On Taking Abuse

A re-post from 1 August 2013.  Slightly redacted. 

.................

Everyone gets abused verbally in this world and one had better learn how to take it.  There are bigots everywhere -- leftists and wokesters the most vile, their tendency  to project psychologically rendering their bigotry  invisible to them -- and sooner or later you will encounter your fair share of abusers and bigots.   A fellow graduate student called your humble correspondent a 'guinea'  in the 1970s. This was in Boston.  But I didn't break his nose and do the ground and pound on him. Was it cowardice or good sense?  Call it self-control.  If Trayvon Martin had control of his emotions on the fateful night of his encounter with George Zimmerman, he would probably be alive today.  The downside, of course, is that then  we wouldn't be having this delightful 'conversation' about race.

My impression is that there is  more anti-Italian prejudice -- not that it is any big deal -- in the East than in the West where I come from. (And without a doubt, Jim Morrison had it right when he opined that the West is the best, in at least two senses.)   I didn't encounter any anti-Italian prejudice until I headed East. I  had a Lithuanian girl friend in Boston whose mother used to warn  her: "Never bring an Italian home." I never did get to meet Darci's mom.  Imagine a Lithuanian feeling superior to an Italian!

But I want to talk about blacks, to add just a bit more to this wonderful 'conversation' about race we are having.

Blacks need to learn from Jews, Italians, the Irish, and others who have faced abuse and discrimination.  Don't whine, don't complain, don't seek a government program. Don't try to cash in on your 'victim' status, when the truth   is that you are a 'victim' of liberal victimology.  Don't waste your energy blaming others for your own failures.

Don't wallow in your real or imagined grievances, especially vicarious grievances.  That's the mark of a loser.  Winners live and act in the present where alone they can influence the future.

If you want me to judge you as an individual, by the content of your character and not by the color of your skin, then behave like an individual: don't try to secure advantages from membership in a group!

Abandon tribal self-identification.  Did you vote for Obama because he is black?  Then you have no business in a voting booth. 

Bear in mind that the world runs on appearances, and that if you appear to be a thug -- from your saggy pants, your 'hoodie,' your sullen and disrespectful attitude -- then people will suspect you of being a thug.

Take a leaf out of Condi Rice's book. She's black, she's female, and she became Secretary of State. And her predecessor in the job was a black  man, Colin Powell. It sure is a racist society we have here in the  USA.  And that Justice Thomas on the Supreme Court -- isn't he a black dude?  And not a mulatto like Obama, but one seriously black man.  

Lose the basketball.  Get the needle out of your arm, the coke out of your nose, and that soul-killing rap noise out of your ears. Listen to the late Beethoven piano sonatas. May I recommend Opus #s 109, 110, and 111? Mozart is also supposed to be good for  improving your mental capacity. We honkies want you to be successful.  If you are successful, we won't have to support you.  And if you are successful you will be happy.  Happy people don't cause trouble.

And we don't give a flying enchilada what color you are. It's not about color anyway.  It's about behavior. Work hard, practice the ancient virtues, and be successful. If you can't make it here, you can't make it anywhere. Don't let Brother Jesse or Brother Al tell you otherwise.  Those so-called 'reverends' are little more than race-hustlers who make money from the grievance industry. And when they run out of grievances? Then they create 'micro-aggressions.'  

Liberals are not your friends either.  They want you to stay on the plantation.  They think you are too stupid to take care of yourselves.

If you learn to control your emotions, defer gratification, study hard and practice the old-time virtues, will you be 'acting white'?  Yes, in a sense.  High culture is universal and available to all who want to assimilate it.  What makes our culture superior to yours is not that it is white but that it is superior.  You have already 'appropriated' our technology. (Or did it come from sub-Saharan Africa?)  Why balk at 'appropriating' our virtues? We want you to! For your benefit and ours. 'Cultural appropriation' is a good thing. Here is a fine example of 'cultural appropriation.' 

Don't get mad, be like Rudy Giuliani. Can you imagine him making a big deal about being called a greaseball, dago, goombah, wop, guinea . . .  ? Do you see him protesting Soprano-style depictions of Italian-Americans as mafiosi? 

Comments

[lao tzu's ox]

Howdy Bill,

I blew in here at random from you fact-checking a misattributed Socrates quote some decades ago - thanks for that! I read some other entries of your blog and although I like how active you are, I must say I'm disappointed. This article and many others show a serious lack of compassion and empathy that is sorely missing from political conversations around topics like this, especially your opinions around drug addiction. Most of your recent posts are lacking in nuance and humanity.

Without any hard feelings or irony, I wish you well, and I'm glad you share your thoughts. Perhaps try showing this entry to people you disagree with, or black intellectuals, even, to see what their opinions are. A frank, human dialogue heals like nothing else.

[BV]

Actually, conservative compassion is true compassion whereas what you presumably support shows contempt for blacks: the racism of reduced expectations.

You may not like my tone, but what I am saying is very important and would be agreed to by black conservatives such as Larry Elder, Leo Terrell, Candace Owens, et al.

Dialog is a wonderful thing, but what you seem not to understand is that productive dialog can proceed only on the basis of broad agreement on fundamentals, something that no longer exists.

Are you paying attention to what is happening in this country? Do you care ?

You may question my humanity, but I will question your intelligence, moral decency, and civil courage. Why are you hiding behind a pseudonym?

[Hector]

Bill,

Have you ever read Stanley Crouch? He's a very perceptive critic of black American culture.

[BV]

Hector,

No, but he seems to be his own man. It takes cojones to defend 'Negro': https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/stanley-crouch

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/10/16/the-tragedy-of-stanley-crouch/

A maverick of sorts:

>>Evasion of category was one of the virtues Crouch most often celebrated. It is only fitting that he evaded it himself. One would struggle to pin any ideological label on this versatile writer. His opinions were often as spread out as his subject matter, which included everything from mainstream Hollywood films to Argentinian novelists, from American politics to professional athletics.<< https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/stanley-crouch-radical-pragmatist/