For over two decades, I have watched and listened as liberals have preached this never-ending lament about White America, race relations, America's "Original Sin" and now "White Privilege"...telling us all that we - the white people of America - have to stop and listen...that we are responsible for the problems and racial dysfunction in this country.
I would like to offer a rebuttal.
To start with, privilege is not a word that should be used when discussing a matter involving race because race is not something we control, choose, change or can have taken away from us. Truth be known, something can only be a privilege if it can be granted or taken away by someone else. The opportunity to drive a car, freely move about the country, own a home, start a business, pursue a career or practice a religious belief are all privileges that we enjoy and even take for granted, but all of them are things that can ultimately be hindered or taken away by people or groups when laws, societal standards, customs or opposing agendas clash with others.
Privilege, as it is being used in this case - is being asserted as a pejorative against Whites because the author thinks that the societal standards and culture of the country - defined and created by Whites of European decent who populated, built up and defended it - grants Whites a benefit of the doubt when it comes to behavioral and societal norms and expectations - and that it isn't fair. Some have even gone on to assert that the economic success and the access to better food, housing, cars, medical care or education by a majority of Whites over their non-white counterparts is an extension of racism.
First and foremost - any white person who is obsessed with guilt over their own success or not suffering from problems commonly attributed to other races to the point where they feel the need to speak out against themselves, other Whites or whiteness in general needs to stop. Deal with your own problems, issues, pettiness and personal bugaboos on your own time. It's not your place to attempt to paint the "default whiteness" of America as an injustice or negative thing, which in effect castigates Whites for making up the majority of the population and being the driving cultural force of the nation. Doing so is to purposefully hinder and denigrate the lives of other free, law abiding individuals who have done nothing wrong and simply lived the American dream - all for the purposes of intentionally inflaming racial strife to promote a political agenda. Instead of seeing the societal, educational or economic disparities that exist between others and blindly attributing them to race and discrimination, consider being honest with yourself for once by putting race aside and looking at it strictly from a cultural perspective.
Historically, the descendants of Whites from Europe practiced free trade and merchant capitalism during the middle ages, continuing all the way through the industrial revolution and eventually leading to what became American Colonialism. From there, America was founded under the principles of individual freedom and rights that were inalienable - rights that were inherent in all human beings. Individualism, self-determination, self-reliance, effort, perseverance and the innovative spirit of entrepreneurship were the ideals that were infused in Americanism in it's earliest stages, and the people who hungered for freedom and practiced them prospered. In short - American Whites are culturally rooted in the beliefs and way of life centered around those aspects of what makes the unique nature of America, and that is why Whites are the largest cultural block of conservatism in the country. We've been at this longer than anyone else in the country, and as a result - Whites in large part have passed those values on from one generation to the next, and there is no doubt that we have prospered because of it. It also made our nation the wealthiest, the most innovative and the most powerful in the world.
Nothing has been simply given to us for free. A white person who does not work, does not obey our country's laws, does not act in a civilized manner or does not respect the rights of others is as much of an affront to the standards of decency in this country as it would be if practiced by anyone else. Whites are expected to work, pay taxes, treat others and their property with respect, obey the law and be responsible citizens, and when we don't - there are going to be consequences. Whites do not casually refer to each other as brother or sister. We don't cut each other slack or expect less of one another because we're white. We could care less, and what few Whites there are that do try to convey that type of racial bond are generally not welcome or looked upon favorably.
The notion that this "benefit of the doubt" as expressed by the author has been simply handed over to Whites like a little league trophy given out to people just because they show up is as immature and flat out racist of an assertion as any racially baited claim made by a clan member. The divide that exists between Whites and Blacks, Blacks and Asians, Asians and Hispanics, Indians and Pakistanis or any other racial disparity is not based on race itself, it's based on differences and expectations in cultural norms. If I as an individual of Italian and Irish descent moved to Japan and lived among the Japanese people, I would be demonstrating the height of ignorance, arrogance and immaturity in any attempt to question the validity of Asians being the majority in an Asian country, and any Japanese citizen that wasted their time worrying about how they were perceived by non-Asians would be no less foolish than the author of the article. If you're going to lament about the lack of success in the black community, the negative aspects associated with it and pretend to actually care - then stop making excuses and for once...forget race...because if Whites disappeared off the face of the Earth tomorrow - Blacks would still struggle with the same problems they have now.
