My “White Privilege” is Your Disgusting Excuse for Victimhood

“Everyone hates me.”

“The world is out to get me.”

“I just have bad luck.” 

“But you can make it up to me by giving me everything I want...” 

Sometimes people embrace victimhood when they don’t want to take responsibility for what’s wrong with their lives - for the choices they’ve made, for the things they did or didn’t do (or don’t want to do), for the failures they would rather not analyze or own. 

That’s pretty much the mentality at the root of the “white privilege” canard.  It’s a term invented for the purpose of giving an entire race justification for self-pity, for wallowing in resentment and for never facing the truth about the self-destructive norms that have become entrenched in much of its community over the past 50 years (thanks to a lot of help from meddling liberals).  And for those who are a bit more calculating, “white privilege” is the natural segue into talk of reparations, i.e. taking money from people who never had slaves and giving it to people who never were slaves. 

There’s a very long list of successful black Americans.  Barack and Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Michael Jordan, Will Smith, Clarence Thomas, Tiger Woods, Ben Carson, Loretta Lynch, Tony Dungy, Herman Cain, Colin Powell and Thomas Sowell, just off the top of my head, are proof that today Americans are happy to reward talent and skill irrespective of race (and gender, for that matter), and this list doesn’t include the millions of black Americans who may not be celebrities but who are just as successful as any middle class white American.  Are we supposed to believe that the children of the Obamas or Will Smith or Tiger Woods are less “privileged” than millions of other children in this country born to parents without fame or fortune?  How is it possible that all of these people have achieved success when they aren’t “privileged” by virtue of their skin color?  And here’s another good question:  how is it that the “privilege” of being white hasn’t spared millions of Caucasians from the clutches of poverty, the misery of drug abuse or the despair of a prison cell?

Now that we’ve established that “privilege” isn’t necessarily tied to race, how else can we explain the reality that whites, on average, fare better economically than blacks even though the playing field has been evened out legally for more than half a century now?  Everyone knows the answer to that question, but few are honest enough to say it out loud.  You see, my dear Virginia, “privilege” doesn’t come from race.  In most cases it comes from the manner of our upbringing, which – by and large – is defined by the norms of our culture:  our attitudes towards sex, family, education, work, respect for the law, etc., etc., etc.  Children tend to have the best shot at success when they grow up with two loving, involved parents who are good role models, economic stability, a safe and strong community, commitment to education, belief in personal responsibility and the goal of economic security by learning a trade or profession.  This type of  upbringing does not guarantee success. Nothing can do that.  But, it sure helps. 

Generally speaking white children are more likely than black children to grow up in something resembling this environment, but expressing this out loud is considered blasphemy to those for whom the truth is, well…, inconvenient to other agendas.  Better to blame “white privilege” than to risk the backlash of the black community and liberal politicians who don’t want their own culpability to come into question.  If there is “white privilege” no one will look to the black community to fix itself.  “White privilege” is easy and potentially lucrative.  Self-examination is uncomfortable and requires patience and honesty.

Does this mean that there’s absolutely no such thing as “white privilege?”  Actually, yes, because the term “white privilege” suggests a benefit that is universal to the white race, and yet I just easily demonstrated to you that,  based upon easily observable realities, there is no such thing as universal race-based “privilege.”  Ever wonder how we went from talking about “racial discrimination” to talking about “white privilege (kind of like how we went from talking about “global warming” to “climate change”)?”  If you think that was an accident, then you’re very naïve.  Nothing is accidental when it involves the “woke” agendas of leftists and race agitators.  Nothing.  “Racial discrimination” put the target on the act of discriminating.  It was more objective and easier to quantify.  That was problematic because discrimination can be (and was) outlawed.  But “white privilege” assigns a blanket of guilt to an entire race.  You can stop discriminating.  You can’t stop being white.  So the problem can never be resolved, which makes it a very valuable political weapon that can be wielded in perpetuity.  Are you beginning to understand yet?

“But!” you object, “I’m a middle-class white person and I believe in white privilege.  How does that fit your theory when I have nothing to gain from reparations?”

Oh, that’s easy.  If you’re white and you still buy into the “white privilege” canard despite the logic I cited above, then this means you’re a liberal or a leftist, and what you gain from jumping on the “white privilege” bandwagon is gratification of your liberal/leftist ego.  You’re now in the “woke” club, chastising the sins of your own kind (smugly knowing, of course, that the sin does not apply to you) and feeling self-righteous about your own superiority.  Oh yes, that kind of gratification is better than gold to a liberal or leftist. 

Racism exists, as does sexism and ageism and a lot of other isms.  It will never be eradicated because it is natural to humans – in a wide range of varying degrees – to feel more comfortable around those who look like us, generally speaking.  White people tend to have white friends.  Black people tend to have black friends.  We gravitate towards those we can relate to because of shared experiences.  I’m not excusing real racism but never will I join the throngs of white apologists who so desperately want to be lauded as “woke” that they are eagerly becoming part of The Great Lie.  Broad, systemic attitudes towards other races are based on stereotypes, and stereotypes are often rooted in some truth.  In the U.S., blacks commit murder at nearly eight times the rate of whites.  That’s a fact according to the FBI.  Every week or so there’s a news report about the number of people shot and/or killed on the streets of Chicago.  Almost always the victims are black.  Almost always the shooters are black.  It is UNREASONABLE to require the world to pretend not to see the reality (never mind that so many do), but that is what is demanded of us.  And yet on the other side, a small fraction of our nation’s cops do detestable things, and not only are all cops under indictment but our entire nation is condemned as inherently racist.  Pot, meet kettle….

