CommentsTHE VIEW FROM HERE - One problem with extremists is that the more they are proven wrong, the more they double down on their errors.
This phenomenon afflicts true believers of all stripes because their entire world rests solely upon their unique beliefs prevailing. As more facts gather to prove their fallacies, the more committed they become.
Let’s start with what 1619 Wokerism is not. It does not present the idea that a society’s current institutions represent the mores, beliefs and practices of earlier generations. That proposition is close to axiomatic. A foundational thought in Western tradition is Socrates’s that an unexamined life is not worth living. Thus, one should not merely accept what exists, but constantly examine oneself and one’s society.
Western civilization also has a contrary tradition of the true believer that the truth once given is unalterable. For them, man’s role is to have faith. End of story. Questioning equals heresy.
Nikole Hanna-Jones, the 1619 Project chief protagonist, believes that the1619 Project “brings slavery and the contributions of Black Americans from the margins of the American story to the center, where they belong.” This premise is false. Slavery and contributions of Black Americans may be central to the lives of Black Americans, but not to America as a whole. If the 1619 Project remained a belief without political significance, then America’s live and let live philosophy would have ignored the 1619 Project.
1619 Wokerism Poses a Lethal Threat
Wokers trash the Declaration of Independence by declaring that “one of the primary reasons the colonists decided to declare their independence from Britain was because they wanted to protect the institution of slavery.” From this statement one might conclude that Nicole Hanna-Jones is illiterate or never read the Declaration which had, in fact, intentionally doomed the institution of slavery. Not only did the Declaration state that all persons had individual inalienable rights including life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, it went two extra steps. (1) t added the word “equal” so that no one could argue that one man’s inalienable rights were superior to another’s. (2) It removed the word Property. Had the Declaration not changed John Locke’s word Property to Pursuit of Happiness, Jefferson feared that some would argue that liberty did not extent to slaves since they were classified as property in the slave holding states.
1619 Wokerism does not merely make Blacks the center of American life for all Americans, but it is an anti-factual racist attack on America’s constitutional foundation. The attack on White America was not limited to one false claim. 1619 Project also claimed, “For the most part, Black Americans fought back alone.” When that historical nonsense was challenged, the Worker solution was to add the words, “never getting a majority of white Americans to join and support their freedom struggles.” That too was patently false. As the New Yorker’s December 8, 2021 article The 1619 Project and the Demands of Public History by Lauren Michele Jackson points out, The Washington Post’s Carlos Lozada observed the addition did not replace the word ‘alone’ but rather redefined it.
Not surprisingly, 1619 Wokers demand reparations for Blacks so that the country “finally live[s] up to the magnificent ideals upon which we were founded.” When their hand is out seeking billions of dollars, Workers forget their claim that America was founded to perpetuate slavery, but all of a sudden, they seem to remember the actual philosophical basis of America.
Let’s Gain a Perspective
Blacks comprise 12.9 % of Americans. In Los Angeles, Blacks are less than 9% of the population, while over 14% of Angelenos are Asian, and America welcomes more Asians each day. Los Angeles Hispanics, Latinos, Latinx, which nationally are a fictitious group assembled for political expediency, are about 48% and Whites are 24%. (2020 US Census) Each year a significant number of Blacks disappear into the White community, but it has become politically incorrect to mention this fact. While people talk about White voters losing ground, the biggest losers with no prospect of increasing their numbers are Black Americans.
Not only do 1619 Wokers pretend that this ever smaller group is at the core of American history and life, it insults and demeans the heritage, cultures, and experiences of 87% of Americans. This is why the tea baggers won big in the 2010 elections (plus Obama-Geithner’s pro Wall Street policies), why Hillary lost in 2016, why Nancy Pelosi’s Identity Policies lost seats in November 2020, and why Biden is having so much trouble getting a handle on the Pandemic. Wokerism is factually and historically false and even many Blacks know that it is 21st Century’s False Narrative
West of the Rockies, Our Mexican History Is More Relevant
Starting on September 28, 1542, Spain claimed California, When Mexico obtained its freedom from Spain. California was part of Mexico until 1848 when the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hilgado turned it over to the US. California never had slavery. Californios, which is the name for the Mexican residents of California, were horribly cheated by Anglos from the East. The 1619 Project subjugates the entire experience of the Mexican West to the absurd demand that slavery be recognized as America’s core.
The psych of later California immigrants from Mexico during the 1900's was similar to the great westward Manifest Destiny of Anglos from the East. The Anglos did not see borders and Mexicans were merely moving from one part of Mexico to another. Just as Eastern Anglos in the 1800's and 1900's insisted that others view the world through their eyes, today’s Wokers insist that today’s Hispanics be servile to the Black experience. Wokerism does not fare too well in Los Angeles. Even Los Angeles Black Lives Matter side stepped Wokerism by getting rid of the female Black District Attorney, Jackie Lacey, in favor of an older white guy, George Gascon. (The most inarticulate attorney I’ve ever encountered)
1619 Wokerism will Swamp the US Congress with GOP
Building on the base of Nancy Pelosi’s anti-White racist Identity Politics, the 1619 Wokers pose an existential threat to millions of White voters who could otherwise compose the core of a Dem centrist government. True Believers, however, are purists and each loss becomes motivation for more Wokerism. Their adamant defense of the openly racist Critical Race Theory is the present political flash point, especially in light of the smash and grabs at high end stores and the follow home robberies. Burning down Watts is one thing, invading stores on Rodeo Drive is a game changer as is following people home to the Hollywood Hills from night spots. Wokerism cannot explain away murdering elderly women in Truesdale Estates. The Worker media does it best to conceal the racial make-up of the criminals, but Angelenos know from the addresses and the videos which group is foremost. It is not White Supremacist. Jesse Smollett showed how poorly that false narrative plays.
Here’s an Aspect Which the Pundits Over Look
White GOP America has dealt with White Supremacists forever, and they know that the bulk of supremacists are relegated to the fringe Supporting David Duke is not the same as not wanting to live in a high crime area. Name calling will never get them to vote Dem. On the other hand, the new racism of Pelosi’s Identity Politics and the 1619 Wokers is at the heart of the Dem Party. It is promoted by the mainstream media. Times Magazine’s August 2019 special on the 1619 Project main streamed the anti-White racism and the Dems establishment warmly embraced it far more openly and vigorously than anything Trump has done for White Supremacist.
Will CNN’s multi-million-dollar settlement of Nick Sandmann’s defamation\ lawsuit, the jury’s exoneration of Kyle Rittenhouse but conviction of the McMichaels, and the conviction of Jesse Smollett awaken the Dem leadership of the need to abandon 1619 Wokerism in order to avoid a GOP tsunami?
(Richard Lee Abrams has been an attorney, a Realtor and community relations consultant as well as a CityWatch contributor. The views expressed herein are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch. You may email him at [email protected])
