Writes Jennifer Sey (who was a national gymnastics champion in 1986) in "Yesterday I Was Levi’s Brand President. I Quit So I Could Be Free. I turned down $1 million severance in exchange for my voice" (at the Bari Weiss Substack).
By the way, this sentence needs rewriting (and maybe rethinking): "This time, I was called a racist—a strange accusation given that I have two black sons—a eugenicist, and a QAnon conspiracy theorist."
Rewriting — because it's easy to imagine she's saying her sons are a eugenicist and a conspiracy theorist. Rethinking — because having black sons is not a persuasive way to establish that you can't be a racist.
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Yes, that's some poor punctuation (and reasoning). She should have put the "two black sons" thing (if she included it at all) in parentheses followed by a comma. The way it reads now is almost comical.
I'm a racist who wants blacks to do well. That involves plans that might work instead of being doomed to fail.
The article seems like a lot of whining. Pick what's interesting, job or sociology, and do that without expressing hurt feelings.
Another handy tip: don't burn bridges. Positive things about the job you've moved on from. The next employer will note it, and your readers will not right away suspect you didn't fit in very well.
Considering she was speaking out about masks, vaccinations and school closures, the race-baiting, change-the-subject tactic used against her worked.
The head of HR told me personally that even though I was right about the schools, that it was classist and racist that public schools stayed shut while private schools were open, and that I was probably right about everything else, I still shouldn’t say so. I kept thinking: Why shouldn’t I?
But doesn't racist mean being anti-Black these days? So making her out to be anti-Black with two black sons is, on the face of it, quite hard to do. Or is not being sufficiently leftist a criterion for being racist?
It does look awfully like Maoist like ideology and that was horrible before it ended and, I'm sure, has scarred China today. You could read Jung Chiang (Wild Swan), or Frank Dikotter (Mao's Great Famine, The Tragedy of Liberation and The Cultural Revolution).
The mental gymnastics required to think that raising black children is not a quite persuasive sign that the parent is not racist must be gold medal tier.
If racist means what it always did, that you think certain races are inherently inferior, than you wouldn’t waste your time and resources raising two black sons if you were racist against blacks. Why waste your life on what you consider inferior specimens? That isn’t rational.
That was a Fun Read. She was a good little prog, and believed All the "right" things.
The Essay could be summed up as: "If Only Stalin Knew!"
— because having black sons is not a persuasive way to establish that you can't be a racist.
I respectfully disagree. Having children of a different race is pretty strong evidence that you're not a racist.
Racist today trades on two senses. 1) the redneck sense of blacks as useless and stupid, and 2) believing in any average genetic difference in abilities.
The hidden doctrine in the modern word is that the second implies the first.
The trick is to separate them explicitly. Hence "racist who wants blacks to do well."
Never heard of her but hope she gets her voice. Seems very level-headed. I suppose one could be a racist whatever one's personal life, but in these things I play the percentages. She maybe belongs to the school of writing that encourages a second read!
She brought Levi's jeans to Russia to barter for Lycra gym suits!
What does "brand president" mean? I never heard the term before, is it Newspeak for "spokesman"?
"This time, I was called a racist—a strange accusation given that I have two black sons—a eugenicist, and a QAnon conspiracy theorist."
Claiming that the race of your children inoculates you from your attitudes and opinions is kinda racist, so I guess those Bad People were partially correct.
I haven't bought any Levi's in many years, it's Wrangler or George for me.
If racist means what it always did, that you think certain races are inherently inferior,
Besides the fact that "racist" is not defined that way in most regular dictionaries, the races are measurably and most definitely not the same in their abilities, regardless of the metric(s) you use to define "inferior", so it's a completely useless definition of "racist".
I use it to mean treating people differently based on their race, which is much closer to the real definition.
Rethinking — because having black sons is not a persuasive way to establish that you can't be a racist
Under the honest definition of racist "treats people differently based on the color of their skin", you are correct.
Under the definition of "racist" that Levi's used in order to attack her, however, "I married a black man and have two black children with him" IS a defense
Let my sardonic laughter ring out as a wokester who supported the wokeism of a woke company suddenly learns the reality of Marxism.
