The left has been making great inroads in their quest to remake
society to their own specifications. From their perches in
the media, universities
and the halls of Congress, secular progressives (meaning Godless liberals) are winning
the culture war. Their tactics are simple. Take control of a certain issue and immediately
go on the offense.
First, change the rules of debate to stigmatize dissenters. Then change the meaning
of words to mean whatever they want them to mean (and outlaw certain others). Finally,
keep opponents so busy trying to prove a negative they simply neglect to address
the core issue. Presto. Case closed.
Nowhere are these tactics more evident
than when discussing race in America.
Despite great strides made by middle class blacks in recent years, despite the almost
complete lack of overt racism, the left is bound and determined to keep alive the
idea of a racist America. Their weapon is white guilt and their modus operandi is
forcing any dissenters to prove a negative i.e.: "I am not a racist." Think Trent
Lott.
In any case, many Americans have fallen for this tactic hook, line and sinker. We're
so busy trying to prove we're not racist
that the
issue of race is now defined and controlled by the SP's.
Granted, America is a 'guilt' society. If you believe the 5% of the population that
comprises the self anointed 'elites', you get the idea that America is now and has
always been a racist nation. Maybe it's not overt...but it's still THERE. It might
be invisible...but Americans are racist. Period.
A new twist on an old canard is called 'institutional' racism. (The kind you can't
see but you know it's there..) And blacks are not going to stand for it. No way!
As a matter of fact, things are so racist in America, Barack Obama recently
warned that blacks are in danger of a 'quiet riot.' I guess 'quiet riot' is a riot
that hasn't happened yet, but it's real, just the same. And it's "threatening to
erupt just as riots in LA did 15 years ago." Hmmmm...
Promoting and exploiting racism is a thriving cottage industry. It allows the race
hustlers to cash in on increasingly imaginary wrongs and it allows leftists a way
to claim the moral high ground with no positive action on their part. Merely being
against racism is enough to ensure your membership in the club of the self righteous.
You know....the ones who hold all those cocktail parties.
I wouldn't be surprised if a market in 'race credits' is started. When the thought
police interpret something you say as being 'racist' why then, for $25.00 (price
would depend on severity of the thought) you can be 'redeemed.' Heck, I'd even offer
a deluxe package for repeat offenders.
The left has been so successful in defining the race issue that even conservatives
are forced to play along with infantile word games...like using 'the N word' instead
of saying nigger. Nigger is a no no, bringing to mind as it does, the actuality
of past slavery. Which is not to say that some blacks don't still fit the definition,
(can I say that?) as do some whites, if you want to get technical.
People who use nigger as a descriptive word say more about themselves than about
the black race. Low class, mindless, bigoted, whatever. The point being, we will
always have people like this. The larger point being, what business is it of anyone
other than the parties involved if some redneck wants to show how ignorant he is?
The reality is, no matter how hard the left works to eradicate 'racism' it will
always be with us.
Some blacks will always hate some Mexicans. Some Mexicans will always hate some
Asians. Some Shiites will always hate some Sunnis...get my drift? We're talking
human nature here. And no matter how hard they try, the left can't change human
nature any more than they can legislate morality.
If I see four black teenagers walking down the street at night, you can bet I'm
going to cross to the other side. It's called 'common sense.' Reality can be pretty
harsh but you don't live to a ripe old age by ignoring it. Most crime is committed
by young blacks. There, I've said it. We all know it's true...so what I'd like to
know is, when did it become impermissible to acknowledge reality?
The reality is, thanks to race pimps like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, two whole
generations of blacks have been sacrificed. They been brought up to 'hate whitey'
and believe that America owes them a living. They have been taught that the deck
is stacked against them by whitey and they, by golly, are oppressed. This mindset
is what keeps young blacks down, not 'racism.'
Shelby Steele points out in his book White Guilt that at the time of the
Civil Rights Act, black America made an implicit bargain with white America. Blacks
agreed to let the government be in charge of their future progress instead of taking
the reins themselves. This was the bargain. In return, they got welfare programs,
jobs programs and a veritable word soup of feel-good programs designed to pacify
instead of uplift. Hence, the power to shame, to play on white guilt in order to
win concessions based on past victimisation became the new black power.
What white America got was a way to distance themselves from the sin of slavery.
A way to show friends, neighbours and the world at large how non-racist they were.
What did it matter if the programs hurt more than helped? The point was, and always
has been, to prove the moral worth of white Americans, not to help the fortunes
of black Americans.
A case can be made that the rate of black progress was going along just fine until
the government stepped in. Enter racial hucksters and do-gooders, a lethal combination.
The decline of the black family, the increased illegitimacy, poverty, one-parent
homes, welfare moms, and a whole variety of social ills can be traced back to that
moment, to that bargain. In addition, blacks got a pass on any accountability that
continues to this day. Another stake in their heart.
In point of fact, in the last 5 years, blacks have made greater strides in terms
of increased incomes than have whites. The overt discrimination of the past is pretty
much eradicated. Americans are, after all, a fair and decent people. Which is why
it irks me to see this racial charade continue. Cashing in on white guilt, actually
inventing more pathologies in order to continue to cash in on white guilt, is increasingly
destructive to blacks and whites. Besides, being forced to constantly prove that
'I'm not racist' is getting old.
The legitimate 'black rage' of the past is now merely black opportunism. The embrace
of mediocrity as a means to social fairness (as defined by the left) has hurt our
country. The lowering of the bar to accommodate ever increasing numbers of 'the
oppressed' has demeaned us all. I, for one, am not going to play by those rules any
more.
I think I'll take my cue from Martin Luther King and judge people by the content
of their character instead of the color of their skin. I can hear the howls already...
white noise.
I alone know what is in my heart and I refuse to let legions of secular progressives
and overeducated 'elites' tell me what I can think, feel and say. No more manufactured
and imposed guilt for me. No more playing by the arbitrary rules set up by agenda-driven
race hustlers. No more silly semantic word games. And no, I don't think I'll
feel the need to purchase redemption through the coming 'race credits.'
I probably won't get invited to any cocktail parties and I'll probably have to set
up a new e-mail account to handle all the outrage. Small price to pay for the privilege
of being free to acknowledge reality.
Nancy Morgan is a conservative columnist and editor living in South Carolina