In a nation of over 330,000,000 people, I imagine that there are a few White people who hate Black People. I have bumped into a few of them over my years in my hometown of Chicago. Contrary to left-wing political rhetoric, most of them were Democrats – and a few were Democrat officeholders.
I was witness – and fought against – the systemic racism of the Democrat political machine. The very systemic racism that brought Martin Luther King to Chicago. The Windy City was the most racist AND yet the most Democrat city in America. I never viewed that as a coincidence. After years of civil rights activism and research, I learned that Chicago was not only not unique, it was typical of most of our major cities with segregated, impoverished Black populations.
I have also come across a few Black folks who hated White People. But for reasons that defy all logic and common sense, I’ve been told that Blacks are not capable of racism. That is the contorted interpretation of the liberal academic community.
I have a much simpler view. If a person – any person – hates another based on their race – or even some other ethnic classification — that is racism … period. There are White folks who hate Hispanics – even those the government categorizes as White Hispanics. White folks who hate all sorts of Asians.
BUT … and that is a BIG BUT … there are Black folks who hate Hispanics – and those who hate Asians. If you do not believe that you have never spent any time among minority groups in the inner cities. There are some Asians who hate Blacks. And around and around it goes.
For the most part, this level of personal racism is kept in the background. Those who harbor it are not generally confrontational. And only express their negative feelings among those they believe to be like-minded. They do not engage in or condone violence. And they are still a very small proportion of the population so their private feelings have limited impact.
It is true, however, that small numbers of the most virulent haters ban together to express their hatred more openly. And in the most extreme cases, more violently. These are the nut cases that arise out of the evil of identity politics – which is the doctrine of disunity that is at the root of virtually all conflict. Why the left embraces and promotes it is imponderable.
BUT … to make things perfectly clear, we must understand that those with motivational hatred based on race or ethnic tribalism are among the very few among us. I can count my own encounters with them over many, many years without needing more than the fingers and toes I possess. And in terms of those who would do or condone violence, I have never met one – not one. I have seen them on television, so I know they do exist, but not in great numbers among the people.
I have seen the hateful White supremacy shooter at Mother Emanual AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. And also, I saw the reports of Black men assassinating White police officers. Unfortunately, the vile actions of a few sociopaths blind us to the tolerant views of the people in general – because the evil actions are dramatic and are used to incite division by politically motivated race baiters.
The vast, vast, vast, majority of Americans get along with each other very well. We actually enjoy the company of each other. We love to embrace diverse cultures and customs. Even though the loony left considers that a form of racism they call “ethnic appropriation.” Billions of times every day we interact in peace, harmony and friendship.
Democrats and the left have advanced another bogus theory that we White people are cowering in fear that this nation will soon become a majority-minority country. That folks who are not White will attain positions of leadership. They claim that changes in demographics are threatening what they call “White supremacy” – a political boogeyman that does not exist in the hearts of the huge majority of White folks.
To the left, EVERYTHING is about race and racism.
The Democrats’ theory seems to be based on their own historic imposition of White supremacy in the days of Jim Crow. And in their more recent obnoxious invention of identity politics. Their identity-based narratives assume that we are all members and defenders of some tribal class that is eternally in competition – at war — with other tribal classes.
Even as one of those dreaded older White males, I do not seem to fit into the Democrats stereotype. And neither do all the other older White males I know. If I do belong to a political tribe, it is bonded by my conservative beliefs. It is a political belief that is competitive – fighting against those who believe in powerful government run by elitists – but not violently. I seek camaraderie and leadership from conservatives of every background – race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation. At the same time, I enjoy close friendships with people who do not share my conservative views.
The idea that White America is driven by a primal fear that people with darker skin will seize power is absurd and utterly dishonest. We do fear those who would transform our bottom-up Republic into a top-down autocracy – regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, gender and sexual orientation.
In that political competition, I gladly work with and for folks of every background with conservative values – and in opposition with those on the opposite side of the political continuum. It is the issues, not the skin color that matters. I suspect the left spins it to skin color because they cannot win on the really important stuff – the issues.
So, there ’tis.