Sorry Ann, but to all rational people having black children is a completely acceptable way to establish that one is not racist.
Although Levi's claims to practice anti-white racism, all the "leadership" at Levi's is white.
Anyone can be a wrecker or a secret counter-revolutionary Comrade! Look into your hearts, and your feelings. And yes, she should have used parthethsis (I have two black sons).
Anyway, this is just more of the "How dare they call me a racist, why no more hates racism more than I do, etc.etc.etc." trope. And it shows large numbers of people still don't get it.
THe Left doesnt call you racist, because you hate black people. They call you racist because they hate YOU.
Everyone they don't like is a Nazi or a racist. The center-right sure is slow on the uptake. Well, maybe they'll get it in 20 years.
Plenty of black people have kids and are racists.
In my personal experience, having black children these days makes you feel extremely negative towards American black culture. You do not believe that blacks are inherently inferior. Rather, you believe that cultural forces -- including, especially, policies such as affirmative action that are promoted by white elites to "help" blacks -- are making it increasingly difficult for blacks to succeed.
Having two black sons makes her racist because she took a black man away from a black woman and is keeping her sons from becoming truly black by her interference in the natural order of things. I think.
>Ann Althouse said...
"because having black sons is not a persuasive way to establish that you can't be a racist."<
Would you please name a few *more* persuasive ways to do that, for those of us who are bewildered by that statement?
Agree with Tolkein and deepelemblues and M (and also, I suspect on this issue, Meade!).
Ann, correct 99% of the time (meaning that's how often I agree with her), is wrong on the idea that raising two black sons fails as strong (albeit not incontrovertible) evidence that you're not a racist. By contrast, Obama's grandmother did not have Obama or go out and adopt Obama. She did the right thing and raised him when/while her daughter could not. So her raising Obama was not necessarily good evidence of her lack of racism.
Photo op from SF Pride Parade - super, super smart.
That's where grown men can dress up like nuns and call themselves Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence wink-wink and a man with huge blow-up boobs in a tight sequined dress can call himself Peaches Christ. Get it? ha ha ha...fuck you, you stupid, hateful Catholics.
Pretty god damned persuasive to me. If she has two black sons, then she sure does not appear to be racist. Looks like they went after her, and much like the Maoist purges, there is nothing that will indicate your innocence. As for me, I don't buy Levi products anymore anyway. Wrangler fits better and costs less.
"because having black sons is not a persuasive way to establish that you can't be a racist."
I sure would like to hear your defense of this statement. Sounds nuts to me. And I'm hoping you're not hiding behind the word "can't". Sure, it's possible, but it seems pretty damn unlikely.
Well, crap. I can't boycott Levi's. I switched to Wranglers years ago.
I confess, I also am an imperfect ally.
"I checked all the correct boxes to show that I was a faithful little foot soldier of the left, but they still canceled me when I dared pull my head out of the collective progressive sphincter long enough to recognize that they were harming my children."
Your criticism here is over grammar and then over a general flaw in logic of one sentence, which is fine for a writing class but it doesn't get to the heart of what she is saying. She was accused of being a racist because she questioned San Francisco public school's Covid policies that kept kids out of the classroom. Her critics reasoned that because many kids in the public schools are black and brown she must therefore be a racist to want them to be in a dangerous environment. So she tried to explain why she was not a racist. Then she went on FOX News and that was too much for the liberals that run Levi's. Sure, she could have phrased it better but the accusation that she is racist because she wants kids to be in school is absurd. She may need an editor, yes.
I learned that pairs of dashes function like parentheses – they denote a subordinate clause the sentence would read sensibly without – so I didn't find this ambiguous. It never crossed my nit-picking mind that one of her black sons was a eugenicist and one was a QAnon conspiracy theorist.
I feel for her. I respect her integrity for turning down a severance package conditioned on her silence, and I respect her for speaking out. I'm still struck by how liberal victims of woke cancellation want to make sure you know how liberal they are. They just can't believe their erstwhile allies turned on them.
As for the "strange accusation," it reminded me of Nick Searcy. Called a racist by some jackass on Twitter, he retorted, "Shit, don't tell my son. He thinks I love him."
