, everything eventually comes down to language. Most people simply do not understand what the term <i>open borders </i>means, or they abuse it. Although it is fine for us all to use terms according to common usage, it is ethically suspect to turn them into rhetorical weapons and twist what others mean by them. <i>Open borders</i>, as well as words like <i>evangelical </i>and <i>socialism</i>, is one of those unfortunate linguistic constructions that we could call Frequently Abused Terms (FATs). How is the term <i>open borders</i> misused?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Open borders <span style="font-size: 11pt;">≠ </span></i></b></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>anarchy</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Contrary to most conservative popular opinion, open borders do not equal anarchy. Nor do open borders lead to anarchy. Anarchy, according to <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anarchy" target="_blank">one dictionary</a>, is "the absence of government," or if you want a more negative definition, "a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority." While these definitions avoid the fact that anarchy is also a serious political philosophy, in regard to open borders, the intent is clear. The fear-mongering politicians (or the ignorant public) who say that open borders lead to anarchy need to be corrected. No open borders advocacy organization that I know of advocates for the overthrow of all government. (Such an organization may exist, but you get the point.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Open borders </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">≠ </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">no borders</span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Also contrary to most conservative popular opinion, open borders do not equal no borders. That is, an advocate of an open borders policy is almost certainly <i>not</i> promoting the abolition of international borders. This is a very common misconception, one that results from failing to listen to open borders advocates or think through the probable meaning of the words themselves. The term <i>open borders</i> implies in its very nomenclature that borders exist, and that they are open (i.e., not closed). It can thus be definitively asserted that advocates of different open borders policies are advocating something other than the abolition of borders, the surrender of national sovereignty, or the removal of all immigration controls and personal documentation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>What are open borders?</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Unfortunately, in common parlance, those who think that they oppose open borders use the term (incorrectly, in my estimation) to refer quite simply to less draconian immigration measures than they want. What is so evil or subversive about desiring humane immigration laws? In the U.S., the borders are not open and have not been open for more than a century. Furthermore, almost all border or immigration bills at the national or state level have to do only with stricter or less strict immigration controls and border protection. Open borders, as a policy, is not even on the table.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That still leaves the question of just what a policy of open borders advocates. For that, check out the <a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/11/on-immigration-understanding-open.html" target="_blank">next post</a>!</span></div>
Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-81238388184016599712018-05-03T10:22:00.002-04:002021-01-10T22:27:15.659-05:00On Immigration: Understanding border walls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">If border walls actually do not work, then what about...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">So goes the argument that some would make against the <a href="http://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/05/immigration-myth-1-border-walls-work.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> in this <a href="http://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/04/fairly-universal-myths-about.html" target="_blank">series on immigration myths, fallacies, and misconceptions</a>. Are there not examples of border barriers that are actually effective in keeping out certain people or problems?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><b><i>Not Mere Border Walls</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">In the U.S.-Mexico context, proponents of more border walls argue that they would
indeed work. They point in particular to the Israeli-Palestinian border wall.
