A few weeks ago, my comments on Chris Ramsey’s review of Robert O. Self’s All in the Family elicited some heated commentary, along with accusations that I had no business commenting on a book that I had not read.  In defense of my initial post, I must say once again that I was not commenting on anything specific to Self’s book, but rather a narrative of progressive cultural diversification that Ramsey identified as an organizing of Self’s book.  As this is a narrative that should be familiar to anyone reading current academic history, I thought that I was on safe ground using Ramsey’s review as an occasion to take issue with some of the normative assumptions informing this narrative.  Instead, I was accused of taking irresponsible pot shots at Self.  In response to these charges, I have read Self’s book and now wish to return to the issues I raised initially and respond to some of the later comments. Continue reading →