Woke Racism, John McWhorter, author and narrator
This brief, apolitical book, written by a black author who defines himself as a liberal democrat, bucks the trend, as he attempts to explain the prevailing habit of making every white person a racist and all accusers of them sacrosanct. He develops the mob’s idea of what makes a racist, and he makes suggestions on how to fight back against them when you are falsely accused. His advice is “don’t give in”. Using references from such well-known author authorities like Robin DiAngelo, Ibram Kendi, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, among others, he labels this group of virtue signalers and their supporters as part of The Elect. They view their beliefs and their advice as unquestionably true, as a matter of blind faith, and therefore, he compares the group’s foundational beliefs to that of a religion and the followers to that of zealots. They bridge no compromise; you can never apologize enough, you can never truly repent so you cannot be forgiven, you can never reform, you are incorrigible and irredeemable, and denying you are a racist immediately recognizes you as a racist. It is circular reasoning and the tactics are an art form from which there is no escape.
No amount of reparations to the black relatives of former slaves is enough because the pain cannot be calculated. No white ancestor or historic figure can be forgiven for their transgressions, regardless of what good they may have accomplished. Because your skin is white, you have no way to escape the guilt they have assigned to you, even if you have never had a relative who transgressed or who held slaves, and you have never supported anything closely related to racism or segregation. You are stained white and are painted with the same brush as all who are labeled racist, and you must remain guilt-ridden and be silenced forever, allowing only those who accuse you and redefine America’s history, to have a voice.
This trend was begun in recent years, and mob hysteria has enriched its believers with the idea that anything they say or write is real and true. It must be accepted in the way that all precepts are accepted by fanatic, religious entities. You, too, must simply accept their truths on blind faith. In some instances, this author suggests that the accusers need psychiatric help for they are over-reacting and expressing false outrage, so great is their belief in their self-righteous cause.
Although the author does not mention the author Isabel Wilkinson, I believe she may have instigated a good deal of this frightening rhetoric and cancel culture that bridges no dissent. She described America as having a caste system that was worse than that in India. It is obviously not true and defies common sense, but guilt-ridden people took up her mantle and refused to critically assess the facts and ideas in her book. The same attitude continues today with white people accepting the accusations of their racism as legitimate, and they are paying homage to their accusers, cowering before them, with no hope of redemption. It is slow coming, but people are just now beginning to fight back, as the author says they should. This authoritarian movement, which really does not relate to politics, but rather to zealotry, needs to be stopped. While there are legitimate concerns and changes that must be addressed, he objects to the current climate that is shutting down discourse and speech, often preventing the accused from working in their widening sphere of influence, as they disturb their equilibrium. The author suggests that you deny the accusations and threaten these people who are harassing you with their own exposure. He believes that when concepts may not be questioned and they must be accepted by blind faith, it should not be tolerated, and those that disagree should seek medical help since something is wrong with them. He may be on to something, but he may also find that he has many enemies who will disagree and glom on to the cause of eliminating him. His viewpoint is disagreeable and unacceptable to them, and they will call him names too.
Chapter four is particularly enlightening as it feels like the quintessential explanation of the racialized issues facing Americans today. As a former teacher, in the 1960’s, I understand the charges of racism in the schools that McWhorter is referring to, because in my first job, the very first directive I received was to keep the room quiet, not to prioritize education, but instead to prioritize discipline. This was a Special Service school, in a very depressed neighborhood, but it was the system more than the teachers or the students or the families that were racist. The older teachers just wanted to retire and get their benefits. The system encouraged an atmosphere that discouraged learning and encouraged the maintenance of decorum instead. I soon discovered that discipline was not going to be easy, nor was learning. I experienced assault, vandalism, and racism, poor school standards, and anti-Semitism. The system made it more difficult for the students to achieve, but many truly wanted to, and many families truly encouraged learning. It was the opportunity that was lacking, and the motivated teachers were in short supply. The author cites studies that indicate the violence that occurs more in these types of schools, and that is part of the problem, but only part. Resources were lacking. Teachers worried about the number of paper towels in a bathroom more than they worried about the equipment they received. Often, they kept what they were given, hoarding it, or “borrowing” it for the following year. Often, they purchased supplies with school funds, and then they deemed them to be safer if kept in their own homes.
The author refers to the teaching of phonics. He believes that white students, with more books in their homes, were better able to learn to read when the teaching of phonics was eliminated. That, he believed inferred a bit of racism. However, since I stayed after school, and on my own time, tutored both black and white students in reading, using the eliminated phonics skills workbooks, I must disagree. To me, the problem was lazy teachers. It was easier to have kids memorize a sight vocabulary, than to teach them how to read by dissecting the word and learning the rules. Over the years, I have watched the teaching in the public schools deteriorate as unions gained control and endless changes were made and demanded. There were more cries for money and benefits rather than actual hands-on teaching time. So I do not believe it was systemic racism or racism, but rather the continued support for an incompetent system that has stressed benefits for the teachers and administrators over benefits for students. Moreover, the problems seem to stem more from deprivation rather than racism, from educator’s greed over the demand for educators with skills.
In the final chapter, chapter 5, McWhorter suggests several solutions to the antiracist issues he notes, issues currently overcoming common sense with a narrative that he believes is often manufactured and overacted. His suggestions are worthy of consideration as they encourage a mutual kind of behavior, to be used by those attacked, in order to stop the outrage, not to retaliate, but to change the angry, accusatory and largely false narrative.
There is an audio and eBook version of the book. I recommend the eBook because there are many quotes and references that I would like to look up to learn more about, but in the audio, they were not readily recognizable. At times, the book was a bit too pedantic, more like a lecture, and in a print version it would be easier to handle and understand. The author is a linguist and believes that there is nothing wrong with a black language, but I remember when Ebonics was popularized. I also seem to remember that it was more of a dialect consisting of poor grammar and lazy pronunciation. It is something I will have to explore further. For certain though, in this polarized world, this book is a necessary read for all.