Unlearning Whiteness

TDK directs us to Jonathan Kay’s account of his visit to a “Thinking About Whiteness” anti-racism workshop, where he struggles to learn the rules of cultivated lunacy. Among the teachings on offer are,

Racism is an outgrowth of capitalism.

And,

To ignore race is to be more racist than to acknowledge race. I call it neo-racism.

Ah, very clever. Guilt in all directions. It almost sounds like a trap. And the way to get past small differences in physiology is to continually fixate on small differences in physiology.

Mr Kay’s expectations of fair play soon reveal a pressing need for his own re-education:  

I was guilty of “democratic racism” - by which we apply ostensibly race-neutral principles such as “due process,” constantly demanding clear “evidence” of wrongdoing, rather than confronting prima facie instances of racism head-on. “It seems we’re always looking for more proof,” said the instructor, an energetic left-wing activist who’s been teaching this course for several years. “When it comes to racism, you have to trust your gut.”

Because, as regular readers will know, “perception is everything” - that’s the perception, or misperception, of one party only - and the more serious the accusation, the less need there is for evidence. I do hope you’re taking notes. There’ll be a test on Friday. 

Now imagine for a moment that you’re a certain kind of sadist, one skilled in passive-aggression and troubled by urges to impose your will on others. It might be quite... rewarding to make young people say, even believe, things like this:

Canada is a white supremacist country, so I assume that I’m racist. It’s not about not being racist. Because I know I am. It’s about becoming less racist.

Armed with tendentious or imaginary “scholarship,” perhaps you’d tell students that “embedded whiteness” is an impediment to music teaching. Or, like Jane Elliott, maybe you’d tell your victims that, “white people invented racism” and have “stolen” their culture and innovations - even their language - from other, more noble people. You could copy Noel Ignatiev, whose students learn that “whiteness is a form of racial oppression” and should therefore be “abolished” because “treason to whiteness is loyalty to humanity.” Or, like Caprice Hollins, you could dismiss punctuality, grammar and long-term planning as “white values” and expectations thereof as “cultural racism.” Like Peggy McIntosh, you might define “white privilege” as the ability to find publishers for articles on “white privilege.” Or perhaps you’d do as Shakti Butler does, and tell your students that, “the term [racist] applies to all white people living in the United States.”

Yes, you might find pleasure in such emotional malice, if you were a certain kind of sadist.

Welcome, Instapundit and SDA readers. Feel free to poke about in the updated greatest hits. (h/t, Counting Cats.)

Comments

[rjmadden]

"and the more serious the accusation, the less need there is for evidence."

Evidence? Oh David, you're so old fashioned and reactionary. He's a Male of White Privilege. That's all they need to know.

[TDK]

Well as Martin Luther King said.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the content of their character but by the color of their skin."

He must have said that because the reverse would be a demand for colour blindness, which we now know is wrong:

"I hate when people tell me they’re colour-blind. That is the most overt kind of racism. When people say ‘I don’t see your race,’ I know that’s wrong."

Now we can see why Chris Matthews had to apologise after saying he forgot Obama was black for an hour - obviously you must keep at the forefront of your mind: Obama is black!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmVGeEvXyoU

[David]

“He’s a Male of White Privilege. That’s all they need to know.”

That’s pretty much the gist of it, at least according to Jane Elliott, Shakti Butler, Peggy McIntosh and their self-appointed peers. I’m sure given time we’ll learn to trust their judgment and volunteer for “treatment.”

http://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/03/treatment-.html

And besides, discarding due process and piffling details like evidence and logic is so... liberating. As demonstrated by the case of Keith John Sampson, whose blatant book-reading was suitably punished.

http://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2008/12/insufficiently-sensitive.html

[jones]

Presumably the act of being white 'defines' one as being racist given that the key criterion (by the Jo Brand school of logic) is that power is solely held by this group?.

However, to my naive eye this raises certain questions when trying to address the targeted slaughter of the South African Boers (and quite possibly the rest when the old man dies)?. I would imagine there would be a smooth, effortless cognitive shift with justification being that this is simply a reflection of the release of the pent-up frustration the black majority endured before the rainbow nation was formed with race 'actually' not coming into the equation...Raaaht.