What we need is ranked racist ranking and a ranked choice poll to find out how to form the ranking. For instance we need to find out what are the five actual criteria used for determining that someone is a racist. But instead of presenting five choices once, you present five choices and people rank them.
For instance, as in this case, what were her criteria and what were the HR criteria
Her Criteria
1. a racist would ignore the fact that public schools stayed shut while private schools were open
2. a racist would support Donald Trump [she supported Elizabeth Warren]
3. a racist would be indifferent to the murders of George Floyd and Ahmed Arbery
4. a racist would not have two black children
5. a racist would not fight injustice wherever she saw it.
HR criteria
1 ...even though ... it was classist and racist that public schools stayed shut while private schools were open, ... I still shouldn’t say so
2 ... and that I was probably right about everything else... ... I still shouldn’t say so
3 ... and that I was probably right about everything else... ... I still shouldn’t say so
4 ... and that I was probably right about everything else... ... I still shouldn’t say so
5 ... and that I was probably right about everything else... ... I still shouldn’t say so
I mean her criteria would not all be mine but I would have her number 1 on my list
1. a racist would blame black poverty and crime on black genetics
2. a racist would ignore the disproportionate number of abortions in the black community
3. a racist would ignore how bad the public schools in the black areas or would propose not measuring how bad they are anymore.
4. a racist would ignore the recent rise in crime in the areas in which the black community lives and would deny the connection with delegitimize, defund the police initiatives.
4. a racist would ignore the fact that public schools stayed shut while private schools were open in most major Dem-led cities.
So then pollsters would have everybody's racist criteria on a list and have several rounds just like a ranked choice election to see which 5 were the top rank. This would break the spell cast by being #1 in a poll, meaning 32%. Number 2 might be more widely popular, meaning 51% chose as number #2. Using that criteria might be less divisive.
". . . because having black sons is not a persuasive way to establish that you can't be a racist."
Did you set up a straw man here? She didn't say having black sons means one CAN'T be racist. She said it's a strange accusation -- which it certainly is. I understand you often like to zero in on the words people use to express their thoughts, rather than address the substance of what they're saying, but in this case it seems you're misrepresenting what the lady said and then criticizing her based on that very misrepresentation.
To be a racist today it's necessary to be a "white" who's not vehemently anti-white.
Are there any articulable standards fitted to determine what can be “A persuasive way to establish that you can’t be a racist”? Don’t we want to know what audience one is seeking to persuade?
Meantime, the Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the company asked that I do an “apology tour.” I was told that the main complaint against me was that “I was not a friend of the Black community at Levi’s.” I was told to say that “I am an imperfect ally.” (I refused.)
Amazing how much this sounds like life in the Soviet Union.
"But doesn't racist mean being anti-Black these days? So making her out to be anti-Black with two black sons is, on the face of it, quite hard to do."
It's simply a smear by those who have no better argument against what she is saying...similar to the accusations that Jews (living in Israel or elsewhere) who condemn Israel's treatment of the Palestinians are "self-hating Jews." They're cheap and dishonest ploys to deflect discussion away from the discussion of the facts of the matters at hand, in order to put the critics on the defensive.
Progressives are eating their own. Levi's suck. They came out during the Antifa/BLM riots and stood with the rioters calling themselves the Jeans of the Progressive party. I stopped buying them and will never buy a pair again. I will only buy American made Jeans from now on....let the Progressives have Levi's, and let them eat each other alive. I don't care anymroe.
The head of HR told me personally that even though I was right about the schools, that it was classist and racist that public schools stayed shut while private schools were open, and that I was probably right about everything else, I still shouldn’t say so. I kept thinking: Why shouldn’t I?
Because the Corporations/Regime don't want you to talk about what they are doing to our country.
They are trying to hold black people down and destroy the educational system.
They knew this illegitimate Junta would crash and burn and they are going scorched earth on the social fabric of our country.
They will be shipped one way to China soon.
Being brand president of an enormous company that seeks general popularity is incompatible with being an outspoken proponent of specific political and social opinions -- no matter what those opinions are. I'd be surprised if she doesn't know this. (She says that she was speaking and writing as an individual, not a representative of Levi's, but no business can expect the public to make that distinction.) Clearly, speaking out has become more important to her than promoting denim clothing, which is fine. But I'm surprised Bari Weiss didn't execute a little more editorial judgment before publishing this.
