Revert, divert, subvert, pervert
Reversity — The Rufo, Trump, & Carlson Framework for Racial & Social Justice Pushback
Who is the common enemy of socially conservative white America? What do they fear about that common enemy? Is it people of color? Is it their fear of being portrayed as racists and white nationalists? By promoting and amplifying hate towards BIPOC communities, does it make it easier for other white Americans to go along?
To what extent is white America’s affluence and prosperity based on implicit attacks and mischaracterizations committed against “stigmatized others” such as undocumented laborers, sweatshop workers, or even the environment?
To what extent are our social and political systems, policies and practices based on the blind inertia of tradition rather than on humane, rational, and inclusive principles?
For all of the signs of progress that we see in our daily lives, are there aspects of human nature and social behavior that remain rooted in “white supremacist, caveman like” heritage?
Shirley Jackson, in her book, The Lottery, presents some of these themes in an allegory that high lights the tendency to conform, to go alone, even if, in the end, we become the victims of traditions and artifacts that no longer make sense. Jackson published this book in the early 1940s shortly after relocating from California to New England. One can imagine how much of an outsider she was during that period. Her book also reinforces some of the messages that Jonathan Metzl talks about in his book, Dying of Whiteness.
Please watch this short film about The Lottery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpl3nFL7-yQ Also, listen to this analysis of the story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3EKm5Noam4
The primary message of Shirley Jackson’s celebrated short story “The Lottery” concerns the dangers of blindly following traditions. In the story, the entire community gathers in the town square to participate in the annual lottery.
The main themes in “The Lottery” are the vulnerability of the individual, the importance of questioning tradition, and the relationship between civilization and violence. The vulnerability of the individual: Given the structure of the annual lottery, each individual townsperson is defenseless against the larger group.
There are many ideas within a culture that have been handed down from generation to generation without care or logic. But such traditions are so ingrained within a culture, that nobody ever gives them much thought. And as soon as someone does question these values, people look at them as if they’ve lost their marbles.
Recently, the Trump administration issued an executive order to suspend, cease and desist all diversity related training focused on “critical race theory”. They are promoting the argument that the training is inherently racist and portrays white Americans as inherently racist. They attack noted diversity consultants, Howard Ross and Robin DeAngelo, for their concepts of “implicit bias” and “white fragility.”
Chris Rufo and Tucker Carlson base their position on the notion that “critical race theory” is un-American and wrong. They use this concept to paint a broad indictment of diversity and inclusion training and education. President Trump, reacting to such misinformation, has issued a cease and desist, order for Federal agencies stop such programs. See the Tucker Carlson segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBXRdWflV7M
Why are they attacking such programs and advocates? Is it because of the size of the consultants’ financial contracts with the Federal Government? Or is it the mantel being used to “revert” back to a time when such matters (white supremacy and privilege) were swept under the rug and ignored. Are they using such attacks to divert attention from growing racial and gender inequities in education, employment, housing and environmental impacts? Are they fearful that America is fast becoming a majority-minority nation and that inclusion of this growing diversity must be reversed and programs that advocate inclusion must be subverted and perverted? After all, isn’t diversity “white genocide?”
Critical race theory, as a concept, began in the 1970s, as a movement that seeks to understand how white supremacy as a legal, cultural and political condition is reproduced, and maintained, primarily in a US Context (Ono and De La Garza, 2016).
Chris Demaske writes that: “CRT has its underpinnings in the philosophical writings of Derrick Bell in the 1970s and early 1980s. It was born out of the realization by legal scholars, lawyers, and activists that many of the advances of the civil rights era had stopped and in some circumstances were being reversed.” https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1254/critical-race-theory
Bell’s writings gave rise to a new form of activism and social justice strategies. Denise Velez, writing for Daily Kos in December 2019 references Bell’s book, Faces at the Bottom of the Well. Do the majority of working-class whites not see their own well-being threatened by the status quo in the Trump era? Does the growing number of progressive whites and people of color create a threat in being able to “create viable strategies to alleviate the burdens of racism? Are allies and advocates like Howard Ross and Robin DeAngelo being singled out for their progressive views?
