I do wish that the crazed woke would listen to themselves once in a while. The language coming from them sounds like the stereotypical bigotry displayed by intolerant white people of the last century..While I can and usually do ignore the tone-deaf extremes from some in the hyper-progressive world, I stumbled upon an essay published in the New York Times that I just can’t let go..Erin Aubry Kaplan is a California columnist who has written prolifically about African-American political, economic and cultural issues since the early 1990s. Kaplan had a triggering experience after she installed one of those little library boxes on her front lawn in Inglewood, California and decided to share the story of it with the New York Times..Kaplan was happy with her little installation and eagerly watched from her window in hopes of seeing neighbors taking advantage of this new, public literary sharing opportunity..To Kaplan’s horror one morning…. Well, I will just quote it below so you can read what happened in her own words..“Then one morning, glancing out my front window, I saw a young white couple stopped at the library. Instantly, I was flooded with emotions — astonishment, and then resentment, and then astonishment at my resentment. It all converged into a silent scream in my head of, Get off my lawn!“.It just never occurred to Kaplan white people may use her little library though I am honestly not sure why. She makes it clear she never wanted it to appeal to white people, but I guess those darn white neighbours just didn’t get the message..“But while I had seen white newcomers to the neighborhood here and there, the truth was, I hadn’t set it out to appeal to white residents.”.Kaplan was kind enough to point out that it was the race rather than the people themselves that she took issue with..“What I resented was not this specific couple. It was their whiteness.”.Kaplan somehow felt it was important to clarify that she only had a problem with the race rather than the individual. How on earth can she not read her own copy and understand the backward bigotry she is projecting..Kaplan then goes on at length to bemoan the gentrification of her neighborhood. While most of us think of older neighborhoods being repopulated with affluent young residents when hearing the term gentrification, what Kaplan means is the influx of white people and she is blunt about it..Kaplan makes it clear she wants her neighborhood to remain predominantly if not exclusively populated by black people. She feels the world will be a better place if races all lived in and remained in separate neighborhoods from each other. Archie Bunker would be proud..The work and sacrifices done by civil rights advocates are being unraveled in front of our eyes as the open advocation for racial segregation is becoming acceptable again. I remember a few years ago watching a press conference in Toronto where local politicians were celebrating the opening of a new school that was to be exclusively attended by black students. I thought of how Martin Luther King Jr. must have been doing backflips in his grave over this idiotic reversal of school racial integration. I still never would have imagined seeing people calling for racially segregated neighborhoods..Had a white person submitted a column complaining of an influx of black people into their neighborhood, not only would the publication not print it, they may send the piece to the police for an investigation on spreading racial hatred. In the case of Kaplan’s piece, however, it was printed and doubtless was considered a visionary essay among the progressive chattering classes..Racism still exists in North America, but it is hardly the issue it used to be. Microaggressions rather than lynchings make up the racist episodes of today. The few true racists who do exist out there hide behind anonymous social media accounts now. They don’t dare go out and burn crosses as they used to..We are moving in the right direction on racial issues and it’s due to generations of racial integration, not segregation. Racially diverse workplaces, classrooms, and neighbourhoods have helped break down racial barriers and foster camaraderie and understanding between people of different races. We spend time together, we get to know each other, and the racism fades away. Kaplan and others like her are seeking to undo this positive integration..Anti-racism activists have been embracing something of a two-wrongs-make-a-right approach to things. Due to the intolerance of white people of yesteryear, some activists feel justified in recreating that intolerance today, just from a different racial lens. This is a destructive, spiteful approach and it will only foster further mistrust and division between the races..Racial intolerance needs to be called out and shut down as soon as it is witnessed. That is how white racism was stamped out and it is how contemporary racism will be extinguished..It is astounding to see the kind of intolerance Kaplan is expounding printed in a publication like the New York Times and it is concerning that people are quietly letting it go..Cory Morgan is Assistant Opinion & Broadcast Editor for the Western Standard.cmorgan@westernstandardonline.com
