The Ugly Racism Of Indicting White People For Being White -- And The Ugly Backlash It's Causing
I've always loved that Martin Luther King statement about judging people by the content of their character.
Yet, increasingly we see the "white privilege!" sneer used to pre-punish white people -- for merely existing with their white skin.
It seems to lead to a backlash from some uglier sectors of society, with an increase in ugly groups like KKK chapters in recent years.
It seems that all of this indictment of white people for being white is fueling White Nationalism, writes David Marcus at The Federalist:
From 2014 to 2015, the number of active Klu Klux Klan chapters in the United States grew from 72 to 190, a massive increase for a group so closely associated with hatred. Along with these organized efforts, social media has given a dangerous new platform to white supremacists.One of the key components to the success of this racism is the almost-daily parade of silly micro-aggressions and triggers.
The "white privilege" sneers have done a great job undoing Martin Luther King's thinking as the prevailing idea of how we should all live together. Marcus explains:
A big part of the reason white Americans have been willing to go along with policies that are prejudicial on their face, such as affirmative action, is that they do not view themselves as a tribe....What is new is the direct indictment of white people as a race. This happened through a strange rhetorical transformation over the past few years. At first, "white men are our greatest threat" postings tended to be ironic, a way of putting the racist shoe on the other foot. They were meant to show that blaming an entire race for the harmful actions of a few individuals is senseless.
...One can teach against white supremacy by encouraging students to treat everyone as equal, or at least as individuals not defined in important ways by their race. Privilege theory does not allow for this approach. It demands that differences be front and center and that we always consider a person's race in considering him. This focus on "valuing differences" over "the colorblind model" unlocked the door to the white supremacist revival that today's anti-white rhetoric has kicked open.
...This brings us back to John. What got him "worked up" about privilege theory was not that he'd have to compete for jobs with minorities. He was upset at having to confess guilt for events he had no control over. Many whites feel this way. Moreover, many resent the pedagogical transformations that their history and culture are undergoing. White historical figures once held in too high esteem have swung the other way into utter disrepute. Also, the histories of no other peoples are being held to these lofty standards.
Mohandas Gandhi's racism, the Black Panthers' vicious murders, and Santa Anna's barbarism are understood within the context of their positive contributions. Increasingly, white Americans perceive that Columbus, Jefferson, Jackson, and many other core white historical figures are consistently brought down a peg in order to decentralize whiteness in history. This assault on their history has a deeper impact than many on the Left are aware of, or willing to admit.
via @CathyYoung63
Racial strife drives democrat turnout on election day.
dee nile at May 24, 2016 3:33 AM
Focusing on "white privilege" enables racists to skip the part about "personal responsibility" for their actions.
HRC's walk back on "super predators" panders and takes away any possibility about learning how black youth were destroying black neighborhoods.
Straight talk about both black crime and past racial history (what's changed good/bad) strips away the authority #BLM, Black Panthers, etc. have allocated themselves. This not desired by Dems/Liberals.
We can and should hold the police accountable for their actions and this is certainly possible w/o racial strife.
Bob in Texas at May 24, 2016 5:24 AM
When you are damned if you do and damned if you don't you may as well commit the crime you will do the time for.
Ben at May 24, 2016 5:33 AM
Ben cuts to the heart of the problem.
If you think I have white male privilege, please explain to me why I should give it up?
I R A Darth Aggie at May 24, 2016 5:59 AM
About the KKK, every time someone spams people's cars in a parking lot with KKK flyers, the local progressives get a case of the vapors, and the constabulary is called in to investigate. This has happened in my city a couple of times over the last year or so.
I'm pretty sure the KKK has First Amendment rights, much like the Black Panthers, or #BLM, do. And I'm pretty sure no investigation is launched when the spam is for Bob's Chinese Take Out.
I R A Darth Aggie at May 24, 2016 6:03 AM
Funny, remember how BLM blocked roads and bridges as a protest? Wonder what would happen if the KKK decided to do the same thing.
mer at May 24, 2016 6:27 AM
This understates the damage done by this pattern of thinking.... That we're all just starting as lottery balls tumbling in the Heavenly Bin of souls, randomly dropping down into our corporeal fates... Privileged and or comfortable families in one outcome, or fatherless and torpid in another.
First-- It is the nature of liberal voters to discount the sacrifices and efforts they've made on their own behalf. I don't know why... Perhaps it's a corruption of Christian habits of humility, which when expressed properly represent some of humanity's best postures.
