I've stumbled upon a new way to confound and mock wishful thinkers. This in the dimension of race. It began with a stab at the definition of 'white privilege' which I consider to be presumptuous, ill-defined and mostly insignificant.
In an attempt to monetize the benefits of inherited white privilege, someone suggested that the average income differential by race was indicative of the historical boon. An average white woman, by dint of this boon would therefore realize an annual salary of 22,000 whereas the average black woman would only receive an annual salary of 20,000. Therefor the white woman owes the black woman 1,000 if equality were to be achieved.
However it is also part of this conventional wisdom that poor Muslim immigrants are now denied the opportunity to participate in the American economy by dint of a racist policy. Well, then let's let them in, goes the rationale. The effect however would be that these penniless people would be lumped in with the blacks and then reduce their annual salaries by another 1,000. Doesn't that increase white privilege?
This mind teaser would force someone as bound to logic such as I am to investigate other conundrums of white privilege and racism as defined by those seeking a way out. Those seeking a way out? Don't I mean Whites? Well, I guess I do. Part of the engagement with the dilemma of white privilege involves some way of Whites weaseling their way out of it. Of course they do so by the basic presumption that they are indeed White and what they do as Whites matters. So they try to figure something out. Something that can finally allow the White race to sleep at night. Something must be found to purify the evil historical deeds of the Whites. What Whites need now, more than ever, is White purity.
Do you hear me chuckling?
Well, despite the fact that I have recently picked up a new commenter who believes it is his sacred black duty to make sure that I do not pollute myself with the agendas of the alt-right and various forces of white supremacy, I have decided to go ahead and speak up again on the tedious subject of race. I mean, it was a slam dunk. And to that end, I offer the following syllogism straight outta Facebook. The subject was two Asian stars of Hawaii-50, the rebooted TV show, quit for not getting paid. Predictably this is now a 'teachable moment' for the devotees of white privilege.
What if Asians were actually such people who didn't need to watch TV? What if Whites were such a people who did need to watch TV? Then the presence of Asians on TV would be beneficial to Whites. The absence of Asians on TV would be detrimental to Whites.
Therefore it would be in the White interest to have Asians on TV.
The question therefore becomes whether or not Asians find it in their own interests to serve the White interests in consuming Asians on TV. And that depends upon whether the Asians on TV are portrayed as Asians serving the interests of Asians.
Thus if Asian and White interests are generally mutually exclusive, then the sole benefit of Asians on TV to Asians would be Asians serving Asian interests. Let's say that interest is teaching Asian language. Since that would be a mutually exclusive interest, it has to be measured against the White interest of having Asians on TV, meaning basically Asians on TV doing all things only a few of which actually serve Asian interests.
Thus an equilibrium is created in which the benefits to Whites is significant in that Whites can additionally claim to serve Asian interests (subservient to the White interest in TV). In other words, on the whole it's good TV which serves the White interest.
If on the other hand Whites and Asians both have the same interests in TV, then it doesn't matter how Whites are portrayed and it doesn't matter how Asians are portrayed. All that matters are the interests of TV, which means getting paid. In which case it doesn't matter the race of people who are getting rewards or those who are getting screwed.
Moral of the story. Don't fight the house.
__However, if you choose to represent racial interests in any area of endeavor and choose to suggest that whatever happens to one member of a race is of significance to that race, then you have a great deal of accounting to do of interest by race.
I would suggest that this interest has been generated in Whites who desire to signify their morality as Whites to others who are not White. In other words, Whites are making themselves Whiter by investing in a new theory of race. Like carbon credits, this is a new economy of race credits. It has far less accountability than Jim Crow. And yet it is more pervasive. And it is generating a raft of strange new behaviors as Whites think up different methods to signal to each other that they are more racially sensitive than ever before in the history of mankind. Something they perceive to be actually simple, given the racial theory of historical White behavior.
It's all rather pathetic.
We're in a race bubble. Everybody seems to be an expert on what is and what is not racist. Which means of course that nobody really knows for sure, but they're trying. Well, you can't be mad at people for trying. But you'd think they'd be a little bit smarter about it. Actually more robust about it, or simply less fragile about it. Their accounting is completely random and nobody is really keeping an objective score, which is why so many charlatan claims are taken seriously. I'll keep my eyes on the math. As usual, when I bother to care.
But here's the serious question. What is at the end of white privilege? Is it a war that goes on forever? Does the white race get destroyed? When it drops below a measurable level do people continue being white? I ask this question as someone for whom the Civil Rights and Black Power movements were successful. All the major hurdles were beaten. If they weren't, then the fight for gays wouldn't have happened. Asian interests would not have been considered. It would still be 1968. There would still be no blacks on McDonald's commercials, stars in the mainstream or homeowners in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Black Americans would still be constrained to the same colleges and universities, still have their own sports leagues and barred from professional associations like the Bar or AMA. In other words, my generation had goalposts. For people I grew up with, it was the integration of Corporate America. For a lot of older folks I recall, it was the integration of the civil service. For others it was the integration of colleges and universities or suburban neighborhoods. Which is to say for most of us, it was some sort of integration. The elimination of white privilege, as it's defined, as something inherent to the white race, essentially means the elimination of the white race. But of course 'Whites' will decide how much white privilege is eliminated or purified. Everybody else who wants to speak up on behalf of a non-white race can complain forever. Then again that's the definition of race. You're either superior or sniveling.
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