 On Point Vincent Carroll, editor of the editorial pages, writes his On Point column most weekdays. He is also an author and freelance writer. Reach Vincent Carroll at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com. |
Carroll: Whitewash
If you’re someone who suspects that most middle-aged white guys talk like Don Imus when among friends — spewing venomous jokes about blacks, women, Jews and gays — then don’t miss the chance to reinforce your nightmare fantasy next week with a trip to Colorado Springs.
Yes, it’s time again for the annual White Privilege Conference, which is hosted this year by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and whose sponsors include the University of Denver’s Center for Judaic Studies and the Southern Poverty Law Center, among other groups. No self-respecting progressive will want to miss it.
Fine, you say, but what about would-be participants who are, well, white? Should they be concerned about a possible accusatory tone?
Relax. “This conference is not about beating up on white folks,” its Web site proclaims. Why, perish the thought! No, “this conference is about critically examining the society in which we live and working to dismantle systems of power, prejudice, privilege and oppression.”
Not to mention the systems of “white supremacy and oppression” — yes, that word “oppression” again, just in case you doubted that contemporary America is a plantation-like hellhole.
So much consciousness-raising about grinding oppression could get you down, of course, but never fear. The conference plans to relieve the stress with top-drawer entertainment.
On Saturday, for example, a “youth celebration” will feature several “national acts,” including Boots Riley, “co-founder of hip hop group The Coup,” whose albums include such landmarks as Kill My Landlord and Pick a Bigger Weapon. That latter work has been praised by Rolling Stone, we’re told, as “the rare album that makes revolution sound like hot fun on a Saturday night,” which sounds about right.
You won’t want to miss the keynote speeches, either.
For example, Paula Rothenberg will address the “struggle over victimhood.” More specifically, according to the conference guide, she’ll explore “What is at stake in the struggle over who can claim victim status as we carry out a conversation about white privilege.”
We could continue with our program tour, but enough of the fun. ... Did they say “the struggle over who can claim victim status”? Are these people serious? Don’t they realize how damaging it is to indoctrinate young people with the conviction that success in this country is a rigged game?
Do they really imagine that the greatest obstacle to the overall achievement of any group is “this system of white privilege” — as opposed, say, to broken and dysfunctional families, lousy schools or destructive personal choices reinforced by a localized culture of failure?
Most white guys past their prime don’t talk like Imus and have no desire to, and now Imus himself has been fired. His sole enduring legacy, unfortunately, is to feed the victimhood lobby, in all of its multiplying forms, with more grist for their destructive mills.
Reach Vincent Carroll at Carrollv @RockyMountainNews.com.
Success in this country is not a rigged game? Of course it is.
The rappers copied Imus and made a lot of money. And now all the white guys are blaming the rappers, when it was Imus who paved the way to making money filling the air waves with insults.
In fact Mr. Carroll your daily column is thiny veiled insults wrapped in a cynical and elitist vocabulary that you pretend is intelligent.
And here you go again trembling with fear that those less educated than yourself could hold you to task for your disguised view of yourself as exceptionalist because you believe being selfish is a virtue.
Posted by April on April 13, 2007 06:25 AMDear April,
Your sort of warped thinking is precisely what keeps many Americans from getting out of the ruts they have created for themselves. Just keep on rapping about insults, fear, elitism and those bad 'ole white guys and you'll surely find plenty of young minds to slurp up your trash talk and believe in it. The only rigged games in this country are the ones played by the likes of Jesse Jackson (never elected to anything but he's a millionaire- oh, that sends a nice message!) who constantly whines about what white men have done to him and the likes of the NOW, who whine constantly about what men have done to them. Grow up and get a life. Hey, you might just catch the rest of us?
Posted by Alan George on April 13, 2007 06:49 AMDear Alan,
April was right on the mark. I suggest that you read Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (or watch the National Geographic special on DVD). Or try imagining what it would be like for your ancestors to have started out in the world with less than nothing only four generations ago and being deprived of the vote until only 40 years ago.
If that doesn't work for you, try imagining a world where people like you comprised only 13 percent of a population ruled by a race that had a history of genocide across three continents and half a millenium.
Perhaps then you will realize the foolishness of blaming the victim from the perspective of smug, unexamined privilege.
Posted by Lewis Thompson on April 13, 2007 08:04 AMApril, you ignorant slut!
lol - just playin’ - don't be a victim! (or a nappy-headed ho)
But, honestly, if you think the game is rigged you are either stupid, willfully ignorant, or some combination, thereof.
