John Derbyshire: Black History Month — Must We Slide Into Babbling Infantilism?

02/08/2019

Adapted from the latest Radio Derb, available exclusively on VDARE.com. See, earlier, by John Derbyshire: Are We At Peak Anti-White?

February is, of course, Black History Month. So far, just one week in, the reminders are piling up. I have logged the following outrages that have black Americans cowering in fear in their tarpaper shacks.

Coonman." Governor Northam has been swinging wildly between denial and apology, with apology (I think) predominating.
The movie actor Liam Neeson, who I remember as a fine brooding Ethan Frome, explained to an interviewer how he'd worked up the anger for a film role he’s just recently performed. He'd recalled his feelings from an incident forty years ago, when a lady close to him was raped by a black man. The enraged young Neeson had gone out, presumably in London, looking for a random black man with the intent to kill him. Fortunately he calmed down before committing any violence. [Liam Neeson interview: Rape, race and how I learnt revenge doesn’t work, The Independent, February 5, 2019] He’s spent the last few days apologizing and protesting that he’s not racist.
January 28th in a New York Times op-ed, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner [Tweet him] who teaches English at liberal-arts Linfield College in Oregon told us that Mary Poppins is problematic — I'm sure that’s the right word, "problematic" — because in the classic movie version Mary deliberately blackens her face with soot. (Because she’s followed a chimney sweep up a chimney, but hey…) And in the original Mary Poppins books by Pamela Travers, 1930s to 1950s, characters use language about black people that we'd consider offensive in 2019, although nobody would have thought so in 1940 or 1950.

If you’re interested, I’d respectfully encourage you to read the entire article and then decide what you think about Disney’s choice to revive stereotypes from the 1930s. https://t.co/LDLmyZPwfT
— Daniel Pollack-Pelzner (@pollackpelzner) February 6, 2019

Gucci 'deeply apologizes' and removes from the shelves its $890 balaclava knit top after thousands on Twitter branded it 'blackface for millennials', Daily Mail, February 7, 2019] Gucci’s withdrawn the item and issued gushing apologies, affirming that — if I can get through the quote without throwing up all over my microphone — "We are fully committed to increasing diversity throughout our organization and turning this incident into a powerful learning moment for the Gucci team and beyond."
Adidas brought out a new line of sneakers expressly in celebration of Black History Month. Unfortunately the sneakers are totally white. Twitterstorm! Adidas has now withdrawn the sneakers. [Adidas pulls all-white sneaker created for Black History Month after Twitter backlash, by Aris Folley, The Hill, February 6 2019]

There are certain things in life that make no sense whatsoever and prob never will … Adidas celebrating black history month with this shoe is one example pic.twitter.com/HI5198i4gV
— John John (@JohnJohnVlogs_) February 3, 2019

My first question, contemplating this nonsense: Are there enough grown-ups in the Democratic Party to fend off the party’s radicals?

Strike that! My second question: are there enough grown-ups in the United States to avert our apparently remorseless slide down into babbling infantilism?

And look at the implicit anti-whiteness on display in these stories. The merest, most trivial slight is taken to be outrageously offensive to the fragile sensibilities of blacks, even if from decades ago, while viciously anti-white comments go unremarked — will, in fact, get you a job on the New York Times editorial board, as it did for Sarah Jeong. (See Vox Explains Why You Can’t be Racist Against Whites, by Steve Sailer.)

I've been a fan of Political Science Professor Eric Kaufmann since reading his book The Rise and Fall of Anglo-America a dozen years ago. (See his VDARE.com debate with Kevin MacDonald.) Now here is Professor Kaufmann this week, writing in National Review: How 'Asymmetrical Multiculturalism' Generates Populist Blowback.[February 6, 2019]

And, yes, Kaufmann can fairly be categorized as Alt-Lite. He stays well clear of live rails — doesn’t touch race realism for example.

But he has an interesting mind, and a nice turn of phrase: "Asymmetrical Multiculturalism," for example.

Quote:

At multiculturalism’s heart … lies a contradiction: White majorities are compelled to be cosmopolitan, urged to supersede their ascribed identity. Minorities are enjoined to do the reverse.

You nailed it, Prof! Sanctified minorities get a month of their own. Cherishing their precious, nursed-and-petted "identities," they shriek and swoon at the most trivial imagined slight, and everyone rushes to soothe their wounded feelings.

The place of white people in this drama: grovel, apologize, grovel, apologize, and plead pitifully: "I'm not racist!"

The astonishing thing to me is that so many whites have put up with this silly nonsense for so long.

John Derbyshire writes an incredible amount on all sorts of subjects for all kinds of outlets. (This no longer includes National Review, whose editors had some kind of tantrum and fired him.) He is the author of We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism and several other books. He has had two books published by VDARE.com com: FROM THE DISSIDENT RIGHT (also available in Kindle) and FROM THE DISSIDENT RIGHT II: ESSAYS 2013.

For years he’s been podcasting at Radio Derb, now available at VDARE.com for no charge. His writings are archived at JohnDerbyshire.com.

Readers who wish to donate (tax deductible) funds specifically earmarked for John Derbyshire’s writings at VDARE.com can do so here.

Sarah Jeong

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