I’ve lately been seeing lots of very troubling sentiments on social media in regards to Charlottesville and the Alt Right white identitarian movements protest at historical monuments. What I seem to be witnessing is more of a show or performance than an actual condemnation for what identitarian movements stand for. People are very swift to call out the white identitarian movements and their obvious troubling political stances. However these same people are very much silent when it comes to calling out violence on the left for example the shooter who attacked the Republican congressmen or the constant violence antifascists cause when someone they dislike has a speaking engagement. Some even go so far as to label anybody politically right of their position as never condemning racism and that that white identitarians are representative of mainstream Republicans and conservatives. This is not an arbitrary characterization but a deliberate act.
This sort of disconnect appears to be ingrained in the positions of left leaning individuals. They for whatever reason whether it be willful ignorance or simply naivety are unable to grasp why a white identitarian movement would grow despite countless other groups creating their own to display their grievances. The left demands that a person’s outward “labels” only qualify them to weigh on the feelings of people with the exact same characteristics. If color or sex or gender or other identity determines one’s interests, then the Klan is right to argue for the “interests” of white people. Why shouldn’t they? If social legitimacy is a zero-sum game, then why shouldn’t each group have its exclusive advocates? Their understanding of why Trump was elected is laughably ridiculous from conspiracies with Russians or that America secretly has millions of racists who came out just for this election. This would be wrong on both counts. Trump was elected in part to smash the pieties and hypocrisy that held Republicans always guilty and Democrats always innocent.That sort of thing gets noticed. And when it continues despite polite requests to stop, blunter means will be utilized. Why the hell do you think the goons in Charlottesville were chanting”You will not replace us”? Where do you think they got the idea? I’ll tell you where: from a media that for over a decade has been gleefully telling all who’d listen that white people are on the way out.
Ideally people would be able to see that they dislike white identity politics and be self aware enough to realize the trouble that their own clinging identity politics is causing. Despite what identitarians will tell you there is an alternative. Rather than focusing on the person putting forth the argument, rather than elevating ad hominem attacks to a moral principle, focus on the argument, and what it means for us a society. You don’t have to be any particular color to know that racism, sexism and bigotry of all kinds is wrong. You don’t have to have lived injustice to recognize it and work against it. If we as people adopted the approach of striving for what is actually morally right instead of living with a morally relativistic mindset we would be far better off. We would be able to see actual progress if we fought for the ideals of procedural justice for all under the law rather than seeking social justice we would see progress. After all JFK didn’t say “Ask what your country can do for you based on your identity” did he.
Acerbity [əˈsɜːbɪtɪ] 