Fireside Chats, Episode 59: The Black Moderate
Added 2018-10-16 16:00:02 +0000 UTCRondale Williams is a veteran of the US Navy, a software engineer with a college degree in history, and a moderate black man in contemporary America. It's the latter point that makes him unusual, at least from the perspective of modern politics, which often considers minority voters reliable blocs, and not individuals with unique thoughts, ideas, aspirations, and ideologies. Rondale and I sat down for a little over an hour to discuss his unique path through life, growing up in Hartford, Connecticut around black nationalist influences, right on through his time here in Southern California, where he found himself in a tech industry being overrun with a virulent strand of PC culture, the kind of culture that long ago lost sight of what egalitarianism and merit is all about.
Comments
The problem stems from people who genuinely felt oppressed by a society that wouldn't accept them and treated them horribly. So now that society is more tolerant, that bitterness never went away, so they act spiteful. It went from wanting your personal characteristics to simply be acknowledged, to forcing anyone and EVERYONE to have to accept it, and condemn them if they don't. The 'bullied have become the bullies', as it were. Then you have the people who crusade on their behalf, using their morals as an excuse to project self-righteousness to a nauseating level. We've shifted extremes; from not accepting different lifestyles, to those very lifestyles being treated as THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. So for as well-meaning as some of it is, it's a nightmare for those caught in the middle.
JusticeSoulTuna
2019-01-09 00:28:12 +0000 UTCHe was great! (And yes, Vortex rules.)
Colin Moriarty
2019-01-08 23:53:21 +0000 UTCMaybe it's just me as a white, straight male, but I have no idea why anyone would -- or would want to -- reduce themselves to characteristics they cannot control, and that ultimately have no relevance. I really don't believe skin color, gender, identity, etc. has relevance beyond what the individual places in that. I don't think about my straighteness, whiteness, or maleness at all, ever. I am who I am. Shouldn't that be true for all of us?
Colin Moriarty
2019-01-08 23:53:10 +0000 UTCVortex rules. =)
Colin Moriarty
2019-01-08 23:52:14 +0000 UTCloved this episode, Rondale seems like a super good dude. Also i live in the metro Atlanta area and also absolutely love the Vortex. Best burger you can get ( at a restaurant ).
Tim Rutledge
2018-10-25 18:55:07 +0000 UTCThis resonates with me SO much. There are plenty of black people, like me, that don't live our entire lives defined by our skin color, yet we're treated like shit, by OTHER black people, for not acting perpetually oppressed. It's like we're supposed to constantly have the 'black' perspective or act that way. And in the gaming space, it's the same thing. 'Black gamers' and 'black influencers' are given so much props for standing out, and I think that's gross, when really we should be highlighting who they are as people. I'm NOT a black gamer, I'm a gamer that's black. And I'm a moderate too. I don't openly say that cause people immediately treat me like crap. The same people who talk about equality, diversity and treating people with fairness are the SAME ones to shit on you when you don't follow groupthink about women and minorities. So it's great to see someone who understands the experience of being a black person surrounded by people who want you to treat your entire life like your skin color is all that matters.
JusticeSoulTuna
2018-10-25 16:40:07 +0000 UTCAwesome shoutout for the Vortex! Also very interesting chat, Rondale made some very interesting comments.
Peter Mark
2018-10-24 17:56:48 +0000 UTCVery interesting. I would agree with you and say that's probably unusual, but obviously that's awesome for you. <3
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-22 00:55:04 +0000 UTCShe sucks. Thanks for listening!
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-22 00:54:41 +0000 UTCGood episode! As far as you saying if you wonder if there are some black people who think it has maybe been not as bad I for one am a black man and I've lived almost all my life in South Dakota one of the whitest states there are and I can tell you I've NEVER experienced racism. Not something you hear often but It's true for me.
Tyler Bello
2018-10-21 18:55:55 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed listening to this when I had to time to catch up. He was an interesting guy with lots of intriguing views. Also liked the trash-talking of Candice Owens. I can't stand her.
Peter Campbell
2018-10-20 21:43:37 +0000 UTCI'm glad you enjoyed the show, Cameron. Thanks for listening!
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-20 01:32:06 +0000 UTCAs someone who is getting their Masters in Data Science this show was a fantastic listen. Loved the discourse of ideas.
Cameron O'Neill
2018-10-20 01:08:59 +0000 UTCGlad you enjoyed it. Thanks for listening!
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-19 19:47:37 +0000 UTCThis was a great conversation and my feelings exactly on racism in America.
Brandon Kirzeder
2018-10-19 17:48:00 +0000 UTCOh yeah look at that. For some reason I was under the impression all of the fireside chats were an hour and change, but your last three were substantially longer.
desperateLuck
2018-10-18 16:28:53 +0000 UTCI’ve actually taken a ton of Calculus and Statistics courses. Maybe, next time Colin and I can talk about that a lot more.
Rondale Williams
2018-10-18 14:37:42 +0000 UTCYeah Colin. Most of the scuttlebutt on the ground from people I've talked to both black and white is they wish this shit would just go away. In my experience most people just want you to go to work, mind your own business, and not rock the boat unless it needs rocking. (Which sometimes it definitely does, but not so much now.) I don't know who, or for what reason, but it feels like "somebody" is trying to get us to go to war with each other.
