Looking for Racism
This article is SPOT ON!
"Liberals are expanding the definition of racism to silence their political opponents and justify their expansive claims on power. Despite America’s penchant for comeback stories and apology tours for celebrities and politicians — especially those involving sexual and financial scandals — racism remains one of the few political mortal sins. Mainstream politicians recoil at the charge and defend themselves vigorously, anticipating the accompanying widespread condemnation. Liberals have thus found a powerful weapon in critical race theory, whereby they view society’s problems through the lens of race and presume structural racism."
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/10/ … or-racism/When one carries a chip (or a log) on their shoulder, actively searching for perceived racism, they WILL find it.
This can be seen in the Smithsonian's efforts to describe modern "racism", where such things as the nuclear family, "hard work is key to success" and the scientific method are racist - presumably because those with darker skin refuse the family, are incapable of understanding the scientific method and refuse to accept that it takes effort to succeed.
Or at the Sandia National Laboratories where white males are taught that "striving for success" or "hard work" are "white male traits" and are devastating to colored people.
Ironically, it is those institutions that are exhibiting their own racism by denying that anyone not white can cultivate the work and attitudes that bring success; that white males are thus superior to all others.Excellent point. The wealthiest group in the United States are the dark-skinned people of India. A man described the union of the United States and people from India as a situation where hard work and determination meet with opportunity. The result is extreme success.
You must be inherently racist for even posting such an article Mike, and I must be too for agreeing with most of its contents. :-(
I think this part was the most damning to the institutes and most damaging to the people of color they are trying to support:
". . . defining aspects of white culture and whiteness. Among these defining characteristics were rugged individualism, self-reliance, the nuclear family, “children should be independent,” the scientific method, “hard work is the key to success,” delayed gratification, “progress is always best,” and majority rules."
Those traits should be aspirations for all colors, not a condemnation of one.
GAI have to say I do get the argument, in as much as those traits are 'cultural'. But I disagree that such a culture is limited to whites. We all buy into specific cultures within our society. There are plenty of people from all races who buy into that specific culture.
The flaw in the 'racist' argument is that it ignores the fact that any person of any race can buy into any culture. When you embrace a culture that doesn't embrace those traits which tend to put you in a position of success, you suffer the same problems as others who embrace it. Race is not a factor.Well . . .that is an interesting thought. I agree that your description of those traits as being "cultural" more than a matter of race is a good one. But, your comment also gave me pause, to think about what your statement meant.
I would guess that folks from many other non-American cultures, (I am thinking about African nation entrepreneurs that have benefitted from small business investment programs), so, while I completely agree that the American Left has twisted this into a 'racial thing' I am hesitant to accept it as a cultural thing.
Essentially I think I am agreeing with your thought—except for the cultural classification.
As you can see, I am a bit conflicted. I completely disagree with the promotion that this is a "whiteness" or "race" thing, but can't quite get to the point of agreeing that it is a "cultural" thing.
Maybe I am misunderstanding your point.
GAI have to go with LtL here, GA. Maybe it is just semantics, but maybe not. One definition of "culture" is
"the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group."
and I think that's the one that counts. It doesn't have to be racial (but often is), it doesn't have to be of a nationality (but often is) and it doesn't have to be an enormous group of people. A few hundred are enough to establish a "culture".
One culture may put a high value on a strong nuclear family (Mom, Dad and kids), another does not.
One culture may embrace education of both children and adults with vigor, the other feels it doesn't matter much and doesn't put much effort into it.
One may find their nirvana in drugs (think the "hippie" culture here), another it a clear mind.
One may set its goals as accumulation of wealth, another of fun, play and social interaction.
In all of these, one "culture" takes a path that (may) lead to financial success, the other does not, and we find all of these within our borders. Years ago, I expressed an opinion that the the dislike of the West found in the Middle East came in large part from the people wanting the "success" westerners have (that two car garage, the big boy toys, the free time and general wealth) but refused the lifestyle (the culture, then) that made it possible.
IMO, we are seeing some of that today, in different cultures within the US that demand what the lifestyle producing that wealth creates, but refusing to live that lifestyle. It can be native Americans living on the reservation, it can be those content to remain in the ghetto, it can even be the "starving artist" on the street corner peddling paintings or music. It's not limited to race at all; the limitations come from wanting what one culture creates while refusing to endorse that culture.Okay. I see your point. My response was scattered, and, I think too defined by my view of American culture, which I tried to extrapolate to other cultures.
