And no, it’s not a white person thing
For years, the American left– as well as anti-racist leftists across the world –
have been mocked and hated for overplaying the race card;
for crying ‘racism’ where racism isn’t there.
A few days ago, we had the privilege of witnessing the core ideology behind the election of Donald Trump manifest itself in Virginia, USA. This ideology condensed into one giant blob of white-hot fluid, running down the streets of Charlottesville chanting “We will not be replaced”.
The white world wondered who it is that these racists were afraid of being replaced by. The rest of the world already knew the answer. These included Pakistani expatriates in the United States – Muslim or otherwise – who had long complained of something amiss; not counting the likes of Asra Nomani and Maajid Nawaz who had bargained their way into the right-wing camp. One of the primary forces that launched Donald Trump into the Oval Office, was the rising fear of white America losing its dominance. Power is as addictive as any drug can be, and the thought of white America losing its centrality to an influx of ‘outsiders’, has rallied racists across every corner of the developed world.
The tiki-torch wielding masses in Charlottesville, Virginia have terrified left and centre alike. However dire this may seem, this gross and politically misguided manifestation of white-hot rage will do more to bolster the ranks of the far-left than almost anything the left has consciously done.
This episode may well have been amusing, had it not been for random acts of destruction it involved; most notably, the casualties that occurred when a crazed white supremacist (still not ‘terrorist’) ploughed his vehicle through a small crowd of anti-racist counter-protesters. This episode could have been amusing because it is oddly reminiscent of the controversial film, ‘Dear White People’ (DWP) released in 2014.
Dear White People is about an anarchist and black rights activist named Samantha. Samantha spends most her student life being viciously insulted and laughed at for ‘crying wolf’ about the prevalence of racism, in an institution run by a black Dean. The campus is forced to eat humble pie when, out of the blue, an exquisitely racist “black-themed” party is organized by one of the white student body groups.
The following may be a spoiler, but it is important for me to bring up to complete my point and justify this brief digression. It is discovered that it’s Samantha herself who hacked into the group’s system, and sent the invites to the racist party. The anarchist proves her point: had the campus not been inflicted by an invisible strain of racism, such an invite would’ve been met with scorn and derision. Instead, hundreds of people showed up to the racist party, proving what Sam had always maintained: that racism had never faded away; it had merely concealed itself.
For years, the American left – as well as anti-racist leftists across the world – have been mocked and hated for overplaying the race card; for crying ‘racism’ where racism isn’t there. When liberal media groups attributed Trump’s election to white supremacy, the right-wing and the fickle centrists scoffed.
Whence did the sea of racists in Charlottesville emerge? Had we not been assured that we were living in a post-racial era? Had we not been censured for ‘over-playing’ the racist card, and repeatedly asking white people to check their privilege? From what inter-dimensional portal, were there frothing racists summoned into this un-racist universe?
It would be nice if racists declare their feelings towards racial minorities and ‘foreigners’ up front, through either Nazi salutes or confederate flags. Usually, that does not happen. Minorities are forced to use their own experiences to judge how racially prejudiced a person is, through subtle gestures and word-play.
We think of a ‘racist’ as someone who actively dislikes people of a different race, particularly an under-privileged minority race. We do not, although we ought to, see racism as an unconscious bias that isn’t clear to us, but quite evident to the recipient of that racist attitude. This principle may also be applied to other inter-group dynamics, for instance, between men and women; Shia and Sunni; Punjabi and Baloch.
When you are being accused of ‘racism’ or any other form of bigotry, know that it is not necessarily a criticism of your morality or your intelligence. We have all said and done things that we did not realise were offensive, but had to be told that they were. One needn’t be outraged by the insinuation. Allow oneself time to reflect.
It is the subtle indicators of bigotry that must be taken seriously. These indicators may well be the difference between the dismissal or coronation of someone as ludicrously non-Presidential as Donald Trump.