Since it is relevant, I am 40 years old and black. I have a very large extended family and pretty much all of my cousins have drunk the "racism is everywhere" kool-aid and especially this past year. I have gotten into plenty of arguments with them and I finally realized it was just pointless. As well as with some friends. I think I have gone over police statistics, actual crime stats, and the world history of slavery so many times that I talk about it in my sleep but it is pointless. One of my cousins was talking about reparations and got mad when I asked him if he was going to hold the African leaders who sold our ancestors to the Europeans accountable or if he is so anti-slavery why doesn't he donate to organizations who fight modern day slavery instead of obsessing over slavery that ended over 150 years ago.
A white friend of mine has turned super woke since George Floyd and he got really pissed when I told him that he was so brave to condemn racism and thanked him because I didn't realize I was oppressed until I read his facebook posts. He then told me that he couldn't believe I would work so hard against my own people. I had a good laugh about that one, although being called a white supremacist was the best laugh, followed by when my relatives and I did our DNA/Ancestry test. I am about 20% European and also have a little Native American and Asian. One of my more militant cousins told me that i may have brown skin, but I inherited a "white personality" from my white ancestors.
Sadly in my early teens I went through a brief "everything is racism" period so I can understand how that sucks you in, plus I think it is human nature to a degree to want to be a victim about something. I remember complaining to my mom about my school not having any black history lessons and she told me that I was free to pick up a book and read on my own. My mother was big on reading and my parents taught me to learn about your culture/history and then learn about other cultures. That was eye opening because it was then I learned that every race/ethnic group has been oppressed or has been oppressors and that land conquest was as old as time along with slavery. Another thing was the fact that my grandfather never had any sort of grudge along with my other elderly relatives so I felt stupid and realized that if you look for racism everywhere you will find it.
Honestly if I had billions of dollars my reparation plan would be to buy land in any non-white majority country of their choosing and ship everyone of any race who can't shut up about how evil America and the west are. America is not a perfect country but to act like zero progress has been made (I actually heard a lady say that very little in regards to race relations has changed since 1776) really pisses me off. A little research will show anyone that if you are born in a western country you are in the world privilege group.
Sorry for the long post, but I decided from now on I can't talk to people who have that victim mindset or can't shut up about racism.
"Inherited a white personality" What does that mean. Trying to better yourself? Trying to work for a better future than playing "Mommy Danniel hit me 150 years ago"? I like the casual racisim in that too, like you can't be your own person, you're either with the team or you're out. Crabs in the bucket don't want you to be out.
Yep. I remember during the riots the media was making every excuse for rioting. “We can’t expect you to act like you have some sense so please go out and destroy your cities”. Too bad Thomas Sowell doesn’t have as much influence as grifters like Sharpton.
Thomas Sowell has influence with the educated not the indoctrinated.
Very true. I love his books.
One of the worst things lost to this is the loss of individuality.
One of the inherent problems with the modern victimhood mentality is that, by design, it turns people into machines, robbing them of their humanity. People have free will, and can act in spite of something, not because of it, and people are defined by what they do, not what's happened to them, or their progenitors, or others of their race. If you can boil down someone 100% to their circumstances, rather than what they choose to be and do, they're no longer human. They become a machine that if you know the inputs you can calculate the outputs. This also ignores quantum physics and Gödel's incompleteness theorems.
Victim mentality also holds people back. Even if everyone that was purported to be a victim actually was, the best thing to do for them is not define them as a victim. When someone views themselves as a victim it means they don't think they can achieve because of all the forces arrayed against them. If they do succeed, it must be some sort of fluke in their mind. This makes the "victims" less likely to work themselves out of their victimhood, or better themselves in any way, surrendering to the ebb and flow of what happens to them, rather than being an active participant and taking control of their own life.