It's ugly when it happens here too

I had the opportunity to attend a lunch forum here in Ann Arbor with the theologian and ethicist Nicholas Wolterstorff earlier this month.

During lunch he shared the story of how he first became professionally interested in issues of justice. At a conference in South Africa, Wolterstorff was struck by how white Afrikaner delegates would respond with language of benevolence to black and colored appeals for justice. South African blacks and coloreds would criticize apartheid as unjust; Afrikaners would respond by attacking their "ingratitude" for how much white South Africans had done for them.

But American whites can use the exact same language: check out Pat Buchanan criticizing Barack Obama in just this way. Granted, his insistence on gratitude isn't the only offensive element of his screed - but he uses it as the moral undergirding for his other assertions.

Thank you. Professor, for the insight.