Robin Hanson & Twitter
Robin Hanson is someone I deeply admire on multiple levels. That said, he’s currently facing intense criticism for a bizarre tweet and I can’t say the reaction is in any way unjustified. He tweeted (now deleted):
“So what food is appropriate to celebrate Juneteenth? We actually like fried chicken & watermelon a lot.”
Hanson was my professor and I socialized with him outside of class on several occasions, and I can't fully place him. I definitely lean towards the idea that he's just an intensely curious and open-minded individual but is also hobbled with a near-cluelessness about how he presents to the world, especially those that disagree with him. His curiosity and willingness to entertain ANY idea, no matter how bizarre or offensive, is probably his prime attribute, but it also gets him into trouble.
His colleagues (most notably Bryan Caplan) tend to always rush to his defense, usually in the form of a statement arguing Hanson has no ill will and just happens to be misunderstood. I'm largely sympathetic to this notion for the most part....but that last tweet severely hampered my presumption of good faith for Hanson. Both watermelon and fried chicken were included in D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation, specifically the scene portraying black politicians eating fried chicken inside the legislature and throwing bones on the floor.
I can't think of a good reason to try and associate a well-established trope portraying blacks as sloppy rubes with a holiday commemorating their emancipation from bondage. It's hard for me to not see that as an attempt to belittle the day as a trite distraction. His defense is that he was genuinely curious and he points to multiple articles specifically offering fried chicken and watermelon to celebrate Juneteenth. I think that's a totally fair point, but it's still hard to shake off the suspicion that he was actually trolling, and then quickly slipped back into the JAQing off shell.
Not only that, but Hanson does not strike me as the type of person who legitimately enjoys "celebrating" holidays through the act of eating specific foods. He, more than anyone else in the world, should comprehend how social signaling would work. He coined the term "politics is not about policy" after all. So I'm suspicious that he even cares about celebrating any special day, and for him to immediately associate it with well-worn tropes about how blacks are sloppy and uncivilized struck me and pretty much everyone else as an attempt to denigrate or dismiss the day into a forgettable occasion notable only for the excuse to eat unremarkable and common food.
The context is relevant too. Fried chicken is a low class food for the most part, so starting a conversation about celebrating a moment like Juneteenth by suggesting eating a low class food is not indicative of an earnest attempt at memorial. I see watermelon as potentially more defensible if you pair it some explanation. For example, watermelons became associated with black people as a sign of economic independence. There's also the story of a slave slipping a watermelon at the bottom of a cotton basket to bolster his daily quota. Had Hanson suggested eating watermelon while also explaining why it's particularly appropriate, I wouldn't have seen an issue (others undoubtedly still would have). But when two caricature tropes are just thrown out there with no explanation, I can't tell what the motivation is.
He's a terrifyingly intelligent person, so it's just really hard to fathom that he has a blind spot this large. I want to believe he was not acting in bad faith, but that requires me to accept he's a complete imbecile in some very important areas. The guy should really not tweet, he's not fit the platform's limitations.
Update 7/3/21: Robin Hanson issues an apology. I'm normally in camp "never fucking apologize" but this was egregiously dumb behavior from perhaps the most intelligent person I've ever had the pleasure to interact with. I can say from experience that he definitely doesn't have the best social graces, and it's notable that he anchored his apology on his misunderstanding as to why exactly what he said was so insulting to many. This is distinct from the norm that I observe where people apologize for expressing the wrong ideas.