Monday, August 10, 2020

Real Evils

We hear endlessly now about white privilege and racism. 

As so often happens, self-proclaimed victims have hijacked the meaning of racism, claiming that it can be inflicted only on non-whites, people of color.

So many years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his speech I have a Dream. The declaration which gave a name to his speech was:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!

Today I sat through a lengthy presentation on white privilege. Let me now offer the definition of bigotry, of which racism is a subset:

obstinate or unreasonable attachment to a belief, opinion, or faction; in particular, prejudice against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group.

Dr. King, looking down on what has become of his dream, must surely be weeping. White privilege is a textbook example of bigotry, no less offensive than any of the derogatory terms which have been applied to people considered "people of color." How can it be less offensive to judge nominal whites for their skin color than to judge any visible minority? 

Anyone who calls himself Christian must reject bigotry in all forms. 

Jesus' second Great Commandment directs that: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

There is no option there in support of bigotry. Neither does it allow for seizing victimhood as a means of exacting special rights -- or anything else.