Posted on 03/20/2013 10:43:27 PM PDT by neverdem
Graham Greene’s observation has lost none of its salience in 50 years: innocence remains “like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm.”
The latest illustration comes from Wisconsin, where the state’s Department of Public Instruction website devotes a page to “Power and Privilege.” Caucasians who volunteer in the state’s AmeriCorps VISTA antipoverty programs are instructed to “set aside sections of the day to critically examine how privilege works”; “put a note on your mirror or computer screen as a reminder to think about privilege”; and, in order to underline white guilt, “find a person of color who is willing to hold you accountable for addressing privilege.” The site generously provides a link to a “diversity document,” recommending that Caucasians “wear a white wristband as a reminder about your privilege, as well as a personal commitment to explain why you wear the wristband.”
This, of course, is not meant to be an echo of the Third Reich. It’s doubtful if the ahistorical functionaries who run Wisconsin’s DPI have ever read the racial laws of Nazi Germany. They may never have heard of Nazi Germany, where a series of cloth badges singled out “guilty” Germans for their race or their beliefs—yellow Stars of David for Jews, red triangles for political dissidents, green for criminals, purple for Jehovah’s Witnesses, blue for emigrants, brown for Gypsies, black for lesbians and other “anti-socials,” and pink for gay men.
Germany sentenced these wrong thinkers to concentration camps; Josef Stalin sent his sinners to the Gulag; Mao preferred “reeducation centers” for those whose opinions did not jibe with the official line of the People’s Republic of China. Wisconsin is nowhere near as totalitarian; it merely wishes for VISTA folks to wear something white, an article of clothing to set them apart, to make them feel wretched about their race, and, at the end of the day, to ask themselves: “What am I doing to undo my privilege?”
What could be more innocent?
White intellect + white creativity + white effort = white ‘privilege’.
Bump! Back at ya!
what the white privilege of getting to be the whipping boy for the rest of the world while struggling to make ends meet in a crummy economy?
"We cannot allow the lesser classes to dictate to those designated to govern." (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1809-1892)
"The English have proved that they can play a great and useful role as rulers over a people who recognize their own inferiority." (James Anthony Froude, 1818-1894)
"OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!" (Rudyard Kipling, 1865-1936)
"America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings." (Barack Hussein Obama, 1961-?)
The Empire mentality --
I have a very close friend who is black. He is NOT a “nigg$r”, he just happens to be a natural born American negro. Without a doubt, he is one of the best men we will see walking amongs’t us. When he read that article he was pissed. In his late 70’s, this man has and continues to work hard, earns every dime he’s got. He clearly and plainily states he is ashamed of his race piers who sit on their butts and do nothing but complaim and expect someone else to take care of them (and their numerous long and extended “chillen”. He hates anything about welfare and refuses to help anyone who doesn’t have the gumption to help themselves. He also stated that, “Trying to place blame on the white race by making them feel guilty for doing something with their life or for the failure of blacks and other minorities, is NOT going to ever fix those who are “lost”.
The concept of “white privilege” is still a relatively unknown term among the great majority of Americans. I first came upon the term more than twenty years ago while reading some leftist tract while in college. I thought at the time that no one would fall for this bilge, but leftists never give up. As all conservatives know it’s simply another scam foisted on the country by lib/leftist agitators who wish to separate fools from their money. I suppose the children of poor whites in Appalachia are more “privileged” than the offspring of the Oprah Winfreys etal of the country. (snicker)
You hit at the root of the whole scam. These nitwits are trying to make the argument that the only reason many black people are impoverished is because most or all white people were born privileged and did nothing to earn whatever material success came their way.
And they are likewise arguing that black failures have nothing to do with individuals failing due to their own lack of effort but because some white person somewhere else was handed something. And even if a lot of white people were given a boost in life because they were born rich, how does that affect non-white people? Trying to rationalize how some "rich" white person being given something causes a non-white person to fail is so insane, only a leftist could believe in it.
+ HARD Work! + giving up a lot of personal time
Accelerating to the “safety” of South Africa
and Nazi Germany ... without a brake.
I wonder if they’ll have Black Privilege wrist bands for Oprah, Herman Cain, LeBron James, and many other highly successful Blacks who overcame the Democrats’ welfare-created subservient society and rose to high levels of success, doing so through hard work, perseverence, and gumption. Oh, maybe I’m wrong. The Libs thinks there’s no opportunities for minorities. Tell it to Dave “Famous Dave” Anderson, a Native American who created a highly successful chain of Famous Dave’s Barbecue Ribs restaurants.
Like a prayer reminder?
Lord, thank you for the hard work and perseverance of my Christian ancestors who, through their faith in You, forged a great nation from a wilderness and spread freedom and prosperity to more peoples of every race and creed than any nation before them. Thank you, Lord, for the privilege of being the heir to their faith, ethics and morality. Help us to reclaim the thing which made our people great: hard work, standing firm against evil and most of all devotion to You. Amen.
I wonder if that's what the good folks in Wisconsin meant?
.
Well, the only way “white privilege” affected me is that when I was born into poverty, and steeped in the culture of entitlement and class envy, I was not also constantly told that I was poor because of racism.
I wonder how much that additional indoctrination affects the overall poverty culture that all poor people are subjected to. Does it make poor non-whites less likely to break out of poverty than poor whites? Or is the overall poverty culture a strong enough disincentive to succeed that adding the racism component does not significantly change the chance of breaking out?
Great point. Racism isn’t a one way street.
Next month they can slip on a second wrist band which is Black to denote that everything they do in school will still result in whites being denied Equal Opportunity for Employment due to racial set asides and racial preferences. The following month they can add a third wrist band that is Rainbow colored to denote that Gender Preferences further negate Equality. Finally, the forth month they can add a pair of handcuffs which are silver and made of nickel to denote their voluntary consent to be enslaved by Political Correctness.
Wisconsin DPI gone awry.
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Yes I have Caucasian Privilege. I have the privilege to work every day for 35 plus years to provide welfare to generations of welfare receivers while facing increasing taxation and the potential that MY MONEY (social security) will not be there for me to someday retire...... Thanks for the Privilege!
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