The Israeli prime minister himself has offered it to the U.S. president as a model
of what could be done with the country's southern neighbor. The actual name of that wall,
however, is instructive. It is the “<a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/theme/west-bank-barrier" target="_blank">Israeli West Bank Barrier</a>.” It is not a border wall; it is a heavily fortified and militarized obstruction over a relatively
short distance that Israel controls with an iron fist. Parts of it have been ruled illegal according to international law. So proponents are right
when they say that border walls work, if what they actually mean is that
</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">militarized zones</i><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> work, and those only over short distances.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Consider another example: <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/demilitarized-zone" target="_blank">the Demilitarized Zone</a> (DMZ) between North and South Korea. The DMZ is anything but demilitarized. It requires significant, outrageously expensive commitment from both sides, as well as the international community (mainly the U.S.). And even the DMZ or the Israeli West Bank Barrier, though fairly effective at keeping people in or out, are not 100% effective. Furthermore, they could be illegal and they are certainly politically divisive and diplomatically disastrous.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Counting the cost</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Returning to the North American context, what would be the effects of a U.S.-Mexico border wall? Or more to the point, since mere border walls have not worked and will not work: what would be the effects of a 2000-mile militarized zone between the U.S. and
Mexico? Our answer must keep in mind that the two countries are hardly intractable
adversaries like Israel and Palestine.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The answer is straightforward. A mere wall (not significantly
militarized) would have almost no long-term effect on controlling drug
trafficking or illegal immigration. It would do nothing to relieve the plight
of those in Central America and Mexico who continue to be brutalized and
impoverished. It would, however, significantly increase hostility with a
friendly neighbor because it would be perceived as a very offensive insult (the
suggestion of it already has been perceived as such). And of course a truly militarized zone would have even worse, almost unimaginable consequences for
U.S. diplomatic and economic interests.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If I may end on a point of language, it is all about the definitions. When politicians in the U.S. or anywhere talk about border walls or fences, they are either equivocating (because they will later add that they meant heavily policed or militarized barriers) or displaying their ignorance (because border walls, quite simply, <a href="http://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/05/immigration-myth-1-border-walls-work.html" target="_blank">do not work</a>).</span></div>
Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-37088501223595515162018-05-02T14:27:00.001-04:002021-01-10T22:25:05.060-05:00Immigration Myth #1: Border walls work.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As opposed to the previous two posts that focused on a fallacy about immigrants, we now take on an actual myth. It is not just a fallacy. It is a myth that border walls work. They are a categorically bad geopolitical idea. It may be possible to find some example in history where a border wall actually achieved its purpose, but as a geopolitical construct, border walls simply do not work. <i>(There is one very obvious objection to this assertion that comes from current international geopolitics, to which I will respond in an addendum post.)</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Why do border walls not work?</span></i></b></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Presumably a wall is to keep out the unwanted (drugs, crime, undocumented
immigrants). Borders walls and fences, however, have almost without exception
failed spectacularly at doing so. This is true even where the border obstruction is not a literal wall but rather a body of water or some other obstacle. The reason is simple. As long as the
motivation to go through, around, over, or under a wall is strong enough, people will do so. Newer walls, designed by brilliant engineers, cannot be evaded, you say? Newer technologies designed by equally brilliant engineers can avoid or penetrate those walls. Oh, you didn</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">’</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">t know that human and drug traffickers hire world-class engineers? There is </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">always </i><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">another way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The North American
drug trade is a multi-billion-dollar industry, of which most of the dollars are
in the U.S. Why would drug cartels allow a wall or fence to stop them? Central
America has suffered increasing, brutal, daily violence over the past decade or
so that would leave most Americans shell shocked if they were even moderately
aware of it. Thus, Central Americans will continue to look to other countries
for safety and economic opportunities, whether they have visas or not. That
tide of immigrants ebbs and flows with the vicissitudes of each community, but
it cannot be stopped unless the motivation (freedom from violence and poverty)
can be removed.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Do fences make good neighbors?</span></i></b></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Many who support the idea of border walls have repeated
the proverb that “fences make good neighbors.” A dubious idea at best. I
have had neighbors without fences all of my adult life, in five different
residences, and the absence of fences has never posed a problem. The nature of
