So Even Joe Biden is Racist Now? | BreadBusting #20

Welcome to BreadBusting by TaraElla, where we attempt to examine the problematic ideas that come out of BreadTube, and also LeftTube in general. I am indeed expanding the scope of BreadBusting to include all of LeftTube, because I am seeing more problematic ideas come out of news-orientated LeftTube channels in recent months. Subscribe if you're interested.

Apparently, an increasing number of people in the LeftTube world actually think that Joe Biden is racist. You know, the Joe Biden that President Obama hand picked as VP, and was able to work with for eight years. The Joe Biden who remains very popular with black Americans. I mean, Biden is certainly not my favorite 2020 candidate, but I feel like I can't just let the definition of 'racist' expand yet again, because we are at the point where further expanding the term will drastically water down its seriousness. What I mean is, if everything can be described as racist, then racism wouldn't be a serious thing anymore.

So why do people think Joe Biden is racist, all of a sudden? There are many reasons, and I suspect rivalry in the context of the primary could play a role too. But let's take the recent uproar over his comments during the recent debate, on disadvantaged black families, as an example. Biden listed a whole list of things he would do to address this disadvantage, including tackling the problem of red-lining, improving education, providing more school psychologists and social workers to help families, and he also gave the interesting advice of telling parents to make sure their young kids hear more words. Now, you may or may not agree that these measures are actually useful to help disadvantaged families, but they were at least sincerely presented. A real racist wouldn't care to even think about that, right? I thought it represented goodwill, if nothing else.

But no, what he said actually upset a lot of people on the left. Apparently, what some people heard was that Biden was blaming black families for not raising their kids right. Apparently, that's implied in the fact that they would need more school psychologists and social workers. Therefore, Biden was essentially repeating a racist trope straight out of the 1960s. But then, where's the logic in that? What Biden actually raised were solutions to address educational disadvantage. He merely saw some problems and suggested ways to fix them. He never applied blame on any party. The real problem is, people are in fact reading racist intention where none exists. I have even heard of people say that this represents 'paternalistic racism'. So people who want to help are now to be labelled 'paternalistic racists'. This is just ridiculous! It sounds exactly like how some people ask how they can be an ally of minorities, only to be told that they shouldn't expect free labor from the activists, and should therefore go educate themselves using Google. What a great way to turn potential allies away! Furthermore, it would be in effect to say that someone like Biden can't help in any way whatsoever, because he's white. You know, this discussion is moving us further and further away from Martin Luther King's dream that people won't be judged by their skin color anymore. This is actually very regressive stuff!

So what should Biden have said instead? Some people suggested that he could start by saying something like we as a society are responsible for this disadvantage. So, an admission of guilt. Sometimes, I feel as if the New Left would rather focus on historical wrongs and who's responsible, rather than to fix problems in the here and now. You know, let's focus on the historical conflict, rather than how we can move forward. It looks like the conflict theory of sociology has really gotten a grip on the leftist imagination. Most of you probably know by now I am not a fan of conflict theory, to put it mildly. The reason is, if we focus on the conflict, if we keep focusing on who has oppressed whom, if we keep relitigating history, we often lose opportunities to work pragmatically in the here and now, to resolve the problems in front of us. The wrongs and debts of history are endless, which is why applying a conflict theory view of history to social problems always leads to nowhere. Instead, we should look at the here and now, and see what we can do to make things better. The conflict theory of sociology belongs in the dustbin of history, because it certainly doesn't belong in a future where people are free to associate as equals regardless of race or gender.

That's all for today. I'll be back next time to discuss another big idea. Subscribe if you want to follow our story. The transcripts are available on the internet. And remember to resist the hive mind and stay individualistic. The world depends on it.