I'm so old that I remember when there was Black History at schools in the 40s and 50s that did not adhere to the victimisation narrative. I'm White and grew up in an all White town of 400 in New Hampshire, but in school we learned about George Washington Carver and other successful Blacks and the agenda was that Black people, freed from slavery, could succeed. Hunh? Black people succeeding all on their own doesn't seem to fit the current narrative one little bit. I want to say that your reflections help me see my how my white liberal background predisposes me to see Black people in need of help to recover from what has been done to them, and at the same time helps me to see the never ending cycle of Black victimisation and White guilt is largely White Narcissism. Whites trying to avoid feelings of guilt and feel good about themselves without ever recognising that Black people are actually fully functioning humans who have to cope with the human condition as they find it. Here in Perth Western Australia it is fashionable among the whitefellahs to 'acknowledge the traditional owners of the land' in what I see as public displays of virtue while not acknowledging the ongoing suffering of Aboriginal people from alcohol and drugs, family breakdown in all its forms - and the often counterproductive interventions that our governments implement. And I agree part of the mistake made by these people trying to be virtuous is dumbing down education such that it renders victim status endless and unconsciously keeps the power in the dominant 'virtuous' group because they inadvertently delude themselves that are the only ones that can help or improve the situation. Allow these people agency? Why they might decide to go off to the North Pole or something!
I'm so old that I remember when there was Black History at schools in the 40s and 50s that did not adhere to the victimisation narrative. I'm White and grew up in an all White town of 400 in New Hampshire, but in school we learned about George Washington Carver and other successful Blacks and the agenda was that Black people, freed from slavery, could succeed. Hunh? Black people succeeding all on their own doesn't seem to fit the current narrative one little bit. I want to say that your reflections help me see my how my white liberal background predisposes me to see Black people in need of help to recover from what has been done to them, and at the same time helps me to see the never ending cycle of Black victimisation and White guilt is largely White Narcissism. Whites trying to avoid feelings of guilt and feel good about themselves without ever recognising that Black people are actually fully functioning humans who have to cope with the human condition as they find it. Here in Perth Western Australia it is fashionable among the whitefellahs to 'acknowledge the traditional owners of the land' in what I see as public displays of virtue while not acknowledging the ongoing suffering of Aboriginal people from alcohol and drugs, family breakdown in all its forms - and the often counterproductive interventions that our governments implement. And I agree part of the mistake made by these people trying to be virtuous is dumbing down education such that it renders victim status endless and unconsciously keeps the power in the dominant 'virtuous' group because they inadvertently delude themselves that are the only ones that can help or improve the situation. Allow these people agency? Why they might decide to go off to the North Pole or something!