The Blackness of Being

It has been interesting to watch the western world tear itself apart over the issue of race. Race hustlers and race peddlers seem to have created an economy of hate out of race baiting. A market place where having the right skin colour is the necessary licence to trade and victimhood is one of if not the only acceptable currency. Racism as an issue was something that has always had a very closed definition. It was and is a form of discrimination by either exclusion from goods and services on the basis of race, in particular skin colour. This definition seems to have been relegated to the annals of history. In its place we have a revolving door of definitions that include prefixes such as micro this and macro that. In fact, the term racism has evolved so much that it has mutated into a ghastly monstrosity with no clear form. Rather than morph over time with everyday usage as with all other words in the English language the term has been brute forced to encompass all that which is counter to whatever the prevailing mainstream narrative is.

The ever revolving door of attached meanings to the phrase seems to have created a Potter-Universe-like boggart. To one, its appearance is that of a giant man-eating spider, to another, its Professor Snape in Alan Rickman’s glorious portrayal of the character.

Keli.

Terminology such as systemic racism seems to have been injected into current day conversational circulation solely to hide the failures of those governing and the failure of those governed to take responsibility. Sadly however, terms such as ‘systemic’ seem to have no concrete meaning. This seems to be a catch phrase that is a catch all for anything that seems to adversely affect one group over another. The ever revolving door of attached meanings to the phrase seems to have created a Potter-Universe-like boggart. To one, its appearance is that of a giant man eating spider, to another, its Professor Snape in Alan Rickman’s glorious portrayal of the character. To bring the analogy closer to home, its voter suppression and racist to ask for ID checks at the voting booth. On the other end, it Is that Mathematics is now racist and needs to be decolonised, or as the proponents of Critical Race Theory would put it, made less white. 

The problem with acquiescing to what, in my opinion, is abject lunacy is that we are enabling and creating different classes of people based on their skin colour. Racism is being peddled like an opioid and just like any opioid it leaves nothing but devastation in its wake. It would seem that major corporations, such as Coca Cola and Disney, in their alleged adoption of Critical Race Theory are passing out dangerous drugs to their employees without a care for the societal repercussions. One has to wonder if the same management teams that approve and disseminate these courses are drinking from the same well they are poisoning. Do they really believe that we need to be “less white” and chalk off incompetence and under performance to cultural differences all the while eschewing all manner of personal responsibility from the individuals concerned.

The most effective dose of this opioid is meted out under the guise of racial justice. A perversion of true justice which seeks to offer every manner of excuse for an individual’s personal failures. In one way or the other offer them credit in a bid to assuage guilt of commission.

Keli

We now live in a professional world where skin colour, race and gender quotas seem to matter more than character, discipline and more importantly merit. This pervasive doctrine seems to offer the solution of equity but not equality without consideration to the cost involved. The cost has been and is devastatingly high and this isn’t just in reference to the quality of products being produced and services offered. In my opinion, the greatest victims of Critical Race Theory are those whom this doctrine offers to elevate. To be specific, the damage is being inflicted on underprivileged communities in the western world and in particular racial minorities. Wide scale adoption of this theory seems to have created a new class of human beings: The entitled class. Teaching a group of people that all their problems are a result of historical issues, which may or may not be the case, has created a wave of individuals who feel entitled to be treated in a particular way as opposed to others simply because of their skin colour. The most effective dose of this opioid is meted out under the guise of racial justice. A perversion of true justice which seeks to offer every manner of excuse for an individual’s personal failures. In one way or the other offer them credit in some form in a bid to assuage guilt of commission. The shocking death of Uber driver Mohammed Anwar in the hands of two teenagers springs to mind. Excusing the inexcusable will not bring equity. It will only serve to further divide and further disadvantage the recipients of this perverted justice. A justice whose chief end is inequality under the law.