Jason Stafford
2018-10-17 22:00:19 +0000 UTCI've actually listened to that book on Audible.
Rondale Williams
2018-10-17 21:56:01 +0000 UTCI really need to get (much) further into Sowell.
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-17 21:54:16 +0000 UTCI just let them go for as long as the conversation flows. It really depends on the episode you're talking about. With this one, though, I felt like we let it conclude naturally.
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-17 21:54:01 +0000 UTCI think that's the concern(s) of most folks anywhere in the country, Jason, which goes to show you how disconnected the narrative is from reality.
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-17 21:53:23 +0000 UTCIt's a terrible and ridiculous term, as if anyone owns what it is or what it means to be black.
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-17 21:52:54 +0000 UTCHow do you know he isn't?
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-17 21:52:25 +0000 UTCI'm really glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for listening!
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-17 21:52:19 +0000 UTCThank you!
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-17 21:52:07 +0000 UTCI don't think so, but I'd be perfectly happy to have any number of Trump supporters on the show. They've just not made themselves known or available.
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-17 21:52:03 +0000 UTCI don't think I know anyone anywhere that gives a shit about race.
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-17 21:51:39 +0000 UTCThat's kind of the argument I make in the episode: The black community is, by most accounts, completely conservative. It's time for a real conservative movement to embrace them.
Colin Moriarty
2018-10-17 21:51:27 +0000 UTCFantastic book that touches on a lot of the things mentioned in this convo, especially about southern "honor culture" <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Black-Rednecks-Liberals-Thomas-Sowell/dp/1594031436" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/Black-Rednecks-Liberals-Thomas-Sowell/dp/1594031436</a>
Finn
2018-10-17 16:18:21 +0000 UTCReally cool perspective, I agree that a lot of people use mathematical terms/ideas when discussing social issues without really understanding the full implications (including me). It would have been interesting to dive into that idea deeper from someone that does understand statistics and the like. Like a lot of the fireside chats I wish this one was around the 2 hr mark. Seems like a better time frame to let ideas really breathe. Are these kept around 1 hr just because of a time shortage? Or is it a formatting choice.
desperateLuck
2018-10-17 14:21:58 +0000 UTCAha! Just what I came here for! Fantastic conversation.
TheTwitGamer
2018-10-17 13:21:26 +0000 UTCNo shit? Awesome!
Jason Stafford
2018-10-17 12:51:27 +0000 UTCYeah. Extremely sad. I guess if you don’t fall in the bubble, you automatically lose your black card. Not that I care. They can have that black card back for all I care.
Rondale Williams
2018-10-17 12:50:06 +0000 UTCCool. I felt most people in Atlanta didn’t care about my race too. My mom actually lives in Rome. She likes it a lot there.
Rondale Williams
2018-10-17 12:49:04 +0000 UTCThis was a great listen. Thanks for coming on the show Ron! It was cool to hear you were in Atlanta for a time. I live about an hour northwest of Atlanta in Rome. Atlanta feels like an alien planet to me sometimes. My area tends to be about 3 counties here in Georgia and aside from the occasional redneck, race seems to be mostly a non-issue. People are way more concerned with sports and putting food on the table than anything else. It was really cool to hear your experiences and perspective.
Jason Stafford
2018-10-17 11:40:58 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed the episode. Being black and having different views without being called a Uncle Tom these days is pretty sad.
Brandon H
2018-10-17 01:11:12 +0000 UTCI'm on Twitter at @RonInLaLa
Rondale Williams
2018-10-16 21:43:37 +0000 UTCRon, good conversation!! What's your twitter handle? Couldn't find it. EDIT: Nevermind, saw your follow-up post.
German Efficiency
2018-10-16 21:42:56 +0000 UTCAwesome. I'm glad you guys liked.
Rondale Williams
2018-10-16 21:38:16 +0000 UTCI liked this guy but in the twitter thumbnail he looked like the black version of you.
There’s No I in LLC
2018-10-16 20:57:19 +0000 UTCI very much enjoyed this episode. It's nice and refreshing to have someone of my color on the show. I learned alot and shared alot with Rondale's thoughts and experiences throughout.
Marcus Brown
2018-10-16 20:35:25 +0000 UTCThis was a nice discussion!
Joey Finelli
2018-10-16 19:38:58 +0000 UTCHave you had anyone on fireside chat that actually voted for Trump? I keep hearing “I voted for Johnson” or “I didn’t vote for trump but...”.
Tyler
2018-10-16 19:28:24 +0000 UTCAnecdotal experience of mine, I have grown up in the very conservative mormon Utah and I don’t know anyone that gives a shit about race
Tyson Williams
2018-10-16 18:21:51 +0000 UTCI'm looking forward to this. People have the black community so confused. Traditionally the black community would arguably be conservative, just like hispanics due to our deeply religious and Christian background but long standing elements of the right has pushed and kept the black community liberal, but moderately so. I'm hype for this. Keep up the great work!
Jeshua Anderson
2018-10-16 16:40:13 +0000 UTC
