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Challenge
Victim
Antiracism
They mean well, don't they? Some 'antiracists' want to end racism and inequality but they can't move beyond their own color prejudice or their overwhelming sense of oppression. They want a more equitable society (like any decent human being would) but they just can't move beyond their limiting mindset.
Books
John McWhorter:
Woke Racism: How A New Religion Has Betrayed Black America
This book could just as easily be named Woke Everything. It pretty succinctly describes how 'woke' anything has become fanatically religious in nature and does harm to the very things it fights for. John McWhorter is a New York Times author and linguist who doesn't believe black people are infantilized or stupid.
The Long Walk To Freedom - Nelson Mandela
I came for the ideas on how to engage with your enemy but got useful advice on how to handle oppression and deal with those with power over you in a healthy, collaborative manner. My book review is coming soon.
It’s important to remember and learn from history, but humans too often wallow, picking at ancient injustices like scabs and not allowing them to heal. It feeds the victimhood mentality which serves all our masters far too well by taking our eyes off the prize — a better future.
As we debate the trauma associated with America’s slavery era, I wonder a few things: How much of the trauma is actually caused by historical knowledge, and does mishandling that knowledge cause us to excoriate the wrong people? My frustration with endless repetitions of this hoary-if-horrific chapter in American history stems from my impatience with Pagans and witches preoccupied with inquisitions of yore.
Roland Fryer Jr. is considered one of the most brilliant economists of our day. Born into poverty, he eschewed the thug life and became the youngest black professor ever tenured at Harvard University. He made a name for himself when his research found that more white suspects are killed by cops every year than black men. Then he was 'taken down' for allegedly creating an environment hostile to women. But most of the charges were thrown out and his judges were--the Harvard professors whose work Fryer's directly refuted. What happened to Roland Fryer?
I've been listening to American economist and professor at Harvard University (from whom I learned about the Roland Fryer fiasco) for a couple of years now and I subscribe to his Substack newsletter. Glenn always has interesting guests on talking about a variety of subjects, but my favorite guest is American linguist and author John McWhorter. Their conversations and more nuanced takes on racism in America are a welcome breath of fresh air from 'problematic' voices like Robin DiAngelo, Ta-Nahisi Coates and Ibrahim X. Kendi. They refute and rebuke the 'wokeness' of antiracism that infantilizes black people and teaches them they're surrounded by 'white supremacy'. But they're not anti-black and they ask hard questions of white people too.
John McWhorter writes for the NY Times on race, racism and language. He has plenty to say about 'woke' culture as well and he just came out with a terrific book on 'Woke Racism' (see my link to it in the books section above). He's also featured on several YouTube panels and discussed 'Black Fragility' with Bill Maher last year.
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