Hello, I'm a Racist, Pleased to Meet You
By Selwyn Duke
There is such a thing as a conditioned response. Here's an example: Leftists call conservatives "racists." Conservatives cower and stutter some defense. Leftists call conservatives "racists" some more. Conservatives cower some more. Question: How do you think you break this pattern?
We've seen this again with the recent vitriol spewed by NAACP head Ben Jealous (a fitting last name). Speaking at the NAACP convention in Kansas City, Jealous accused the Tea Party of, take a guess...cue the "Jeopardy!" music..."racism." Just as predictably, many conservatives are running around trying to convince everyone that, by gum, they really are swell guys. No, really. I'm not a racist. I don't beat my wife. I don't kick my dog. I eat my organic vegetables and drive a Prius.
Look, why don't we just save everyone the trouble? Every time a conservative renders an opinion, we can just play a recording with a little weaselly voice screeching, "You're a wacist! You're a wacist!" (Barney Frank-style) followed by a music video featuring The Cowering Conservative -- I mean 1950s-style, duck-and-cover footage, with the tune and all.
And such conservatives abound. Oh, don't get me wrong, conservative brethren, I love ya, man. But frankly, too many of you are saps. You really don't get it. People who advocated welfare reform in the 1990s were accused of being "racist." If you're for border control, you're "racist." If you criticize Obama, you're "racist." If you oppose quotas, you're "racist." If you say that, be it nature or nurture, there are differences among groups, you're "racist." If you want English to be the national language, you're "racist." The word has become meaningless, used only to stifle and stigmatize opposition. And if calling you a heretic worked in that regard, the left would do that. And if calling you a Fig Newton worked, they would do that.
Nevertheless, the ploy prevents sap conservatives from speaking -- and even conceiving of -- certain truths. They won't say that so-called racial profiling is just part of proper profiling, they pay lip service to the relativistic idea that all cultures are morally equal, they refuse to call bigoted blacks such as Obama and Eric Holder out on their bigotry, they tolerate double standards with respect to hate crime-law application and racial jokes, and they let whites persecuted for making innocent comments twist in the wind. They won't speak unfashionable truths for fear of becoming unfashionable people. Well, all I can say is that if the Truth can be "racist," then hello, I'm a "racist." Pleased to meet you.
And this gets at a deeper point. On the "O'Reilly Factor" recently, Bill O'Reilly was discussing the Jealous situation with Professor Marc Lamont Hill. The good professor, in so many words, put forth the leftist definition stating that only whites can be "racist" because being so requires one to have "institutional power." OK, whatever. I accept the definition. Really, I do.
I just reject the word.
What I mean is, I've long warned against using the Lexicon of the Left. "Racism" is a term as stupid as "ageism," only we're inured to it. We forget that "ism" refers to a doctrine, system, or theory. So is the leftist definition really so ridiculous? What's more ridiculous is that we actually use their chosen term. This is why I prefer using what simply refers to attitude -- "bigotry" -- as in Barack Obama is a bigot, Eric Holder is a bigot, and Ben Jealous is a bigot. As for "racism," it was originated by the left. So leave it to them. They can define it. They can whine it. And if they ask me, I'll tell them where they can stick it.
Excellent article, read the rest here...
By Selwyn Duke
There is such a thing as a conditioned response. Here's an example: Leftists call conservatives "racists." Conservatives cower and stutter some defense. Leftists call conservatives "racists" some more. Conservatives cower some more. Question: How do you think you break this pattern?
We've seen this again with the recent vitriol spewed by NAACP head Ben Jealous (a fitting last name). Speaking at the NAACP convention in Kansas City, Jealous accused the Tea Party of, take a guess...cue the "Jeopardy!" music..."racism." Just as predictably, many conservatives are running around trying to convince everyone that, by gum, they really are swell guys. No, really. I'm not a racist. I don't beat my wife. I don't kick my dog. I eat my organic vegetables and drive a Prius.
Look, why don't we just save everyone the trouble? Every time a conservative renders an opinion, we can just play a recording with a little weaselly voice screeching, "You're a wacist! You're a wacist!" (Barney Frank-style) followed by a music video featuring The Cowering Conservative -- I mean 1950s-style, duck-and-cover footage, with the tune and all.
And such conservatives abound. Oh, don't get me wrong, conservative brethren, I love ya, man. But frankly, too many of you are saps. You really don't get it. People who advocated welfare reform in the 1990s were accused of being "racist." If you're for border control, you're "racist." If you criticize Obama, you're "racist." If you oppose quotas, you're "racist." If you say that, be it nature or nurture, there are differences among groups, you're "racist." If you want English to be the national language, you're "racist." The word has become meaningless, used only to stifle and stigmatize opposition. And if calling you a heretic worked in that regard, the left would do that. And if calling you a Fig Newton worked, they would do that.
Nevertheless, the ploy prevents sap conservatives from speaking -- and even conceiving of -- certain truths. They won't say that so-called racial profiling is just part of proper profiling, they pay lip service to the relativistic idea that all cultures are morally equal, they refuse to call bigoted blacks such as Obama and Eric Holder out on their bigotry, they tolerate double standards with respect to hate crime-law application and racial jokes, and they let whites persecuted for making innocent comments twist in the wind. They won't speak unfashionable truths for fear of becoming unfashionable people. Well, all I can say is that if the Truth can be "racist," then hello, I'm a "racist." Pleased to meet you.
And this gets at a deeper point. On the "O'Reilly Factor" recently, Bill O'Reilly was discussing the Jealous situation with Professor Marc Lamont Hill. The good professor, in so many words, put forth the leftist definition stating that only whites can be "racist" because being so requires one to have "institutional power." OK, whatever. I accept the definition. Really, I do.
I just reject the word.
What I mean is, I've long warned against using the Lexicon of the Left. "Racism" is a term as stupid as "ageism," only we're inured to it. We forget that "ism" refers to a doctrine, system, or theory. So is the leftist definition really so ridiculous? What's more ridiculous is that we actually use their chosen term. This is why I prefer using what simply refers to attitude -- "bigotry" -- as in Barack Obama is a bigot, Eric Holder is a bigot, and Ben Jealous is a bigot. As for "racism," it was originated by the left. So leave it to them. They can define it. They can whine it. And if they ask me, I'll tell them where they can stick it.
Excellent article, read the rest here...
