Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

I have been subscribing to Christopher Rufo for months for know-thine-enemy reasons.

He sends these long messages that you can read all the way through, right in your email inbox. The story he wants you to read and how he wants you to interpret it is right in front of your face. It’s easy, it’s convenient. He’s got a catchy subject line. You get drawn into reading. He might invite you to watch a well-produced video. At the end of each communication, there is a call to action: to help him in “the fight against Critical Race Theory” by donating. His format takes away every excuse you might have for not engaging with his content and contributing to his cause.

By contrast, I get an email from the Boston Center for Antiracist Research, headed by Ibram X. Kendi. It’s an invitation to a symposium. I’ve gotten at least 5 communications from Christopher Rufo since the last time I heard from Kendi. The subject line is dull. The biggest thing in the email body is a grid of so many panelists that their pictures and the titles under them are too small to see well, even on my very large computer monitor. The longest text in the email body is a diversity and accessibility statement. This email is hard to read, and it is boring. The content after I click the “Register” button is boring.

I realize that these are different types of entities in that Rufo’s think tank exists to directly influence people and policy, and Kendi’s…