Why? Because white people are not the problem.
White people, and in particular conservative Whites - practice a novelty not found in the liberal mindset: We treat Black people like adults. We don't condescend to them. We don't pander to them. We don't run around wringing our hands and wetting ourselves worrying about how we are perceived. We don't support the enforcement or promotion of a victim hood mentality, we don't tolerate thuggish behavior and we categorically reject the notion that race should be used as a measurement of success based on establishing a quota. Above all else - we absolutely reject the notion that Whites - who are overwhelmingly responsible for creating and maintaining this country along with the engine of prosperity and opportunity that is meant for all people of all colors and stripes - are somehow responsible for the mistakes, bad choices, crimes or misfortune of others. All of those things are counterproductive and an affront to individual liberty and American ideals, and it has a name: Liberalism.
If you want to see it in action, look at any major city with large urban black populations and leaders. Detroit, Cleveland, Oakland, Baltimore - all suffer from massive unemployment, poverty rates and violent crime. These are also massive democrat strongholds, and it ties directly into this topic.
Every ill that American Blacks suffer in this nation ultimately can be traced to their relinquishment of individualism in favor of supporting leftists and their statist policies as a group collective - with the expectation that the reprobates they put into power will in return ensure that their needs - regardless of how basic and fundamental they are - will be met. They are also forbidden by their so-called domestic and political leaders from ever deviating from that vicious cycle. Any black person who carries themselves with a strong streak of independence, that thinks for themselves and seeks out their own opportunities outside a life of dependence while vocally defending America with praises of it's traditions, institutions and opportunities will be hung in virtual effigy. It is instilled from the moment that they are old enough to communicate and understood all the way into their adult lives that whatever good they have is the result of that which is gifted to them by the political party they are bound to, and that whatever they do not have is a result of racist whites denying them that opportunity. The black Americans who defy the odds and succeed in spite of that life-long conditioning they are forced to sit through - see themselves as Americans and Americans first. They often go on to bigger and better things, all the while overcoming obstacles and beating the odds. They become business owners, entrepreneurs and accomplished members of society. What do they get in return? Are they seen as leaders, inspirational pioneers or a tribute to what is possible in America?
No.
They are called Uncle Tom, Aunt Jemima, House Nigger and other vile pejoratives that are meant to punish American Blacks who have overcome adversity and sought to better themselves outside the confines of what liberals tell them is possible.
Since the establishment of the Great Society and the promotion of the welfare state, Black America has been transformed from a hardworking, close-knit community with strong family ties that looked after one another into a one that is rife with dysfunction. The pattern is so well established that the ills and obstacles that most American Blacks encounter in their daily lives is accepted as normal. White Liberals never fail to lay claim to a self-painted portrait that their promotion of race-oriented legislation is proof of their love for the Black community. They'll tout their promotion of their party by pointing out how many non-white faces are in a photo or video. All of that sounds so nice, but all of it is nothing more than arguing visuals when its actual results that matter. As a percentage of their respective population, the Black community is worse off now in terms of unemployment, wealth creation, education, illiteracy and out of wedlock births than before liberals started demonstrating their brand of "compassion" on the very people they claim to represent. All of these ills - which are now so common that they've come to be expected - have completely saddled the reputations of people who - at their very core...want the same things for themselves and their kids that the White community is expected to pass on to their children.
Let's look at this from an alternative perspective...
