(Note: The expanded version of the original VFR entry sheds some light on this question.)
I was reading the recent VFR article on the noose incident earlier when I ran across this (increasingly) familiar statement:
"I am not saying that this kind of moral depravity exists among all blacks or a majority of blacks or a large minority of blacks."
I immediately recalled having read the same statement, or some version of it, several times in the very recent past at the same site. This got me wondering why these qualifying statements always (or seemingly always) attend these exact kinds of posts? I speculate that they are included in anticipation of charges of racism, or of reducing the numbers and kinds of negative responses one is liable to get when identifying racial peculiarities of this sort unattended by such qualifying statements.
Now, (a little qualification of my own here) I'm not implying it's wrong or useless or anything of the sort to continually attach these qualifications to these kinds of posts, but I am wondering how useful it truly is to attach them to virtually every racially sensitive entry. If the purpose is to control the negative feedback, as I speculate, I just wonder how well it works; does it actually reduce the number of unfavorable replies one can expect to get on such topics? If there's some other purpose to it, I'd like to know that as well.
Anyone have any ideas?