I'm sure the South African example is a unique one-off historical phenomenon though. If you don't include Rhodesia that is.

[Anna]

"the key criterion (by the Jo Brand school of logic) is that power is solely held by this group"

Power is held by the group that doesn't need proof.

[David]

“Power is held by the group that doesn’t need proof.”

Indeed. And I for one feel we should base all social policy on suspicions and feelings and just being in a bad mood, especially if it can be mixed with quasi-Marxist voodoo.

No-one would take advantage of that.

[WTP]

"perception is everything". No, it's more than that. Perception is REALITY. Highly trained psychologists and psychiatrists have been telling us this for at least 15-20 years now. Where have you people been?

[R. Sherman]

"To ignore race is to be more racist than to acknowledge race."

Or, stated differently, "How dare you don't genuflect before me, simply because I demand it?"

Regards.

[dw]

"I'm so sorry! I'm unloading so much whiteness on you right now."

Ho. Lee. Fuck.

[David]

“Power is held by the group that doesn’t need proof.”

And power is also held by those who claim to act on *behalf* of the group that doesn’t need proof. For instance, the power to make idiots internalise nonsense. Which is to say, to emasculate them, to make them lie and become absurd.

But not just idiots, mind. Children too.

http://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/i-sense-a-malign-presence-.html

[Sanity Inspector]

I once knew a woman who grew up in communist China. She told me how as a child she and her schoolmates would be gathered from time to time, and made to confess their shortcomings vis-a-vis the Party and State. No difference here, except Leftism stands in for Party and State.

[David]

Sanity Inspector,

Re the above...

http://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2007/11/emasculated-lia.html

[Rob]

These people are mentally ill. They have led a life of extreme comfort, shielded from what were once normal adult responsibilities, and consequently their narcissistic guilt and self-loathing have developed into a pathology of self-hating debasement.

The cure is for them to be fired from their secure, government-funded jobs and made to survive on their own for 12 months.

[tehag]

It's a good thing none of these racialists are in schools, churches, businesses, and government, where their influence and power would be pernicious. Oh, wait. After a couple of decades of this nonsense, the American version of the struggle session has had lasting damage.

If the racialists are reading this: I'm happy you good people have led us away from...

[dicentra]

So if I engage in public self-flagellation over my White Privilege, isn't that just another way of asserting my superiority?

Because if I weren't superior, I wouldn't need to engage in public acts of contrition.

How Guilt for White Privilege Asserts Same.

FTW!

[dicentra]

Commenter Asianpersuasion remarked:

"As a Canadian of Japanese ancestry, I have spent my entire adult life trying to allay the burden white people carry about their whiteness or my lack thereof. “No. I would prefer if you didn’t promote me to comply with your stupid, misguided and racist employment equity program.” Or of late: “No. I don’t find Sumo suits racist, but I find your pandering to my sensitivities very offensive.”

"I have had people apologize to me for mentioning “sushi” or “Ninja” in everyday conversation. You don’t get more ridiculous than that.

"So, you know what? I give up. Go ahead and knock yourselves out with guilt all you white people. In order to correct historic wrongs, all white people must hand over everything they own to me, the self-proclaimed representative of all non-white people. I will then redistribute as I see fit to all my fellow repressed non-white people. Now, maybe all you white PC, guilt-mongers will shut up and quit feeling remorse over your imagined superiority."

Of course, this person’s non-whiteness doesn’t actually count, because Asians are successful. No fruit cup for you!

[Wm T Sherman]

I think the best reponse to an individual pushing for race-based self-flagellation would be something along the lines of "eat shit." Since, no real discussion is possible anyway.

[carbon based lifeform]

"To ignore race is to be more racist than to acknowledge race. I call it neo-racism."

"Ah, very clever. Guilt in all directions. It almost sounds like a trap. And the way to get past small differences in physiology is to continually fixate on small differences in physiology."

I think you nailed it.