But doesn't racist mean being anti-Black these days?
Not quite. All that is required is to not be anti-racist, or anti-racist enough. And in order to be anti-racist, you have to take race into account with everything, every time. If you do not provide some form of preference for people of color you are participating in, and promoting, systemic racism and White privilege. Which makes you a racist.
Having black sons is persuasive to me, not because it is logically impossible for a person to have black sons and not be racist, but because the odds against that are so small.
As for the rewriting, that strikes me as one of those junior-high exercises we used to be given, where there was no doubt what the speaker meant, but it was fun for people who called themselves sticklers for accuracy to pretend they didn't understand for humorous effect. I do understand that in the law, sometimes the precise choice of word or placement of punctuation can be important. But language does not work like that. Language is the spoken form, writing is an ever-imprecise representation of it.
Levi's is welcome to pay me $1 million to keep quiet.
"The head of HR told me personally that even though I was right about the schools, that it was classist and racist that public schools stayed shut while private schools were open, and that I was probably right about everything else, I still shouldn’t say so. I kept thinking: Why shouldn’t I?"
I bet she wishes she had this conversation on tape. Sadly, we've gotten to the point where taping conversations is a must.
Let's assume for a moment that the communists who are using accusations of racism as a weapon eventually lose. What do we do with the communists. Do we "tolerate" them, as Trudeau says about about the truck drivers? Do we over look their pasts? Should they be cancelled? Or should we wait for them to reanimate at some point in the future? It's not like this is a small number of people.
Also, we shouldn't' assume the communists will lose.
Levi's SF headquarters was such a fun place to work in the 90s! They were proudly American, operated many factories in the South, and even had a factory on Valencia St. in SF. Imagine making clothes in America . . . Globalization nearly killed them, and it is impressive that they are still in business. It is very sad to see them now, but it cannot be easy to be in the fashion business. Fickle young people trying to out woke each other, deciding your fate.
The current definition of racism in leftist circles today is "the marginalization and/or oppression of people of color based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges White people". So you are a racist and white supremacist if you support policies that are judged as perpetuating systemic racism and oppose policies toward equity. Individual opinions toward people of another race no longer matter.
It seems to me that its basically used to smear political opponents as racists and white supremacists. And with this, Larry Elder bizarrely becomes a white supremacist and Republicans voting for Republicans voting Republicans of color only proves their racism.
Although people still consider it to be such, being called a 'racist' is really not even an insult anymore. It's been so thoroughly debased by constant repetition that it's a meaningless term.
MILAN KUNDERA YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD!
"Let's assume for a moment that the communists who are using accusations of racism as a weapon eventually lose. What do we do with the communists. Do we 'tolerate' them, as Trudeau says about about the truck drivers? Do we over look their pasts? Should they be cancelled? Or should we wait for them to reanimate at some point in the future? It's not like this is a small number of people."
Uh...what "communists?"
Tom said...
I bet she wishes she had this conversation on tape. Sadly, we've gotten to the point where taping conversations is a must.
The nice thing about Plus size iPhones is that you can put one in your shirt pocket, and the camera has a nice view of what's in front of you
Quite useful for hands free video recording
“ Ann, correct 99% of the time (meaning that's how often I agree with her), is wrong on the idea that raising two black sons fails as strong (albeit not incontrovertible) evidence that you're not a racist. ”
I said it wasn’t an effective way to persuade. It will undermine your credibility to claim authority like that. It’s like saying “some of my best friends are black.” Just not savvy.
Not every argument should be made.
>Ann Althouse said...
"I said it wasn’t an effective way to persuade. I will undermine your credibility to claim authority like that. It’s like saying “some of my best friends are black.”<
False equivalence, much? Having children with someone (Black) involves just a smidge more than simply *saying* something.
"Rethinking — because having black sons is not a persuasive way to establish that you can't be a racist."
Good point. There is no way to establish that you are not racist, if you're white. In fact, it's not even possible that you are not racist, if you're white.
