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December 07, 2004

Racism at Yale - a sophmore confesses

I think what saddens me most about the author of this piece is here we have a young woman raised in a society where every opportunity is open to her, where she finds herself in a privileged position at a historic university and she then so easily and enthusiastically wraps herself in "acceptable" racism. Right from the start, she parrots the rank personal dismissiveness of sixties' dogma and slogans.

Is Condoleezza Rice really a black woman?

While she may appear on the outside to share the color and therefore sentiments of black people ...

Gloria Steinem, uber feminist, was once asked her opinion of the appointment of Jeanne Kirkpatrick as the first woman ambassador to the United Nations. Ms. Steinem's response "Who said she was a woman?"

Dayo engages in the same stale gender-feminist rhetoric. When "the personal is the political" then the authenticity of a person is solely dependant on their belief system and whether or not it hews to the proper Leftist orthodoxy.

This Leftist orthodoxy has long turned racism on its head. Simply put, racism is the belief that a person's melanin level is indicative of their talents, morals and ethics. This base form of collectivism works both inward and outward. The German who believes that belonging to the same "race" as Beethoven gives him a natural advantage in music is as racist as the "white" person who believes all blacks are "shiftless."

Ironically, Leftists are promiscuous with their charges of racism against others while maintaining that, indeed, melanin level is indicative of talents, morals, ethics and, most importantly, politics.

The Republican agenda has not and likely will not take the interests of blacks in America to heart.
An unsubstantiated charge to start a paragraph breathless in its generalities, Dayo neither details the policies she finds in the disinterest of blacks nor contrasts those with policies she would prefer. It is enough for her to ring the Pavlovian "Republican agenda" bell and link it to
The criminal justice system, public schools based on property tax, and economic and social barriers to health care, home ownership, and higher education ...
so all correct thinking collectivists will nod in wise agreement. "Ah! Republican agenda. Bar the door, Sally, the Klan will be riding tonight!"
the fact remains that Republicans offer little more than lip service, and in a fresh tactic, face service, to blacks today.
No, Dayo. That is not a fact. It may be your opinion but when you cannot source it, you cannot use the word "fact." It certainly weakens your "argument" even further when statistics show, for instance, that home ownership has never been higher among blacks and it continues to grow even at an increase in rate higher than that for whites.

It is yet another Leftist orthodoxy that non-Leftists do not merely disagree on policy, or have different means to achieve worthy goals; such non-Leftists have ulterior motives and evil goals. They do not care about minorities, Dayo charges. They do not care about children or the elderly or the sick. Protestations from non-Leftists, be they libertarians or conservatives, that they do, indeed, care but disagree with Leftist prescriptions falls on ideologically deafened ears. For Leftists, people are incapable of taking care of themselves and anyone that suggests differently is merely "talking in code" and is really advocating the oppression, or worse, of said people. For Leftists, the government is the only way of achieving "egalitarianism." (Leaving aside for now that that is even a worthy goal)

As fundamentalist as any Iranian mullah issuing a fatwa against a person "insulting" Islam, Leftists are context-phobic. If person "A" has no health insurance, if person "B" is homeless, if child "C" falls asleep in school and gets bad grades ... it is the fault of non-Leftists in the government. In a particularly vicious Leftist rhetorical tactic, as government has made policy concessions to Leftists, any individual achievement that occurs in the same time frame, regardless of context, is beholden to such policy --

As mentioned on a recent edition of CNN's "Crossfire," Gonzales' remarkable success story was likely aided by policy with unmistakable and historic Democratic backing. Ideas like Pell grants, literacy education, Head Start and affirmative action undoubtedly contributed to Gonzales' success. To a lesser extent, the good Dr. Rice may also have made it where she is as a direct result of these policies. But oh, how quick these minority defectors are to jump onto the Republican bandwagon, neatly pulling the ladder up after them.
It would be helpful if Dayo recognized that handing someone a hammer doesn't make him or her an architect.

Just as people from impoverished backgrounds succeed there are people from privileged backgrounds who crash and burn. A Leftist dictator (almost a redundant phrase) could tomorrow make all education, housing, medical care, food, clothing, et al, free and it would solve little. Because the major factor in success or failure is individual responsibility. Tools, be they hammers, Pell Grants, GI bill, loans, et al, only contribute to success for people who are already committed to success. How did children learn to read before pre-schools and Head Start? How did immigrant kids learn English before bi-lingual education?
And isn't it a little fishy that Condi, clearly past her expiration date in terms of international knowledge, is still the leader of U.S. foreign policy?
Ah, the hubris of youth! Youngsters are fully engaged in thinking that they are the nadir of contemporary knowledge and culture. There isn't a teenager alive who is not shaken upon realization that their parents still have sex. Dayo clearly exhibits the same mindset -- that somehow Dr. Rice is a like a moth trapped in amber, a 50 year-old suspended in time who has never read a book, done research, attended a conference, consulted with experts since she left grad school. Never mind that Russia is still a world player, they are just so yesterday, kind of like The Beatles and nehru jackets.
didn't slip when I referred to dear Condi as a right-hand man.
Back to reactionary gender-feminism, delegitimize a woman's feminity because of your perception of her unacceptable politics.
Her blank-eyed compliance with W's first term misogynist agenda.
And there's that Pavlovian bell again! Not only are Republicans women haters, they have a women-hating agenda! Examples? Dayo offers nary a one. All us orthodox Leftists don't need anything so old-fashioned as cites. We feel Republicans are women haters and that is enough.
We won't see the woman part of this secretary of state ... the booming voice, crazy hair ... we will find, lurking beneath the cold, shiny Condi mask, a tiny, angry white man,
Is this the Leftist orthodox's equivalent of female genital mutilation? Comply with our politics or we strip you of being a woman?

Is it any wonder that the Left is enamored of, and apologists for, Islamism?

as a black woman with no interest in posing as anything but
AND that is exactly what Dayo is doing -- POSING. She has internalized each Leftist orthodox tenet of what a "proper" black female needs to be to be consider "authentic" within the church. She wiggles with delight in being able to attack the apostate, Dr. Rice. She marshalls her considerable vocabulary to scrawl emotional graffiti little different than the writings on a cultist hideout wall. What she hasn't done is be herself, where her melanin content is as relevant to her thinking and being as her eye color or her shoe size.

However, she is young and I suspect not of little intelligence. I have a small hope for a future epiphany on her part -- maybe scenario where she is in the midst of an interview for a job she really really wants and as she proudly shows off her newly minted Yale degree the interviewer frowns slightly and looks Dayo directly in the eye and says "You know, this is nice. But we interviewed a Yale graduate earlier today with the same resume and degree. He's a Japanese boy, so I think we know he earned his degree." And in that moment, Dayo realizes she, herself, in her devotion to her Leftist orthodoxy, has contributed to that evaluation of her "success."

crossposted at tacitus.org

Posted by Darleen at December 7, 2004 05:59 PM

Comments

/sarcasim on....Could be thats why JFK turned 'em out on the streets back in the early 60's.....probably was afraid he'd lose half his base to the mental clinics.... /sarcasim off

* smirkle*

Posted by: Hunter at December 7, 2004 09:30 PM

I disagree with your assessment of The Beatles being "yesterday". Name me another musical group that has, and continues to have, such a significant and pervasive impact on music and is so ingrained in our culture.

The Fab Four are STILL selling records - today in fact - proof positive that excellence is timeless - in their case their music, style, and image. Who said Jeane Kirkpatrick was a woman? Who said Gloria Steinem was relevant anymore?

Posted by: DC at December 9, 2004 10:44 AM