Wednesday 24 July 2019

Racism, identity politics and the Left


Slavery is one of the most abject systems ever devised by man. Too often it has been used to be the starting point for describing racism, especially in the United States. Racism: the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities based on inherent superiority of a particular race are now used by many on the left to oppose everyone who disagrees with their views and ideology.
In light of what is happening in the United States with regards to Trump’s tweets and feud with the so-called ‘Squad’, it is important that we take a step back and examine the use of the word racism in politics. At the onset of this discussion, I must make it quite clear that I do not condone the tone used by Trump to explain his policies, but I do support the tenure of his policies and his condemnation of attacks against him, Israel and conservatism in general. To this effect we should look at the trend and escalation of the term racism to describe conservative policies around the world.
Obama, the first black President of the United States, was elected by a majority of white voters, given that the black community makes only approximately 14% of the entire U.S population. So America is not a racist nation. The continuous use of the term ‘white privilege’ by the left is often used to demonize capitalism. It is a demographic fact of life that there are more Caucasians than other minorities in the U.S. Over the years that will change, but it does not mean that we should demonize the achievements of a white majority. Those who talk about ‘reparations’ and ‘white privilege’ should ask themselves: How many white men died in the civil war to abolish slavery? How many of today’s colored people have ancestors who owned slaves?
While it has been slow for African Americans to make significant progress in certain areas, there is no doubt that there are many successes that have been achieved by blacks in all fields of endeavour. However, today skin color is being used to change the values of Judeo-Christianism, capitalism and to bring forth socialist policies. The left continuously proclaims that all policies dissimilar to theirs are racist. It is not racism that is at the root of the current problems but rather the rise of socialism and the use of a new tool – political correctness. The left believes that freedom of speech is only theirs to use, nobody else’s. Racism is the new ‘gag’ to silence conservatives.
Let us look at the current calls of racism: The left in many western countries have seen their failed attempt to bring forth socialism; as a result they are using the fight against racism to institute polices that favor “Open borders policies” and “sanctuary cities” which in effect means the destruction of national sovereignty. Just because most illegal immigrants are people of color, it does not mean that laws should be allowed to be broken to accommodate them. Homelessness is not a racist issue it is a social issue which includes mental health, drug addiction among other symptoms.
In the corporate world we see the new trend of blaming racism to explain the lack of success by certain groups, Recently it was revealed that racism may be at the root of white privilege in the cannabis industry.- too many white men . There is no doubt that racism exists in many parts of our society, but it is not always the root cause of failure.
While the world is consumed with the debate between the four Democrat Congresswomen who make up the ‘Squad’, we ignore the fact that under Trump there has been an increase in Black and Hispanics employment that the average wage is on the increase.
 The media is focussed on Trump’s tone but not his achievements. What is disturbing is that while  in Canada we have not reached the level of debate based on racism,  I cannot discard the view that in the coming months the Liberal and the NDP will portray the Conservative Party of Canada as being xenophobic, and racist. Canadians should watch carefully how the debates are framed and open their eyes to real policies and not tone or labels. The success of a nation is not based on division but rather in the unification of ideas and values and racism in any form, real or created by political rhetoric must be rejected outright.

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