War on DEI: White Fragility’s Shameful Obsession with Black Excellence
William H. Johnson, Oh Freedom!, Via SAAM
White mediocrity, by nature, is fragile and unable to stand on its own. And that’s why it attempts to dismantle the floor so that no one can stand independently. It’s like snatching the PlayStation controller from your younger brother when he’s mercilessly beating you at a game you taught him to lose. No one is more obsessed with those who are winning the game than the creators of the game itself. The USA was built on oppression, and despite ongoing inequality, segregation, the wealth gap, and unequal access to resources, those who have been disenfranchised, exploited, and oppressed continue to outshine those who designed the systems. As a result, there are continuous attempts to adjust the playing field with more white-tear safeguards, reinforcing oppression and helping to cope. The latest safeguard is Trump’s “merit-based” policies that will ensure that cis-gendered white men’s self-worth can stay intact in corporate and federal America.
What is “merit-based” coming from a racist, rapist, fascist, mediocre white man who was handed one million dollars as a “starting point in life?” The Trump administration is certainly practicing what it’s preaching. They sure weren’t entertaining a DEI hire out of Tim Scott. Perhaps a coon stipend in the form of shares in Trump Vodka and Trump Steaks would suffice. The “merit-based” bullshit rhetoric is vehemently rooted in passive aggressiveness; the implication is “whites only.”
Every Narrative Needs a Villain
Every narrative needs a villain; to create one, one must decide who the story is written for. Trump’s attempt to consciously misinterpret DEI establishes the narrative that America’s weaknesses are rooted in “dumbing down” the system—suggesting that BIPOC individuals in the workforce are contributing to this decline. This is a strategy that American history has seen repeatedly. During the Antebellum South era, class was sometimes more about socioeconomic status than race. And poor whites and Blacks shared a similar frustration against the elite class, who held both money and power. Yet, rich Southerners saw an advantage in creating division between poor whites and Blacks. They convinced poor whites that Blacks were to blame for their lack of money and opportunities. Thus, they gave them a sliver of power over Blacks and made it into a “whites only” playing field. They made an unfair system that was in favor of their interests, and when faced with opposition, they obfuscated and created their own modern-day “merit-based-white” criterion…