the neighbors seems to be the deciding factor. One can have good neighbors with or without fences, and bad neighbors with our without fences. Besides, the analogy is simply unworkable when applied at the international scale. Besides, the political rhetoric necessary to garner public support for border walls requires an alienation of geopolitical neighbors.<br /><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the end, walls come down.</span></i></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFacOAcfvah9X6wP_6k7aFy_kyGWB8pNkRg3hS15ry05Rf1bVvGHywF6CnSewN03ILWtZtuRth_acEJWePvvoqKJkDwFS3B_uWZYzql6chpZ9hLSI4ui3MASpnxEpki3xdG2Ch7GaImTc/s1600/TearDowntheWall.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="400" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFacOAcfvah9X6wP_6k7aFy_kyGWB8pNkRg3hS15ry05Rf1bVvGHywF6CnSewN03ILWtZtuRth_acEJWePvvoqKJkDwFS3B_uWZYzql6chpZ9hLSI4ui3MASpnxEpki3xdG2Ch7GaImTc/s320/TearDowntheWall.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></i></b></div>
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></i></b></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I owe this observation, and much of the previous reasoning, to Michael Dear and his book <i><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/why-walls-wont-work-9780199897988?cc=us&lang=en&" target="_blank">Why Walls Won</a></i></span><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/why-walls-wont-work-9780199897988?cc=us&lang=en&" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">’</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">t Work: Repairing the US-Mexico Divide</i></a><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">. He makes the point that obstructions intended to divide countries or regions, whether to keep immigrants out or citizens in, must come down in the end. The most celebrated example is of course the Berlin Wall. <i>Is that the legacy that any leader or country wants?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Co</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">nclusion</span></b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not only do border walls not work, but they actually also create negative unintended consequences. They create international tension, waste government funds, and leave embarrassing legacies. There is one common objection to this argument, or one common proof offered for the effectiveness of border walls. That will be the subject of the next post.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b></b></span></span></div>
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Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-67053161775433414642018-05-01T10:29:00.003-04:002021-01-10T22:18:57.007-05:00Immigration Fallacy #1: Immigrants are dangerous. (Part 2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Following on the <a href="http://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/04/immigration-fallacy-1-immigrants-are.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> in this <a href="http://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/04/fairly-universal-myths-about.html" target="_blank">series on immigration myths</a>, fallacies, and misconceptions, this brief essay continues to explain why immigrants should not be portrayed as dangerous. Consider three specific areas of threat or danger:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Immigrants do not generally present a physical danger.</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Clearly many people who advocate stricter immigration controls do not harbor xenophobia. Some of them just cannot see past the threat of terrorism or gang violence. This is a very real concern and so should be treated seriously. But as the previous post explains, this fear is unfounded in regard to immigrants. If it is a fear that you experience, I understand. I have family members that live under the constant threat and danger of <a href="http://www.borderlandbeat.com/" target="_blank">the most barbaric cartel violence you can imagine</a>. But if you have been led to believe that tighter immigration restrictions, more deportations, or higher border walls will make you safe, then you have been misled. That violence spreads regardless of those apparent solutions. The danger of true criminals has to be dealt with through highly sophisticated social and economic policies, as well as by professional crime fighters -- not immigration legislators or enforcers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Immigrants do not generally present an economic danger.</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Another common argument for tighter immigration controls is that </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">“immigrants take our jobs!” This argument can be made by the citizenry of a country or by the government. It is basically always a fallacious argument. All governments wants some immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, even if they say otherwise in their public discourse. They want them to help with jobs that the economy has trouble filling. But publicly, they will say otherwise, for example in Kenya, which regularly invites Tanzanians in to work and just as regularly <a href="https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2017/03/27/kenyans-protest-magufuli-order-to-deport-foreigners-block-namanga_c1532790" target="_blank">throws them out</a>. The reason for the latter, and for xenophobic discourse, is simple. It sounds like the ruling party cares very much about the nation, its citizens, and its economy. But almost no reliable study concludes that immigration (regardless of whether it is legal or illegal) is bad for any economy -- much less that immigrants take jobs from citizens. It is just a very bad argument. By and large, <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/immigration-facts/" target="_blank">immigration is good for economies</a>. <i>I recommend that you look at nonpartisan studies. Partisan studies, even from seemingly reliable think tanks, begin and end with their conclusion (i.e., immigration is good/bad for the economy).