Please, I pray for you, enlighten yourself, educate your mind, expand your sources of information, clear your head, work hard, and find the great American dream - and lose the socialist, hate-America-first drivel that has been trundled into your little head.
Have a nice day!
SoS
Aoow me to be completely practical and cold about this. My own school district (Seattle) is paying to send students to this conference, where they will learn more about how the white man makes everyone else a victim. They will learn that a lack of sucess in school is not their fault, that they can blame it on "white privilege", and that they should therefore be excused from the expectation to achieve. The district will spend money to do this, when they claim they haven't enough to keep all the schools open.
While these kids are off at the "white privilege"conference, my own kids will be home, hitting the books nightly, doing their homework, and being told by an involved parent that they will ultimately be judged in the working world by the quality of their work. Here's a bit of news for you: race, gender and sexual preference may be protected against discrimination in hiring, but you can discriminate against stupid all day long.
So go ahead, Seattle, and send these kids to a conference to verify their victimhood. Let them come back and spread the word, so that hundreds of others believe they are victims too. While all those kids are wringing their hands about how they can't make it on their own, mine will work hard, graduate, and get the good jobs and college scholarships because they deserve it based on their effort and achievement, not their color. Of course, if Seattle wants to thin out the competition this way, why should the hard-work group complain?
Posted by Robert Parker on April 13, 2007 08:14 AMDarn keyboard... the first word in my last post was supposed to be "Allow". Anyway, here's a follow-up thought for Mr. Carroll:
Since the White Privilege conference is local for you, why don't you attend. View their material with a critical eye, and come back with an evaluation. As you can tell by my previous post, I'd like to know if the conference is about self-empowerment and what the individual can do to help himself overcome obstacles. If so, it has value. On the other hand, if it's about demanding (or granting) special concessions for non-white students and workers, the only people it empowers are those who benefit from the victim mentality ( that would be white racists and the people who stay in the spotlight by fighting them ).
By the way, will Bill Cosby be on the agenda with his message about the Black community taking personal responsibility?
Posted by Robert Parker on April 13, 2007 08:36 AMThis post contains no message because any message would be construed as racist since it's being written by a white guy.
Posted by John on April 13, 2007 08:50 AMIf the key to success was only hard work then African-Americans and Hispanics would be the richest people in America.
Obviously hard work alone is not enough.
Posted by Denver Dave on April 13, 2007 08:57 AMSince the beginning of the Imus fiasco, I've become absolutely incensed with this whole situation. I just cant even get my thoughts straight! The black community (those in the role about to be mentioned) needs to step out of the victim role, support their children and their schools and shun the gangsta-rap, drug-dealing, anti-education culture that pervades some of its segments. This sentence is where I should begin my white-liberal, politically-correct appologizing, but Im not going to. Just take my word that I care about the black community and think that this is the best method for those segments mentioned above to gain emergence from its victimization. I can imagine that it would be hard for those raised and living in that culture. How can a white person get involved and help usher this cultural shift?
Posted by kb on April 13, 2007 08:59 AMI like how Vince criticized the event based on the website.
Hey Vince,
Why don't you ATTEND the conference and maybe you could learn something and do some REAL reporting.
I took a Whiteness Studies class at CU, and it is nothing as you describe it as, and I learned quite a bit about the world as well... without being indoctrinated into a mindset of guilt and shame for being white. At the same time, I wasn't brainwashed into believing anything, and there were numerous things that I disagreed with and challenge today.
Anyway, I don't think you will do it Vince, but maybe you should go to the event and see what you learn, because clearly you are acting as an armchair expert on race and class. Maybe you might learn something to take home You might even disagree about things that are said, and I bet they might even give you a forum to discuss your opinions and challenge their claims.
But, I doubt you will do it... instead you will sit behind your computer screen at the new Rocky building, spewing your ignorant speech and poor journalistic form for all to hear.
Posted by benn on April 13, 2007 09:21 AMThe conference is about "critically examining the society in which we live and working to dismantle systems of power, prejudice, privilege and oppression.”
dismantle? WTF does that mean? More black hip-hop violence?
systems of power? Maybe you mean those with jobs who pay taxes and aren't arrested in higher proportions than go to college. Or are not pregnant at 14. Or don't prove in act and deed that they are a poster child for keeping abortion legal.