It may appear that my vehement opposition to Critical Race Theory and social justice is mean spirited. After all, there were racial injustices in the past. Racism didn’t stop simply because of the Civil Rights movement in the 60s under the auspices of Martin Luther King Jr. , Rosa Parks et al. Critics of these absurd theories are often met with rebuttals such as ‘lived experience’ of one particular racial group or the other. Of course what we aren’t told is that anecdotal evidence isn’t superior to empirical evidence in this context and that overwhelmingly for the vast majority of people these instances of racism are rare. I’m willing to wager that we have all experienced discrimination in one form or the other. I’m also willing to wager that we all have some form of privilege in one form or the other. I’m even willing to further state that some privilege is purely due to culture, micro, macro and anything in between.

I am radically opposed to this nonsense that is being propagated by the main stream media and politicians alike because it denigrates our identity to skin colour.

Keli.

I am radically opposed to Critical Race Theory and Social justice because these radical ideas aren’t really revolutionary or radical at all. They are a regurgitation of racism distilled into a form that is acceptable today. Racism against other groups of people over history that can never be re-written or changed and more importantly history that has for the most part come to an end. I am radically opposed to this nonsense that is being propagated by the main stream media and politicians alike because it denigrates our identity to skin colour. Perhaps I’ve been hewn out of a different rock but our identities should not be based on superficial attributes but rather character, beliefs and perhaps even personality. Things that we can grow into or grow out of and not immutable traits. Things that we can choose to adopt or reject. Things that require the engagement of our free will. Only then can these identities be true. Ultimately, I believe we should base our identities on that which is unchangeable and infallible and that has a firm foundation. Things that we can only discover more of and can take a lifetime to be firmly rooted in as opposed to superficial things such as skin colour which take but moments to decipher.

Reparation talks’ greatest challenges are the basic questions: who is to pay, who are they to pay and why are they to pay. In addition, over what period of history should these reparations be based on.

Keli

There has been talk of reparations in some parts of the world over slavery and colonisation. I’m not in favour and never will be in favour of anyone receiving reparations in this day and age over atrocities committed by our ancestors in times past. Reparation talks’ greatest challenges are the basic questions: who is to pay, who are they to pay and why are they to pay. In addition, over what period of history should these reparations be based on. Should it be the colonisation of Africa in the last century, the colonisation of America in centuries prior or the conquest of the Omani Arabs in East Africa. Human nature is unchanged from the beginning and a string of similar patterns can be threaded through the entirety of history. Those who have had power in one form or the other have conquered or subdued those who did not. Human atrocities have been committed throughout history because, to quote scripture, the heart of man is desperately wicked and there is no one righteous. We all have the blackness of being.

This tsunami of purported benevolence and support for certain groups based purely on their ethnicity reeks of dishonesty and manipulation.

Keli.

We are setting up our generation and future generations for failure and heart ache by embracing culture as king. Cultures change and evolve. Cultures have negative and positive aspects because ultimately they are manmade and thus fallible. Opposition to Critical Race Theory, Social Justice and any other doctrine that elevates skin colour above all should be swift and decisive. Targets are easiest to spot if they are identifiable by external means. It is harder to be a target if the traits that identify us are complex and nuanced. This tsunami of purported benevolence and support for certain groups based purely on their ethnicity reeks of dishonesty and manipulation. Perhaps, like great journalists of old, we do need to follow the money. Who benefits in the long term from a doctrine that purports to elevate the poor but in reality further impoverishes them in mind and in heart. Short term benefits are being and will be eroded away in the long run through cultural, societal and personal decline.

Racism is alive and well. However, I doubt that it is in systemic format for the most part. The only systemic racism I know to exist for certain is affirmative action in its different iterations. The true cure to racism, where it genuinely exists, in whatever shape or form it takes will never be reverse racism or social justice. It’s not even in equality laws though these have limited discrimination of most kinds on a large scale. Racism is an individual problem that has to be addressed at the individual level. Only a change of heart can cure the incurable. Treating symptoms of a disease has never and will never cure a disease.

NB! All images from: Image par OpenClipart-Vectors de Pixabay