Race in the Culture Wars

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The work reads like a cautionary tale.  The idea of race as emerging out of a desire to differentiate, categorize and rank-order groups and individuals is a cogent one (8). Resistance to the ideas is capable of   igniting culture wars under extreme conditions.  His/her argument that Northern Ireland was a country that was not carved out of a collective identification and therefore absent a collective identity does correspond well with the idea of America and the exclusion of Blacks from the national/founding narrative. My only caveat is that while protestants had the aid of Great Britain in their struggle, no such foreign intervention is available for Black Americans.

Even so, his/her ideas are valuable and insightful.  I would like to see a succinct summary of the steps/process that can lead to violence would be helpful  in the conclusion. 

There are a few typographical errors that should be addressed with a final close reading.  

Author Response

I found these comments very helpful. I will include them in my revision, most particularly the inclusion of a summary of the steps from culture war to real war in the Conclusion. 

Reviewer 2 Report

The writing was solid. I suggested a few revision to strengthen the overall paper. 

Author Response

As with the other reviewers, I found these comments constructive and very helpful. I will revise my manuscript accordingly.

Reviewer 3 Report

Dear Colleague(s):

In my opinion, Race in the Culture Wars gives the impression of being more of an opinion article than an academic one, although that does not seem to be its intention. I think the intention of the article is pertinent, but it should be reinforced by quotations or references that support some assertions or intuitions that are deployed throughout; these would also be useful to be clear about the reference points that drive the work and thus guide the readers. Finally, request a reflection on the place in which the issue of race and culture war are a religious issue.

It is an interesting article that, in my opinion, does not take the precaution of sufficiently justifying -with neither primary nor secondary data- so it would be necessary to review the references and citations throughout the article. As an example, it would be necessary to justify:

1. Some sentences require information to be provided because they are not always entirely clear to any reader, whether from one's own or from other disciplines, vr.gr. Line 78 (which books); You should explain the choice of authors such as DuBois and D'Souza in the context of your reflection, as they are works that require an explanation. Likewise, understand the linkage of works such as those referenced in the bibliography with these authors

2. There are assertions or intuitions that need further explanation or justification and, if necessary, citation to identify the deliberations from wich they originate. vr.gr. The lines: (vr. gr. Lines 369-370, 373, 376, 379, among others).

3. The notion of racism, although it is treated in some way, although without greater depth, needs to be updated. Within the bibliography, only one bibliography from 1998 appears, that is, with twenty-five years of debates on the role of race in conflictive, confessional and religious issues. e.g. Racism and democracy by Boas; Said's Culture and Imperialism, in which he deals with cultural and ideological wars.

4. The notion of culture war is, as the article points out, complex; Although the article opts for one of them, being its cor, it is not entirely clear why this type of war leads to real wars, it should offer a more precise wording, to understand the pros and cons of its use and its transition or reconfiguration.

4.1. The third part of the article and the conclusions (by its wording, a sort of final reflection, thought in progress) refers to what the author understands as the transition from the cultural war to an open and direct war, a real war (Lineas 268ff). As the saying goes, war is war; wars of low intensity or of cultural domination can be vehicular in it, so the reasons why the cultural war leads to a real war (when racism is a low-intensity but sustained war). Talking about war in the abstract.

4.2. Given the importance of the proposal, there are only two secondary quotations and that of the Sinn Fein leader, but it is required -in my opinion- for the author to support his proposal with first-hand documents or secondary sources that systematically draw on them. The interesting thing about this work is not to reproduce commonplaces that in the end only reproduce that subtle racism found in many studies and that paradoxically reproduces the racialized way of understanding historical events.

5. I have decide to accept it after major revision.

I no have comments.

Author Response

As the first reviewer, I found these comments very helpful and I will include them as I make my revision. Specifically, I will better ground my argument with textual references. I will follow the reviewer's suggestion regarding inclusions of major works by Boas and Said. I will clarify the steps from culture war to real war and elaborate on what I see as the similarity and difference between the two, contrary to what the reviewer suggests, I do not believe that 'war is war'. I will bolster my argument with more citations and documentary sources. 

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

I accept the modifications to your work, thank you very much.

It's never too much of a matter of editorial revision.