More Driver Drivel
One of the downsides of my “job” (I use the term loosely) providing your peephole/telescopic/microscopic view into the wonderful world of discrimination (not to mention my filter/sieve service, separating the chaff from the really bad chaff) is that I have to read so much offensive, militant nonsense from know-nothings like Shanta Driver, national chairpersonwoman of By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), the battering ram used by the Democrats to do the dirty work of supporting racial preferences, such as disrupting meetings and sending out threatening “blockers” to intimidate petition-signers.
She’s still in Arizona (where we encountered her only last week, here), and still spouting angry, duplicitous nonsense. One saving grace of having to read her, however, is being reminded that she’s so far around the bend that she doesn’t realize how offensive she sounds to most people, such as when she unblushingly reveals her disdain for democracy and the blighted, racist Americans who struggle to make it work.
The head of a group opposing an initiative to end affirmative action and other preferential programs said she wants to block the measure from getting on the ballot in part because she fears a majority of Arizonans will vote for it....I’m sure Arizonans will appreciate being compared to racist white Alabamians in 1950, but that comparison makes as much sense as describing a measure that would prohibit discrimination as discriminatory.Driver said putting this measure before Arizona voters, even in 2008, would be like asking Alabama residents in the 1950s to vote on equal rights for blacks.
Nor does Driver seem to recognize that her opposition to colorblind equality depends upon a definition of “civil rights” that is distorted beyond all recognition.
Shanta Driver, national chair of By Any Means Necessary, said it is improper to push the measure as a “civil rights” initiative. She said that term connotes something to help minoritiesThere is no control over what “connotes” what to Ms. Driver, but “civil rights” denotes the right to be free from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, etc.
As if Driver’s distorted connotions weren’t enough, for some reason she thinks a supporter who admits that she didn’t read the petition she signed strengthens her case.
“Civil rights applies to all people, regardless of their race or their sex,” [director of the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative Max] McPhail said. “To give someone preference based on something like a characteristic like race goes against what civil rights really means.”Driver and her un-reading supporter, Brown, thus believe that discriminating against many Asians and a few whites to help blacks and Hispanics is what “civil rights” is all about.But Pamela Brown, one of the people who signed the petition, said there is no question that the use of the words “civil rights” was designed to mislead.
Brown, who is black, said she grew up in the 1950s and 1960s watching TV coverage of fire hoses being turned on civil rights protestors in the South.
“When you say ‘civil rights’ to a person of my era, that’s what we go back to,” she said.McPhail said anyone who actually read the text of the initiative, which legally must be attached to the petition, would see that it bans preferential treatment.
Brown, who signed the initiative, conceded that she did not look at the language.
Well, that must be the case, since that’s what Brown learned watching TV.
Say What?
Have you come upon the blog called Stuff White People Like? I think that you will appreciate the blog.
The author, Christian Lander, explains the premise of his blog in an interview in the Torontoist. He effectively summarizes the essential core of this generation’s ethos:
"We have a generation of white people who want nothing more than to distance themselves from being white. They need to believe that the earth is being destroyed by evil white people, culture is ruined by the wrong kind of white people, and that history's sins were committed by distant relatives. And so by eating at ethnic restaurants, traveling, trying to save the world, you can say that 'I'm part of the solution, if everyone were like me, the world would be so much better.' I think that attitude lends itself to pretty easy satire."
To acquire an appreciative understanding of Stuff White People Like, you may want to read Nervous Laughter. Adrianna Groth and Peter Wood explain,
"Stuff is written as faux-anthropology, in the vein of the Colbert Report’s faux-news. In this case, the main author, “clander,” adopts the tone almost of a Martian explaining to his readers the quaint folk beliefs and odd customs of “white people.” But what he is really describing—in exquisite deadpan—are the social attitudes of American adults who have fully internalized the doctrines of multiculturalism. As often happens, a humorist turns out to be our best sociologist."
Sample a few comments from one entry on Stuff White People Like. The entry asks, "Is Tipping Racist?" Why do white people like being offended so much?
"Naturally, white people do not get offended by statements directed at white people. In fact, they don’t even have a problem making offensive statements about other white people (ask a white person about “flyover states”). As a rule, white people strongly prefer to get offended on behalf of other people. It is also valuable to know that white people spend a significant portion of their time preparing for the moment when they will be offended. They read magazines, books, and watch documentaries all in hopes that one day they will encounter a person who will say something offensive. When this happens, they can leap into action with quotes, statistics, and historical examples. Once they have finished lecturing another white person about how it’s wrong to use the term “black” instead of “African-American,” they can sit back and relax in the knowledge that they have made a difference.
White people also get excited at the opportunity to be offended at things that are sexist and/or homophobic. Both cases offering ample opportunities for lectures, complaints, graduate classes, lengthy discussions and workshops. All of which do an excellent job of raising awareness among white people who hope to change their status from “not racist” to “super not racist.”
Another thing worth noting is that the threshold for being offended is a very important tool for judging and ranking white people. Missing an opportunity to be outraged is like missing a reference to Derrida-it’s social death."
Lander has published a book, also--Stuff White People Like: A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions.
Posted by: A. B. Caneday | July 3, 2008 6:00 PM
As usual, John, you cut right to the chase. Muy bueno.
Posted by: Darren | July 4, 2008 12:09 AM