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October 10, 2003

Blog Degrees of Separation

I've been talking about dissonance in race relations, here and a couple other places.

Race, although I don't want it to be, is one of those compelling subjects that simply won't leave us alone. How we prepare for it says a lot about how we are prepared for life, or not. It gets deep from my perspective because I think the experience of these two bloggers exemplifies the difference between theory and practice.

I don't believe that most Americans prepare for the fact that their race may put them in a life or death situation. But it can. Don't assume progress.

I've had the good fortune to think about stuff. Events in my life haven't generally overtaken my life. So when a deadly situation presented itself, I didn't have to engage. I take some pride in having some ethics in evading such occasions. But it is an evasion as much as it is a moral choice. I know there are places where I couldn't avoid the conflict, and I have worked hard to stay away from those places. Yet I know:

i would have shot him, i would have felt good about it. if the situation presented itself again would shoot again. the only thing that saved that boy's life was the fact that i didn't have a gun.

Posted by mbowen at October 10, 2003 07:09 PM

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