Whence Comes Dignity

I'm probably stepping on a rake here in being perfectly frank, but:

When #MeToo started to trend a while back, I immediately found its animating ideology wanting -- but I never dismissed the sincerity of its emotional core. I think it's legitimate for women to suspect they're getting a raw deal somehow; after all, we've essentially set up a dating ecosystem in which most women (notice I said "most") are strongly encouraged to fight their own instincts. Of course they feel dissatisfied. Of course they feel abused.

Similarly, I think #BlackLivesMatter, as a movement, often focuses on the wrong things in the wrong way -- but I also think black Americans do have something to complain about. They are being denied something absolutely critical to human flourishing -- but neither the verified white chattering class nor the dominant voices who claim to speak for Black America have accurately identified what's missing. Indeed, you have to dig deep into dissident black conversation to find any honest discussion of that absent ineffable variable: dignity.

Black Americans want to feel pride in themselves. And they should, I think. Up until quite recently, their history has been a story of success in the face of incredible headwinds. Their ancestors were people who, like Frederick Douglass, defied the law in order to become educated. Their ancestors were people who, in the heart of the Jim Crow South, built thriving businesses and became doctors and lawyers. Their ancestors were people who fought to keep their families together despite societal forces that threatened to rip them apart. Their ancestors were people who were closing education and income gaps long before government officials offered to "help." Their ancestors were, in short, a sturdy, admirable people. And yes: their story is an essential component of the American story and should be discussed in our schools.

Unfortunately, the activist set is not telling black Americans the tale I just related. Instead, these theorists are teaching young blacks that they have been victims for 400 years and that the only way out of that morass is to come to white America with their hands out.

Now, I happen to believe there are a few remaining structural barriers that need to be cleared to maximize equality of opportunity -- particularly when it comes to criminal justice, education, and work. I don't mean to suggest that we, as white Americans, have no responsibility here. But what I find deeply frustrating about the general tenor of the current discourse around race - and I briefly alluded to this in my post on Tuesday - is that black Americans are hardly ever assigned responsibilities of their own.

As a matter of fact, I genuinely feel like the aforementioned activists are treating black Americans like little children instead of like adults with agency. "Don't worry, dear," they seem to say. "We'll lower the standards for you." Many of the controversies that have blown up in recent years in re: race relations seem to turn on the idea that imposing any rules on blacks is racist -- that blacks should be allowed to do whatever they want whenever they want no matter how much they might disrupt the normal, race-neutral practices the rest of us respect to keep society predictable and civil. And many institutions, straining under activist pressure, are throwing the concept of merit out the window entirely, handing black Americans things they didn't actually earn out of a misguided desire to right cosmic wrongs. I'm sorry, but I find it very difficult to ignore how many low-quality intellects have been given academic clout - or even awards - mainly because they're black and "muh diversity." A Pulitzer for an essay on American history that serious historians (including Marxists!) critiqued as deeply skewed? Really?

(ETA: And then there's the unbelievable privilege BLM now enjoys in re: the Kung Flu, which just further confirms that outrageous double standards are in play.)

This white savior/black supplicant dynamic is profoundly undignified. People don't get any real self-esteem from relying entirely on the largess of others. Real self-esteem comes from handling your own crap and telling any naysayers to eff right off. And I think a lot of black Americans realize this on an unconscious level. Hence the anger and the nebulous claims that we are out to get them. Hence the delight some take in humiliating white Americans by forcing them to kneel and apologize for sins they didn't personally commit.

The truth is, while we as white Americans should take seriously the need for reform, we can't - and shouldn't - do everything for black people just because we feel guilty for things other white people did. All that does is degrade the black American and treat him as if he's an inferior Other. No: we should treat the black American like a full human being capable of meeting high expectations. Because, you know, they are capable. The history bears that out.