“When we rid ourselves of prejudice, or racial feeling, and look facts in the face, we must acknowledge that, notwithstanding the cruelty and moral wrong of slavery, the ten million Negroes inhabiting this country, who themselves or whose ancestors went through the school of American slavery, are in a stronger and more hopeful condition, materially, intellectually, morally, and religiously, that is true of an equal number of black people in any other portion of the globe.” – Up From Slavery
The Coronavirus, as bad as it may be, is not the only epidemic we should fear. Modern-day racism cloaked in victimhood poses a real threat to those caught in its grip. Even my new Dell laptop with a dictation button has been infected with the new virus. As I spoke the above opening quote from Booker T. Washington, I was struck with ******* in place of the word Negroes. While the term, Negroes, might be antiquated, it certainly isn’t a slur to be hidden. Or so we thought.
Modern-day racism is not the genuine racism of decades past. No one could deny the brutality of slavery that went on for far too long nor the damage that followed. And while it’s been a difficult road for blacks in America from emancipation to the present day, most have found their footing and come back stronger. For those who haven’t, a new bigotry has stepped center stage.
Recently, a black UVA student excoriated whites for utilizing the universities’ multicultural center. That, she said, belonged to people of color. “There’s the whole university for a lot of you all to be at [sic]. There’re very few spaces for us.” Wait, what? Are we supposed to believe that there are “whites only” signs peppering the UVA campus? Of course, there isn’t. The problem with modern-day racism, or should I say, the beauty of modern-day racism, is that white people cannot see imaginary racism. Therefore, modern-day racism can never be overcome. Early activists fought for an end to segregation, while modern-day racists fight for its return.
The devastating race hoax in 1955 that resulted in the savage murder of Emmett Till, a black child who was falsely accused of assaulting a white woman has been replaced with new imaginary race hoaxes starring the likes of Jussie Smollett. The goal: chronic racial disharmony.
White supremacy, we are told, is back with a vengeance, after apparently being unable to find its way out of a paper sack during the eight years of the Obama administration. This new perceived racism is being led by a small group of multi-millionaire activists in Hollywood, the media, and academia. They cry victimhood from their private jets while wearing their designer clothes, after earning their fancy degrees from their Ivy-leagued colleges. The boy who cried wolf has officially lost his voice. “No one believes a liar, even when he’s telling the truth.”
Blacks are “far more likely to receive racial preference than to suffer racial discrimination”, says Shelby Steele, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute. Yet a plethora of benefits has done more harm than good. Affirmative action has backfired, with black degree holders facing claims that their degrees were unearned. The introduction of welfare in the 60s and 70s has actually stalled the substantial reduction in poverty seen prior to its implementation, making the cure worse than the disease.
In Booker T. Washington’s 1901 memoir, “Up From Slavery”, Washington, a former slave, gives us a front-row seat to how life existed during the days of slavery. The difference in rhetoric between his 1901 memoir and today’s race hustlers is astounding. Washington describes his journey from the devastating condition his family endured to his fight for an education and eventual building of the Tuskegee Institute. He captures the irony of slavery which removed the spirit of self-reliance from whites, who found themselves unskilled and ill-prepared for life once slavery ended. He learned to love labor, an important skill during those times. He worked with blacks and whites alike to improve the condition of blacks in the post-slavery world. He tells the story of how one graduate of Tuskegee was able to grow sweet potatoes at more than five times the expected yield, by utilizing his skill and knowledge. This impressed local white farmers who respected the improvements it made for the whole community. After visiting Europe in the late nineteenth century, Washington felt American blacks were far ahead of their brothers in France.
Yet, even with the rise in black-led businesses, the entry of the first black billionaire in 2001, and the election of the first black president in 2009, these modern-day race-baiters will not release their grip on the racism of the past. False claims of racism are not racism at all, it’s politics. And racism is wrong, no matter where it comes from.
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