The Justice Department is planning to investigate affirmative action programs at universities and sue them for “discrimination against white applicants.”
1). There is no such thing as ‘reverse racism’. White supremacy is a system of power created by white people for white people – at the expense of minorities. Systematic oppression only works in one direction, it is not a two-way street.
2). Whiteness always imagines itself in a state of emergency – as being under siege by the big, bad, dark Other. Notice that whiteness always seems to be reacting to danger – as opposed to instigating it. How convenient?! This collective delusion allows white folks to justify oppression by claiming their actions were a necessary act of self-preservation. The victims end up being blamed.
3). This becomes more apparent when we realize that white applicants are not discriminated against. The entire education system exists to perpetuate racial oppression (i.e. rising costs of tuition, closing public schools, and the reliance on standardized testing are just a few cumulative disadvantages for people of color). It is absurd to argue that white applicants suffer discrimination when white students receive 76% of institutional scholarships and grants; and are 40% more likely to receive private scholarships than minorities.
4). Affirmative action does not dismantle white supremacy. There is a difference between diversity and decolonization. Diversity (or multiculturalism) is a superficial method of cherry-picking minorities to be “represented” – all the while retaining whiteness as the core and baseline. While there are practical gains under affirmative action, we must be honest in pointing out these programs also work to insulate white supremacy. Conversely, decolonization is the deep structural process of eliminating oppression and de-centering whiteness altogether. Decolonization is the radical transformation of the world as we know it. That should always be our goal.
August 3, 2017 at 6:30 pm
Hi, thanks for the post. It brings to mind something I have mentioned before. Zora Neale Hurston. Zora was of the mind that Blacks could succeed without white aid. On affirmative action she said: “If I say a whole system must be upset for me to win, I am saying that I cannot sit in the game, and that safer rules must be made to give me a chance. I repudiate that. If others are in there, deal me a hand and let me see what I can make of it, even though I know some in there are dealing from the bottom and cheating like hell in other ways.”
In 1951, for example, Hurston argued that New Deal economic support created a harmful dependency by African Americans on the government, and that this dependency ceded too much power to politicians. And she was a fan of Booker T. Washington’s self-help politics.
She spent her childhood in Eatonville, Fla. In Eatonville, Zora was never indoctrinated in inferiority, and she could see the evidence of black achievement all around her. She could look to town hall and see black men, including her father, John Hurston, formulating the laws that governed Eatonville. Incorporated on August 15, 1887, it was one of the first self-governing all-black municipalities in the United States. (I got this info online by looking up Zora Neale Hurston Affirmative Action)
Mostly Zora is known for her books (Their Eyes Were Watching God is one of her books). But not spoken about so much regarding her views on integrating into White society. she did not think it was necessary. I think we waste our energy on “White Supremacy”. Blacks can and do have their own Universities and governments in the US. The fact that the Justice Department wants to sue certain schools for discrimination is just their underhanded way to get money, and to possibly get recognition from our current President.
For some reason I think you might be interested in Zora Hurston, Darryl. Black people need your passion to tap into their own power as a people. (I always want to give you a sense of Life’s positivity for some reason-maybe I should save it for my own Blog). Thanks for letting me comment, sir.
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August 3, 2017 at 7:06 pm
Hi Ms. Elva,
Thank you for the wealth of information about Zora Neale Hurston! I am only vaguely familiar with Their Eyes Were Watching God – and would benefit from a more in-depth look at her work.
Just to tell you a little about my theoretical orientation: my eyes were opened by Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam. As you may know: the Nation of Islam promoted, and continues to promote, a vision of black separatism. They do not believe in integration or segregation. They believe in black nationalism: the idea that black folks should control the politics and economics in their own communities. I am very much sympathetic to this school of thought.
My only issue is that when black folks talk about owning and controlling their own communities, they do so in the spirit of white folks. Capitalism – the economic system which is based on competition and exploitation – was developed in Europe by white folks, at the expense of black folks and other people of color. Whenever we hear our brothers and sisters talk about weaning ourselves off the white man (which we should!), their next sentence is one that is sympathetic to white norms, values, and ways of life. Even when black folks try to do their “own” thing – they are simply doing what white folks have always done to us. The do-it-yourself notion among black folks sounds good, but when we really break it down, it is problematic.
Africa is the most resource packed continent on earth – but its people are the poorest. The reason Africa is so poor is because its inhabitants have been robbed for 600+ years (slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism). White countries are so developed BECAUSE they have robbed Africa and black folks. Europe and the West (America) under-developed Africa. So, when black folks in America try to separate and do for their selves, they are perpetuating the oppression of Africans and other black people in this country.
Without an analysis of the economic system and realization that capitalism is always-already anti-black, any attempt on behalf of black folks to do for theirselves will be counter productive.
I do not think that discussing white supremacy is a waste of energy. White supremacy is that which robs us of our energy and predisposes us to early graves. We have to focus on the frontal attack on our humanity – we can never BE or DO anything else unless we grapple with our current conditions.
I see the critiques of white supremacy and capitalism or any other social ill AS positive. Revolution against injustice is necessary. Che Guevara said “the revolutionary is love-inspired”. It is through a spirit of positivity and love that I lay bare these criticisms – so that we may learn and fight together to get rid of the chains. Anything less is a disservice – as there has never been a “positive” or smiley-face revolution or set of circumstances that have led to significant change. The only reason we – as black folks – can talk to each other right now is because our ancestors loved their selves, their lives, and our lives, enough to get ANGRY and do something about. Anger can be productive; but also, it can be destructive and paralyzing. Much the same way positivity can be productive or destructive if the optimism is unwarranted in the face of bleak realities.