Prejudice? There is nothing wrong with pre-judging anything. That is the definition of "prejudice" When black race pimps like Jackson and Sharpton act like monkeys screeching about racism, yes we pre-judge them as trouble.
oppression? Black/femmanist codeword for "we want to take what the white man has earned for himself and give it to the losers, drunks, artists, socialists and democrats who are too stupid, too lazy and too criminally irresponsible to earn it for them self."
Yes, I believe what I wrote because it is soooooo true.
Posted by a real american on April 13, 2007 10:15 AMAs is typical, most of the comments have provided more heat than light, reflecting the hermetically sealed world where liberalism thrives uncontested.
For a review of Mr. Carrol's editorial, go to my blog at:
www.clearcommentary.com
Posted by Phiilp Mella on April 13, 2007 10:18 AMMr. Carroll's conclusion regarding the Imus matter may turn out to be accurate, but I hope not, simply because we will have learned nothing from this episode if he is right. Certainly, wherever there are victims, there is justification for seeking power in their name., and many likely will attempt to go there. Using their own set of facts and labels, others will either condemn or complain about them for doing so. Regardless, too many may choose to use other human beings as either punch lines or punching bags in the process, and in order to support their own views or agenda(s). Simply put, too many may choose to become their own Imus. But unless we are truly prepared for the consequences, including wrecking upon the shoals of our differences, we should instead seek consensus on a simple point... there is harm done in applying nasty labels, of whatever sort, to other human beings. And, in attempting application, another label, albeit silently, is applied to oneself.
Posted by Frank Courteau on April 13, 2007 10:24 AMbenn says, "I took a Whiteness Studies class at CU..." and accuses Mr. Carroll of being "an armchair expert on race and class." So remember, benn is the expert, s/he took a class! LOL!! Sorry, the irony is too, too rich. LMFAO!!
Posted by not benn on April 13, 2007 10:29 AMResponse to Denver Dave: don't lump African-Americans and Hispanics into the same bucket. If Hispanic women heard Hispanic guys calling them "hos" they'd have another "assho" ripped for themselves.
Posted by Bob on April 13, 2007 10:36 AMWow. This is a great blog with all sides throwing information at each other. Race, culture, and society is a big situation to deal with. Your discussions here are very critical to the future of humanity. The subject is at the heart of the very nature of humankind. Just be personally honest and throw the best you have because no matter what, living in a very rare moment in life, we all have the power to do so. In the future, we may not have that power any more. Possibly. Let's work it and think. That's what humans do.
As for my view, I believe that we can look at the invention of ideas in the U.S. and that is where the rubber hits the road. Where the rubber hits the road is the reality of anything a person does. We can talk all day and whine or pump up other ideas, but when positive things overcome the very nature of thought, that is when it kicks as*. Are you strong enough to kick as*? If not, then support those who do...
Posted by steve on April 13, 2007 11:09 AMWhile VC's pompous blather is almost always off the mark, the one area he clearly has no qualifications to discuss is Rap music.
The Coup (pronounced coop) have inhereted the mantle of Public Enemy and make funky political music. Disagree with their politics, or dislike Rap categorically the way others might do to Country Western, but offering your own ignorant disagreement with a music critic who actually knows what they're talking about is just stupid.
Typical VC
Posted by Vince Carroll is a schmuck! on April 13, 2007 11:10 AMI'd like to begin by pointing out that Carroll's use of sarcasm does little service to his column. It is generally considered bad journalistic form and only serves to obfuscate the issues the author is addressing.
As for the issues themselves, I believe that, if handled properly, this conference could be a great vehicle for raising awareness about the structural problems in this country, especially if it were responsibly reported on by staff members of this paper and others across the nation.
As a lower-class minority student attending an elite liberal arts college on a merit scholarship, I have seen firsthand the structural violence that keep students like myself from attending good colleges and getting good jobs. I have met countless students (white and otherwise) here who did much worse in grade school, continue to do poorly in college, throw their parents money around with utter disregard, and will come out of college with a high-paying job because of the networks they are connected to at birth. I worked hard to get to where I am, but I have hard-working friends who have been kept out because of circumstances out of their control. For example, I had one friend on his way to a full scholarship at Yale who had to drop out of school and get a job to help pay for his mother's medical needs. He did not come from a "broken family," did not attend a "lousy school" and was forced to make a "destructive personal choice" only because of the poor medical care system in this country that has a bad habit of leaving those without a firm safety net behind.
While I do not believe that most middle-aged white men "talk like Imus when among friends," I do believe that many middle-aged, middle- and upper-class individuals should be aware that blaming the victim, which Mr. Carroll was so quick to do in his column, is an unproductive way to approach a long-standing problem in our country.
