Fetishizing Racism And Other Forms Of Discrimination -- Or Thriving Despite Them
I think there's a trend for people to identify as victimized -- in order to signal themselves to be members of a tribe of victims, as a form of covert narcissism (getting attention through pity and feeling entitled to shame others), and as a way to demand (and sometimes get) unearned power over others.
I think this identification as a victim is one of the more disempowering things a person can do -- which isn't to say that we should all just ignore that some people truly are discriminated against, more than others.
A black conservative I follow on Twitter, @blackrepublican, tweeted something noteworthy the other day along these lines.
Understanding that our goal is to THRIVE despite #racism rather than fetishizing it is, in fact, the plank of "black conservatives."
Understanding that our goal is to THRIVE despite #racism rather than fetishizing it is, in fact, the plank of "black conservatives". #bcot pic.twitter.com/tjqymKdiNK
— BLACK CONSERVATIVE (@blackrepublican) August 23, 2017
That approach has certainly worked for the Jews and the Asians.
But it doesn't require big government so there are insufficient opportunities for graft.
Isab at September 5, 2017 2:48 AM
I've mentioned before that my mother told me that some people hate Jews and will discriminate against me so I'd better work harder and do better than other people.
Amy Alkon at September 5, 2017 5:35 AM
When George Washington Carver was accepted to Highland University in Highland, Kansas, he left his home in Alabama and travelled to Kansas only to be rejected once they saw he was African-American.
He then homesteaded a claim in Kansas, worked as a ranch hand, and did odd jobs to survive. Receiving a $300 bank loan for an education, he studied art at Simpson College in Iowa. His art teacher suggested that with his knowledge of plants, he study botany at Iowa State Agricultural College (later Iowa State University).
He was the college's first African-American student and his acceptance there was greeted with some skepticism due to his race. He confounded his skeptics and was invited to remain at the college as a graduate student and, later, as an instructor.
Granted an opportunity to return to Alabama, he accepted a position as the head of the Agriculture Department at the Tuskegee Institute. To get him, Tuskegee gave him an above average salary, extra lodgings, and a degree of latitude not accorded other instructors.
He taught at Tuskegee for 47 years and gained international renown as a botanist, teacher, and expert in chemurgy (today, he is recognized as a founder of the discipline).
He met and consulted with presidents, kings, and industrialists. Henry Ford sought his help in developing a cheaper seat filler (before foam rubber was an option).
In 1916, he was made a member of England's Royal Society of Arts, at that time one of only a handful of Americans ever accorded the honor.
He was petitioned by trade groups to speak to their conventions and even to testify on their behalf before Congress.
He published articles, scientific papers, and even wrote a syndicated advice column.
How much time do you think Carver spent fretting about racism holding him back?
__________________________________________________
When Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. entered the US Military Academy at West Point in 1932, only 3 African-Americans had ever graduated from the school, none of them in the 20th century. He spent his entire 4 years at West Point being shunned. He was the only African-American there. No one spoke to him, ate with him, studied with him, or roomed with him - unless it was in the line of duty.
When he was graduated and commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the US Army, there was only one other serving line office of African-American descent, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
So, for a while, it was the Davises against the US Army. History records that the Davises won.
Davis, Jr. would go on to join the US Army Air Force and command the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group in Word War II, the legendary Tuskegee Airmen. He would spend an inordinate amount of his time as commander fighting the skeptics back home who wanted to disband the 332nd because colored pilots weren't up to the job.
After the war, he would help the US Air Force become a separate branch of the military and would later help to implement Truman's desegregation order - the USAF was the first branch of the military to fully comply with the order.
Following his military career, he joined the Department of Transportation and was active in getting the National Maximum Speed Law (55mph) passed and implemented in 1974.
How much time do you think Davis spent fretting about racism holding him back?
Conan the Grammarian at September 5, 2017 6:09 AM
Also allows a certain political party to treat them as a group, and shame them into thinking they must vote for their candidates as any other party is comprised of dirty, rotten racists.
I R A Darth Aggie at September 5, 2017 6:41 AM
While I think man's natural state is tribal, I think some people are actually seeking status more than anything else. In social settings they declare, "I'm 1/64 Indian." They don't try to use it, unlike Elizabeth Warren, to get anything more tangible that some small social status.
