It’s Time to Throw “Whiteness” Lectures in the Dumpster of History

The University of North Carolina stepped on some toes this month when students and academics criticized their “space for white students” who would converge to “assist in their understanding of Whiteness.”

The problem, of course, was not so much that the university would be holding an event staged to tell white people how evil they are and how much responsibility they bear for the oppression of literally everyone else in American society. C’mon, that’s old hat! Who doesn’t believe in the power of pointing out privilege in 2018?

No, their problem was that they accidentally made it sound like only whites would be allowed at the event, and while you can have female-only groups, black-only groups, gay-only groups, and so on, you can never, under any circumstances, have a whites-only group. Even if the point of the group is pure self-flagellation, it’s still just not going to get it.

So now the Office of Identity, Equity, and Engagement has gone back into the event description, changed a few words, and re-opened the website with some clarifications.

“The discussion at UNC Charlotte regarding ‘white consciousness’ will be similar to those that are taking place on campuses across the country,” A UNC spokesperson told Fox News. “We expect a diverse group of participants to converse about topics including the reality of racism and discrimination in the lives of individuals of color.”

Whew, that was a close one!

This theory of “whiteness” and all the studies therein is a new one, popularly-speaking, but it has caught on like wildfire. Even if mainstream politicians rarely blame “white people” with the same ferocity as their left-wing academic cohorts, the hints are abundant. Often, we hear it under the code name “privilege,” and it amounts to the same thing: All of America’s problems stem from white supremacy, and much of this white supremacy is unconscious. If we simply point out to American whites often enough and forcefully enough that they benefit from miles of systemic racism every single day, they’ll eventually get the picture, give up their status as Kings of the World, and minorities will finally have equality.

Instead, Donald Trump became President of the United States and the Democratic Party is staring at a future in which it may lose the white vote entirely, across all ages and cultural demographics.

Identity politics may have a place, but the way it’s being used these days, to destroy and demonize anyone with the misfortune to be born with white skin? It is an insidious tool forged in racism, and the consequences for this country have been and will be dire. It’s time to consign Whiteness lectures to the trash heap of history and work our way back to the color-blind culture we were on the verge of becoming before a new generation of race-baiters saw a way to exploit our differences for cash and prestige.