Washington (AFP) - Hollywood star Liam Neeson insisted on Tuesday he was "not racist" after confessing that he once set out to attack a random black man after a friend of his told him she had been raped.
"I'm not a racist," Neeson said on ABC News, while admitting he had felt a "primal urge to lash out" about 40 years ago after hearing from his close friend that she had been attacked by a black man. ...
Four points from yours truly:
(1) Obviously, Neeson was not searching for a "random black man," but one who would attack him, probably because he is a white man in the wrong place;
(2) Neeson inadvertently admits to tribal feelings. These are natural--not taught. They have always been with us and will always be;
(3) Ironically, Neeson also inadvertently demonstrates the relatively higher place honor and fairness plays in white societies. How many blacks would go out to exact revenge on whites and only do so if they were attacked by some white man for just being black in a white area?
(4) People ask, besides possible publicity for his film, why oh why would Neeson confess this after forty years? My educated guess: Neeson decided to perform the highest level of virtue-signaling: self-confession. Recall the Maoist Red Guards who would denounce themselves as not being sufficiently Maoist. After all, what better way to advertise that you are the ultimate Maoist?
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