Crying Wolf about RacismMICHAEL RUBIN
commentarymagazine.com
DEC. 26, 2015
Perhaps we’re in an era that lionizes grievance, perhaps a new generation longs for the glories of a past generation’s triumph over evil and bigotry, or perhaps it’s the simply the fact that in a litigious society accusations of racism are a third rail that universities, corporations, and individuals will rush to resolve regardless of the merits of the charge. Or perhaps, for some, screaming racism has become a useful tool in order to promote other agendas.
Whatever the reason, at the core of the grievance industry lies the notion that racism is ever present in life. On its face, this is nonsense. The state no longer mandates segregation, nor can private companies deny service to people based on the color of their skin. Children of various ethnic and racial backgrounds play together, and their parents shop together. ... Problems do exist, but they are few and far between and, unlike a generation or two ago, the law is on the side of the victims of racism rather than its perpetrators.
...
The fact of the matter is that the grievance industry today is much less about tackling real racism and more about pursuing unrelated political agendas on the back of manufactured grievance.
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There’s an epidemic on campuses today and across society. It isn’t racism, but rather crying wolf about racism. Perhaps the racial grievance industry believes that the short-term gains of such tactics are worth their long-term costs. I disagree. False accusations of racism and the ever-expanding definition of racism ultimately spark backlash, breeds cynicism, and undercuts the ability to redress grievance when it truly does occur. Indeed, increasingly, it seems America’s problem is no longer racism but rather those who seek relevance by fighting it where it does not occur.
Re the "Perhapses" in the first paragraph, the "answer" is
"E. All of the above". In particular, cries of racism are being used to shake down companies and governments, and the Obamian "Justice" Department has made itself a club against those who don't knuckle under.
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton perfected this shake-down several decades ago. I have to ascribe some blame for it becoming so prevalent to the many innocent parties who gave in to their shake-downs. They thought they were buying racial peace - and perhaps they did - but surrendering to bullies always emboldens the bullies. The sad thing is, if/when the race-bullies (and gender-bullies) finally get taken on and put down, during and after that process there will be real incidents of racial (and sexual) violence that will go without redress, due to the skepticism caused by the race (and gender) bullies.
