Far too many “conservatives” in the wake of Charlottesville have been knocking themselves out to disavow “white supremacy.” Such is their eagerness to prove to the left just how “anti-racist” they are that these same self-avowed “conservatives” have resorted to dishonesty when characterizing the “Unite the Right” rally as a “neo-Nazi” rally.
For both these “conservatives” and their leftist counterparts, I have some questions.
The contemporary left has been wailing incessantly for quite some time over “white supremacy,” “institutional racism,” “white privilege,” and the like. These leftists—and make no mistake, it is always those on the left who speak and act in these ways—have been burning American, or AmeriKKKan, flags for 50 years, demanding that the rest of us recognize that “racism” is in America’s “DNA,” and that even the best intentioned of whites are, in reality, subconsciously “racist” or “supremacist” in how they think and act toward nonwhites.
The bedrock assumptions, the fundamental institutions, of American life are “racist” at their core, the left assures us.
Supposing for the moment that all of this is true, the question that a remotely sensible, honest person will want to pose to both those leftists and those “conservatives” who are now apoplectic over the “white supremacy” on display in Charlottesville is quite simple:
If every white person, simply by virtue of being white, is guilty of furthering a “system” of “white supremacy,” then how, say, is my white 8 year-old son any less a white supremacist or racist than those whites who don swastikas and/or white hoods?
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For that matter, how is my little boy any less a white supremacist or racist than a member of the Aryan Brotherhood who seeks to inflict harm upon nonwhites solely because the latter are not white?
It has long been a dogma of the Racism-Industrial-Complex (RIC) that “racism” is much more of a danger today than it has ever been precisely because it is covert, unintentional, unconscious, and embedded in the very modes of thought and social structures of American life.
Thus, even as individual whites verbally disavow it, they inadvertently perpetuate white supremacy.
In other words, the very same leftists who are now citing the Unite the Right rally as proof that Donald Trump has resurrected or mainstreamed “white supremacy” in America have been insisting upon the white supremacist character of America herself for many decades.
They have been insisting that white Americans, whether they think of themselves in this light or not, are white supremacists.
By the logic of the professional “anti-racists,” whites are supremacist and racist if they are patriots who love America or any other Eurocentric country.
They are supremacist and racist if they are nationalists who are committed to America or any other predominantly white, Eurocentric nation.
They are supremacist and racist if they are not nationalists but federalists who wish for American government to realize the ideal delineated in the Constitution.
They are supremacist and racist if they are cosmopolitans who dream of a world that transcends national and racial boundaries.
Whites are supremacist and racist if they:
admire America’s Founders
respect the Confederacy and/or oppose the removal of monuments to those who fought for it
display the American flag
stand for America’s national anthem
wear crosses, read the Bible, and otherwise self-identify as Christian
use the term “thug” to describe thugs of any race
support the police
proclaim that all lives matter
oppose “affirmative action”
insist upon the protection of America’s borders and/or those of any European (historically, predominantly white) nation
oppose illegal immigration
use the word “illegal” to refer to illegal immigrants
believe that everyone in America, including those who immigrate to America, should learn how to speak English first
believe that the American government should pursue only those policies that are first and foremost in the interest of American citizens
believe that the American government should not pursue policies that are detrimental to the interests of American citizens
value the free market and oppose socialism and the welfare state
vote Republican
self-identify as a conservative
self-identify as a libertarian
voted for Trump
read Breitbart
liked Ronald Reagan
support voter ID laws
support lower taxes
support free speech
support the right to bear arms
support people’s right to peacefully assemble
believe that individual human beings and whole societies should aim to realize the ideal of “color-blindness”
believe that immigrants should strive to assimilate to the mores of their host populations
believe in capital punishment for capital offenders
believe in “law and order”
value low-crime communities
prefer the suburbs over the cities
use the term “inner city”
enjoy reruns of The Dukes of Hazzard, the film Gone With the Wind, and the book Huckleberry Finn
regard Black Lives Matter as anything other than an unmitigated force for good
criticize any black “leaders,” for whatever reasons
question the veracity of Barack Obama’s memoirs
think that OJ Simpson was guilty of double-murder
think that George Zimmerman was, as a jury determined, justified in using deadly force to protect himself from being pummeled to death by Trayvon Martin
belong to or sympathize with the Tea Party
value “equality of opportunity”
think that the law should be racially-neutral
voted for George W. Bush, John McCain, and/or Mitt Romney
support Israel
believe in individual over collective rights
refer to the indigenous residents of the land mass that would become America as “Indians”
locate as among the roots of black pathology the astronomical rate of fatherless black homes
identify the race of nonwhite and non-Christian perpetrators of crime
express concern over Islamic terrorism
support “school choice”
complain about men who wear pants that sag
express concern over gang activity
prize individual responsibility and accountability
value “limited government”
and believe in the importance of hard work.
We could continue. To subscribe to any of the foregoing ideas is to invite the charge that one subscribes to “white supremacy” or “racism.”
So, again, I ask the “anti-racist,” whether leftist or “conservative:” Substantively speaking, how are neo-Nazis in Charlottesville (or anywhere) any different in kind from the overwhelming majority of Americans who endorse some combination or other of the aforementioned ideas?
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