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Political Correctness, Segregation & Capitalism PART 7 (White Privilege)

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White privilege has tangible historical roots that we would do well to recognize and come to terms with, but our whiteness also affords us very practical advantages in our daily lives. These things are difficult to appreciate because they are invisible to us. Not experiencing them ourselves and being separated from people of color who are experiencing them, we don’t even know to appreciate their absence in our lives: * You’ve never been told by someone that they do not date people of your race * You expect, and mostly receive, fair treatment and even kindness from people * You do not fear death or arrest when you are pulled over even if you are breaking the law * You have never been arrested despite breaking laws: did you drink or smoke underage? Ever tried a drug? Ever driven 40 in a 25? * You have never worried that your children’s race could get them killed * You have never had to explain to your children that their race could get them killed * You have never thought, or been told
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Political Correctness, Segregation & Capitalism PART 6

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These internalized, often unconscious, beliefs are especially problematic in the middle and lower-middle class because we are working hard. We hear again and again from white liberals and conservatives alike: “I’ve worked hard for everything I have.” And this is often true. Capitalism keeps us all working very hard. Working hard for what we have, however, makes us blind to all that has been unfairly taken from others and given freely to us as if we deserved it. Let’s start with The Homestead Act of 1862 . Knowing possession is nine tenths of the law, the US government practically gave away land--which they had stolen from Native peoples--to citizens and non-citizens who “had never borne arms against the U.S. government.” So when we hear stories of our Euorpean ancestors coming to this country “with nothing” and flourishing, it’s important to know that often that miraculous progress was only possible because of stolen land they got for free. If your ancestors resided in the south as
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Political Correctness, Segregation & Capitalism PART 5

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Capitalism Not only were we isolated from and in denial of reality, we were busy working. Distraction is, perhaps, capitalism's greatest evil. We are too busy to notice other people, and if we can’t see, we can’t care. If we can’t care, we won’t act. Who had time to worry about people we couldn't see, people we didn't want to believe existed, when there was a mortgage to pay and the kids were dying their hair green and smoking pot? How could I focus on others when teenage angst was taking over and my number one priority was to move out of my parent's house? I needed money to do that, so I worked whenever I wasn’t in school. It didn't help that no one at school was addressing contemporary issues, which could have opened my eyes to the suffering around me. We focused on what seemed like ancient history: the Civil Rights Movement and the unique manifestation of midcentury racism. No one taught us about the structural, legal and institutionalized racism that was happe
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1 in 3 Black and Native Children Live in Poverty

As if to make my point, the Economic Policy Institute just published this article: One-third of Native American and African American children are (still) in poverty
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Political Correctness, Segregation and Capitalismm PART 4

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Segregation While PC culture effectively ended authentic communication between whites, the divide between people of color and white people also grew, making it even easier for white liberals to ignore racism. Gentrification, The War on Drugs, the end of integrated bussing in schools, and failed attempts at holistic affirmative action ensured further racial separation. Black and Brown peoples were being incarcerated at an alarming rate, further pushing them into the undercaste so well explained by Michelle Alexander in The New Jim Crow. Those who escaped incarceration were living in increasingly deteriorating urban areas with lack of infrastructure, job opportunities or quality schools. White people, on the other hand, were living better lives, which increased our sense that all was well. But, people of color were living worse lives, arguably worse than during the civil rights movement. White liberals remained isolated and blissfully ignorant of the plight of our neighbors beca
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Political Correctness, Segregation, and Capitalism PART 3

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PC CULTURE: PART 2 So, what was happening in the households of the other half of the white population? They were making racist jokes and reaffirming their own racial identities. They were telling stories that perpetuated stringently held stereotypes that proved to them that people of color were different and less than white people. They were convincing themselves that people of color were the source of their own poverty and joblessness or the reason they weren’t as rich as their friends or in-laws. They were making fun of white liberals because we were too stupid to see the truth. And, though PC culture seemed to say otherwise, the persistence of white supremacy inherent and enduring in our educational and judicial systems confirmed these racist beliefs. Communities of color were plagued with crime. Students of color did poorly in schools. White remained the standard for leadership, intellect, prosperity and beauty. The system of oppression remained invisible, so its effects were mist
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Political Correctness, Segregation, and Capitalism: An Explanation and Call to Action for Bewildered White Liberals PART 2

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PC Politics and Culture--Part 1 I grew up in the age of political correctness. Political correctness told us, implicitly and explicitly, not that it was wrong to be a racist, but that it was wrong to speak and act like a racist, to be seen as a racist. Political correctness sent two very different messages to two very different populations of white people. It confirmed white liberals’ belief that racism is wrong, but it sent the message to white conservatives that they must hide their racism. It wasn’t wrong to be a racist; it was just wrong to get caught. The messaging of PC was always external, never internal. Decades before, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned us of this: “Desegregation will break down the legal barriers and bring men together physically, but something must touch the hearts and souls of men so that they will come together spiritually because it is natural and right (Strength to Love 29). But King was murdered. No effort was made to confront the reality of th
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