If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
President-elect Barack Obama (Election Night 2008)
How did the America that inspired Barack Obama’s “dream of our founders” victory speech need the societal re-set we are witnessing today? Hard to say for sure, but the guess here is cancel culture at elite universities (e.g. Princeton) begat the Alumni Free Speech Alliance, race riots boosted support for law-and-order candidates, and woke school boards (e.g. San Francisco) incited angry parents and recall elections.
November 4, 2008, should have been the consummation of the civil rights movement, but Obama’s own party behaved as if it never happened. Thus, it fell to Republican Winsome Sears, the first black woman to ever win statewide office in Virginia, to remind: “We have had a Black president elected, not once, but twice. And here, I am living proof. In case you haven’t noticed, I am black. But that’s not what this is about.”
What “this” is about is identity politics, and Sears is no fan: “There are some who want to divide us, like us to believe we are back in 1963.” That “some” is Joy Reid, MSNBC’s self-described anti-racist, who was cynical of Sears’ historic moment: “Make no mistakes about Republican hypocrisy. They are anti-black.” Ahem, the hypocrisy is a native-born Harvard alumna having less faith in the American Dream than an immigrant.
If Reid spent more time in developing nations than New York City, she’d hear non-whites aspire for what Americans can take for granted: individual freedom, personal property rights, public capital markets, and the scientific method. Those are the four pillars of prosperity. All four originated in Europe, but Winsome Sears doesn’t see them as “white informed” because her Jamaican father called them “American ideals.”
Sears never bought the crackpot Europhobia espoused by far-left Democrats and media. Like Democrat Ed Kilgore detecting “echoes of Franco” and “a whiff of Mussolini” in Trump’s GOP, the New York Times reducing the Enlightenment and Reformation to racist constructs in the 1619 Project, or Elizabeth Warren telling Harvard to ignore her blue eyes and focus on the “high cheekbones” of her Cherokee ancestors.
Democrats are not about to admit their Europhobia, but they can’t deny the anti-west propaganda in the public record; such as Obama’s You Did Not Build That speech, the Whiteness Chart at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, or the guilt-ridden reaction of Princeton University Ballet to George Floyd’s death. They could be Caesar: defeat an army by attacking its weaknesses, but defeat a culture by attacking its strengths.
The Washington Post cited Obama’s 2012 campaign as a “recipe for endless culture wars.” To wit, his You Did Not Build That speech mocked the path to the American Dream: “smart people” and “hardworking people” don’t become “successful on their own.” It was, of course, an argument for Sanders collectivism, but the optics of Barack Obama attacking pioneer traditions (educate oneself, self-regulate and work hard) could not have been worse politically.
Let it suffice to note Hillary Clinton lost a close 2016 election, which CNN’s Van Jones blamed on “whitelash.” If Jones wasn’t 100% right, he was at least acknowledging identity politics. After all, it was an Obama staffer who called evangelical Christianity a “dog whistle for white supremacy” and Hillary Clinton who excluded non-whites and Muslims from her “basket of deplorables” (despite many non-white soldiers dying in the War on Terror, and many evangelical Black Christians).
How odd, heading into the 2020 election, the Smithsonian should stereotype “whiteness” in its Museum of African American History and Culture (see photo up top). The woke curators explained “white customs, culture, and beliefs operate as the standard in America, [creating] a culture where nonwhite persons are seen as inferior or abnormal.” At best, the exhibit could be viewed as one of those kinda-sorta-true retrospectives.
An African-American museum should tell a complete Black History, but it should mostly celebrate the best of Black Culture. Who’s served by deprecating “white” culture in a democracy where 235 million citizens self-reported as “white” in the 2020 Census? And, it’s untrue that “nuclear families” and “hard work” and “respect for authority” are “aspects of white culture.” Ever been to India or Taiwan?
But, nobody’s done Europhobia better than the kids at Princeton. In response to George Floyd’s death, the Princeton University Ballet tried to express solidarity: “Ballet exists within and benefits from systemic racism and structures of white supremacy,” because it’s “an art form rooted in tradition and perfectionism.” Should have gone with candles and a minute semester of silence.
Shame on the Princeton faculty, who actually know the traditions of African, Asian and Western music. Seriously, name an art form (like Kakilambe dance in Mali) that IS NOT rooted in tradition or a musician who doesn’t know black music is rooted in rhythmic perfection. And, ballet without “perfectionism” won’t sell many tickets. If Princeton were truly diverse and inclusive, they’d teach the “perfection” of the Bolshoi’s Swan Lake AND Michael Jackson’s moonwalk.
Europhobia is a symptom of Wokeism, and I think the worst is behind us. I mean the end of self-righteous identity politicians (AOC) – not social-justice organizations (NAACP). I write this because:
- After Virginians rejected the woke white dude, a black Republican women (Sears) gave her victory speech in the former capitol of the Confederacy.
- After Democrats belittled Christian values for ten years, millions of Hispanics are switching party loyalties.
- After a woke school board cancelled “Lincoln” and “Feinstein” from the names of public schools, when they should have focused on re-opening the schools, 70% of San Francisco’s voters ousted every board member (3) they could last Tuesday.
How’d it every get this crazy? I mean to the point that James Carville cried out, “who believes this woke BS?” Who cares, if only 30% of San Francisco supports the woke? Heck, even Hillary Clinton is running away from the madness like her hair’s on fire!