Posted by Josh on April 13, 2007 11:35 AM"Disagree with their politics, or dislike Rap categorically ..."
Okay. No problem.
Posted by Dan on April 13, 2007 11:37 AMI think I might attend this circus just to see what drivel they are producing these days.
Culture of victimhood, indeed.
Posted by Snowball on April 13, 2007 11:52 AMI want to thank you posters for the laughs.
The fact that Jessie's a millionaire but has never been elected to anything (posted by Alan George) started the hillarity.
In the end, it's time for the poor and downtrodden to stop wallowing in being poor and downtrodden.
Of course, look out for the mean white guy who will keep you from advancement.
Posted by Sid Smith on April 13, 2007 12:17 PMThe only people who deserve to be thought of ,or called victims, are those their victimizers actually killed. Point being, if you're still alive after your victimization, then it doesn't serve you, or others to think of, or call yourself a victim and continue your life having taken on this persona. I'm a Jew (right Jesse, a Hymie), my parents immigrated here after the war with nothing in their pockets, not speaking the language and not being connected to any family (all true VICTIMS of the Nazis....yup....all were killed, dead). By the time they retired from their high paying jobs ...LOL.....as medical technician and hairdresser, they had saved half a million dollars, owned their own home and put two kids through college. Again, they never once thought of themselves as victims, just immigrants with a great opportunity to make a life for themselves in this wonderful country. Their story is quite common and yet instructive. Of course there IS priviledge, power and unfairness in life, but who asked us if we wanted to play or not? You can choose to sit there and moan, "this sucks", or get off your butt, use your head and hands and make a life for yourself, your kids and your community. How long will some in the Black community sit there and say "give me what you owe me"? ....how depressing. BTW...get rid of slugs like Al and Jesse...talk about priviledge, power and unfairness! Between the Rutgers players and the freedom fightin team of Al and Jesse....I am pretty clear on just who the "nappy headed whores" really are. Here's to hoping that the Black community "fire" THEM!
Posted by Reggy on April 13, 2007 12:30 PM"If the key to success was only hard work then African-Americans and Hispanics would be the richest people in America.
Obviously hard work alone is not enough.
Posted by Denver Dave on April 13, 2007 08:57 AM "
Dave, you are such a racist! White people are privileged AND lazy?
What I think is funny, is that when Americans of every stripe travel abroad, they are seen as...gasp...Americans! Not hypenated whatevers. So, wallow in your muds pits of self-pity, the rest of us have lives to live, not whine about.
Blacks are here in this country because several hundred years ago their African countrymen sold them into bondage. Present day Black Americans should thank God that their forefathers bore the horrific atrocities of slavery because if they had simply been left to wander the African plains blissfully unaware of the rest of the world than those same Black Americans would probably be living in some war torn country, run by a tin-pot dictator(s) in abject squallor of a kind seldom seen in this country. If the black community would reject race-baiter like "Rev" Sharpton and "Rev" Jackson and turn to people like Bill Cosby they'd begin the long process of building success for themselves and their people as a whole.
America is far from perfect, but in comparison to option B it's practically Shangrila.
Posted by Charles on April 13, 2007 12:51 PMI'm white, and grew up poor. Enlisted in the military and participated in the GI Bill. Used that money, loans, and continued participation in the Army reserves to slog my way through Purdue University Engineering program.
My widowed great-grandfather blew his head off during the depression orhpaning my grandfather when he was 13.
Father dies of cancer when I was young, leaving my Mom to raise three kids on her own makinig minimum wage.
I now make $80k/yr, am married and own a home.
The dream is here to be realized. You're a god damn idiot if you believe color, socioeconomic situations, parents dying, has anything to do with failure.
Posted by Haggis on April 13, 2007 12:53 PMRE: Haggis
I'm white, and grew up poor. Enlisted in the military and participated in the GI Bill. Used that money, loans, and continued participation in the Army reserves to slog my way through Purdue University Engineering program.
First, Haggis, thank you for your service to our country. Second, congratulations for overcoming the circumstances of your life to become better, rather than wallowing in self-pity and waiting for others to do for you. Your actions speak louder than any angry rap lyrics ever could, saying "I believe in myself". It's a message so much of our youth, of all races, has lost.
