I’ve often said that there are a ton of pre-determined narratives out there, that dictate what your belief system should be, and they are usually based on your race, gender and age. If you don’t speak to those pre-determined ideas, you are usually castigated in a very negative way.
Some examples include “If you are male, and you make any reference to a female’s appearance in any way, you are a sexist pig.” It doesn’t matter how innocent the reference is, or the fact that men are attracted to what they see, while women are attracted to what they feel, and it’s useless to try to force either gender to change. You don’t have to be gross about it. There is nothing about “I like your hairdo” that makes a man a sexual predator. Also, “If you are black, you must vote 100% Democrat.” The reasoning behind this is that when civil rights legislation was passed in the mid-1960s, a Democrat was President and Democrats held super-majorities in both houses of Congress. So Democrats are pro-black and Republicans are anti-black at best and total racists at worst. Never mind that the battle was all about votes and not one bit about making lives better. Even left-leaning MSNBC acknowledges that LBJ was quite the racist.
This is the narrative I want to address here. I’ve seen it up close and personal. In 2012, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 was not even fully implemented, but it had already wrecked the lives of my wife and myself. Healthcare costs had tripled for us, without any major change in our conditions. We deeply dreaded 2014 and the law being fully in place, what it might do to us. We thought we might lose our condo because health costs might make our fairly small mortgage payment unsustainable. We both decided to vote for Mitt Romney in the 2012 election, hoping he would use the Republican Congress to get rid of the ACA. My wife’s family was incensed. “You do remember that you’re black, right?” one family member growled. “How can you not vote for the black President?” Another one said, “How can you vote for the guy that only cares about rich white people?” Then there was, “You could only vote for a Republican if you completely forget that you’re black.”
On a broader level, traditional media outlets delight in vilifying any person of African descent who dares to voice anything other than standard Democrat Party talking points. They are usually called “Uncle Tom” and other things to insinuate that they’re not really black, despite their skin color. The most intense, rage-filled criticism currently being directed at Dr. Ben Carson is from other black people, if for no other reason than he had the gall to accept a position in Donald Trump’s cabinet. You know, because Donald Trump is part of the KKK. We know that because a KKK group had a party when Trump won. So Trump is part of the KKK and so is anyone that says anything nice about him.
Conservative writer and speaker Candace Owens and rapper Kanye West have also dared to walk of the Democrat Party Plantation and speak out with different messages. Right on cue, they have been called every negative and dirty word in the English language, especially by other blacks. Against this backdrop, political commentator Dave Rubin shared his thoughts on West and Owens and how they have been treated. You can see the original posting here. See below if you don’t want to bother clicking to another site. I have thoughts at the end.
“Couple thoughts on Kanye and Candace, which sounds like the title of a 90’s sitcom on NBC…
1. As an artist, Kanye is a true mover of culture. He says things you will like and dislike. If you turn on him for daring to be different, you don’t understand the nature of art.
2. I know Candace. She has been on my show, we’ve had dinner at my house, we’ve traveled and done gigs together, we’ve spent hours taking and debating. We agree some, disagree some. She’s passionate and strong and actually wants to learn.
3. More importantly though, she cares deeply about what has happened to the black community and wants others to see what Sowell, Elder and others before her have already seen. She doesn’t view victim-hood as virtue. And this is where the modern Left is exposed.
4. Through inter sectional group-think they believe they own all minorities be it black, gay, Muslim or other. This actually pits these groups against each other, and is why there’s nothing the Left hates more than black, gay or Muslim people who dare think for themselves.
5. So they will always purge all their free thinkers in the name of diversity and tolerance, which is really nothing more than totalitarian control of people based on their immutable characteristics.
6. This flaw in regressive leftist thinking is what I was trying to talk about as a lefty when I started my show. Sadly the Left has only embraced this toxic ideology even more and it isn’t done yet. So that leaves anyone who dares to think for themselves on the outside.
7. Now they’ll call Candace far-right and anti-gay, all the while waking up millions to how they are the ones who practice true prejudice and bigotry. Kanye sees this and now the jig is up. More and more people, regardless of skin color, sexuality or gender will see this too.
8. They are a snake that will eat its own tail and for all of you who have had enough of it there’s an incredible alliance of classical liberals, libertarians, conservatives and more waiting to embrace you for what you think, not how you look.
OK, let’s get to work…”
To me, this is brilliant. One of the classic elements of liberal philosophy is that you are not an individual person, but part of a group. I am not James, I am a Straight White Male. Erica in my Toastmasters club is not Erica, she’s a Black Female. That makes it easy to demonize, when you take the humanity out of it. Then you can lump me in with the White Male group, which currently is viewed in liberal circles as the chief problem in the world – white males all have extreme privilege, have every advantage, are always on the easiest path to wealth and power, and is the chief oppressor of the Female and every minority group. Also, the White Male is a perpetual sexual predator, always objectifying women and forcing them to do things they don’t want to do. No matter how I defend myself against such charges, the liberal will just dismiss any defense with words that amount to, “that’s what you all always say.”
Here’s an interesting group / individual take. Comedian Lewis Black is Jewish. He says anyone who is still a registered Democrat or Republican is a fool, because neither party cares about the citizens. If you listen to him make political jokes and commentary, you quickly discover that he is about the most liberal person you will ever encounter. He is a huge proponent of universal healthcare. In making an argument for it during one show, he said, “My Christian friends tell me that Jesus felt the group was more important than the individual. Well, perhaps he made exceptions for healthcare.” I’m not sure where he actually got this information, but the Bible actually teaches the individual takes precedence. Christians are called to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12) and that each person is responsible for his / her own sin (Jeremiah 31:28-30).
While group identity is useful at times, it is not how people should be defined. You should not look at someone and expect based on what you see to be able to predict what they believe and value, and you absolutely must NEVER criticize them when what you expect does not match with what the person actually projects.
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