Our society is in crisis. We are looking into our abyss on gender, and on race, and many of us don’t like what we’re seeing. ◊♦◊ A month ago, Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger illegally entered the apartment of Botham Shem Jean and shot him dead. Except for “Dallas Police Officer,” this should have been…
Category: Good Men Project
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devolved!
In 1970, following the wake of the Kent State University shootings, three art students from the university formed a band around the concept of de-evolution, their theory that humanity was degrading. The resulting band, Devo, had its peak from 1978 to 1984. During this same time span, Hollywood released a series of movies that, taken…
Stand With Victims, Not With Perpetrators
Men, it’s well past time that we stop tolerating our culture’s attitude on rape. I believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. I believe her when she says, when she was 15, a then-17 Brett Kavanaugh tried to rape her. I do not excuse his behavior because he was “young”; at 17, he was old enough to…
Why Do We Romanticize Pirates?
This Wednesday, September 19, is the annual Talk Like a Pirate Day. So it seems like a good time to rant about our culture’s infatuation with pirates. I’m about to ruin Pirate Santa Claus for white people. Why do we romanticize pirates? I was thinking about this recently, regarding a teacher education book called “Teach…
The Complications of School Bathroom Policies
I’ve written in the past about school dress codes. There’s another topic that’s just as complicated, and that’s also getting attention in the news lately: Bathroom pass policies. Last month, a middle school teacher’s policy notice went viral. For people outside of education, the policy (two passes a month, no more) might have seemed draconian….
A Product of His Times
My father said the n-word when I was young. Often. Casually, and sometimes in anger. My father was not a terrible person. He was a liberal Christian minister. He did good works for his community, and he did extensive missionary work in Liberia, a country whose modern culture was built by freed slaves. The common…
R-E-S-P-E-C-T and the Toxic Man
Okay, men, listen up. Many of you claim to not understand what “rape culture” and “toxic masculinity” are. So here’s a lesson. This weekend, the nation honored Aretha Franklin, one of the greatest musicians ever to grace us with her presence. The Queen of Soul brought a consistent woman-empowering message, including through her most famous…
A Caucasian Problem
I have a strong opinion on the word “Caucasian.” Short version: If you’re white, stop using it immediately. I simply don’t think it’s possible to claim to want to tear down racism while actively using one of its keystones. There is one reason alone why white people of European descent got to be called “Caucasian.” Scientific racists…
Students Protesting During the Pledge of Allegiance
Earlier this year, an 11-year-old student testified that her teacher confronted her after she chose to kneel during the Pledge of Allegiance. As children return to school, and as athletes continue to kneel for the National Anthem, it seems like a good time to look at the question: What rights do students have with regards to…
The Tale of the N-Word Tape
Donald Trump, a conservative 72-year-old American businessman, has said some things that have stretched the limits of credulity in his career. Here’s one of his latest, regarding Omarosa Manigault Newman’s claim that she has a tape of him saying the n-word: “I don’t have that word in my vocabulary, and never have.” Now, to be…