The New Racialism: Victimism As A Wellspring Of Identity
Tom Slater, deputy editor of Spiked, notes that race has made a comeback -- via a new politics of race:
What unifies it all is a troubling desire to erect racial boundaries - a call for black people to adopt the role of the victim and for white people to self-flagellate in a corner.
I explain this victim role as a way to have unearned power over others. Of course, those grievance-hunting over race have plenty of company from the feminist grievance hunters.
Slater continues:
Revelations that leaders in black-activist organisations, including the NAACP's Rachel Dolezal and (allegedly) BLM's Shaun King, are in fact white, should come as no surprise. In this toxic, racialised climate, political authority is calculated not on the basis of your arguments, or your support from a section of society, but from the position you claim for yourself in a hierarchy of oppression. That some white people are blacking up, and bolstering their credibility by cooking up fake hate crimes against themselves, is only a bizarre expression of the new politics of segregation.March 2015 marked the 50th anniversary of the civil-rights marches from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama. Defiant in their Sunday best, those protesters were the antithesis of the victim-obsessed quasi-radical radicals we see today. Marching in spite of police beatings, targeted assassinations and constant threats from government for them to cease their activities or else, they refused to be cowed - and made it out the other end with undented optimism. On the steps of the Montgomery state capitol, Martin Luther King hailed the coming of 'a day not of the white man, not of the black man' but 'the day of man as man'. In 2015, that day felt as far away as it's ever been.
At the moment, as somebody said at Spiked, "If you're white, you're wrong."
Frankly, if you're American in 2015, you're pretty damn privileged.
This isn't to say we're without racial problems (or many other problems), but legions of people (ugh) "of color" identifying as victims isn't a solution. They are ultimately self-identifying as second-class citizens. Smart!
Related, via @SteveStuWill, a scientific study by Emily M. Zitek, Alexander H. Jordan, Benoît Monin, and Frederick R. Leach at Stanford, "Victim Entitlement to Behave Selfishly." A line from the abstract:
Three experiments demonstrated that feeling wronged leads to a sense of entitlement and to selfish behavior.
Just a question, how 'new' is this? Because it's been this way all my life.
Ben at December 27, 2015 7:08 AM
What's new is how big the movement is becoming.
Amy Alkon at December 27, 2015 7:15 AM
As this goes increasingly violent (Ferguson, Baltimore, and likely Baltimore again. . .), sooner or later, there's going to be a violent pushback.
Y'know, that's the single most prominent achievement of the current administration: all the "racial healing". We're back to the 1970s now in race relations, and heading for the 60s and earlier with a brick holding the accelerator down. . .
Keith Glass at December 27, 2015 7:56 AM
Ignore them. Avoid them. Never vote for them.
Always remember that you do not stop for barking dogs because there is nothing you can do to reassure them.
They are acting out of instinct, fear, or aggression. You will not override these behaviors.
Bob in Texas at December 27, 2015 8:16 AM
Ben; I agree. I've been hearing this crap for the last 35 years or so.
Though, I do agree with Amy; it seems to be getting larger and larger.
And, certainly, is more "in your face" than it ever used to be. It used to be most folks would just talk in the theoretical. Now, however, I find that some will have no problem with going after individuals - in the last 5 years or so I have had folks try to start something racial with me on the NYC subway - just because I'm white and standing or sitting where they wanted to.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I had someone get all racial at the laundromat because I put my laundry in an empty dryer next to the one that she was using. How dare I "invade" her space!
I wonder how much is due to Obama being president? He has helped to foster this attitude quite a bit with his comments such as "typical white woman" or "the police acted stupidly".
charles at December 27, 2015 9:58 AM
Was she planning to use that dryer too and failed to somehow reserve it in time and took it out on you? I don't get it.
lenona at December 27, 2015 10:39 AM
I R A Darth Aggie at December 27, 2015 12:06 PM
I understand now. 2015 was the year you could no longer ignore it.
Ben at December 28, 2015 6:37 AM
Lenona; I'm not exactly sure what set her off. No, it wasn't that she wanted to use that dryer as her machines were almost done. I think it was just that she didn't like that it was a crowd at the laundromat and she just wanted to lash out at someone. And I, being a white guy, was a convenient target for her bigoted worldview.
She got in my face about "white men think they own the place." Literally, just inches from my face. When I spoke back to her, telling her that I was just using an empty machine and asking her to stop annoying me she then played the gender card saying that "what kind of man picks a fight with a woman."
I asked the attendant to call the cops - she didn't. I haven't been back to that Laundromat since. For Christ's sake I was just trying to do my laundry!
I've been tempted to go back when the owner (he is a really nice guy and this is a new place having just opened within the last year) is there to let him know what happened and why I do not want to go to a place of business where I do not feel safe; but, I don't think it would change anything as it is not the first time I witnessed something of this nature. Although it is the first time it has involved me. And too many weeks have passed now anyway.
Ben; yep, it has been happening for years; but, now it is so literally "in your face" that you ignore it at your own peril.
I really do think that Obama has helped to embolden many black racists by his own speaking out with his own racist viewpoint.
And, yea, Obama's "racial healing" is really more about giving power to black bigots. When the pushback comes it will not be pretty.
charles at December 28, 2015 7:37 AM
Don't forget that Obama, through the DOE's Office of "Civil Rights" is doing for college women what his DOJ is doing for blacks. Blow-back and backlash will be inevitable. "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you -- whether you like it not!"
Jay R at December 28, 2015 1:21 PM
Charles,
For the last several years if I see a bunch of young black people coming I grab the kids and skedaddle. It easily could be a flash mob forming. I've got no desire to be robbed or attacked because of the color of my skin. Maybe that wouldn't happen, but it just isn't worth the risk and hasn't been for a while. The only difference I see with 2015 is the Ferguson effect means the cops aren't keeping this stuff contained to the poorer parts of town.
Ben at December 29, 2015 6:53 AM
"I wonder how much is due to Obama being president?"
I think it is not the fact that he is President, as such. I think it is more due to the fact that Obama, currently the most powerful person on Earth, never misses an opportunity to portray himself as a member of a victim class. Rather than trying to heal racial division, he actively encourages it. This isn't really new; it's a strategy that the Democrats have pursued since 1968. Their leadership knows, in their heart of hearts, that their party is little more than a coalition of privilege-seeking groups. Keeping everyone divided and in their swim lanes is necessary to ensure that the rubes don't start forming alliances that could challenge the entrenched ruling class.
Cousin Dave at December 29, 2015 8:36 AM
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