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August 3, 2017 at 7:23 pm
In other words we’re screwed and Life sucks. LOL “Bleak Reality” I don’t understand-If Black folks try to grapple with our current condition you are saying it won’t work because we do so in the spirit of white folks. Somehow it sounds as if you see no solution, period. Life sucks and then you die because nothing is ever really going to change, unless all Black people travel to another planet. (I know, I’m being silly or sounding silly). You are a hard act to follow.
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August 3, 2017 at 7:31 pm
Lol, nah – you are on to something. I was educated primarily in the lens of a school of thought known as “afro pessimism” – so that is probably what you are picking up on.
Are you familiar with Parliament and Funkadelic? Decades ago, they laid down the vision of afro-futurism in talking about the “mother ship”.
You right: we are screwed because the “solutions” we often come to is simply a repackaged version of the problem. All we are doing is putting black people in position of power to oppress other black people.
I think the only solution is a complete and total reconstruction of our current society. It is possible – as long as we are willing to do the soul-searching necessary.
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August 3, 2017 at 7:37 pm
What chu know about the Mothership Connection? Decades ago I was “gettin’ down” with Parliament and Funkadelic. But I was far from being politically inclined, more like being a wild child. Hey!! Could still be one, even though it was Decades ago. LOL
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August 4, 2017 at 6:35 am
LOL, I know a lil bit! My father grew up listening to that music and he put me on to it a long time ago. When I got to graduate school and started reading more about black oppression – and the fact that we can only live in “peace” on this earth underground or outer space – I made the connection to the old school jams! Black folks have been dreaming of an alternate reality for ages!
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August 3, 2017 at 7:23 pm
I guess what I am trying to get at – in a roundabout way is: can black folks separate themselves from their slave masters WHILE also being anti-capitalist?
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August 3, 2017 at 7:25 pm
Oh, ok, i’ll have to think about this one.
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August 3, 2017 at 7:35 pm
I imagine a world where housing, healthcare, and food are human rights. It is a place where we do not need to have X skills and Y accolades to survive. Have you ever went to the supermarket and then realized you forgot your wallet at home? Even though you are a human being with NEEDS – the cashier will not let you have the food. They value profit more than your need to survive. I think this is criminal. There is more than enough resources for everyone – but we choose to hoard them and distribute them along arbitrary and divisive lines.
What kind of world do you imagine?
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August 3, 2017 at 7:48 pm
Yea, this profit thing has been a long time in the making-pretty much set in stone and most people have fallen right in. Mostly I try and understand how our existence on planet earth includes pain and suffering, that anything can happen to anybody at any time. That we have to live with horror and that it doesn’t matter whether I like it or not. It just is. I have tried to imagine a Utopia-but I am better at trying to keep a positive spin on life. More laughter would be good.
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August 3, 2017 at 7:41 pm
Reblogged this on bookmarkchronicles.
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August 4, 2017 at 6:35 am
Thank you! =)
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August 3, 2017 at 7:42 pm
I read an article earlier today that goes into detail about how white women tend to be one of the top beneficiaries of affirmative action. Imagine that right? Love this
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August 4, 2017 at 6:37 am
Yes, I read a similar piece! And that is the irony of the court case “University of Texas vs Fisher”. The white woman, Abigail Fisher, claimed she was not accepted to the college because she was white. But in reality, SHE was the most likely to benefit from the very program she was critiquing – and she just didn’t pass muster with admissions. Even when white folks are subpar – there is always a need to blame others to cover up for it.
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August 4, 2017 at 7:19 am
Yup. exactly! And at the end of the day there were 42 white students with worse test scores than her that were accepted but she blames POC. Absolutely ridiculous
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August 3, 2017 at 8:18 pm
Right right. We have to think about who created affirmative action and who allows it. It has never been up to us, really.
Great piece, Darryl.
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August 4, 2017 at 6:40 am
Thank you Kelley! You are absolutely right – affirmative action has always been a “racial bribe” that diverts attention away from the structure of oppression. All it does is allow window-dressing, and then enable white folks/men to pat themselves on the back. We need to shift the frame altogether!
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August 4, 2017 at 11:25 am
Completely agree.
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August 4, 2017 at 5:00 am
Reblogged this on Coalition of the Brave and commented:
It’s shocking and scary that the government of a country as powerful and influential as the US can be trying to bring about something so obviously racist. White people are not oppressed and have not known oppression – it’s just absurd.
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August 4, 2017 at 6:41 am
Thank you! For real: white people are not oppressed, and now they are trying to roll back what little advancements people of color have made. That is oppressive right there.
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August 4, 2017 at 6:49 am
My tolerance for the right has dipped lately. Between Trump in the US and the Tories in the UK, I am growing weary of it all.
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August 4, 2017 at 6:56 am
You and I both. The world is becoming much more conservative and slipping into neofascism. It is frightening
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August 4, 2017 at 7:01 am
There are glimmers of hope though. The post-Brexit reality is starting to occur to those who voted leave, and in the US, there’s an increasingly vocal social and political opposition to Trump. We just need to keep pushing.
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August 13, 2017 at 11:37 pm
This is exactly why I am like let’s just be proactive with our own shit and stop worrying about theirs cause it was never for us to begin with. Great points made in this one. Common sense to me but common sense is not really all that common unfortunately.
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August 14, 2017 at 1:00 pm
Exactly. The system only works because we are excluded. We cannot be included because that’ll f**k the game up for them. We need to stop begging to be represented and start building something of our own, real talk. Spot on!
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