For example, in Moral Deference:  The Right to Bear Witness she argues that:

Anthony L. Hall is a descendant of the Turks & Caicos Islands, international lawyer and political consultant - headquartered in Washington DC - who publishes his own Internet Weblog at www.theipinionsjournal.com offering commentaries on current events from a Caribbean perspective

“If a black was attacked by whites, the experience would act as a constant reminder of the power that the color white and privilege has over his life [and by inference would] make him believe or remind him that he is a second class citizen….The only way a white can achieve moral deference is if through his own personal experiences, he has suffered racism in the exact manner that blacks have.  If and only if that is the case.” [Linda Petrusi]

This is not the forum for me to completely disrobe Ms Petrusi’s commentary of its philosophical garments and lay bare its spurious premise. (Incidentally, it’s noteworthy that she cites the antic musings of Laurence Thomas as the inspiration for her thoughts.  And it’s instructive to know that he earns his daily bread as a professor who stimulates intellectual debates on race matters at Syracuse University.) Nonetheless, I’m obliged to point out that the psychological wound Ms Petrusi inflicts on “a black” in her hypothetical above would only be suffered by a black man who is stuck in a mid-20th Century, Jim-Crow frame of mind.   Because I don’t know any black whose self-esteem and social awareness are so retarded that – if attacked by whites – would “make him believe or remind him that he is a second class citizen.”

It is not surprising therefore that the declarations about white power and privilege she extrapolates from this faulty premise merely echo the fatuous rhetoric of those with a vested political interest in having blacks see themselves as a permanently subjugated (and victimized) class.  After all, Ms Petrusi would have blacks believe that - no matter our own accumulation of power and privilege – we will always see whites as our betters and oppressors.  Whereas, the transformation of consciousness amongst blacks (even those who are poor and uneducated) has evolved to a point where few of us today can imagine feeling haunted by “the power that the color white and privilege has over [our lives]”- as she postulates. 

Indeed, I submit that most blacks – especially throughout the Caribbean – see themselves as masters of their own destinies regardless of white power and privilege; notwithstanding political and intellectual pandering to get them to blame whites for whatever insecurities they may have or failures they may suffer.  Moreover, the reality is that the invincible regard most blacks have for their own psychological and physical power is such that if a black were attacked by whites, far from feeling cowered and scarred, the wonder would be that he did not kick their assess…with one hand tied behind his back!

Unfortunately, even more untenable and uninformed than Ms Petrusi’s characterizations about the minds of black folks are her rationalizations about who has “moral deference: the right to bear witness” to another’s suffering (transcendental empathy?). And, in this respect, she proffers, inter alia, that:

“While it is true that both women and heterosexual men have been raped, the pain and ability to heal from this type of violent act is not equal.  A heterosexual man who has been raped cannot speak about rape without having a biased point of view.  The man (who is traumatized by the event) will in time heal...”

As a moral proposition, however, Ms Petrusi’s concept of the right to bear witness is so devoid of any categorical imperative that it neither enlightens nor instructs.  Never mind its patent contradictions.  For example, she asserts that because a male victim of rape “will in time heal,” he has no right to bear witness to the suffering of a female victim. (Query, however, whether she has the right to bear witness to his? Although, since she cannot possibly suffer in “the exact manner”...) But, given her assertions about the inability of whites to bear witness to the suffering of blacks, it must also follow that even a white female victim of rape has no right to bear witness to the suffering of a black female victim because “a constant reminder of the power that the color white and privilege has” precludes it. 

Furthermore, since Ms Petrusi declares specifically that a “heterosexual man who has been raped cannot speak about rape...,” one is obliged to wonder if a homosexual man who has been raped can “without having a biased point of view?”  And, if not, what about a (black) homosexual male? And, if not him, what about another black female victim of rape? But then, will these black female victims have the right to bear witness to each other’s suffering if one of them is dirt poor and the other filthy rich – having been born to wealth, power and privilege that are now so commonplace amongst blacks (notwithstanding assumptions to the contrary)?  Clearly, to dismiss this as an untenable proposition would be kind...

At this point I’m constrained to dress down Ms Petrusi a little for what can only be considered an arrogant case of intellectual hypocrisy.  Because on the one hand she asserts that the right to bear witness is based on the ability to experience “in the exact manner” what another person has experienced; whilst on the other she expounds authoritatively on how heterosexual men would respond physically and psychologically to being raped; even though, I presume, she has not experienced this trauma as a heterosexual man herself.  It might help Ms Petrusi to know, however, that I have actually taken depositions from (black and white) heterosexual men who have been raped, and that all of them confessed to being so traumatized by the experience that they feared their ability to function sexually and mentally had been permanently emasculated. (So much for her prognosis that male victims of rape “will in time heal.”)
 
Finally, in admonishing citizens on their relationship with politicians, Ms Petrusi postulates that:

“...in order for politicians to bear witness to that pain; it must first be granted to them by the people they claim to represent....Unless and until such trust, confidence and approval have been granted to politicians, they cannot and should not speak.”

But, like the other tenets of her moral-deference theory, this admonition seems little more than an intellectual proposition.  Because how does a politician know when he’s been granted approval to speak? Does he look to opinion polls?  Is it after he’s said “I feel your pain” a million times?  Or is it after he seduces an influential celebrity to grant him this dispensation - like Bill Clinton did until he got black Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison to proclaim that he bore witness to the pain of black folks so naturally that he should be anointed the first black president of the United States?

Alas, it may be that Ms Petrusi shall never cease from exploring all of the permutations of her theory.  But I suspect that at the end of all her exploration, she will merely arrive at the thoroughly mundane social axiom:  “Until you take a walk in my shoes, you won’t know how I feel!”  Therefore, one has wonder not only about the intellectual but also the social import of her commentary...

(Incidentally, am I the only one who recalls how black demagogues argued decades ago that no white had the “moral deference: the right to bear witness” to the black-American experience by making a movie about it…until Steven Spielberg directed The Color Purple to worldwide acclaim?  I wonder who finally granted him approval….)

NOTE:  I have no doubt that in writing her commentary Ms Petrusi’s intentions were honourable and public-spirited.  But I can bear witness to the fact that her prescriptions for race relations only provide intellectual excuses for blacks who prefer to live with a permanent chip on their shoulders.  And, where many blacks in America seem to derive aid and comfort from such excuses, I would hate to see them gain currency amongst my fellow blacks in the Caribbean.