[Big_Al]

Look up "postmodernism" and you will see that there has been a concerted effort for the past hundred or so years to establish "relative truth" as the throne of "god" (secular society). In the core of it all, collectively, the "best" within us is being attacked by the worst, and I suspect there is more than meets the eye in that regard. Reminds me of the movie "Blade" where he catches the white guy cop and shows that he has a tattoo on the back of his neck which identifies him as a servant of the vampires. Too bad they all can't have such tattoos so you know who their "master" is .

[Roland the Headless Accountant]

The real tragedy is that people PAY to have their kids exposed to this crap. There is no way possible that a person could not be worth less to society, or to a potential employer for having attended one of these classes. It is not even useful as an intellectual exercise.

Nothing says "living off mom and dad for the rest of my life" like postmodernism.

[Teki Setsu]

What are these people doing to end slavery in the 21st Century? The human trafficking? the sex slave trade? Nothing! That makes them part of the machine, and guilty by inaction, by indirectly benefitting from modern slavery.

But then the last thing a victim wants is competition from other victims.

[setnaffa]

May the Lord deliver us from Narcissism and Narcissistic leaders (like the race-baiters described above). May the Lord remove the spirit of fear and grant us power, love, and a sound mind. May the Lord rebuke those who taker His name in vain to oppress others with a strange gospel, not His.

And may we be truly thankful for everything He gives us--because we know He always, only, and continually loves us and does good for us.

And may we not hate the poor, deluded miscreants that seek to spread the lies of their father the Devil, instead praying that they might be saved and gain greater wisdom.

[Underdown]

I filled in "white devil" under race on my census form due to my guilt for slavery and my repulsive life of white privilege.
After reading this article and posting a comment my lunch break is over and must return to my drudgery.

[Gracchus]

This is what public school teachers are trained in now - in college, grad school, and diversity seminars.

For the love of God, homeschool your children.

[Earl E. Teetyme]

White racism seems to be in our genes, and since we can't yet change our genes, the only resolution to this is to collect all whites in one place, such as Australia. To protect the Australian aboriginal tribes from our racism they would unfortunately have to leave. The rest of the world will be left to prosper as it would without whites f'ing everything up.

Of course, the coasts of Australia would have to be constantly and diligently patrolled to prevent the subsequent attempts by non-whites to escape the wonderous utopia of a world without whites.

[JuliaM]

Isn't it a leftie trope that anyone who is a minority is always automatically a victim (and in fact, cannot be racist themselves), because as a minority they lack power? Because the power is always held by the white majority, the establishment?

Hmmm...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-power-of-oprah-1941433.html

But no doubt someone will be along to shout her down for use of a non-PC term to describe this treatment:

"In an interview this week, Kelley blamed the blackballing on..."

[Steve]

"Because the power is always held by the white majority, the establishment?" wrote JuliaM.

Interesting, but I expect there are quite a few countries (unbelievable though it seems) in the world where the majority is non-white. In which case, they don't have any superiority issues and never see other groups as worse than themselves? If so, they must be amazed at what goes on in the "West" where self-hatred is not only encouraged but is used to fuel all intellectual processes.

In short: if you think, you must beat yourself.

[zyxwvut]

The purpose of all this anti-white racism disguised as "anti-racism" is to induce unearned guilt in the recipients. If they can do that, they've got you by the short and curlies.

I glanced at the Delaware course for new students in 2007 (at thefire) and discovered, to little surprise, that it's full of contradictions. 200+ years ago Immanuel Kant began the assault on the efficacy of man's mind, and all this trash from Shakti Butler and others is the direct result of it.

Fortunately we had a genuine intellectual in Ayn Rand to sort it all out.

[David]

“If they can do that, they’ve got you by the short and curlies.”

Well, as the story above makes clear, all roads lead to guilt and the more you protest, the guiltier you must be. Which in effect makes compliance with the instructor the only hope of “salvation.” It’s an ideological roach motel.

It’s worth bearing in mind that these “educational” experiences are aimed either at people predisposed to such nonsense – as in the case above – or, very often, at the young and impressionable, i.e. students. In many cases, these “workshops” are compulsory and are a condition of student accommodation or employment, or of receiving government contracts. Which makes compliance very likely, regardless of how absurd and objectionable the content may be. (See the Jane Elliott link for video of this process in action and picture how you – or your children – might respond.)

