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Promoted from the diaries by streiff. Promotion does not imply endorsement.
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Obviously, being called or branded a racist is perhaps the worst thing that can happen to anyone (unless you are a progressive liberal).  Unfortunately, too many in our political chatter class walk on eggshells if they happen to be conservative when it comes to race.  If not accused of outright racism, then white conservatives are the product of their white privilege.  Black conservatives are Uncle Toms and traitors to the cause.

To these cowards when it comes to race, they are simply not playing the game correctly when the issue of white privilege is brought up.  This is not some civil rights affair; it is a power game that liberals, especially black liberals play.

Suppose, for the sake of argument, one accepts the concept of white privilege.  When you pose a practical question such as how much of one’s success in life is attributed to that privilege and how much to hard work or other factors, the respondent is dumbfounded.  You are likely to get a response such as this one from Michael Eric Dyson, a college professor and media figure who was once asked that very question.  When his inquisitor asked what percentage of his success was attributable to white privilege, Dyson responded that the question was “dismissive, pseudo-scientific and non-empirical.”  What can be non-empirical about a percentage?  When pressed further, Dyson said:

White privilege doesn’t act according to quantifiable segments…it’s a moral command for a society to grapple with the ideals of freedom, justice and equality.

This gobbledygook of a response can be translated thus: White privilege does not describe reality; it tells people how to act and behave.

More to the point, it tells white people how to act and behave.  The first step is to blindly acknowledge your own responsibility for the injustices that afflict the black community.  The burden is on the white person.  There is no such thing, to people like Dyson, as black, Hispanic, Asian, or even gay privilege.  Once the phrase is uttered, people are immediately placed on the defensive because it a short stone’s throw from denial of white privilege to being called a racist.  It is only when the privileged white shows the proper remorse, self-confession and acceptance of the concept that they regain some integrity.

The obvious purpose of invoking white privilege accusations is to control the situation.  It is not to signify a social or historical condition.  Perhaps if the accusers would say that, for example, 25% of one’s success is attributable to white privilege, then perhaps one can grapple with real numbers (reality) rather than grappling with vague notions like “moral commands.”

It is important that conservatives (and Republican politicians) treat white privilege in this manner- it is a power game, not a sincere idea.  It communicates no facts.  It is liberal device to shut down debate and stigmatize the conservative.  Most importantly, it helps steer the debate or conversation from issues embarrassing to your garden variety liberal.

Starting in the late 1950’s and since, liberals have taken civil rights upon their shoulders.  The vehicle for African-American uplift was to be education.  Through the 1970’s and 1980’s, the education gap between blacks and whites narrowed, then stalled at about a 26 point difference on standardized national tests in math.  Despite lofty programs like Goals 2000, No Child Left Behind, and Race to the Top, nothing has changed.  That is, liberal programs and even liberal-lite programs like No Child Left Behind have failed to improve the inequity.  Nor has money.

The failures are too painful for liberals to acknowledge.  No amount of money, making a curriculum “multicultural,” addressing disparities in school punishment, railing about the school-to-prison pipeline, etc. have worked. Surprisingly, it is conservatives who have the answer.

No matter how much money is expended, a curriculum adjusted, or favoritism shown in testing, there is one immutable FACT liberals cannot refute: children from a two-parent family fare considerably better than those from single parent households, including blacks.  In 1965, the illegitimacy rate in the black community was 25% and was branded a “crisis” by Daniel Patrick Moynihan.  Today, that figure stands at 66%.  If 25% is a “crisis,” then 66% is an outrageous debacle.

That which keeps blacks from achieving equality and everything (dare I say, privilege) that goes with it can be traced to the breakdown of the black family structure.  And here conservatives have a decided advantage.  Liberals cannot talk about “the family” because special interests like the feminists and the LGBTQA+ crowd will not allow it.  Instead, the conservative, if he was to point out these facts, would be accused of degrading single mothers and be accused of another nebulous term- heteronormativity.

Instead, the concept of white privilege along with its cousin systemic racism serves the purpose of deflecting from objective reality.  By retaining the theme of racism, it frightens conservatives away from a realistic argument.  Because it is itself so nebulous a term, as Dyson eloquently illustrates, it keeps the conservative off balance.

The cure is simple: stop playing along to their game.  Instead of giving credence and respect to the concept of white privilege, divert the conversation to something real.  Instead, ask the liberal to talk about the rate of illegitimacy in the black community.  Ask them about the abortion rate and self-genocide inflicted on blacks in America.  Have them explain how white privilege causes black-on-black violence in major cities.  Chances are you will be called a racist at some point and inevitably Godwin’s Law will be invoked.  In the end, they will be proven to be the true racist by keeping African-Americans enslaved to liberal dogma.