Is America Racist and Related Questions | TaraElla News

NOTE: None of this discussion is meant to take away from my commitment to fix the problem of racism itself, which sadly still exists in today's world.

Welcome to the new TaraElla News, where we examine the latest political and cultural news from the perspective of upholding classical liberal values like individual freedom, equal opportunity and free speech. We'll be doing this on most days of the week, subscribe if you're interested.

This week, the age-old argument of whether America and other Western countries are racist is firmly back on the agenda. Frankly, I'm not surprised. Regarding President's Trump's tweets that kicked off the latest conversation, I have already responded to those a few days ago. Basically, while I dislike the 'squad' personally, I believe in an absolute right to free speech, and I think Trump didn't respect that right enough. For me, it's an issue of the President failing to properly respect the moral right to free speech rather than who's racist or not. But then, the mainstream media were always going to fixate on the identity angle. Especially at this moment. I mean, with Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren now both in the top 3 for the 2020 Democratic nomination, expect to hear these 2016-style arguments everywhere, all over again.

And people are still just as emotional, dare I say less than rational sometimes, over this topic as they were back in 2016. Take the example of what happened to left-wing commentator Kim Iversen in the past few days. Kim Iversen is definitely left-wing, a self-identified progressive liberal who supports Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard. But a few days ago, she went against the left-wing party line, saying that America is one of the least racist countries in the world, and providing some evidence to back her claim. Predictably, this upset the Woke faction of the left, which, as you would expect it, called for her to be cancelled. It may not be 2016 anymore, but apparently cancellation culture is still alive and well. In 2019, a single claim that America isn't racist can cause outrage in some circles. Not rational debate. Not thesis and antithesis. But outrage and cancellation. Also predictably, Iversen has been called the new Dave Rubin, which is nonsense, because Rubin is for capitalism and small government, and Iversen, as I understand it, is for the opposite. Of course, for the Woke faction of the so-called left, economic issues don't matter, cultural and identity issues is where it's at.

You know, it's OK if you hold the opposite view. Personally, I don't think any Western country can be called racist, but if you think America is racist, then you can also present your evidence and join the debate, and I'm all for hearing it with an open mind. But the point is, if we can't discuss our different viewpoints in a calm and rational manner, then there is simply no hope for the future of humanity. The whole Western Enlightenment tradition goes down the drain. But how did we get here? Those on the Woke left would probably say it's because the West is somehow getting more racist, while those on the right would probably blame college SJWs. But both are wrong, because they miss the most important point: the rise of Critical Theory.

So what is Critical Theory? It is a worldview that is popular in the humanities, and has somehow filtered through to mainstream society in the past decade. It is a way of theorizing about society, with an aim to change society, with the goal of liberating people from all forms of cultural oppression. Now, I'm all for human rights and social justice as traditionally defined, but Critical Theory is not real justice. Firstly, for the Critical Theory worldview to be valid, a dynamic of oppression must first be defined. Therefore, Critical Theory doesn't even start from a neutral place! Secondly, to change society, consciousness must first be raised of society being problematic. Therefore, thoughts like that America is not racist, and that identity politics distracts from the most important issues, are not to be allowed, because they depress this so-called 'consciousness' of oppression. It follows that people espousing such ideas need to be silenced. If Critical Theory sounds like a receipe for an authoritarian social engineering program, then well, if it looks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, you know the rest.

And silencing people is just the tip of the Critical Theory iceburg. Many of you have also probably heard the of the wacky idea that racism is prejudice plus power, and hence white people can't experience racism. Which is effectively a self-justifying rule that dismisses every bit of racism ever experienced by any white person. Predictably, this offensive idea was not well received by the majority of people, and it wasn't just white people who were angry. But what many people missed was that this idea has roots in the postmodern branch of critical theory, particularly the thinking of Michel Foucault, who tried to explain almost everything as power dynamics. Now, you understand why the 'Woke' crowd is so obsessed with power. People who don't know where these wacky ideas come from often blame the college campus SJWs who repeat these talking points without fully understanding it, but this would just lead to nowhere. If you want to expose the Emporor with No Clothes, you need to go to the real source of these dangerous ideas, and they certainly don't come from college SJWs. That's why we need a society-wide discussion on Critical Theory thinking and its implications for freedom and the social contract. I'll be trying my best to bring about this overdue conversation.

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 my website, and my Medium profile. And remember to resist the hive mind and stay individualistic. The world depends on it.