</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><i>Immigrants do not generally present a cultural danger.</i></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A final argument against immigrants is the idea that immigrants want to or by default do import their cultures and undermine the target culture, including language. This argument is worth considering for how it fundamentally misunderstands culture. It is true that any human migrant moves with his or her culture, influencing other cultures and being influenced by them as well. And that is perfectly natural. In the words of <a href="http://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2012/11/an-involved-definition-of-culture.html" target="_blank">Edward Said</a>, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">“Cultural forms are hybrid, mixed, impure, and the time has come in cultural analysis to reconnect their analysis with their actuality” (<i>Cultural and Imperialism</i>, p. 14). </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If immigration opponents fear that immigrants will fundamentally alter their target culture, then two observations are in order. First, the burden of proof is on them. It simply won</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">t happen, at least not quickly or at any pace accelerated beyond how cultural change is happening everywhere anyway. Second, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">throughout history,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">immigrants have only fundamentally altered their target cultures when that has been one of their primary objectives, as in colonialism or imperialism. These processes normally rely on violence, physical or symbolic. Consider, for example, the Europeans who came and ravaged North America, South America, and the Caribbean. Immigration opponents today are generally the ones who would be on the side of colonizers of the past, or the imperialists of today, the non-lovers of neighbors. And that statement is meant very much as a harsh reminder and firm Christian denunciation of much of our contemporary world</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s imperialistic liberalism and capitalism.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Conclusion</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Any reason to limit immigration needs to consider both <i>why </i>immigrants migrate and <i>what</i> their effects truly are. The answers to those questions will reveal that fearing immigrants is unfounded. At the very least, the answers will reveal that immigrants, whether undocumented or not, do not have any intention to undermine the security, economy, or culture of their destination country.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Without injurious intentions or effects on the part of immigrants, it is very hard to make a good case for limiting human migration.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Each of the previous three section titles contains the word </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">“generally.” In advocating better immigration policies (i.e., very few restrictions on human movement), we cannot resist myths, fallacies, and misconceptions with other fallacies. Immigrants can, of course, be dangerous. Politicians can be dangerous. Teachers can be dangerous. Lawyers can be dangerous. Police officers can be dangerous. Even children can be dangerous. Anyone <i>can </i>be dangerous. But the immigration discussion cannot fall back on the </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">“immigrants are dangerous” argument any longer because it is simply fallacious.</span></div>
Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-37882242842876132082018-04-19T16:08:00.001-04:002021-01-10T22:20:47.863-05:00Immigration Fallacy #1: Immigrants are dangerous (Part 1)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Immigrants are not dangerous, in any general sense.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">An argument for stricter immigration policy invariably depends on the explicit statement that the immigrants in question are dangerous. They may be depicted as criminals, terrorists, invaders, or simply uncouth. And the statement is wrong. It is not that immigrants are categorically un-dangerous, because any human could be dangerous. But generally speaking, immigrants do not present any significant danger or threat, just like most random people you pass on the road or sidewalk are not dangerous.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One objection, of course, is that some immigrants actually are dangerous. Terrorists, drug traffickers, gang members, felons, and human traffickers present a threat wherever they are. But it is illegitimate to argue for stricter immigration controls based on those highly specific categories. It is illegitimate, first, because those groups already exist everywhere, whether they come as immigrants or not. (It is highly significant that the vast majority of terrorist attacks and mass shootings on U.S. territory since 9/11 have been perpetrated by U.S. citizens.) It is illegitimate, second, because some of those people are regular border-crossers anyway, essentially uninhibited by the absence or presence of visa requirements, border fences, radars, or military patrols. (If you want to scare cartel members, don't build a fence -- force a drop in heroin prices!) These very serious crimes have to be dealt with, but immigration law is not the domain for doing so.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One very simple reason demonstrates why immigrants, beyond those rather exceptional categories, do not pose any real danger. That reason is the primary <i>raison d</i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><i>’</i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>être </i>for immigration in the first place: economic/social opportunity/security. Immigrants of any social class almost always migrate for socioeconomic reasons. Therefore, if they are primarily looking for work, education, family, or safety (in short, <a href="http://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2012/04/movie-review-better-life-part-1.html" target="_blank">a better life</a>), then they clearly pose no real threat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the next post, I will analyze not only how immigrants are not really dangerous but also how they do not pose any real physical, economic, or social threat...</span></div>
Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-78784577121894597692018-04-16T13:33:00.000-04:002018-11-02T13:38:20.179-04:00(Fairly Universal) Myths About Immigration and Immigrants<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Myths, Fallacies, Misconceptions</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Whichever term one prefers for its nuances (or lack thereof), <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myth" target="_blank">myths</a>, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fallacy" target="_blank">fallacies</a> and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misconception" target="_blank">misconceptions</a> plague discussion of any major policy issue, particularly personal ones. Immigration is an especially personal and therefore emotional topic because it deals directly with human bodies and lives. Even other hotly debated topics such as privacy, health care, and policing are not as immediately personal as immigration because they do not necessarily have an immediate impact on the entirety of a person</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s life. Immigration relates directly to who one is, where one is from, what one does, and even what language(s) one speaks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The difficulty in addressing immigration rights can be observed around the world. The misconceptions that I want to address come up regularly and provoke heated debate in and between the following regions and countries, to name a few of the most prominent. I have tried to indicate in which direction immigration primarily occurs by putting the place of origin first and the migration destination second. These immigration flows are almost always driven by socioeconomic factors:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUwvaGCvC74w8ES7aUzMz3CD5B4_HmMFpvXBwvx__vGvKhVMifsGCrWbxjLXTTxHwunToQO-DQDkg5s91Zg8m7jEnp8t3J-LSls5tVltJgZwGudlGfRrGFYog2oEmz7ypEDM7tVOKreM/s1600/US-Mexico+border.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUwvaGCvC74w8ES7aUzMz3CD5B4_HmMFpvXBwvx__vGvKhVMifsGCrWbxjLXTTxHwunToQO-DQDkg5s91Zg8m7jEnp8t3J-LSls5tVltJgZwGudlGfRrGFYog2oEmz7ypEDM7tVOKreM/s320/US-Mexico+border.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Africa>Europe</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tanzania>Kenya</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">China>Japan</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Palestine>Israel</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mexico>US</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Guatemala>Mexico</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Haiti>Dominican Republic</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pakistan>India</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> a series of posts over the next few weeks, I want to consider several myths/fallacies/misconceptions about immigrants and immigration that muddy the rhetorical waters and prevent the debate from going forward. I have lived most of my adult life in the U.S., and in my two decades here (and more, if we go back in history) the country has seen little to no progress on the issue of immigration reform. These posts, then, are not going to change anything in the dynamic in the U.S. or any of the other countries, regions, or continents named above. But they do represent some of my general conclusions from a decade or so of research on the issue.*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Myths, Fallacies, and Misconceptions About Immigration and Immigrants</i></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Immigrants a</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">re dangerous. (<a href="http://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/04/immigration-fallacy-1-immigrants-are.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a>) (<a href="http://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/05/immigration-fallacy-1-immigrants-are.html" target="_blank">Part 2</a>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Border walls work. (<a href="http://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/05/immigration-myth-1-border-walls-work.html" target="_blank">Rebuttal</a>) (<a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/05/on-immigration-understanding-border.html" target="_blank">Addendum</a>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Open borders lead to anarchy. (<a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/10/immigration-misconception-1-open.html" target="_blank">No</a>.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Open borders = no borders (<a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/10/immigration-misconception-1-open.html" target="_blank">No again</a>.) (<a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/11/on-immigration-understanding-open.html" target="_blank">Addendum</a>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Every law needs to be enforced.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Deportation is the punishment for illegal </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">entry into a country.</span></li>
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<i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">*I should explain that as a language professor, with research interests primarily in contemporary literature of the Americas, the topic of immigration is key to a lot of what I research and to a lot of what I share with my students. Language teaching requires the study of language in context -- in cultures and communities, which are largely defined by language-driven violence and discrimination.</i></div>
