When I was a kid, I sometimes stayed up late to watch “The David Susskind Show.” Never understood what anybody was saying... but was intrigued by the notion of serious, grown-up conversations.
So it figures that I’d enjoy the variety of talking heads at BigThink.com.
Below are two openly gay scholars – Princeton philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah and Yale Law professor Kenji Yoshino – pondering complicated questions of identity politics and minority rights.
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4 comments:
Wow, Appiah's gay? That'll make him a popular guy in his home country!
I briefly discuss the African attitude toward homosexuality here:
http://likembe.blogspot.com/2007/08/cross-dressing-fun-with-area-scatter.html
UBM, I was wondering if maybe you could write something about the homophobia present in American society in general and maybe focusing more on the African-American community. I have noticed how homophobia seems to be more pronounced among minorities (Asian/Hispanic/Black/whatever) and I've always found that interesting.
After listening to Appiah talk about cosmopolitanism, I bought and read his latest book on the subject. As I became more interested I listened to additional interviews. It wasn't until I listened to one in particular (I think it was this one that I learned he was gay. I had no clue. On his website there are pictures of him and his companion.
"Wow, Appiah's gay? That'll make him a popular guy in his home country!"
Perhaps if they shared his philosophy of cosmopolitanism and became "citizens of the world" and learned to treat ALL people with respect inspite of their differences, it wouldn't matter.
Kum-ba-yah. :P
btw, john b. if by "home country" (Appiah considers himself a citizen of the world) you mean Ghana, Ghana has an "incipient" humanist movement. Folks like Norm Allen Jr. are involved in humanist activism in Africa (as well as America).
Perhaps if they shared his philosophy of cosmopolitanism...
I like how both Appiah and Yoshino try to move beyond left-orthodox group identity politics to a more universal style and universalist rhetoric.
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