Posted on 11/29/2014 4:26:55 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Yet another side effect of the Ferguson unrest was the inevitable calls for how we really need to have a national conversation on race. (You can read some of my previous thoughts on the value of what the media considers a national conversation here.) As I watch the attempts at such debates taking place not only on the small screen, but on blogs and comment sections around the web, I detect a growing sense of frustration on both sides. There are sizable groups of progressives who seem sincerely interested in convincing everyone that pretty much all of these problems – as well as much of what’s wrong with the rest of the nation – boil down to latent racism and endemic white supremacy. This is frustrating to some people who feel that the rules should apply evenly to everyone and that life in a free society comes with an inherent expectation of personal responsibility. For their part, the progressives appear to be frustrated when some of their debate opponents opine that robbing stores and attempting to beat up police officers can lead to bad results even if your skin is bright pink with chartreuse spots.
But the conversation really screams to a halt when the more conservative crowd runs into somebody like CNN author and religion blogger John Blake. Rather than yelling about it on one side or the other, or even trying to grasp what the other party might be trying to say, Blake jumps on the shiny new bandwagon of forgiving everyone who doesn’t think they are a racist because, well… you probably just don’t realize you are and you don’t know any better.
[I]t doesn’t wear a hood, but it causes unsuspecting people to see the world through a racially biased lens.
It’s what one Duke University sociologist calls “racism without racists.” Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, who’s written a book by that title, says it’s a new way of maintaining white domination in places like Ferguson.
“The main problem nowadays is not the folks with the hoods, but the folks dressed in suits,” says Bonilla-Silva.
“The more we assume that the problem of racism is limited to the Klan, the birthers, the tea party or to the Republican Party, the less we understand that racial domination is a collective process and we are all in this game.”
Let’s see… in this caring, open minded, helpful analysis where he’s just trying to have an honest conversation, how many people could a quote from Bonillap-Silva offend in just the opening salvo?
People who wear suits. Check. Birthers. (Read as anyone who opposes Barack Obama for any reason here.) Check. The Tea Party. Check. The rest of the Republican Party. Check.
Hoo boy… that’s a great starting point. But to get the full flavor of how far off the beam this train of logic goes, you need to read the lengthy descriptions of each of the three phrases that often crop up when whites and racial minorities talk about race, and why using them proves you are a racist, albeit perhaps an unintentional one.
‘I don’t see color’
‘But I have black friends’
‘Who you calling a racist?’
The full definition behind each of those three statements – and their deeper meaning for the racisty racists who say or imply them – is probably more than enough to leave most of you shaking your heads and bailing out of any conversation with Mr. Blake. But the drilling down which follows the third is truly enough to make your head spin. Here’s just one sample.
The courts may ignore colorblind racism, but ordinary people ought to be aware of it when they talk about racism, others say. Ross, author of “Everyday Bias,” says being biased doesn’t make people bad, just human.
He says people are hardwired to be biased because it helped keep our ancestors alive. They survived, in part, by having to make quick assumptions about strangers who might prove threatening.
“We need to reduce the level of guilt but increase the level of responsibility we take for it,” he says. “I didn’t choose to internalize these messages, but it’s inside of me and I have to be careful.”
Part of being careful is expanding our definition of racism, says Bonilla-Silva, author of “Racism Without Racists.”
Racism has evolved, but our language for describing it hasn’t, he says.
You see? Your inherent, intractable bias doesn’t make you a bad person. You’re just too stupid to realize what it is that you may or may not be doing, but would probably do if given a chance recognizable by your incredibly racist subconscious. They don’t want you to feel guilty about this… they just want you to stop doing it. Even if you haven’t the vaguest idea of what it might be, and they can’t even tell you themselves, you’re clearly still doing it. So stop, okay?
And if you can’t manage to stop, don’t worry. We’re going to have a national conversation about it. Every. Single. Day.
I’d love to stop and chat about race
Hold on-just let me grab a tv and start a fire right quick
Evidently black people have a civil right to lie, and it is racist to not accept their lies.
OK, then blacks will excuse me if I treat them badly because I am a racist no matter what I do.
Sounds like what I was “taught” in my “Cultural Competency” class this semester. To a “T.”
Well, it’s a lie. All of it.
Since you have deemed me to be a racist no matter what I do, then FU. End of discussion.
Every day bigger fools arise from the dust. This guy must be an escapee from a mental asylum who is off his meds. What a bunch of utter insanity. And to think CNN probably pays this degenerate fool for his bile.
I deeply resent this. It’s possible that I’m just a bigot or prejudiced.
Translation: You are all racists if you’re white. And only whites are racist. And non-whites are perfect angels who can do no wrong.
The damn lame stream leftist media like CNN kept pushing this racial inequality canard on us all year after year. Ferguson is the rotten fruits of it all.
Also to administer a beat-down any time they like, and it's racist to resist. At least if you're white.
Hope you don't mind talking to the hand, 'cause the face don't give a damn.
Here’s the “conversation” that should be held...
White America has reformed itself and spent trillions on you. But your society has degraded itself in that same time to levels of savagery not seen on this continent for over 100 years. It’s time for YOU to take responsibility for your lives, get educated, stay married to one woman or man, don’t do drugs, stop aborting yourselves in self-inflicted gem oxide, and become productive members of society. It’s also time for you to abandon the grievance-mongrel “leaders” and Democrats who exploit you for votes. Open your eyes to reality — neither of these groups have helped you in the slightest. Finally, quit your incessant bitching about everything.
Have a nice day.
Let me guess where this conversation is going: the only way to stop racism is massive wealth transfer to Blacks from everyone else, especially Whites.
Except even that won’t stop “racism”. The same dysfunction will still exist, so similar or new problems will just re-emerge. And then there would be another excuse. In the end, we’ll all have to agree to voluntary extinction to end racism.
Racism in 2014 is just a way of tiptoeing around Black dysfunction.
Isn’t that just a wordy admission that the whole “racial divide” meme is nothing more than leftist propaganda?
Wonder if I could get that to fit on a bumper sticker.
Hmmmm.....
I’m racist because CNN doesn’t like my politics?
Well this is one national conversation I’m tuning out of.
Liberals have played the Race Card TM for decades now.
Damned if I help them milk more mileage out of it.
I’m not interested in a conversation until the Blacks get their act together. They weren’t interested in a conversation with their Knock Out Game victims, nor the store owners in Ferguson, nor the taxpayers who fund their “lifestyle”.
Old ER protocol regarding the insane and the intoxicated: you don’t bother trying to talk to them - you restrain and you medicate. Much wisdom there.
We’re all Keynesian racists now?
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