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Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-49310492432233266962018-04-13T20:11:00.000-04:002018-04-19T16:10:10.351-04:00Today in Language: Jean de la Fontaine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The world fabulist of French origins Jean de la Fontaine died on April 13, 1695. His <a href="http://www.la-fontaine-ch-thierry.net/fablanglalphab.htm" target="_blank">children</a></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://www.la-fontaine-ch-thierry.net/fablanglalphab.htm" target="_blank">’</a></span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.la-fontaine-ch-thierry.net/fablanglalphab.htm" target="_blank">s fables</a> have been translated or at least recast in most major cultural and linguistic traditions, which is not to say they did not already come to some extent from a variety of cultural and linguistic traditions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">La Fontaine is known today for his children</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">s fables, but in his own day he was known for his racier and morally transgressive </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">“</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">adult</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">” </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">fables. La Fontaine was a powerful storyteller, well worthy of his appointment to the Académie Française.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">His tomb can be visited in the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris.</span><br />
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Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-27480587821123075202018-04-09T12:09:00.001-04:002018-04-09T16:14:59.509-04:00The Game of Life: DACA Edition - SNL<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-24824217875108083012018-04-05T11:47:00.000-04:002018-04-05T11:47:03.183-04:00Communication: Definition 5<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">My favorite definition of <i>communication</i> actually comes from Wikipedia, a great source which I will not allow my students to cite but which I urge them to make good use of. And I will cite it myself here:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">“</span><b>Communication</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (from Latin </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">commūnicāre</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">, meaning </span></span>“<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">to share</span>”<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">) is the act of conveying intended </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">meanings</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> from one </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">entity</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> or </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">group</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> to another through the use of mutually understood </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">signs</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> and </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">semiotic</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> rules.</span>”<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">1. This definition, unlike all of the others shared here, references both intention and meaning. These are essential aspects of communication to which any definition must refer directly or indirectly. This definition gets a bonus for combining the two concepts into one, <i>intended meanings</i>!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">2. W</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ith the words </span>“<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">mutually understood,</span>”<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">his definition recognizes the personal nature of communication, as opposed to the frequently used mechanical terminology (process, code).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> In short, this is one of the simplest and best definitions of communication that I have seen.</span></div>
Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-10011108987176881692018-03-30T16:35:00.003-04:002018-03-30T16:35:54.295-04:00Language News Update: Languge, History, and Identity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This final Language News Update of the week looks at an assortment of topics beyond <a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/03/language-news-update-bilingualism.html" target="_blank">bilingualism </a>and <a href="http://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/03/language-news-update-language.html" target="_blank">language acquisition</a>.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.shh.mpg.de/871151/dravidian-languages" target="_blank">A study just out</a> has quite interestingly determined that the Dravidian language appears to be about 4,500 years old.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Want to learn a language? Drink alcohol! Okay, it is not that simplistic (nor would we here at this blog recommend you actually do so), but a study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology did find some interesting correlations between <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269881117735687" target="_blank">language acquisition and alcohol</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In somewhat more serious news, more Americans really, really do need to start learning more languages. If you do not buy into the neurological and social benefits, than at least recognize the <a href="http://thehill.com/opinion/education/376707-monolingualism-diminishes-americas-stature-on-the-world-stage" target="_blank">sociopolitical</a> and <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/02/speaking-more-languages-boost-economic-growth/" target="_blank">economic benefits</a> of developing a multilingual population. Language says much, much more even than nuclear weapons or the size of a nation's military.