Racial grievances are the lifeblood of the American left

Politicians all over the political spectrum are finally coming around to the commonsensical conclusion that, regardless of how unwarranted, scandalous and illegal police officers' treatment of George Floyd may have been, there is no justification for the campaign of looting and organized violence that has been unleashed on America's cities. Violence is rarely the solution to violence, and crime is never the solution to crime.

We also should be candid about the fact that the mass protests, civil disobedience and even the acts of arson, assault, theft and murder we are witnessing in cities nationwide is the product of careful cultivation by the American left and a complicit media.

For years, these charlatans have been selling to people of color a delusion of gargantuan proportions: first, the idea that America in the early 21st century is one of the most prejudiced and oppressive places that has ever existed; and, second, the idea that it is progressively getting worse.

Neither notion is remotely true, but careful editing of news coverage, as well as indoctrination in the schools, higher education and in virtually all facets of our popular culture, has convinced racial minorities (and many whites) that racism is the defining feature of the American experience.

Not freedom.

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Not opportunity.

Racism.

The recipe is simple: Ignore all prejudice and violence that emanates from people of color and from liberals, and trumpet all prejudice and violence that emanates, or can plausibly be claimed to emanate, from whites who have not knelt before the gods of progressivism.

Thus, every time a white American is rude to a black person, or displays bias, and the incident is caught on tape, it is, perforce, national news. If that white person inflicts any type of violence on people of color, so much the better – such a storyline fits the agenda of the left and the media to a T. Bias and/or violence that flows from the wrong sources, however, the left and the media feel they have a solemn obligation to cover up, because even to acknowledge these phenomena would "reinforce" America's "original sin": white racism.

The result is predictable: People of color are bombarded with messages, from politicians, pastors, movie stars, pop singers, sports heroes, teachers and news anchors, that draw their attention to white racism and which explain virtually all dysfunction and misfortune in communities of color as the product of such racism, both on the individual level and in "institutional" forms.

Moreover, as we see in so many guises these days, the standard of evidence for proving the presence of racism has been steadily lowered. No longer does one need to demonstrate clear racist intent to be labeled a racist. A mere slip of the tongue or a failure to demonstrate sufficient enthusiasm for the causes beloved of self-declared "anti-racists" is more than enough to mark one as racist trash, destined for the dustbin of history.

Likewise, no longer does an organization or institution have to intend to discriminate against any group to be accused of racism – merely failing to produce the "equality of results" leftists desire will suffice to prove that "implicit bias" must color the policies and leadership of the relevant party.

Put simply, racism is the default explanation for everything of which the modern liberal disapproves. The burden is on each and every white American to prove that he or she is not racist, and only complete submission to the agenda of the left can accomplish this (provisionally, that is, or rather until the left decides to make one of its own a sacrificial lamb to social justice, which it often does).

The upshot of this sad state of affairs is that the Democratic Party, which is the political embodiment of the American left – even though most leftists hold the moribund Dems in contempt – has embraced with aplomb the strategy of race-baiting its way to victory. The use of racially based dog whistles is now de rigueur among Democrats, and the thought that ordinary Americans, much less people as odious as Republicans, are entitled to the benefit of the doubt has long since been dismissed as fanciful and naive.

And now, in our smoldering streets, in the wreckage of countless stores, in emergency rooms where the victims of mob violence are being patched up and in the dingy morgues where the fatalities from street brawls are accumulating, we see the left's philosophy of racial grievance taken to its ultimate conclusion.

Liberals cultivated fear, anger and despair, because they expected to profit from them. They did profit from them, in fact, but America as a whole has paid, is paying and will continue to pay a steep price for the leftists' gravely irresponsible and short-sighted conduct.

And the saddest part is this: We were so close to healing many of the racial divides that now threaten to swallow us whole.