Even if a person is free not to attend with no explicit punitive consequence, imagine how that refusal can, and will, be construed.

[jones]

It seems to be the way entire 'debates' are construed. 'We' are attempting to educate you to develop insight into the nature of evil 'x', 'y' or 'z' with any opposition to such immediately defining you as the epitome of the such evil.

We do it to prevent 'terrorism' or protect the 'chiiiildren' or to make society 'safer' or 'fairer blah, etc. The mental contortions one has to perform to not incoherently rage at something you just know ain't right transposed to the nation-state has to be a recipe for insurrection in the long term.

I agree that this is a form of authoritarian self-hating mental illness masquerading as social progress (and this pernicious breed seems to be holding all the aces!).

No good will come of it. Then again I may not be seeing it the right way and need some re-education.

[prm]

"To ignore race is to be more racist than to acknowledge race. I call it neo-racism."

This is just another instance of a standard formulation, it seems to me. Viz:

A: "Here is a Marxist understanding of the world"
B: "It doesn't work, here are some criticisms."
A: "I ignore them; of course you're critical - you are suffering false class consciousness."

A: "Here is a Freudian understanding of your mind."
B: "It isn't true, here are some criticisms."
A: "I ignore them; of course you're critical - you are have not yet cured via psychoanalysis."

You'll see this stuff all over the place. Begging the question, basically. Denial is proof.

[David]

prm,

“You’ll see this stuff all over the place. Begging the question, basically. Denial is proof.”

Yes, the set-up is self-confirming. Pale-skinned participants are deemed guilty be default and escaping this guilt is of course impossible, except through compliance with the instructor and perpetual atonement thereafter. Perhaps by “treating” others with the same “problem.” Insofar as redemption is possible at all, it can only be reached by submission to the self-appointed gatekeeper. It’s a license for degradation, dishonesty and psychological bullying.

And similar guilt-presuming tactics are emerging in other leftist spheres. See, for instance, Duke University’s absurd sexual misconduct policy:

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2010/04/fire-confronts-dukes-new-sexual.html

See also the treatment of Thomas Thibeault at East Georgia College, where the “feelings” (or alleged feelings) of an unnamed person claiming to be offended are taken as “proof of offensive behaviour,” and thus a basis for disciplinary action, even dismissal. If that sounds a little sinister, that’s because it is:

http://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/09/where-reason-never-sleeps-.html

It’s not exactly difficult to see the appeal of such thinking for a certain kind of sadist or someone with a grudge.

[Abe Froman]

Since it appears that most non-white and many misguided, self-loathing white people believe I am a racist because I am a Canadian Caucasian who believes in free enterprise, who values punctuality, honesty, integrity and hard work and because there is not way to change their minds, and because they already hate me as much as possible ..... Well ... then they have earned by contempt and my hatred and I do think those people are inferior, lazy, non productive, dishonest and dull witted. If they were not, they wouldn't project such low self-esteem and contempt for their betters.

I didn't used to feel that way, but the "race cadets" have convinced me.

[Herbert]

I think it is best to start such a conversation with "people who believe you can find a racist under every rock or behind every odd phrase are assholes." That to me is much more congent

[arctic_front]

Wow, what intelligent readers the blog host has.. no useful idiots among them Bravo!

It's nice to see that at least SOME people are not bullied into submission by this B.S.

cheers

[Mike]

Surprised that you have yet to comb and dissect this little doozy of of cinema, makes loose change play like Lassie Come Home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAljja0vi2M

[Spiny Norman]

Ah geeze Mike, that was a hoot. Oh, and the comments... Yes, YouTube comments make Twitter seem like a Mensa convention.

[svh]

"And similar guilt-presuming tactics are emerging in other leftist spheres. See, for instance, Duke University's absurd sexual misconduct policy"

The sexual harassment policy is insane. The accused can't have a lawyer, can't confront his accuser and only the accuser is promised the chance to make opening or closing statements. How the hell do you prove you haven't "unintentionally" used "perceived power differentials"?