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">The largely discredited Sapir-Whorf hypothesis may actually have <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fxge0000314" target="_blank">some validity</a>, at least in relation to time (and our perception of it).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Finally, just as clearly as bilingualism improves cognitive functions, so language is intimately linked to identity. Thus the danger of language politics and, by necessary association, colonialism and imperialism. <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171023181306.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmind_brain%2Flanguage_acquisition+%28Language+Acquisition+News+--+ScienceDaily%29" target="_blank">A study of a Native American language</a> reminds of of the sobering consequences of these tragic -<i>isms</i>. Will we of the 21st century accept the history lesson?</span></li>
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Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-75190596160758157592018-03-28T15:23:00.003-04:002018-03-28T15:23:41.586-04:00Language News Update: Language Acquisition<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Beyond <a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2018/03/language-news-update-bilingualism.html" target="_blank">bilingualism</a>, much research continues to reinforce what we know about language acquisition and pedagogy, and the brain science in particular is always impressive and vital to what language teachers do.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170502084630.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmind_brain%2Flanguage_acquisition+%28Language+Acquisition+News+--+ScienceDaily%29" target="_blank">Repetition</a> does aid learning!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And repetition aids learning because, well, that is just <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(18)30227-6?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982218302276%3Fshowall%3Dtrue" target="_blank">how the brain science works</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One should not, however, overstate the knowledge that we have from brain science, because even though language acquisition is largely a science, it is also an art. And even in the scientific realm, we still have a lot to learn. And so the debate will go on as to just how we learn language (consciously or unconsciously), and therefore just how we should teach languages. Steve Kaufmann is a businessman and language learned who <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/steve-kaufmann/can-we-learn-a-new-language_b_16630520.html" target="_blank">popularizes Steve Krashen's hypotheses about language learning</a>, particularly the acquisition-learning hypothesis. This is a great hypothesis, and Krashen and Bill VanPatten et al. have done great research, but one must remember that these remain hypotheses and theories, not proven fact.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In a related area nearer and dearer to my heart, we are learning more about the <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0116492" target="_blank">brain, language acquisition, and <b>literature</b></a>. One thing all researchers and teachers can agree on is the importance of reading, and a lot of it.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Does one ever forget one's first language? My answer would have been yes, but <a href="https://qz.com/1155289/even-if-youve-forgotten-the-language-you-spoke-as-a-child-it-still-stays-with-you/" target="_blank">I just might be wrong</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And finally, here at home and dear to my heart, some schools have started teaching <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/news/charleston-county-schools-will-train-teachers-to-recognize-gullah-language/article_b8ae257c-34fc-11e7-b51e-ebe1361861cc.html" target="_blank">Gullah in South Carolina</a>.</span></li>
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Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747671810406506797.post-42550746649323126832018-03-26T10:55:00.000-04:002018-03-26T10:58:26.815-04:00Language News Update: Bilingualism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So much has happened in Language News since <a href="https://langueorparole.blogspot.com/2013/01/2012-language-news-update-addendum-1.html" target="_blank">2012/2013</a> that this week will have several posts, divided by main topics. Today the topic is bilingualism:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We will start out with an unexpected subversion: The benefits of bilingualism, it turns out, can be <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180305093035.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmind_brain%2Flanguage_acquisition+%28Language+Acquisition+News+--+ScienceDaily%29" target="_blank">overstated</a>. The fact that bilingualism is good for the brain is as obvious as the fact that the Earth is round. And yet its effects on the brain can be overstated (to follow our absurd analogy, the Earth is round, yes, but not a perfect sphere). I am not totally on board with all of the study's conclusions, but it is an impressive meta-analysis, and so we need to give heed.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Be that as it may, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093934X1300223X?via%3Dihub" target="_blank">bilingualism is still far better for the brain</a> than monolingualism.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And since <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/opinion/sunday/you-still-need-your-brain.html" target="_blank">we need our brains</a> even in the age of Google, why not continue to learn languages as long as you can?</span></li>
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Jeremy Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17524568933582204179noreply@blogger.com0