The Racism Myth
NAACP Resolution Condemns Racism in Tea Party -- AP, 7/13
For too long conservatives and other sensible people have shrugged off headlines like this with a sort of there-they-go-again, not-worthy-of-a-riposte attitude. The trouble is that over time, this sort of rot tends to accumulate a kind of limited credibility through sheer repetition and the lack of anything more vigorous than virtually pro forma rebuttals. And among large numbers of "respectable," middle-of-the-road people for whom political affairs are at best a tertiary concern, that limited credibility is enough -- particularly where charges of racism apply -- to discredit whoever is being smeared.
It is long past time to stand up and call out the real racists in our national life -- the hard Left and their allies in the Professional Minority Apparatus who continually block education reforms that could meaningfully help large numbers of minority kids, who refuse to condemn behaviors and pathologies that disproportionately harm minority communities, who seem to have so little confidence in minorities' ability to make it on their own that they insist on promulgating policies that have kept millions of minorities as virtual wards of the state for decades, and who perpetuate the myth of pervasive racism to use as an all-purpose McCarthyite smear and to keep a very large voting block mis-directed, subservient, and intact for the Democratic Party.
We have long passed the point where the harm done to minorities by incessant and groundless cries of "racism" far exceeds whatever harm can be done by the exceptionally small number of real traditional "racists" left in this country -- most of whom exist at the margins of our society and pose no more real obstacle to minority progress than the small number of committed teetotalers do to the beverage industry.
The fact is that the Left needs the myth of malevolent racism, both psychically and practically. Psychically because, unwilling to recognize what the rest of America recognizes as enemies, and unable to have made much of a dent in old foes like "poverty," the Left today derives much of its sense of self-worth, of virtue, from the image of itself boldly going forth to fight the dragon of racism. To admit that that battle was won 40 years ago and that the beast has been long dead would leave them with -- nothing*. And practically because, without the 90-10 preponderance of the black vote that shows up in almost every election, the Democratic Party would virtually disappear as a serious contender for the presidency or congressional majorities. And so the incessant indoctrination of minorities goes on -- that all problems are the result of "racism" -- decade after decade, and continues to bar the way to progress for a too-large part of the minority community.
* Well, I suppose there would still be LGBTQ-phobia -- but it's really not the same, is it?
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: The Racism Myth
As long as false cries of "racism " continue to terrify whites who can't shake collective guilt feelings, it will continue to work at some level. The good news is that each time the left cries "Wolf!" it is less effective. For the NAACP to deliberately play the card against the Tea Party seems desperate at best, insane at worst. It is a high-stakes gamble that testifies to the true strength of the Tea Party movement. If it doesn't succeed (and I will be shocked if it does), it may be a sign that the race card is just about played out.
We can help that outcome along by staring these yahoos square in the eyes and declaring "Bullhockey", or words to that effect :--)
May '10
Re: The Racism Myth
You know it's racist to accuse somebody of playing the race card, right?
Jun '10
Re: The Racism Myth
At least that irrational hatred of peanut farmers, from the late 1970s, is over. Obviously Jimmy Carter suffered terribly from that bigotry--hatred of the peanut. What else could explain the vitriol that he faced? Finally in the 1980s, peanut farmers could come out of hiding.
May '10
Re: The Racism Myth
Steve Manacek.
* Well, I suppose there would still be LGBTQ-phobia -- but it's really not the same, is it? ·
Acronym phobia? ;)
Republicans have ceded inner city black votes to Democrats. Perceptions of racism are mostly politically driven these days. That puts the onus of combating it on Republican candidates.
Jul '10
Re: The Racism Myth
The point is the "onus" is gone. Shrug off "racist!" the way you do "capitalist stooge!" or "running dog of imperialism!"
Jul '10
Re: The Racism Myth
Sad to say, this push to exploit racism – on many fronts – seems suspiciously to be a carefully-orchestrated effort to energize the Administration’s base, pre November. Traditionally, midterm elections are not uppermost in many people’s minds, therefore something had to be done. Ah. The Trusty Race Card. There has been the NCAAP resolution condemning the Tea Party, the dismissal of the New Black Panther voter intimidation case by DOJ, quotes by the New Black Panther leaders on their hate of Whites, to name a few. (Even Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., claiming not to have heard of the Black Panther case but perhaps anticipating the response, seems to be taken from the playbook.) My, how the pot is being stirred.
To be sure, President O can publicly condemn this, but the minions will soldier on.
This morning I called a local talk show (a first for me) on this subject and used the term “orchestrated.” For the next 2 hours, that become the operative word in subsequent caller’s comments.
Another thought: With the publicity surrounding the New Black Panther’s rhetoric, there may be calls for hate speech legislation – a real downside to this already awful mess.