[David]

“The sexual harassment policy is insane.”

It’s Kafkaesque. But this is what happens when self-absorbed ideologues have a fiefdom. If you browse the archives here and at DiW, you’ll see many of those involved think of their “educational” activities as some pressing moral correction and therefore above mere logic or legal propriety. When Duke’s far-left humanities faculty are happy to prejudge people based on alleged “atmospheres” and imagined “power differentials,” apparently irrespective of the particulars in any given instance and despite their own inexcusable history of PC prejudice, then I think it’s time for some academic sack beatings.

http://www.thefire.org/article/11730.html

And this isn’t some oversight or aberration; this is utopia being built. Don’t forget the Duke faculty’s track record in such matters. Remember Karla Holloway’s claim that “white innocence means black guilt, men’s innocence means women’s guilt,” and her disdain for due process and dispassionate evaluation, which, she said, “cannot be left to the courtroom”?

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/09/travails-of-karla-holloway.html

Likewise, Grant Farred’s contempt for those, including his own students, who campaigned for fairness and the presenting of, you know, evidence?

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/11/grant-farreds-phantom-insights.html

Or Wahneema Lubiano, who promised to continue her incoherent, prejudicial ravings “regardless of the truth” established in court?

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/12/wahneemas-world.html

These are the intellectual and moral titans to whom parents entrust their children. And the rape hoax scandal has had no apparent impact on the leftist academics at the heart of it. Indeed, they seem more determined than ever to impose their delusions on anyone over whom they have power.

[Tom Foster]

'These are the intellectual and moral titans to whom parents entrust their children.'

My first reaction when reading the Jonathan Kay piece was, obviously, a combination of outrage and hilarity. But then I told myself to calm down and put it all in perspective; this is obviously a lunatic fringe and therefore of no real significance, no actual threat.

Then I read about the stuff going on at Durham. But never mind, I thought, at least it's confined to a few nutcases over in the US. It'll never happen here.

Then I remembered it's already happening here, and in a mainstream newspaper, too. Where else but in the pages of The Guardian? (Sorry, did I say 'mainstream'? I take that back.)

Step forward Joseph 'of course all white people are racist' Harker…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2002/jul/03/raceintheuk.comment

[David]

Tom,

The ridiculous Mr Harker crops up in the archives.

What’s interesting to me is how glaring inconsistency doesn’t seem to register. The individuals who claim, based on nothing, that nefarious motives must be lurking in the minds of their victims are often the same people who dismiss the possibility that their own methods may be exploited by liars, opportunists and bullies. Despite the fact they’re practically a license for such abuse. One party is presumed dishonest or malign by default, while another is presumed incapable of corruption or dubious intent. And this, apparently, is “social justice.”

[Tom Foster]

'What’s interesting to me is how glaring inconsistency doesn’t seem to register.'

David,

I can't help wondering to what extent they really, seriously, believe what they're saying themselves. I tend to think it's all to do with careers and status among their peers. It goes back to what I think you've touched on before: the more certain lefties are indulged, the more extreme they get just to keep on seeming 'relevant' and 'radical' and 'cutting edge'. I mean, if Harker, for instance, were to change his views to something more amenable to reason and common sense, what would be the point of him? He'd be out of a job in a shot.

Sticking just to The Guardian to keep things simple, the same, of course, goes for the likes of Gary Younge, Polly Toynbee, Bidisha, Seamus Milne, the ever-reliable Maddy Bunting, and too many others to bother mentioning.

[Anna]

"I tend to think it's all to do with careers and status among their peers."

And power.

[Spiny Norman]

"...the more certain lefties are indulged, the more extreme they get just to keep on seeming 'relevant' and 'radical' and 'cutting edge'. I mean, if Harker, for instance, were to change his views to something more amenable to reason and common sense, what would be the point of him? He'd be out of a job in a shot."

The same is true of race relations in the US. No matter what strides have been made over the past 45 years, which have been truly enormous, the "social justice" race activist class would have us believe the situation has never been worse. Ridiculous lies, but their job security is paramount...