I do wish that the crazed woke would listen to themselves once in a while. The language coming from them sounds like the stereotypical bigotry displayed by intolerant white people of the last century..While I can and usually do ignore the tone-deaf extremes from some in the hyper-progressive world, I stumbled upon an essay published in the New York Times that I just can’t let go..Erin Aubry Kaplan is a California columnist who has written prolifically about African-American political, economic and cultural issues since the early 1990s. Kaplan had a triggering experience after she installed one of those little library boxes on her front lawn in Inglewood, California and decided to share the story of it with the New York Times..Kaplan was happy with her little installation and eagerly watched from her window in hopes of seeing neighbors taking advantage of this new, public literary sharing opportunity..To Kaplan’s horror one morning…. Well, I will just quote it below so you can read what happened in her own words..“Then one morning, glancing out my front window, I saw a young white couple stopped at the library. Instantly, I was flooded with emotions — astonishment, and then resentment, and then astonishment at my resentment. It all converged into a silent scream in my head of, Get off my lawn!“.It just never occurred to Kaplan white people may use her little library though I am honestly not sure why. She makes it clear she never wanted it to appeal to white people, but I guess those darn white neighbours just didn’t get the message..“But while I had seen white newcomers to the neighborhood here and there, the truth was, I hadn’t set it out to appeal to white residents.”.Kaplan was kind enough to point out that it was the race rather than the people themselves that she took issue with..“What I resented was not this specific couple. It was their whiteness.”.Kaplan somehow felt it was important to clarify that she only had a problem with the race rather than the individual. How on earth can she not read her own copy and understand the backward bigotry she is projecting..Kaplan then goes on at length to bemoan the gentrification of her neighborhood. While most of us think of older neighborhoods being repopulated with affluent young residents when hearing the term gentrification, what Kaplan means is the influx of white people and she is blunt about it..Kaplan makes it clear she wants her neighborhood to remain predominantly if not exclusively populated by black people. She feels the world will be a better place if races all lived in and remained in separate neighborhoods from each other. Archie Bunker would be proud..The work and sacrifices done by civil rights advocates are being unraveled in front of our eyes as the open advocation for racial segregation is becoming acceptable again. I remember a few years ago watching a press conference in Toronto where local politicians were celebrating the opening of a new school that was to be exclusively attended by black students. I thought of how Martin Luther King Jr. must have been doing backflips in his grave over this idiotic reversal of school racial integration. I still never would have imagined seeing people calling for racially segregated neighborhoods..Had a white person submitted a column complaining of an influx of black people into their neighborhood, not only would the publication not print it, they may send the piece to the police for an investigation on spreading racial hatred. In the case of Kaplan’s piece, however, it was printed and doubtless was considered a visionary essay among the progressive chattering classes..Racism still exists in North America, but it is hardly the issue it used to be. Microaggressions rather than lynchings make up the racist episodes of today. The few true racists who do exist out there hide behind anonymous social media accounts now. They don’t dare go out and burn crosses as they used to..We are moving in the right direction on racial issues and it’s due to generations of racial integration, not segregation. Racially diverse workplaces, classrooms, and neighbourhoods have helped break down racial barriers and foster camaraderie and understanding between people of different races. We spend time together, we get to know each other, and the racism fades away. Kaplan and others like her are seeking to undo this positive integration..Anti-racism activists have been embracing something of a two-wrongs-make-a-right approach to things. Due to the intolerance of white people of yesteryear, some activists feel justified in recreating that intolerance today, just from a different racial lens. This is a destructive, spiteful approach and it will only foster further mistrust and division between the races..Racial intolerance needs to be called out and shut down as soon as it is witnessed. That is how white racism was stamped out and it is how contemporary racism will be extinguished..It is astounding to see the kind of intolerance Kaplan is expounding printed in a publication like the New York Times and it is concerning that people are quietly letting it go..Cory Morgan is Assistant Opinion & Broadcast Editor for the Western Standard.cmorgan@westernstandardonline.com