"I believe that white racial anxiety, not immigration, will be the most significant and potentially dangerous socio-demographic trend of the coming decade...." Los Angeles Times columnist Gregory Rodriguez
This quote rings true 4 years later. Policies and attitudes concerning diversity in this country have taken a turn from general acceptance to a rapid redefining of what "good" diversity entails and what is now referred to as (fictitious) "reverse racism". Mr. Rodriguez would go on to suggest that institutions of learning abandon programs such as affirmative action in an effort to abate a white backlash. The issue with affirmative action is that institutions of whiteness are inherently threatened by the success of minorities. Whites in power have no intention of ending the oppression of minorities.
Now to be perfectly clear I do not believe there is a secret group of white straight men, smoking cigars as they think about how they will maintain this hierarchical racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. system. I think that there is a plethora of white straight men, smoking cigars as they think about how they will maintain their own success. This maintenance requires that policies are written to support them and their endeavors, which only serves to help their high end workers, who tend to be white straight male as well. Certainly they'll have a minority or two in the mix, but there is no way one could claim there is a rainbow ribbon that exists in the upper echelons of power in this country. This isn't conscious racism (most of the time, some of it is), but a society where minorities are consistently exploited. Even rich minorities exist to be tolkenized and held up as an icon of shame for their people, rather than be role models. The point is that privilege exists and the reason it's affecting white people is because they tend to be the ones with the power. Why do they have power? Colonialism, slavery, Jim Crow, we live in the legacy of horrible injustices.
If you disagree with the previous paragraph, then I suggest you read some history books and then interrogate the paragraph again. I'd suggest Howard Zinn as a good starting point. If you continue to disagree, then stop reading. You and I won't see eye to eye. In fact, you are actively my oppressor and I'm through with tolerance for your intolerance. You and I can talk more on the political battlefield. And it is a battlefield. Minorities are wising up to the nonsense we've had perpetrated against us. The generation of minorities that came before us have been largely docile in the sense that they knew progress can only be made in baby steps. Even Martin Luther King, a radical in many of his writings and speeches, understood the rhetorical importance of making his speeches hospitable for the curious appropriating white reader (they were called communist back then). Do you honestly think MLK would sit idly by in a restaurant when he could garner enough votes in an election to win districts in his home state? The time has come for us to take back Malcom X's call for treating the ballot as a bullet. The only difference is the White backlash has begun. The hobbling of the VRA was the first mortal blow done to minority suffrage. The after effect of the Supreme Court's decision essentially resulted in a slew of needless voter id laws (check the percentage of voter fraud in this country) conveniently popping up in the absolved counties from the decision.
But it's too late. Too many of us are graduating and we know what's up. Millennial Minorities will no longer be complicit with our own subordination. We will be successful and have money and be well versed so that when Whites do try to bar us from the vote, we will fight politically and legally. Furthermore, when I say whites I think it's understood by all allies that I'm not referring to you. White allies will stand with us, expecting nothing in return. Minorities have no incentive to vote with each other, but we always have an incentive to not vote against each other. The oppression of one of us always results in further oppression for all of us. We end the cycle now. No longer do we bargain for our freedom and success. We will take it.
This quote rings true 4 years later. Policies and attitudes concerning diversity in this country have taken a turn from general acceptance to a rapid redefining of what "good" diversity entails and what is now referred to as (fictitious) "reverse racism". Mr. Rodriguez would go on to suggest that institutions of learning abandon programs such as affirmative action in an effort to abate a white backlash. The issue with affirmative action is that institutions of whiteness are inherently threatened by the success of minorities. Whites in power have no intention of ending the oppression of minorities.
Now to be perfectly clear I do not believe there is a secret group of white straight men, smoking cigars as they think about how they will maintain this hierarchical racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. system. I think that there is a plethora of white straight men, smoking cigars as they think about how they will maintain their own success. This maintenance requires that policies are written to support them and their endeavors, which only serves to help their high end workers, who tend to be white straight male as well. Certainly they'll have a minority or two in the mix, but there is no way one could claim there is a rainbow ribbon that exists in the upper echelons of power in this country. This isn't conscious racism (most of the time, some of it is), but a society where minorities are consistently exploited. Even rich minorities exist to be tolkenized and held up as an icon of shame for their people, rather than be role models. The point is that privilege exists and the reason it's affecting white people is because they tend to be the ones with the power. Why do they have power? Colonialism, slavery, Jim Crow, we live in the legacy of horrible injustices.
If you disagree with the previous paragraph, then I suggest you read some history books and then interrogate the paragraph again. I'd suggest Howard Zinn as a good starting point. If you continue to disagree, then stop reading. You and I won't see eye to eye. In fact, you are actively my oppressor and I'm through with tolerance for your intolerance. You and I can talk more on the political battlefield. And it is a battlefield. Minorities are wising up to the nonsense we've had perpetrated against us. The generation of minorities that came before us have been largely docile in the sense that they knew progress can only be made in baby steps. Even Martin Luther King, a radical in many of his writings and speeches, understood the rhetorical importance of making his speeches hospitable for the curious appropriating white reader (they were called communist back then). Do you honestly think MLK would sit idly by in a restaurant when he could garner enough votes in an election to win districts in his home state? The time has come for us to take back Malcom X's call for treating the ballot as a bullet. The only difference is the White backlash has begun. The hobbling of the VRA was the first mortal blow done to minority suffrage. The after effect of the Supreme Court's decision essentially resulted in a slew of needless voter id laws (check the percentage of voter fraud in this country) conveniently popping up in the absolved counties from the decision.
But it's too late. Too many of us are graduating and we know what's up. Millennial Minorities will no longer be complicit with our own subordination. We will be successful and have money and be well versed so that when Whites do try to bar us from the vote, we will fight politically and legally. Furthermore, when I say whites I think it's understood by all allies that I'm not referring to you. White allies will stand with us, expecting nothing in return. Minorities have no incentive to vote with each other, but we always have an incentive to not vote against each other. The oppression of one of us always results in further oppression for all of us. We end the cycle now. No longer do we bargain for our freedom and success. We will take it.
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