Secondly, did anyone see Rev. Sharpton on Bill O'Reilly this week? When asked about Rev. Jackson's infamous "hymietown" remark, Sharpton said it didn't compare to Imus' slurs, because Jackson's remark was made "off the record, in private". I will agree that Imus' public platform made his remarks more damaging, but let's not forget that character is more about what you say and do when you think no one is watching or listening. Private, off the record remarks can speak volumes about a man's character, liberal or conservative, black or white.
Vince
Again you hit the nail on the head! (Or is that aphorism too Anglo-Saxon for some of the commenters? Also, is "aphorism" too Anglo-Saxon?)
This "conference" is nothing more than base racism against whites and a group wallow in victimhood. I'm surprised that La Raza - literally "the race" - isn't a sponsor.
Fact is that Vince Carroll is a misanthropic, right-wing dickweed.
Posted by on April 13, 2007 02:21 PMAnother trivial column from Vince Carroll. Why does this guy still have a job?
Posted by joe_hill on April 13, 2007 02:42 PMHey Joe-
You assume that VC is supposed to be competent. I doubt that he actually believes anything he writes, but just churns it out to satisfy the bitter elderly who still bother paying for a second-rate product like th News. Look at their circulation figures and revenue. The News is shrinking financially and physically. Obviously, the News editorial board has decided to go down hissing.
Posted by stagarite on April 13, 2007 02:50 PMAsian Americans make up only 4% of the U.S. population, but 20% of the students in Ivy League colleges. Obviously we should be having a conference on their "privilege", right?
"The annual White Privilege Conference (WPC) serves as a yearly opportunity to examine and explore difficult issues related to white privilege, white supremacy and oppression. " Obviously, this is a fair and open-minded discussion given that the table has already been set. Let's now fill gullible young liberal minds with this gunk.
Posted by BlameAmericaFirstCrowd on April 13, 2007 03:23 PMFrom a past White Privilege Conferenc: "Honky wanna cracker?" And the author writes: "As a white person I always saw terms like honky or cracker as evidence of how much more potent white racism was than any variation on the theme practiced by the black or brown."
One of the speakers, Boots Riley, has an outstanding hip-hop single called "Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night". Come on white people, lighten up!
Posted by Debs on April 13, 2007 03:30 PMI am not "white".
I am "human".
I am not the same as some people just because the color of my skin somewhat matches.
To call me "white" is racist.
I am offended and no one else can judge the depth of my hurt.
If color does not really matter then just stop talking about it and talk respectfully. I know that racism exists - but if the main focus of your idenity is your race and you separate yourself from other races and tell lies about them, isn't that also racism?
But, if you want to say any number of vile, hateful things about me and my skin I will not call for you to be censored. You're own words will mark you as an idiot. Is that not enough? Are we now going to lose our freedom of speech?
We were told to fear the Patriot Act - we have more to fear from the Staliistic tendencies of those who support free speech in word (kind of like ANSWER's 'I support the troops'), but only as a privledge reserved for others who agree with their point of view.
"Hate Speech! ... Hate Free Speech!! ... I Hate Free Speech!!! ... I Hate!!!!"
Posted by Sashland on April 14, 2007 12:08 AMOnce again Carroll is right on. Thank goodness there is still one voice of sanity on one of the Denver papers. And also thank goodness that I don't have to read Diane Carmen every day in the News.
Posted by Jeff F on April 14, 2007 01:44 PMOn college campuses around the country groups hold "Affirmative Action Bake Sales." Prices for a single cookie are something like this.
Price for a white male $2.00
Price for a white female $1.00
Price for a minority male $0.50
Price for a minority female $0.25
Total sales are usually under $100.00 and the sales booths generate a lot of discussion about affirmative action. They usually also generate violence against the booth, and the people working there.
Frequently colleges, (including CU Boulder) have tried to forbid them for a variety of reasons. It boils down to this: Free speech is only for certain people in certain places. Being conservative on a college campus means that you are not part of the group.entitled to free speech.
Vince Carroll and other wingnuts whining about people people of color playing victims. Don't they know, white boys are the only ones victimized in this society? Read Carroll's cryfest columns or turn on rightwing radio and that's all you'll hear....white boys are victims.
Posted by fielding on April 17, 2007 09:25 PMIt is simply morally wrong for taxpayer dollars to be used to promote hatred and vilification of any ethnic group. This conference is frightening.
Posted by Mary on April 29, 2007 11:53 AM"This post contains no message because any message would be construed as racist since it's being written by a white guy."
Who has a victim mentality now?
'Believe me, internet. It's tough being a white guy.'