Sorry, I won’t go along with that. 

We are living in dangerous times.  I’ve done this long enough to know that when I find myself stating the obvious, I’m wasting my time with people who are either deceitfully disingenuous or willfully blind to the truth, and that happens when people have motives that are not best served by the truth.  Maybe you’d like to take a moment to ponder what those motives are…

~CW

In the Age of Fake Everything: What IS and ISN’T “Racist”

Now and then we see documentaries showing the brainwashing that takes place in politically isolated nations, and we shake our heads at the peoples’ ignorance and childlike gullibility.  But here in the U.S. much of the same thing is going on, except without the benefit of dictatorship or state control, and that makes it worse.  While it’s sometimes hard to discern whether people truly believe the lies and myths that are fed to them or whether they’re just playing along with the game for some common objective, we seem to be in the midst of an epidemic of misunderstanding what it means to be a “racist.”  So I thought this might be a good time to do a bit of UN-brainwashing and straight forward clarification.  Here it is:

What IS racist:

·         “Black Lives Matter” is racist – because they reject the inclusive label, “All Lives Matter”

·         Making assumptions about race, good or bad, that have no basis in reality, is racist

·         Restricting what truths someone is allowed speak just because they’re white is racist

·         Using skin color as the sole or primary qualification when voting for a candidate is racist

·         Assuming, as a matter of public policy, that race should be a factor when qualifying for public assistance is racist

·         For a U.S. President to suggest that it was germane to the pursuit of justice that if he had had a son, that son would have looked like Trayvon Martin (and not like George Zimmerman) is racist

·         Suggesting that an entire race of people is “privileged” based solely upon their skin color, irrespective of any and all evidence to the contrary, is racist

·         Assuming that a white cop cannot be objective when dealing with black citizens is racist

·         Painting any race – black, brown or white – with the same broad brush is racist

·         Making race a factor – positively or negatively – in selecting job or university applicants is racist

What ISN’T racist:

·         Truth: No matter how uncomfortable it is to hear it, the truth is never racist

·         Criticizing someone of a different race is not racist

·         Racial disparities in higher education, occupations or income when there are also disparities in cultural attitudes on education, aptitudes, high school graduation rates, I.Q., life choices, career choices and work history is not racist

·         Profiling for criminal behavior based upon actual criminal statistics and local experience is not racist

·         Following your natural instincts for self-protection based upon your experiences or knowledge of history and/or statistics is not racist; i.e., if a black man walking down the street sees what looks like a group of white skinheads coming his way, he would be acting wisely based upon knowledge – not racism – to quickly change his route.

·         Bank credit policies that favor credit-worthy borrowers are not racist

·         Immigration policies that favor unique and desirable work skills are not racist

·         U.S. border policies that prevent illegal entry are not racist

·         U.S. travel policies that protect U.S. citizens and U.S. interests from terrorist activities and other dangers are not racist

·         Describing a black person as “black” or a Hispanic person as “Hispanic” is not racist

·         Disagreeing with the Left on “climate change,” abortion, drug policy, foreign policy, the Second Amendment, healthcare, taxes or anything else of national concern is not racist

·         The state of being white does not make you a racist

I will not be one of those people who sits quietly by as terms like “racist” are transformed from useful components of our language to weapons for the benefit of the Left.  How about you?

~CW

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White Privilege or Black Self-Destructiveness…..?

What do you do when you’ve built a lucrative cottage industry around a product but you’ve saturated the market and your product has not lived up to its hype?  Well, when you’re a liberal and the product you’re selling is indignation over phony racism, you repackage your phony racism as a new and improved product and you call it, “White privilege.”

A handout in a Wisconsin school’s “American Diversity” course defined white privilege as follows:

In critical race theory, white privilege is a set of advantages that are believed to be enjoyed by white people beyond those commonly experienced by non-white people in the same social, political, and economic spaces (nation, community, workplace, income, etc.). Theorists differentiate it from racism or prejudice because, they say, a person who may benefit from white privilege is not necessarily racist or prejudiced and may be unaware of having any privileges reserved only for whites.

“Critical race theory.”  Boy that sounds very intellectual, doesn’t it?  You’re supposed to be impressed.

