Racist thought and action form the basis, and the history, of racial identity in the United States. And yet it's clear that this history is being changed, not just from generation to generation, but even within many people's lifetimes. Thompson isn't interested in proving that all whites are potentially aggressive racists, nor does she imply that all racists are secretly victims who have been traumatized into their beliefs. While Withrow's story is about one individual's fight to give up racist ideas, his struggle might apply to people involved with any number of politically conservative movements. The point is that political ideologies can change, and be changed, over time.
Political ambiguity cuts both ways.
In her efforts to raise money to finish filming and editing Blink , Thompson has encountered a great deal of resistance, which at first glance seems puzzling. That certainly wasn't my intent, obviously. To make matters worse, Withrow is articulate and passionate in his belief that he has something to teach about the way fear creates racist hatred, and how people can recover from both. Along with an often unconscious class prejudice, one of the problems for progressives in the United States is their tendency to assume all conservatives and reactionaries are a monolithic lump of ignorance, brutality, ill-conceived moralism, and intolerance. As a result, extreme conservatism is presented to us as a mystical thing, a kind of congenital disease or mind-sapping trauma which cannot be understood or undone.