I suspect this part of the reason for the sudden emergence of the concept of "cultural appropriation." If anybody can claim social status or victim benefits by mere self attestation it will water down the status and benefits.
Bill O Rights at September 5, 2017 7:16 AM
Everybody has someone who doesn't like them for some irrational reason. The xeno-centrism that we are all born with can manifest as dislike of any person based on surface characteristics. Some of these dislikes become patterns that draw public notice; others don't. A person may be disliked because they are black, or because they are white, or because they are a redhead, a Southerner, a Midwesterner, a Valley Girl, tall, short, blue-eyed, brown-eyed, ugly, pretty, a veteran, a plumber, a hairdresser, an artist, a manager, an engineer, a lawyer, a teacher, a poor person, a rich person, a middle class person, or they drive a car that isn't cool. Everyone has some kind of cross to bear.
Now, over time, there have been certain categories of irrational dislikes that have become institutionalized. This is one of the tragedies of the human condition. But just become a person doesn't fit into one of the categories doesn't mean that they have never faced discrimination, and it is unfair to accuse anyone of having "privilege" on this basis -- in fact, to do so is to put them into a category that is designated to be institutionally discriminated against. At that point, morality is gone, and it becomes simply a political power contest.
Cousin Dave at September 5, 2017 7:28 AM
People identify as victims to absolve their responsibility for their own failure. It's a whole lot easier to blame the man, the bully, the girl/boy for ones life being in a hole. It's a lot harder to look that person you see every morning and say nope this is your fault. Been there done that climbed out of the self pity party. Climbed up rebuilt and besides a minor anxiety issue no lasting damage. Well a blind hatred for a former pres that allowed the fat kid from UP to get a hydrogen bomb.
You want it? Go get it. If you didn't get it you either didn't want it or you made some mistake. Yeah shit happens but the problems will usually trace to your reaction. Telling your wife that after XYZ you aspire to be a homeless alcoholic even in jest was a really stupid decision. One of many.
walter at September 5, 2017 8:06 AM
Many people find themselves to not get as many breaks as perhaps they deserve. Maybe they are not popular. Maybe they are short, or ugly, or fat, or socially awkward. Some people never find a true love, never have kids, have some handicap. Maybe they don't even deserve a break because they start fights and do drugs. Life is tough. White people don't live in paradise. They get laid off too. They have mean or crazy bosses. The problem is when you think all the tough luck is because you are a minority or female. That is what happens with the paranoia inspired by the SJWs: the ordinary hardships of life are viewed through a Marxist lens, where it must be someone's fault. In college when I flunked the first chem test, I desperately looked for some excuse to get me off the hook--but since it was 45 years ago, there was no excuse and I just had to admit I didn't know how to study. Doubled-down and got a C.
Just to be clear, I am not talking about the US in 1932 or 1886, but today.
cc at September 5, 2017 2:35 PM
When a member of a recognizable marginalized group is seen to be victimized by a member of the ruling group,that's a deposit in the moral authority bank account.
Hence, George Zimmerman, half Hispanic and blacker than Homer Plessey, was white for the purpose because a deposit was needed and we didn't have any actual white guys available.
Meantime, Roderick Scott (aka "who?" shot and killed Chris Cervini (aka "who?") under circumstances far more egregious than that of the Martin case. See CCL training.
Scott was also acquitted. But since the races were reversed, this was a withdrawal from the moral authority account and had to be deep-sixed.
See Matthew Shepard vs. Jesse Dirkhising.
So our society is gaited to accept certain assertions of victimization, and ignore others which may be considerably more severe. It all depends.
Richard Aubrey at September 6, 2017 4:20 AM
Davis, Jr. wrote, in his autobiography, that he never realized until he himself joined the Army what an accomplishment it was for his father to win a commission - a black man from the non-commissioned ranks being commissioned in the 19th century US Army. After serving in the cavalry, Davis, Sr. slowly made his way up the officer ranks, becoming the US Army's first African-American general.
Davis, Jr. wrote that his father's quiet dignity and strength are what encouraged him to persevere in the face of the extreme prejudice he faced. He cited an incident where Davis, Sr., in full dress uniform, stood up to the Klan without violence as an example.
Perhaps if kids today saw more examples of quiet dignity and strength, they'd be less likely to burn things and more likely to persevere.
Conan the Grammarian at September 6, 2017 8:51 AM
Leave a comment