As charming as it is that “theorists” are attempting to differentiate “white privilege” from plain old fashioned racism it’s clearly just double-talk.  If the theory is that whites benefit from privilege strictly on the basis of skin color alone (see the definition above), that’s racism – period.  So why are we changing “racism” to “white privilege?”  Maybe it’s because you can stop being racist but you can never stop being white.  Maybe it’s because blacks can be racists, but they can’t have “white privilege.”  Maybe it’s because the “racism” claim has lost its luster thanks to the race hustlers who have gratuitously invoked it as an excuse for each and every black failure, and enough whites have finally caught on so as to weaken its effectiveness for extorting sympathy and public money.  Not ready to give up their golden goose, the hustlers have re-packaged it as “white privilege,” secure in the knowledge that the liberal sheep can be counted on to buy their revamped product.  As long as there’s money in it and as long as liberals abound to act as enablers we can look forward to a new variation of this same old game for as long as we live.  So let’s talk about “white privilege,” shall we?

If there’s one thing I don’t understand about the concept of “white privilege” it’s the success of people of color in fields like sports or entertainment.  I love football, and it’s been my observation that the vast majority of teams at the college level and in the pros consist largely of black players despite the smaller number of blacks in the general population.  But how can this be, I wonder, if whites are the ones with the privilege?  These are high-paying gigs, after all, and can set people up for a lifetime of great earning potential.  Why don’t whites want these jobs if they are entitled, via their privilege, to have them?  Ditto the same question for basketball.  And how did Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey become so rich and influential in a world where only whites are entitled to such privilege?  How did Dwayne Johnson overcome “white privilege” to become the highest paid actor in the world in 2016?

These realities alone dispel the whole “white privilege” theory as far as I’m concerned, because it represents concrete evidence that businesses will embrace the people who can best help them succeed regardless of race or gender.  Therefore, if there are other industries where blacks are underrepresented, there must logically be other explanations besides “white privilege.”  Here are a few facts to consider when reflecting on what some of those reasons might be:

·         Blacks graduate from high school at significantly lower rates than white (75% vs. 88%) or Asian students (90%).¹

·         According to the latest government census report, 46.9% of whites had an associate’s degree or more compared to just 32.4% of blacks.²

·         In 2015 66% of black children lived in single-parent households while just 25% of white children lived in single-parent households.³

·         As of 2014 the teen birth rate for blacks was 34.9 per 1,000, or double that of whites (17.3 per 1,000).⁴

Is “white privilege” to blame for the high incidence of teen pregnancy and fatherless households in the black community?  Is “white privilege” to blame for the lower graduation rate among black high school students?  Consider the top reasons cited by blacks for dropping out:

1. Becoming a parent
2. Being suspended or expelled even once
3. Having several friends drop out
4. Feeling academically unprepared for school
5. Experiencing a significant mental health problem
6. Homelessness, and moving to a new home.

From Black Enterprise, September 2015

You have to stretch pretty hard to assign blame for this to “white privilege.”  Bad choices and poor patterns of behavior are the reasons blacks fall behind academically, and this ultimately manifests itself in lower college graduation rates and, of course, reduced representation in areas of employment that require a higher level of education.  Employers in those fields then have fewer positive experiences to draw upon when evaluating black job candidates and they instinctively go with what’s familiar and what’s brought them the most success in the past.  Is that bias?  Perhaps; but it’s not bias based on malice or “privilege.”   It’s bias based on experience, history and observation.  Most importantly, the ONLY way to cure it is to change experience, history and observation, and this is something only blacks have the power to do.  Let me reiterate:

“White privilege” can only be cured by positive self-change in the black community.

This is why, whenever I read the usual drivel on “white privilege,” I think:  “So what?”  “Privilege,” if that’s the word the race hustlers want to use, is around us all the time and it’s not reserved to race, though if it was we would have to shift our focus to privilege among the Asian race since they kick everyone’s butt when it comes to success as measured by education and earnings.  If we’re going to obsess over “privilege” why aren’t we also talking about the privileges that come from being taller, smarter, better looking, more talented, luckier, more creative, healthier or happier, etc.?  And who is more “privileged,” the white child born to wealthy but abusive parents or the black child born to poor but nurturing parents?  These questions take our thinking where the race hustlers don’t want us to go, because only race – or to be more specific, whiteness – lends itself easily to the prospect of wealth transfer and that, not equality, is the hustler’s ultimate objective. 

I want to close with an appeal to those who’ve bought into the message of “white privilege,” for they know not what they do.  The peddlers of “white privilege” have only two goals in mind: 

1.  To take something from you;

2.  To make you an enabler for taking from others, including your children.

That’s it.  And the question is:  Are you so desperate for a cause that you’ll allow it?  Will you be an enabler to a scam that rewards the industry of victimhood when it threatens the future of not just your own children but also the black children who are being robbed of life’s critical lessons and the chance for self-driven success?  No one in this world, white or black, is born with an automatic pass for anything, as evidenced by those born to one form of privilege or another who nevertheless end up experiencing poverty, hardship or injustice, or those born without any privilege who nevertheless come to experience great wealth or success.  Life is what you choose to make it.  Let that be the message you share in this life.

~CW

To leave a comment on this post please visit The Pesky Truth.  I am unable to respond to comments on Blogger.  Thanks!

¹ https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_coi.asp

² https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p20-578.pdf

3 http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/107-children-in-single-parent-families-by#detailed/1/any/false/573,869,36,868,867/10,11,9,12,1,185,13/432,431

4 http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/04/28/476017134/teen-births-rate-plummet-for-hispanic-and-black-girls