I will try to do better. At least we all seem to agree it is not a "whiteness" thing. ;-)
GA
I am surprised to see you miss the real target of defining those traits as white and hence racist.
But I see that in the later posts (to this one I have quoted) the comments got closer to the mark.
What are the traits of American culture?
How do you make "rugged individualism and self reliance" etc. considered a bad thing to be? What do you link it to, to make those who are identified as such appear to be bad?"What are the traits of American culture?"
Is there an "American culture"? Given the vast melting pot that we are, I don't think there is. Unlike other countries, we have such a mix of cultures, many of which remain active and observed in this country, that it becomes impossible to choose one and call it the "American culture".
Even the roots of what was once a pretty firm description - that "rugged individualism and self reliance" you mention, along with other traits, is fading in favor of a nanny state philosophy.I disagree, there has been a core group of traits considered American.
Self Determination and Independant (Rugged Individualism) are core to what being American has meant if anything ever was.
America was a country built on Revolution and victory after victory over all challengers... first the British and French, then the Spanish, then Mexico a Civil War and then two World Wars.
America continued to expand at the expense of others until the end of WWII.
America was built by previous generations, right up until the 1960s... constantly inventing new technologies, pioneering new explorations (space or oceans, North or South Poles) building new roads and bridges and dams.
It wasn't until the mid 1990s that we began a major shift, a turn in direction, allowing China to become the builder of all things that America consumed... our politicians giving corporations what they wanted, like NAFTA and China's Favored Nation status.
It was in our lifetimes that we allowed the politicians to sell out America and Americans for the benefit of foreign nations and international corporations.
And with that, has come a change in the mindsets and beliefs taught to our children, and in our society at large. People are no longer taught to be proud of their heritage, they are told to be ashamed of it... our founding fathers aren't heroes... they are evil white men who owned slaves, etc. etc.
And now, as we are discussing, traits like Individualism and self reliance are bad things, because they are white things (and all white things are racist and bad).
You don't want to be considered racist do you?
If you do not, then you should frown upon independence and self-reliance, because these are white culture traits which we know are bad.Exactly so. independence and self-reliance were a foundation of American culture...but are no longer. Instead it has become evil somehow.
And that in turn means it is no longer a part of "American culture" for a large number of people. That's all I meant - there is no longer a "central cultural aspect" for the country.
I didn't think I did miss the reason Ken, I thought my inclusion of the quoted blurb and the thought that trying to make those things "bad things" was more damaging to those making the claims than it was helpful.
To try to paint those attributes, which I think should be desirable attributes of all cultures—not just criticisms of "whiteness" or racism, is really just an obvious example of reverse racism.
The goal of such claims is disingenuous. I agree they are intended to criticize white folks just for being white, but they are also trying to excuse a lack of striving for those traits. In my opinion, of course.
I am not one of those 'everybody gets a trophy' folks.
Am I still missing the target of the claims?
GAThe said is different than the implied.
What was written wasn't the actual point, it was what was inferred that matters.
It wasn't what was white, it was that what was white is what America as we knew it was founded upon, and what it used to be is racist and bad. Therefore America's old cultural traits and system of beliefs are bad and racist.Okay, I see your point, (I think), but I also think it agrees with my point that the traits being discussed are "American' traits that should be equally desirable by all cultures.
I think we are in agreement on the silliness of making those traits a criticism of "whiteness", and I am more certain that we are in agreement that such criticisms are the point of the spear' against the founding principles of our nation.
For emphasis I will repeat; "I am not one of those "trophies for everyone" folks.
Achievement matters. Efforts matter. Personal principles matter. And any effort to delegitimize those attributes and attempt to normalize non-achievement is a danger to our nation.
This micro-trigger racism and anti-whiteness stuff is all a bunch of hooey Ken, and we both know it. I may be a dinosaur of the Boomer generation, but the values we hold are not generational. When our values are discounted as relics of the past, the future will be diminished by the false kumbaya narratives of the social media generations.
As they say, "It looks good on paper, but it doesn't work in real life." It is to our nation's detriment that there is an entire generation, (or two), that is yet to learn this lesson.
