The shootings of the last few weeks–of black suspects; of police–have at least provoked what has seemed to be impossible: a national conversation over race.
We have black people defending the police; gun rights activists defending a black man shot by police; liberals questioning their extreme rhetoric; conservatives showing empathy for both sides. Moving outside the usual categories is a helpful thing, if we are going to face up to our problems and do something about them. So says conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg. . . .
From Jonah Goldberg, Dallas Shooting & Philando Castile — Opportunities for Humility | National Review:
It seems almost ghoulish to look for a silver lining in the dark cloud that blanketed the nation last week. But I think there was one. The killings by police in Minnesota and Louisiana, quickly followed by the killings of police in Dallas, knocked the lazy certainty out of almost everybody.
At least for a moment, antagonists on either side of polarizing issues could see beyond the epistemic horizon of their most comfortable talking points. Black Lives Matter activists thanked the police for their protection and sacrifice. Conservative Republicans, most notably House Speaker Paul Ryan and former speaker Newt Gingrich, spoke movingly about race in America. Gun-rights activists were dismayed that Philando Castile, the man shot by a police officer in Minnesota, had followed all of the rules — he had a gun permit, cooperated with the officer, etc. — and was still killed. Liberals who insist that rhetoric from their political opponents inspires violence were forced to consider whether rhetoric from their allies might have helped inspire the shooter in Dallas.
It was a welcome change. “National conversations” are usually efforts to bully everyone into accepting a single narrative when the reality is that, in this country of more than 300 million, many narratives can be in conflict and still be legitimate.
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