Self-Fulfilling Racism and Disunity
Where we’re going and how to avoid it
Robin DeAngelo’s White Fragility proposes a clean catch-22. If you’re white, you’re guilty of racism. If you admit it, you’re obviously guilty. If you deny it, you’re still guilty, and your denial is proof. Also, you’re fragile for denying it. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy without even the pretense of waiting for the prophecy to fulfill itself. The idea of white fragility prophesizes and then immediately creates its own fulfillment of said prophecy. There is not the smallest of windows between prophecy and fulfillment, not for the accused as a group, and certainly not for any individual.
Self-fulfilling prophecies are common in the new religion that upholds White Fragility as scripture, which seems to ignore the fact that such prophecies are usually based on false assumptions. This is true from bank runs during the Great Depression to teachers’ estimation of student performance to, ironically, racial stereotypes. But this movement that purports to fight for racial “justice” uses the same ideas that have been used for the racial oppression they claim to combat.
Psychologist Jordan Peterson has said (podcast #34 ~16:24) that one of the most insidious things about compelled speech is that it will cause a very psychologically painful choice. You will either know that you are a coward for saying something you know to be untrue and loathe yourself, or you will change your beliefs to align with the compelled speech in order to avoid self-loathing. This is another form of self-fulfilling prophecy; you will say something, and then you will believe it. The only other option is psychologically destructive. This radical progressive movement uses its manipulation of speech, intense social pressure, and its insinuation into the law to inflict this psychologically destructive dilemma on people. It essentially forces them to think in accordance with their orthodoxy or have their lives destroyed. Sounds pretty oppressive to me.
In the worst-case scenario, the Republic does not survive this conflict. Thankfully, the model it was built on was that of many states forming one nation, so the states will survive. There will be powerful ones on the left, like California and New York, that will be dominated by a few cities that uphold leftist ideals, but will leave their rural residents left feeling homeless in their own homes. Cities like New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have never reflected the values of their states’ rural residents. Likewise, there will be powerful bastions of rightward ideals, like Texas, which has always been the most independent of the states. It too will have large amounts of residents lost in newly-foreign territory in Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio.
It will become immediately obvious that new economic alliances will be necessary, particularly for the smaller and poorer states that can’t sustain themselves without such alliances. Here’s where the self-fulfilling prophecy is realized on the national level. There is already a group of states that has done this. They’re still mostly on the same page ideologically, so it’s entirely predictable that they would join together again. They even have the best chance of doing so because in addition to their shared ideology, their previous history as a nation that seceded from the United States, and their shared geographic position, they share culture. Their battle flag has only recently gone out of favor as a public display. We will see the second coming of the Confederate States of America. If the Republic divides, this will be inevitable. In such a hypothetical future, there is no way that group of states wouldn’t rally around their already extant shared culture. No, slavery won’t become legal again, but there’s no way such an alliance would ignore such shared history with a name, a flag, and a territory ready-made for them.
Meanwhile, those on the left physically and ideologically will try to establish a strong alliance, but have a harder time of it, having no such shared history, name, or flag. There have been efforts to accomplish this in the past. The Pacific States of America seems like a natural manifestation, but who knows. While they debate how to come together, they will see the new Confederacy and say, “See!? We told you those places were full of racists! They’re admitting it!” while overlooking how useful it is to align along the previous allegiances, racism not required.
The dissolution of the United States would be a global political and economic disaster. There are those within the country that think they want this, and they are certainly working towards this end, usually under the guise of something far more benevolent. They will find, as many have recently and throughout history, that things are much worse without governance and executive authority very similar to what the United States already has. Without such governance, mob rule and extortion immediately move in to fill the gaps. When government doesn’t work close to the way it does in the United States, something that looks like the mafia naturally arises far faster than any organized government based on measured compromise can be formed from scratch.
Those who will benefit far more are the national rivals of the United States, like China. China is also certainly helping the destructive elements in the United States on all sides of the current conflict. China only gains as the United States weakens, and they don’t have to put much effort into toppling their rival when we do it to ourselves with little prodding.
The answer to fixing our problems is in understanding each other and building connections. Put simply, the solution is to unite to fix things instead of dividing to break them. On an individual level, this means having compassion for those we don’t agree with. Try to understand why they’re saying or doing what they are. What are they concerned about? What truths are there in those concerns? How can we solve those problems? This can only be accomplished, however, if they are also willing to listen to you and ask the same questions. Certainly, the way to prevent this from ever happening is to tell people that they’re wrong based not on their thoughts, but on their skin color. That can’t change, and it doesn’t determine who someone is, what they should think, or what they’re guilty of.
On the national level, we have to look for alternatives to the divisive politics that have been the breeding ground for such animosity for decades. Our upcoming presidential election is presented as a choice between two bad options. One is a man who has brought more discredit and division to our country than any other in recent memory. The other is a man who has participated in political polarization for decades and who chose a running mate (based on her gender and skin color) who herself thinks he’s racist. There are other options. We have to throw out all these politicians who divide us for their own gain and lie to us for power.
Enter the Unity 2020 campaign. This grassroots movement seeks to draft two candidates to run in this year’s presidential election, one to represent the people on the reasonable left and one to represent the people on the reasonable right. They will lead the country as a pair, sharing the power of the presidency, starting the process of uniting what the usual politicians have spent so much time dividing. Unity 2020 has narrowed down their candidates to the three per side that you see in the image below, and you can help chose the final ticket. If you think it’s too late and it can’t possibly work even if you wanted it to, you’ve created your own self-fulfilling prophecy, haven’t you? For more information, visit www.ArticlesofUnity.org, or find them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit.
Take a hard look at those who are trying to divide us as individuals and as a country. We have to unite. The alternative is unacceptable.