A dirty little secret goes like this: Being a Heterosexual White Guy means accepting an almost endless stream of criticisms and corrections, or at least appearing to accept them. This begins in earliest childhood and it never, ever ends. Several times a day, sometimes dozens, HWG's are expected to silently absorb thousands of subtle challenges, instances of straightforward resistance, and nuanced volleys of psychologically resentful manipulation, all offered in the timbre of Both you and I know you can be doing a better job of things, Edgar.
And the great thing is that it works!... After a few decades of that, you get a high-performance, tolerant, well-engaged individual who'll move into the world to great a substantial amount of wealth (money, interpersonal affection, bonds of trust etc.) without making excuses... And when he can't, he'll move first to change his own behavior rather than trying to lowball other people's expectations of him. When you play the ball where it lies rather than demanding Mulligans, you eventually get to be really good at golf.
Here's the thing though-- That will work for anybody. Any color, any gender, and almost any handicap.
But no contemporary social movement can accept such truths... Their donation coffers and signatory rolls will swell most readily when the leaders of a minority demand concessions of the majority rather than greater discipline and engagement from their flocks.
So why don't white guys speak out about this more often? Why not break down and complain? Perhaps because they prefer a hidden weapon. When you know what it takes to succeed, why share the secret with those who'd want to compete with you? Human nature tends toward sloth, isolation and short-term thinking. So fine, to Hell with the rest of society... Let 'em think that that lowered standards of academic achievement and the interpersonal savagery of divorce courts are the keys to success.
But secondly-- To describe a the blessings of a typically successful and nurturing home as "luck" is odious in the extreme. White, black or Neapolitan, a family that turns a child into a success is working like Hell. Loving parents s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶i̶m̶e̶s̶ often stay in imperfect marriages, making tremendous individual sacrifices because they know it's best for the kids.
So if their aspiring social contenders think success can be achieved through single parenthood, participation medals and something less than the highest standards for everyone in the family, why spoil their illusions? Do your homework, junior... Or don't. Who GAF?
But never, ever tell me that the best families are lucky.
Crid at May 24, 2016 6:44 AM
A divided populace is a populace unable to take on authoritarian government. Thus the authoritarians seek to divide. Race hatred and envy is a good way to do it. One has to look back and see how blacks who were actually discriminated against handled their situation with grace, pressing their case with well-reasoned moral and logical rhetoric. Ultimately, the prejudice against blacks was shown to have no rational or moral basis, and enough people were convinced to flip a nation's opinion.
However: there is a difference in the actual attitude. The prejudice against blacks manifested largely in an attitude that blacks were less intelligent, and/or "unclean" in some vague fashion (hence the separate restaurant seats, drinking fountains, etc). Those were attitudes that could be attacked by a rational moral argument and overcome. On the other hand, the prejudice against whites, particularly white males, manifests in the belief that the discriminated-against class is inherently evil. This is a clever rhetorical trick on the part of the people who promote the prejudice; it pre-invalidates any attempt that the disfavored groups makes to defend themselves: "You're all a bunch of sociopaths; why should we listen to you?"
The case for the disfavored group can only be made effectively by members of the favored groups. But those people face intense social pressure not to do that: accusations of being a tribe-traitor, ostracism, harassment, trolling, vandalism of their property, and sometimes prosecution or threats against their family. Blacks made their case forcefully (in the rhetorical sense) by protesting and marching against their oppressors. The currently disfavored group cannot do that, because any attempt to act in an organized fashion will simply be presented as further proof of their evil intent. The SJWs and favored groups have given themselves a complete pass from having to consider any moral issue involved.
I see no hope of resolution. The only way the spell can be broken is for a large percentage of the population to reject the underlying Cluster B thinking, and since most children these days are being raised to be Cluster B's, I don't see that coming to pass. One of two things will happen. The first is that the disfavored groups will simply fade away -- vanish from polite society and go somewhere else. The SJWs then have to find another scapegoat class. The other is that the disfavored group together and fall back to a defensible perimeter. Either way, it gets ugly after that.
Cousin Dave at May 24, 2016 6:47 AM
I have a hard time caring about people who demonize me as a white male. As far as I'm concerned, those people can collectively go fuck themselves. I'm not alone with this attitude.
Matt at May 24, 2016 6:50 AM
To wit, via Cosh.
Crid at May 24, 2016 6:52 AM
I want to say it again, just because no acquired taste is as gratifying as that for unpleasant truth:
Totally transgressive, right?Crid at May 24, 2016 9:31 AM
Well said, Crid, well said.
Jay R at May 24, 2016 10:09 AM
There are plenty of white people in prison--not very privileged. Or how about the white people working at Wal-Mart? privileged? If you grew up white in an all-white town, there was no way for you to have any privilege.
