<p>In the new Cancel Culture, we see the left-wing attempting to cancel our basic American culture of personal freedom, equality under the law, free market capitalism in favor of big government authoritarian elitism. It is not just the iconizations and symbolisms of our American heritage that they are out to destroy, but the very principles and practices of American Exceptionalism – the very concept that power and rights emanate from the people, not from a top-down regulatory government run by a permanent class of establishment bureaucrats and officials.</p>
<p>But … this is not anything new. The left has been wiping out the heritages of we the people for generations as a matter of standard operating procedure. It has been done in the name of political correctness and identity politics – two of the most threatening philosophies to our cultural unity and comity.</p>
<p>According to the Democratic Party’s philosophies of political correctness and identity politics, there are only two meaningful demographic groups in America today – people of color and white people. And, according to the left, they are engaged in an existential battle for cultural superiority. The left provokes a politically concocted racial battle between alleged white privilege juxtaposed to a perception of pandemic minority victimization.</p>
<p>As we transmute from a white majority country to the ridiculous oxymoron of a “minority” majority nations, the left wing strives to have all those newly designated and coalesced “people of color” believe that their vehicle to power – the Democratic Party – represents the interests of everyone except those deplorable white people – especially white males.</p>
<p>The first problem is … who are all those people of color? Ostensibly, they are people with darker skin and distinctive non-Caucasian facial features (whatever the hell that means) regardless of their ethnic background – although some very white people can be considered people of color and some darker people … not.</p>
<p>It all depends upon into which category people fall – black, brown, yellow or red. For example, if you are a Castilian Mexican – who often have the skin color and facial features of a typical German – you are still a person of color. If you are olive-skinned Italian or Greek, you are still white – even though your skin color may be darker than those Castilian Mexicans. If you have one non-white parent, you are arguably a person of color – especially if you look like President Obama. The descendants of Thomas Jefferson and slave Sally Hemming are divided with one branch declared to be white and the other black – because the members of one brand look white and the others look, more or less, black.</p>
<p>Of course, most Americans are of mixed ethnicity. Regardless, you must fit into one of the major categories for political purposes. Sometimes, your last name will determine your ethnicity – not your DNA. When I worked at Sears, we had to report the ethnic background of our departmental employees. The department vice president said he loved having one particular woman. She was Black but married to a Hispanic. Her last name was Rodriguez. The boss bragged how she was a three-fer on the government report – a woman, a Black and a Hispanic. Of the ten people in the department, this one lady was counted as one-third of the employees.</p>
<p>What must be kept in mind is that all those collective designations have nothing to do with nationality, ancestry or ethnicity. They are not biological designations based on DNA. They are POLITICAL designations designed to obfuscate diversity while claiming to celebrate it.</p>
<p>In creating the dichotomy between white folks and people of color, Democrats hope to build a permanent political power base for the foreseeable future. Actually, a pretty clever idea. But this lumping disparate ethnic groups into two amorphous interest groups based on you-win/I-lose is not a new idea for Democrats. They used their philosophy of identity politics to homogenize diverse ethnic cultures into politically manageable groups to be identified merely as black, brown, yellow, red and white.</p>
<p>The new division between White folks and people of color diminishes the richness of diversity. The minority groups have no ancestral identity in the eyes of the left’s Big Brother. You are not Cuban. You are not even Hispanic. You are not Chinese, Japanese or Vietnamese. You are not even Asian in the eyes of the left. You are a person of color.</p>
<p>It began when Jesse Jackson successfully replaced the designations of “Negro” (the appropriate counterpart of Caucasian) and “colored” (the appellation used by the National Association of Colored People [NAACP] to this day) with the term African American – inappropriately applying it to millions of black citizens who have not had any ties to Africa for hundreds of years.</p>
<p>After 20 generations away from Africa, one might think that most Blacks had become simply Americans. But Jackson’s effort to corral the Black community was amazingly – and unfortunately – highly successful. People who had no idea what a kente was began wearing them. Then came the dashiki. Black kids were being given African names – and some celebrities even changing their American names.</p>
<p>Black Americans began evolving into a separate tribal culture after a couple of hundred years of evolving into the basic American culture. It was reflected in music, literature and even newly invented holidays, such as Kwanza. The concept of <em>e pluribus unum</em> was actually being reversed.</p>
<p>The left-wing demographic policies were designed to obliterate the cultural difference within the broad color designations. Being a Mexican, Puerto Rican or Cuban was less important than being a Hispanic or Latino(a). In fact, Latinx even takes away a person’s gender. No more Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese. Politically, “Asian” is the only consideration of the so-called progressive left. On the other side of the Democrats&#8217; great political divide, being Swedish, German, Italian or British is less important than being … White.</p>
<p>One of the great things about America is that we share our INDIVIDUAL and UNIQUE cultures and heritages within a melting pot that makes us ALL Americans – with common beliefs, values and a bond of patriotism. We share our ethnic cultures to the benefit and pleasure of all within our common alliance.</p>
<p>When I go out for dinner, I may enjoy some Mexican, Cuban or Peruvian cuisine. I do not look for a Hispanic restaurant. Sometimes I enjoy Chinese, Japanese, Thai or Vietnamese food. I do not seek a generic Asian restaurant. Same with European food – French, Italian, Greek or German. I am not even sure where to find a restaurant that specializes in generic European food – or what that food might be.</p>
<p>These wonderful cultural distinctions are also found in music, language, art, attire and festivals that we can share. It is the joy of a nation … a society … a culture … predicated on immigration. We are among the most open and tolerant people on earth.</p>
<p>The political left, however, has created the distinctions that obliterate our ancestries – but there is some pushback. I know people who are Mexican and Puerto Rican who hate the Hispanic or Latino destination – and especially Latinx. Chinese who prefer to be referred to as Chinese as opposed to Asian. And they especially do not like “people of color.” I know black people who hate the term African American. They see themselves as Jamaican Americans or Haitian Americans – or just American. Actor Morgan Freeman does not even like being distinguished by his skin color.</p>
<p>If you ask a person about their ancestry and they say Asian or Hispanic, you still know nothing about that person. Yes, there is a place for the use of the collective terms, but not as the primary identification. I may look like a White person, but that does not define me. I am culturally Polish and Austrian – and that one percent Nigerian – and 100 percent American.</p>
<p>So … if you have a distinct national or ethnic culture of which you are proud, you would be well advised to use it or lose it.</p>
<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>