The day-to-day musings of a frustrated conservative American.

Friday, December 19, 2014

No White Privilege Here

It seems more difficult to hate white people today than in years past, doesn't it? The Civil War was fought in the 1860s, and slavery was abolished shortly thereafter. The Jim Crow nonsense was more than eight decades ago. Anyone wishing to engage in "race baiting" is now forced to wrestle with the fact that tens of millions of Americans -- multiple generations, in fact -- have grown up "race neutral" in their outlook. Born just before or just after the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, we have been raised to see racial equality as normal, and question why it would ever be otherwise.

The "Racist!" accusation has little impact in our world. It's a pejorative, certainly, but in reality it marks a person as an outlier; there are very, very few racists among us today. Because of this, something new had to be devised... Something that could be reactive -- that didn't depend on one's actions. It's easy to point to someone's words or deeds to figure out whether they are racists, but with so little actual racism out there, that just wasn't enough anymore for the race baiters. Maybe the more subtle charge of "discrimination" -- but the openness of the Internet squashed that, along with the courts. Perhaps we could instead read someone's thoughts and find their "racism." No, that one was being a touch overused, and being next-to-impossible to prove, just wasn't getting results. They needed something that, like the air we breathe, is both everywhere and impossible to see.

"White privilege" to the rescue!

Liberals and leftists of all stripes, from academia down to Internet bloggers, are jumping on the "privilege" meme, falling all over themselves to prove that they have this "privilege" and that they're very, very sorry about it.

Americans are pushing back.

You have accomplishments? "Privilege." You made good choices? "Privilege." You worked hard? You sacrificed? "Privilege." And the clincher? You instilled those values in your children? And they live by them? "Privilege."

Here's what "white privilege" is really about: Eroding responsibility.

To the left, people who make responsible decisions about their lives -- and who reap the benefits of those responsible decisions -- should receive no credit. They are not really responsible for the things they have achieved. They "didn't build that" after all.

The reverse must also be true: That people who make poor decisions are likewise not responsible for the consequences of those decisions, either. Why? Because they didn't have "privilege". There are university courses being taught right now covering "white privilege". I kid you not. The "privilege" claims cannot logically be confined to race or ethnicity, and indeed, are not. You can find myriad places, where the disaffected can complain about "thin privilege," "beauty privilege," "talent privilege," "athletic privilege," "intelligence privilege" and even "ability privilege."

Whoever dreams these things up does it for the sheer joy of watching people -- who are otherwise smart and successful -- abase themselves. That's just a benefit to political extortion. The social conditioning and sorrowful indoctrination behind "white privilege" will eventually carry a price tag.

What you purveyors of this nonsense are feeling is not "white privilege."
It's "white guilt."

Followers