'I respectfully disagree. Having children of a different race is pretty strong evidence that you're not a racist.'
What if she purchased them at a slave auction in Tripoli with the purpose of obtaining free yard work for the next 18 years?
: )
What if she purchased them at a slave auction in Tripoli with the purpose of obtaining free yard work for the next 18 years?
I've had children. They're no good for intense yard work for at least the first four years.
Everyone can be Racist. Anytime. For any reason. We must never relax against the Racists, comrade they are everywhere! Even you, who spout anti-racist rhetoric could be racist in your heart.
Not being racist. America's national religion. No one cares about blasphemy or leading Chrisitans to hell, as long as they don't do anything racist. Which of course, changes constantly. Because if "what is racist" doesn't change, how can we discover and punish the racists?
“an imperfect ally”
We need a race consciousness dictionary.
I’m just not up on all the racial euphemisms.
having black sons is not a persuasive way to establish that you can't be a racist.
Do you think Obama's mom was a racist?
Image the reporter who asked Obama that question!
In fact, if you asked Obama if his mother was a racist, you would immediately be labeled a racist for asking such a question.
Of course, anybody can be a racist. You could give birth to black children and hate them, and the man who impregnated you, and anybody who looks like them. But it's so irrational as to be highly unlikely, yes?
Yeah, those racist white women are known for having babies whose fathers are black. Just think of . . . Well, I'm sure a name will come to me.
Althouse
There is no defense against being called a racist. None. The black kids is perhaps the only possible rejoinder. Or perhaps she adopted them to enslave them to her white supremicist way of thinking or to make herself seem less of the hideous racist she really is. Or to show off to her lefty SF friends. Or maybe they talk and act white now and therefore aren’t really black so the not racist argument is not valid. She probably makes them wash the dishes and do their homework. What a bitch. What a racist bitch.
I said it wasn’t an effective way to persuade. It will undermine your credibility to claim authority like that. It’s like saying “some of my best friends are black.” Just not savvy.
@Althouse, supposing you're right. Then what? Is there anything else the woman could say that would be persuasive? If there is, I don't quite see what it might be. Perhaps you can enlighten us?
Because if there's absolutely nothing to refute the charge of racism, then there are two options. Option #1 is just grovel at the feet of your detractors and wear the (figurative) hair shirt. Option #2 is employ violence. There might be a third option, which is to ignore your detractors and press on, except this never seems to work in the real world because the detractors never stop.
>> I was told to say that “I am an imperfect ally.” (I refused.)
>Amazing how much this sounds like life in the Soviet Union.
Ritual self-denunciation, show trials, apology for deviation from the party line....
I'm sure they are working on setting up gulags. Who would stop them?
"Rethinking — because having black sons is not a persuasive way to establish that you can't be a racist."
Really? I think it's relevant.
But presumably the burden of proof is on the people smearing you as racist. How persuasive are they?
>>because having black sons is not a persuasive way to establish that you can't be a racist
Could you provide a few examples of white racists adopting black children?
According to some here, any Democrat.
But presumably the burden of proof is on the people smearing you as racist.
@Sebastian, not in the modern corporation. The HR department is where the grievance studies majors congregate. You can actually accomplish something? The grievance majors will cut you down to size, by golly!
Tom said...
Let's assume for a moment that the communists who are using accusations of racism as a weapon eventually lose. What do we do with the communists. Do we "tolerate" them, as Trudeau says about about the truck drivers? Do we over look their pasts? Should they be cancelled? Or should we wait for them to reanimate at some point in the future? It's not like this is a small number of people.
Also, we shouldn't' assume the communists will lose.
What would they do to us if they won? That is what we should do to them.
All of them.
They're all easily replaced, and if we do the right thing and get rid of DIE (Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity) a lot of their jobs will disappear, so lets just make them disappear, too.
..Racist: person who classifies by "race."
.."I have two Black sons."
..If "Black" is a "race," she classifies by "race."
..Ergo she is a Racist.
does she still have a case of wrongful termination?
I was called a racist—a strange accusation given that I have two black sons
Is accusing a specific man of being misogynistic "strange" just because he has a daughter and a wife? I don't think so.
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