To cleanse the palate, I can’t decide if this is more analogous to baptism or to penance. Little of both, no? You’re being initiated into a community of the righteous, but you’re also being forgiven the sins you’ve committed.
Either way, I know a religious ritual when I see one. Those upraised hands, inviting the spirit in, are especially evocative.
A comment I saw on Twitter about this: “If you think you can simply renounce white privilege, you don’t understand what white privilege is.” I don’t think they’re actually purporting to renounce it, merely to be more mindful of it going forward. It’s well intended. But they do seem to be seeking an absolution that can never and will never be granted.
Uh, were there any black people at this rally? Trump’s cabinet is less white than this crowd.
In their defense, that isn’t the most awkward expression of wokeness going around today. This probably is:
https://twitter.com/TaylorLorenz/status/1268191763006701574
But these are just well-meaning randos. If you want a cringeworthy profession of social consciousness, enjoy America’s worst mayor invoking the most cliched utopian dreck in popular music to express his ambitions for New York City. If Trump’s so hot to use the military, he should send them in to remove this guy from office. His job approval in NY would rise 40 points overnight.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio: "I don't mean to make light of this but I'm reminded of the song 'Imagine' by John Lennon." pic.twitter.com/ElerZgB2y3
— The Hill (@thehill) June 3, 2020
