Quote:
Originally Posted by DuckieTigger
He cannot say that racism is never okay and should not be downplayed by the time they were written. And then turn around and say that The Turner Diaries are "well written and clearly instructive." Instructive to what? On what not to do?
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Quite possibly, yes. Why not? The point is that there's a difference between reading about racism and giving racism (past or present) a free pass because "that's just the way it was."
They (nor I) are not suggesting that the past be erased/banned/censured because of racism, but accepting that racism used to be more "mainstream" is a far cry from giving it a free pass (sign of the times, and all). It was still wrong.
The idea that past works can't be judged by today's standards doesn't acually hold water. Readers do it all the time. But just because we're capable of condemning past works because of overt racism doesn't mean we're suggesting that no one should ever read them.