Imagine that you have hired a contractor to renovate your entire home. You've laid out and specified exactly what you want, including all aspects of form, beauty and function. In return for your money and faith in the contractor, the contractor agrees to implement a plan that will produce those results. Time goes on, and the house - which already had problems - is not really looking any better. When questioned, the contractor explains the number of problems he was handed, and that the renovation is simply going to take longer and be more expensive than originally planned. So you relent, you pay more money and put more of your faith in the contractor based on a huge number of promises that in the end, you'll be happy with the results. But more time passes, and while some promises looked as though they were coming to pass, the quality of the construction is not holding up, and the design and overall appearances are nothing like what you wanted. Angrily, you begin to question the contractor. When cornered, the contractor tells you the history of the house. Other contractors that worked on it in the past did things to make sure the house was incomplete. They skimped on the foundation. There has been damage from all manner of sabotage. You can't rush these things, you have to be patient. You have to trust us - because unlike those other contractors, we actually care...really care.
Again, you relent.
"Maybe this time it will work out. Maybe things will look better tomorrow. The contractor seems sincere. I just gotta give him more time...a little more time. What?! Why look, they're giving us a temporary place to live while they work on the house. They're offering to help us out with some expenses. They're helping out with the costs of food. They got us some services for the kids. Wow, they're so nice! They really want to make things right. This isn't so bad after all. Oh look, free cell phones..."
The entire relationship between the Black community and the democrat party is exactly like the example above. It is the largest example of mass multi-generational Stockholm Syndrome ever in the history of humanity. You literally have an entire group that has been fed a steady diet of promises, lies and excuses for breakfast, lunch and dinner for decades by people who claim to have their very best interests at heart...but have instead delivered them into virtual ruin. Every aspect of their lives is micromanaged from the cradle to the grave by a multitude of programs and intuitions that are not designed to merely assist people who have temporary problems, but are instead offered up as an alternative to solutions that would require responsibility, self-determination and the need for self-reliance. It is instilled and repeated in schools, by domestic and political leaders and in all forms of media that regardless of what Black Americans see and hear elsewhere...America is not their country and white people don't want them to succeed.
Except that isn't true.
"White Privilege" is a contrived political expression created by pasty-white liberal democrat hacks as an extension of their inner guilt over the knowledge that much of the suffering from the ills in Black America is the result or indirect result of their malfeasance and interference in the micromanaging of an entire race of people for their own selfish political goals. White liberals treat American Blacks like a mascots, pets and cattle. They'll parade Blacks in front of the camera, cheer them on and use them as props to convince others of proof of their diversity. They reward and give treats to those who conform to the liberal paradigm and seek to debase and punish Blacks who do not follow the liberal playbook in determining their goals in life. Most of all - they pack Blacks onto buses like livestock every two years to drive them to the polling stations to vote, but after it's done - you'll rarely see any white liberal go anywhere near the ghetto to reach out to his black constituency - because after all, the visuals would look bad. But hey, who really cares as long as you get to blame everything on whites anyways, right? After all - who are whites going to go argue with? In the end, they call us racists if we stand up for ourselves. They call us racists if we call them out for their faults. They call us racists when we stay quiet. Hell, they call us racists even when we're not involved. It's a win-win situation for them...because the politics of political correctness with regards to race as crafted and practiced by liberals is not meant to improve race relations or reinforce the notion that race does not matter. It is meant to intimidate whites into remaining silent on issues that are meant to specifically affect and be purposefully detrimental to them.
What we're left with now is a country that is more racially divided than ever, with little reason to believe that it will improve. It is impossible to expect liberals to aid in solving a problem that they are purposefully foisting on an entire segment of the country. Unless American Blacks decide that the status quo they've been saddled with for decades will no longer be acceptable, then no amount of "reaching out" can help. However, to do my part, I'll say this:
To all Black Americans - I as an American white man want you to be happy, successful and part of mainstream America. I don't want you to feel different or uncomfortable around me, and I wish for this as well. I believe that each and every one of you have the capacity to escape the bonds of whatever challenges are in your life, whether it be poverty, insufficient education or government dependence. I believe that you have it within yourselves to rise above the long held reinforced notions of hopelessness that have been intentionally fed to you for years. The greatest truth I have ever come to terms with in the colliding worlds of race and politics is this: On matters of faith, family and the desire to better ourselves - white people and black people have more in common with each other than either of us have with liberals.
