Shared wickedness

Article

How To Be A ‘Woke’ White Person: Join The Alt-Right

Summary

The author criticizes white liberals who engage in the racial political debate for the purpose of signaling their own virtue as a weapon to take away moral authority from some people.

Quote

"The result was that rejection of racism, instead of becoming a universal creed above partisan bickering, got reduced to a narrow partisan cudgel, a way of beating up people who disagree with you and making you feel good about yourself by comparison."

"But now it has gotten out of control, and blacks and other minorities have started to realize the extent to which they were being used as a tool of somebody else’s self-validation."

"The Left has embraced a racial politics that doesn’t seek to gather people together in a common cause, but instead seeks to divide them into separate groups in a never-ending ritual of power struggles. They had better be careful what they wish for, because at the rate they’re going, they just might get it—and smash everything to pieces."

Understanding

Blaming the Left for turning racial politics into "a narrow partisan cudgel" doesn't gather us together in common cause. The rhetoric of this argument contributes to our divisions. The final sentence even evokes mob violence as the threatening outcome of the Left's agenda.

Manufacturing and focusing on bogeymen will not resolve our racial divisions. Both the Left and Right ends of the political spectrum are guilty of stereotyping and name-calling. Acknowledging that we share those sins in common might help bring us together.