GAPerhaps GA,
But the future for America and Americans I believe will be drastically different in the years ahead. We are at a crossroads in history... America for 200 years was expanding and growing in power, it enjoyed an almost 50 year period of living off those labors and now we enter into the period of contraction and diminishing.
So many things on which I have posted and written Hubs about recently, so I will skip by those and mention a couple of others:
Whites will be the minority by the time today's teenagers become our age.
The Middle Class will no longer exist in America as purely American, those living the Middle Class and above lifestyle within America will more likely be foreigners than "native" Americans... the "lower class" will be substantially greater than 50% (where it hovers today) but that "lower class" may have more access to a variety of things than it does now.
America will no longer be the world's "Police force" and America's days of expansion are behind it.
America's economy is already surpassed by China today and it is likely that India will do so as well.
America cannot continue to maintain the traits of the past, the world is changing, and its position in it is changing even more-so.
Is racism more cultural than structural? The article seems to imply a majority of blacks feel whites are explicit bias, innately bias. This concept has been nurtured for decades, in black communities. Is it true? In my view no, but none the less the has been planted deep in black society. It is very apparent to me liberals have conveniently assign culpability to society at large and millions of white unwitting Americans. Is this really new or has it just grown over the last years? And yes, this mindset has taken hold, and liberals now keep their political opponents in a constant defensive crouch and demand increasingly intrusive remedies. Examples, their support for reparations, mandatory corporate training sessions, etc... The more the left points that America has come to normalized whiteness, attributing whiteness to innate racism the divide will be deep.
It would appear the left is hell-bent on pointing out that white Americans innately believe minorities are inferior and that white person enjoys the privilege just due to being born white. of white culture and whiteness.
In regard to defining white characteristics as being rugged individualists, self-reliance minded, more apt to build nuclear families, bringing up their children to be independent, using the scientific method, encouraging hard work to reach success, delayed gratification for reward, progress is always best, and majority rules --- In my view all of these attributes are a part of the culture. Should they now be pointed out to be only part of white culture?
The new movement is doubling down on point out these attributes are not part of black culture, and need not be. In fact, they appear to feel white people came to haveing such attributes due to just being white. is this true? In my opinion, it is somewhat true, due to generations of passing down these very values. It is apparent that there are some cultural differences between black and white culture. It would seem white Americans have done well meshing our cultures with many immigrants from all over the world. However, IMO we have had a hard time bringing an end to racism. And in my opinion, it's a problem that partially stems from politics. If one culture is so blatantly told they are different, and that they need help due to their problem of not being excepted, they will not ever be open to meshing with the society they live in. They certainly will never be excepted by making attempts to stamp out or disparage another culture as BLM has tried to do. To me, this would only lead to a deeper divide as well as a deeper form of racism.
One need not be pessimistic about America and its position as the no 1 power. The Ottoman Empire lasted from the 14th sentry to the 20th century that is 600 years. I don't see how Americans can't be like that, because in the world there are always 2 forces the good and the bad like during the 20th century there was the bad represented by the Nazis and Soviets and then we had the United States. Similarly, in the 21st century, we have the Nazi image of China against America. I feel Americans can do better if people like Trump and Biden are not voted to power but I also feel that history throws up the right man and after 70 years India threw up Narendra Modi. I will write an article on this later, similarly, there is a good chance somebody will rise in America who will continue the American power because the good which America represents has to confront the bad of the world that at the moment is represented by the people's republic of China.
History is written by the victors.
The vanquished are always painted in the most evil light possible, the victorious the most saintly.
America is going to go thru a major transition period in the years ahead, it is not going to stand up against China and it is not maintaining its "super power" de facto status into the latter part of the 21st century.
The days of Nations battling it out in world wars are over."The days of Nations battling it out in world wars are over."
Tell that to Kim, in North Korea.
Tell it to the Muslim radicals, who are carrying out their war all over the world.
There will always be those that find violence and destruction the best way to get what they want, and when that person(s) becomes a national leader then the nation may well follow the path. People are just as likely today to follow the lead of a charismatic leader that tells them they are the greatest people ever and should have what they want as they were in 1939.
Or maybe I'm just numbed and jaded from political rhetoric and how so many take it as gospel truth."Or maybe I'm just numbed and jaded from political rhetoric and how so many take it as gospel truth."
I know that feeling.
GA
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