But I get grumpy about the attitude that whites are somehow put upon in this country
When racism is institutionalized, such as Affirmative Action at modern college campi, whites are being "put upon"! We are marginalized and demeaned in a manner that rivals the Jim Crow laws. How does "Group Politics" bring equality of opportunity to everyone? It does not and can not.
This may come as a surprise to you, but WE STILL RUN EVERYTHING
I could play the fool here and ask "We, who?", but I won't; "we" all know who you mean.
Even if your broad-stroke assumption were true (and like most broad-stroke assumptions, it's not), "This, of course, implicitly suggests that only someone "of color" could represent the interests of those "of color." So, whites presumably can only represent the interests of whites, women the interests of women, left-handed people the interests of left-handers, etc." (Larry Elder, column, 11/13/03 -TownHall.com).
Mr. Elder continues: "Most blacks do quite well in America, with black income and business creation outpacing that of whites. The problems facing the black underclass -- crime, drugs, out-of-wedlock births, under-performing schools -- seem to go unnoticed by the Democratic candidates whose party policies -- monolithic public schools, refusal to privatize Social Security, government welfare -- only make things worse."
And I would add that any disparity that exists today, after so many decades of Civil Rights awareness and laws and "sensitivity training", exists because the very leaders of the black community are guilty of preserving those disparities, even encouraging them through their rhetoric. How many times do black children need to be told that they cannot succeed in America before they begin to believe it?
Forunately, the majority of blacks do not, and there are numerous role models for them to look up to: Martin Luther King, Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, and Condoleeza Rice among them*.
...it's like white folks are developing the victim mentality we justly deride when we see it in "civil rights" activists. That, more than anything, is what prompted my comments.
I think in this case, SW, it was being pointed out how reverse racism is racism just the same: just as harmful, just as demeaning, and we caught these Media and Academe idiots blatantly engaging in it. Are we occasionally acerbic? Absolutely. It belies our frustration at being called "racist", when what we strive for is a "color-blind society", by those who truly are racist in thought and deed.
*Side note: I have no problem naming streets in honer of MLK....as long as we can name the gutters of those streets in "honor" of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson....and perhaps a sewer grate or two in "honor" of Mfume and Farakan!
However, it appears that Cornell is actively attempting to cover the incident up.