Today we can perhaps say that racism charges are the last refuge of a scoundrel. They’re also now usually the first tactic of one. President Trump alluded to this very idea Thursday, saying that “the word ‘racist’ is used about every Republican that’s winning.”
As Breitbart reports, “President Donald Trump defied [sic] charges Thursday from Democrats and the establishment media that he was a racist for supporting tough measures on immigration enforcement.”
“‘Well[,] you know the word ‘racist’ is used about every Republican that’s winning,’ Trump said in an interview with Christian Broadcast[ing] Network,” the site continued. “‘Any time a Republican is leading they take out the ‘R’ word, the ‘racist’ word.’”
Trump knows this through experience. As I wrote in August,
No one thought he was a ‘racist’ until he became a serious political threat. In fact, Truth Revolt noted last year that “when Trump was a private citizen and used his billions to help black communities, he earned multiple rounds of applause.″ Some of this was from race-hustler Jesse Jackson, who praised “Trump’s ‘will to make things better’ for the ‘underserved communities,’” the site also related.
“So when exactly did Trump become Archie Bunker?” I then asked.
The answer: “The moment he threatened Democrat political power. As soon as he left the business realm, entered politics, and became a serious candidate, the Left rolled out its usual tactics: He was a ‘homophobe,’ a ‘sexist,’ a misogynist, and, of course, a ‘racist.’”
One indicator that “racism” accusations are more ploy than principle is that those leveling them often appear to not know the term’s meaning. If you disliked Mexicans, for instance, that wouldn’t be “racism” because “Mexican” isn’t a race but a nationality. Mexico’s ruling class is, in fact, white.
It’s likewise when supposed anti-Muslim sentiment is labeled “racism.” “Muslim” references a religion, one with large numbers of adherents of every race.
Speaking of which, being anti-Arab wouldn’t make you a “racist,” either, because “Arab” is an ethnicity. Arabs are actually classified as Caucasian, as are Persians (Iranians), most Indians and Pakistanis, and many Hispanics. A proper word for irrational animus toward such groups would be “prejudice” or bigotry.” When impugning someone’s character, one should at least use correct terminology.
But the Left doesn’t much care about how they use “racism”; that’s why we shouldn’t care how they use it, either. That the tactic works to silence people perpetuates it; everyone who grovels, genuflects before the thought police, or apologizes reinforces their behavior.
Moreover, a person thus capitulating misses a chance to be a hero. As I explained in 2016:
Imagine you went to a John Wayne movie years ago and the Duke, instead of being an intrepid champion of good, sheepishly apologized to the villain. You might have wanted your money back. For a hero stands up for what’s right, against all odds and even in a hail of bullets. And were he to back down, he would relinquish hero status.
Yet backing down is par for the course when confronted by the thought police. People will cower and apologize — thus relinquishing any support they might have had. Why would fellow citizens stand up for you if you won’t even stand up for yourself?
Remember that the best defense is a good offense. If you not only don’t apologize, but also get in the thought police’s face, double down, and demand an apology from them (à la Trump), you can become a Braveheart.
How do you do this with a “racism” allegation? Level the charge right back at the accuser. Say, “You are the racist — because you’re only making that accusation because I’m white.” It’s not only rhetorically effective, but happens to usually be the truth.
Another thing traditionalists could do, as I’ve suggested in the past, is create an alliance, an organization that would compensate victims of politically correct witch hunts. If someone’s career is destroyed by the thought police, a half million Americans donating a few dollars each via crowd-funding could make him whole.
This not only would help neuter the social-justice warriors, but would drive the Left crazy. Despite their pretenses about rejecting materialism, they’re a greedy bunch and eat their hearts out when someone they attempt to destroy is enriched instead. It could serve as a real disincentive against trying to ruin good Americans.
Even more importantly, however, we should understand the deeper issues here. Realize that we don’t have a hang-up with “race,’ but with “racism.” The latter is not the end-all and be-all, but just a sub-category of one of the Seven Deadly Sins, wrath. And is it really our greatest characteristic sin?
Considering how the sexual devolution is well advanced, with everything from schools to entertainment to media to personal conversations infused with sexual content — and with traditional sexual mores under withering attack — lust is certainly a greater problem. With demagogues appealing to masses with welfare and class-warfare and claims that success can be unfair, sloth may also be a bigger issue, and envy certainly is.
Yet as C.S. Lewis once observed, evil always tries to persuade us to exaggerate our flaws, telling (for instance) the militant he’s too pacifistic and the pacifist that he’s too militant. Today there are radical egalitarians convinced they’re too “racist.”
To illustrate this askew sense of proportion, imagine that society considered gluttony the ultimate disqualifier. We might then, as I also wrote in 2016,
scrutinize a person, asking “What are his food bills?” “Do cookbooks figure too prominently in his library?” “Does he wile away excessive time watching Emeril Live?” “Is he the one who cleared the buffet table like a hurdler?” And imagine we visited pariah status on the person after deeming him guilty.
Would you think this society’s greater fault was gluttony — or being hung-up about it? I’d think it exhibited a gluttonous zeal for eradicating gluttony.
This isn’t to say “racism” is non-existent. But here, too, people misunderstand what characterizes us. With “white privilege” theory, Caucasian-free college-campus “safe spaces,” the demeaning of famous historical figures as “dead white males,” and the general demonization of whites, the Jim Crow South 2018 America is not.
Oh, one fault we could work on eradicating is dishonesty. We can start with the lying serpent tongues that would use any charge, any name, any game to win power.
Photo: Devonyu/iStock/ Getty Images Plus