We can talk of advantages such as having 2 parents who are not in jail, and perhaps some extra life smoothness at airports and things, but this does not cause the disadvantage of minorities. There is no point where I can look back with even perfect hindsight and say that I took advantage of some minority. If anything, I have given work to polish, hispanic, black and other tradesmen to fix my house (alas, too often). I have hired temporary software people without ever meeting them and from multiple ethnicities. I have helped people find jobs. Nor can anyone point to instances where minorities are denied service. The main disadvantage, shared by all ethnic groups, is coming from a poverty background and a broken home. This causes all sorts of trouble.
We can note that college protesters can not point to specifics in their complaints, but rather claim to not feel welcomed at the U. But I never felt welcomed. My profs played hide-and-seek when I needed to see them and never told me I was loved. Professors could be a jerk and I had no recourse. What these students suffer from is starting out with a disadvantage. But that disadvantage is not CAUSED by white people as individuals, it is perhaps a legacy of past injustice but you cannot claim white individuals today are engaged in this type of injustice without proof. Generic guilt is purely a political ploy.
Craig Loehle at May 24, 2016 11:31 AM
In college my first year, I was getting really bad grades. My 19 yr old self tried to find excuses, but with no-one to blame I realized I would have to redouble my efforts. I succeeded in doing so and graduated with honors. It was not privilege, my parents never taught me how to study or be organized or be disciplined. I for sure preferred to have fun.
Redoubling efforts is what the Jews did in response to hundreds of years of REAL oppression, including being not being allowed to own property or enter many professions in Europe and being excluded from the US ivy league schools until recently. The result is that 3% of the population has garnered something like 30% of the US Nobel Prizes. Orientals tend to believe that your grades are the result of hard work, so they work hard. They don't believe it is luck.
Craig Loehle at May 24, 2016 11:42 AM
"... your grades are the result of hard work, so they work hard. They don't believe it is luck."
Microaggressor! Das raciss!
By the way, "oriental" and "negro" have both been banished from use in Federal documents -- too raciss!
JayR at May 24, 2016 11:52 AM
"You're all a bunch of sociopaths; why should we listen to you?"
They may say that, or imply it, but they don't actually believe it.
If they did, they'd mess their pants. A simple look and "if I'm an actual sociopath, you should be nice to me, or you'll die screaming." should do the trick.
I R A Darth Aggie at May 24, 2016 12:48 PM
"If you think I have white male privilege, please explain to me why I should give it up?"
As I understand it, you can't. If you're white, you're privileged and you're guilty and there is no way to ever make up for it or exculpate yourself. That leaves only two possible responses: the endless left-wing breast-beating, self-accusation, and embrace of every loony idea (reparations, anyone?), or the commonsensical, "Can't do anything about it, so ... moving on."
Szoszolo at May 24, 2016 3:26 PM
Fuck it! I've heard all this crap about ME being privileged for my entire life.
And it always comes from those who, despite being a "minority" or female, have had more and better opportunities than I've had.
I've worked, and worked HARD, to get where and what I've got - they just want to take something that isn't theirs.
So, yea, unless it is a family member or a personal friend I no longer speak up when I see someone else being "discriminated" against because I believe they would NOT do anything for me when I'm the victim - Heck, they might even join in with being the bigot against me (and some have!).
charles at May 24, 2016 5:34 PM
Funny ain't it
How ANIMALS and SUBHUMANS shitting all over white people causes them to BAND TOGETHER
Niggers.
Feminists.
Social Justice "warriors"
Animals.
Subhumans.
Garbage.
Trash.
NOBODIES.
All blaming DEM EBIL WITE NIGGAS for all their fucking problems
While leeching off white people TO FUCKING SURVIVE
Only a matter of time til the Race Wars and "Social Justice" wars pit WHITE HUMANITY against SUBHUMAN GARBAGE and SOCIAL JUSTICE "WARRIORS"
Sebine at May 24, 2016 6:38 PM
G6 away.
Crid at May 24, 2016 6:55 PM
I for one would like to welcome Sebine to the blog.
It's about time we had a REAL intellectual here. Admit it. That post was as dazzling as a brony in a glitter shop.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at May 24, 2016 9:04 PM
"Go." Typo. Sorry.
It's one of those teentsy micro-laptops the sometimes doubles up keyboard functions.
Crid at May 25, 2016 5:36 AM
I didn't know things were this bad. I have to figure out how to split up my family.
MarkD at May 25, 2016 7:50 AM
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