Change is difficult, even — possibly most of all — for an apostle of “change.” What happened in Cambridge, MA, the other night is quite sad and I have mixed feelings writing about it. But I’m going to go ahead.
We all grew up with the received wisdom, with the donnée, if you will, that the U.S. was a racist country. And it was.
So were most countries. In fact, you might say all were racist. Despite the cliché wallowed in by our self-critics, racism is a global human phenomenon, not even remotely exclusively American.
In fact the United States, of all places I have visited, has done the most to obliterate its racism in a concerted manner. Perhaps it is because we are such a melting pot and have little choice that we have made a great effort. And of course there is the more than justifiable guilt over slavery. So we tried hard. And we’ve done a remarkably good job, considering that deep in the human psyche is distrust of the other. Most of us prefer to live in a comfort zone of our own people, our own ethnic, religious and racial groups. But we know that’s not cool and have, in our culture, worked very hard to combat that. Most of us have, anyway. And we have reached a point, I would say as long as twenty years ago or maybe more, when to be a racist or to exhibit racist tendencies was despised. To put it succinctly, to be a racist was to be a jerk.
But when the rules change, when values change, not everyone can adjust with it — not only the racist, but also those who depended on being victims of racism. For all his brilliance, Henry Lewis Gates is evidently such a man. Otherwise, why cry out about being victimized as a “black man in America” before there is any evidence that that is the case?
This is nostalgia for racism and our president probably suffers from it as well, although perhaps to a lesser degree, considering he clearly plunged into the fray without thinking. The problem is that this nostalgia not only blames people unfairly, it also increases the very thing it pretends to oppose — racism itself. The unfair or inaccurate imputation of racism promotes racism.
Right on target. It would be just a tragic psychological phenomenon if it weren't so increasingly inescapable that high rollers in this game such as Gates, Obama, Sharpton, and many others have for whom this is not merely subconcious "nostalgia" but is rationalized by their black liberation theology and related beliefs. Their behavior has become transparently provocative by now, and certainly in this incident. The superficial defusing of this situation by Obama while without apology is like a band-aid applied to a severed vein when firm pressure is what's needed.
ReplyDeleteWhat are those two malevolent racists, Obama and Gates, going to do to that guileless cop when they get him alone in the Oval Office? What "lessons" is he going to be expected to take back to his "sensitivity training" courses? What kind of guilt are the going to try to plant in this real victim's mind?
I'm about half Irish and half Brit. Would Gates or Obama expect that they could put a gun in my hands, sing me a few IRA songs, and get me to go shoot people of full British descent? No? Then what the hell makes them think they can rationalize that sort of thinking in themselves and encourage it in others?
I wrote this on another blog-it seems to fit here as well:
ReplyDeleteThere has been slavery since the beginning of human existence... The slaves sold to the British and the colonies were black Africans were SOLD by black Africans!!--
It was the WHITE CHRISTIANS-Wilberforce and et al- who started the movements to put an end to slavery in the West...
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Slave trading STILL goes on in Africa and the mid-East---
No more apologies or PC from me..
C-CS
In fact, I've never once heard an American black leader, or even a common black American person, make a comment about the ongoing enslavement of blacks in the Sudan.
ReplyDeleteNever once.
But, you hear calls for reparations. You hear statements that America is a racist society. Etc.
I'm pretty damned tired of it.
Perhaps this has nothing to do with racism at all. Perhaps it is simply a case of purposeful misdirection. Suddenly everyone is talking about this incident and the Health Care Reform bill has quietly slipped into the background. Or perhaps there is some other issue "they" don't want noticed right now. It all just seems to contrived to even be real. Methinks he doth protest to much...just a thought.
ReplyDeleteVictim mentality, something the democrats thrive on, is a very tough disease to escape from. many of us who crossed the bridge from the left to the right can attest to that. Victims receive comfort, doting and extra attention without the need to expend energy. THese days, you have 2 clear set of African Americans. Those who got the freedoms & rights that blood was shed for & now revel in them & refuse to be weighed down with the victim mentality and those who no matter what changes, will forever "use" history to gain attention & the other unearned benefits that are only bestowed on victims. Take a look at the differences between Dem & Repub African Americans. It is striking. Republican African Americans are proud to shed the no longer needed victimhood & prove their worth as an equal in America. Yes, there are still racists in this country, but for the most part it is no longer institutionalized & the few barriers that remain can be overcome & defeated. Racism on either side of the color line is no longer widely accepted. now, we need to put victimhood in the same place.
ReplyDeleteChristine
Christine,
ReplyDeleteRacism may not be accepted on either side of the color line. I hope that is true.
But, I do know that black people I know are perfectly willing to befriend other black people who are racists, and I also know that black people I know are perfectly willing to tell me why they think people like Louis Farrakhan are important to the black community.
In other words, while they may not be racists themselves, they are only too willing to tolerate the racists in their midst.
Am I right, or am I right?
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI do think this whole incident was staged (from the time the police arrived at the scene), but I'm not sure the reason. I think it may have more to do with elevating his celebrity status so that PBS will pay him to do more shows on "Race in America".
I bet they are Democrats too. If you look at the reality, they are "using" their "victimhood" as an excuse for their racism. If they were honest with themselves, they would see that truth. Was Gates really discriminated against? No. Are most of the people who scream discrimination, discriminated against? No. What is accepted is the victim mentality that screaming racism allows. Most of us work in integrated workplaces, shop in integrated stores, eat in integrated restaurants. If someone were to openly discriminate against someone in the places, there would be a backlash, not only legally but more than likely by the public witnesses. This is what i mean by racism not being accepted. Due to my mixed race children, i have personal experience. i have seen the changes that have taken place for over 30 years. there is a change. Now, it is time for the "victims" to change too.
ReplyDeleteChristine
Yep, I agree.
ReplyDeleteGates was raised as a victim, educated as victim and teaches blacks to be victims.
ReplyDeleteSo why would we expect him to behave any different when confronted with his behavior.
WC,
ReplyDeletePeople like you notwithstanding, we really will be better off as a nation when the god damned Hippie generation dies off.