In Faces at the Bottom of the Well, civil rights activist and legal scholar Derrick Bell uses allegory and historical example to argue that racism is an integral and permanent part of American society. African American struggles for equality are doomed to fail so long as the majority of whites do not see their own well-being threatened by the status quo. Bell calls on African Americans to face up to this unhappy truth and abandon a misplaced faith in inevitable progress. Only then will blacks, and those whites who join with them, be in a position to create viable strategies to alleviate the burdens of racism. “Freed of the stifling rigidity of relying unthinkingly on the slogan ‘we shall overcome,’” he writes, “we are impelled both to live each day more fully and to examine critically the actual effectiveness of traditional civil rights remedies.” (Velez, 2019)
So why is critical race theory such a loathful concept to the White House? Why is accepting the fact that our country has endured centuries of racist systems, practices and policies that have adversely impacted BIPOCs such a problem conservative circles? Why is addressing these inequities important and why now?
In the new book Rage by Bob Woodward, Trump said he feels no responsibility to understand the anger and pain felt by Black Americans. Trump said “No, I don’t feel that at all.”
“Do you have any sense that that privilege has isolated and put you in a cave to a certain extent, as it put me and I think lots of white privileged people in a cave and that we have to work our way out of it to understand the anger and the pain, particularly, Black people feel in this country?” Woodward asked.
“No,” Trump responded. “You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn’t you? Just listen to you. Wow. No, I don’t feel that at all.”
Could such concepts be a threat to the pecking order of civil society in America in which the lowest rung of the white race has always been considered higher than any one of any stature who happens to be a person of color?
Derrick Bell wrote a short story entitled “The Space Traders.” It makes me think of how the current pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on the African Americans. I see striking similarities in themes in Derrick Bell’s book is about. Could the attack on critical race theory a push back on the themes in Bell and Jackson’s writings? Watch a short film about here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpOJzIvmCCk.
The Space Traders” is a short story written by Derrick Bell, science fiction fan and a talented author. The story serves as a thought experiment: what if space traders came from another star and offered to buy all the black people in America? This is a great thought experiment for readers in order to contemplate what would happen in present day America if something like this were to happen. I enjoyed reading these works because it puts our present state as a country into perspective, and allowed me to think of what decision America would come to in regards to “selling” all black people in America.
The question that some might ponder: Is an antidote for the COVID 19 pandemic being delayed in exchange for the the lives of people of color being sacrificed, especially given the fact that a disportionate number work in essential services and live in congested communities and crowded dwellings? Could this be a reason for the slowness in responding to more aggressive measures to mitigate the effects of the pandemic?
Why is the Trump Administration tacking on to this narrative a scathing attack on the “1619 Project?” Is it because if one accepts such historical constructs, that one would have to question why confederate flags and monuments are offensive? Does he want to bury his head in the sand regarding the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation?
Does admitting that white supremacy and privilege disrupt the conformity that is implied in Shirley Jackson’s narrative? Does Trump’s America seek conformity over critical thought and action? Is it better to order that truth not be shared or disclosed, that critical issues of race not be discussed, that institutional systems and practices that sustain disparate impact continue, or that the monuments to confederate generals not be destroyed or removed?
Does fostering and championing a diverse America where all citizens are valued, respected and included in all aspect of civil society create a challenge too difficult to fathom? Can perverting the work of diversity and inclusion champions by distributing misinformation about credible efforts work?
What is the theory of change that the Trump Administration is advocating? Why is it so difficult to acknowledge that white supremacy and privilege exists?
Perhaps the answer lies in the fear of America’s growing diversity. As society becomes more diverse, different voices, perspectives, heritages, and racial backgrounds will continue to step up and participate in all aspects of American society.
Narrow-mindedness, bigotry, and white tribalism cannot stop progress.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights………. Burying your head in the sand and making Caves in America again, will not stop this.
Even Chris Rufo must acknowledge that his children, bi-racial, and considered part of our growing diverse America, will at some point confront the realty of being “a person of color” in the 21th century. I only hope they don’t come to regret what their father is advocating. The advocacy being promoted by diversity champions is for all our children and future generations to come.
I felt compelled to write to help enlighten you and others about the flaws that lie in your own set of beliefs and traditions.
Chris, sorry that you found it necessary to “drink the cool-aid” of the push back of privilege and white supremacy.
Effenus Henderson
REFERENCES:
Chris Rufo and the Critical Race theory in the military https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt32FIFmhQY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBXRdWflV7M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=N5yOsGup1IM&feature=emb_logo
You drank the cool-aid: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/09/politics/bob-woodward-rage-book-trump-coronavirus/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3V0mABmouNju_sFBe_CENP7b2bdyyo7IYpHNlarfUey9YjT7dmMdi_uzo
