Okay, so there is no quiz, but I figured since those kinds of headlines show up on any given webpage, it should work here. Besides, this is 2022. Unless you medaled in the Oppression Olympics, you already know you are a racist. You don’t need a quiz to tell you that.
Take Berkeley, for example. As you may have already read on these pages, I had aspirations of becoming an Episcopal priest, and right out of college, my mother sent me off to San Francisco for a kind of apprenticeship under her favorite priest. While I was there, I decided to head on over to Berkeley. I was young and still craving a college atmosphere. Now bear in mind that I was still as left-wing as they came back then. I was anti-establishment, anti-military, pro-abortion, I was woke when woke was not quite cool. And even I was taken aback by what I saw in Berkeley. Even in the early 90s, in all my left-wing glory I thought, “Man, these people need Jesus.”
Now it has come to light that a private housing co-op near the Univesity of California, Berkeley campus has posted a set of rules for residents. The rules state that many POC members moved to the house to avoid “white violence and presence.” To that end, residents must announce beforehand if they are bringing any white guests with them to the house. White guests are not permitted in the common room if any residents are present. If you have a family member who expresses “bigotry,” they are not welcome. And of course, the definition of bigotry changes from minute to minute these days. Someone posted a screenshot of the house rules on Reddit, and the reaction was interesting. Warning: these are posts from college students who unfortunately are not known for their command of the English language.
One person wrote, “I’ve always wondered how like… mixed race people fit into this. I’m mixed and can read as either or neither depending on the season and so I always just avoid any sorts of racial/ethnic spaces because I don’t want to have to try and justify what I am.”
Someone replied, “You’ll experience racial animosity.”
From another, “It’s generally a good idea to not get involved with people who are obsessed with race regardless of who you are.”
Yet another, “What if a resident is mixed and has a white parent. Can the white parent visit, help them move in, etc?”
One reply was, “No, the white parent is likely very violent towards people of color, including their spouse.”
One commenter tried to find the middle ground, posting:
I like the idea of people being free to do whatever weird sh*t they want in the comfort of their own home. Doubly so for college co-ops, since experimenting with different styles of living is kind of the whole point. If you find the rules weird, then either join and try to change them or live somewhere else.
Personally though, this place sounds like a nightmare. Constantly marinating in this low key passive aggressive stuff, in my own home, is not my idea of a healthy living situation.
Someone replied, “I wouldn’t call it marinating in passive aggressive stuff. Rather it is completely submerging oneself in a bath of hateful racism. America is regressing back towards its pre-Civil War dark ages.”
Yet another commented on how, as a white person, they had moved into the BSC co-op house and had done everything they could to be a good resident and be helpful. In their own words:
I lived in the BSC co-ops, and was in Afro-house as a white person. From the description on the website (which was all I had access to as a transfer in SoCal during COVID) it seemed that the house I was going to was inclusive while also being focused on black culture and empowerment. I was really for that, and had worked with other black community organizations before and was ready to keep doing my best. It was also my only housing option. I lived there for a year and tried to help the house a lot; I did extra workshift hours and helped the kitchen manager and workshift manager weekly. In the person to person connections, it was great. But on a different level, at council they sometimes brought up that I had other non-black friends (I had two friends I brought to the house, both bipoc), and that my presence as a white person made them feel uncomfortable. In the same meeting they would also thank me for the work I was doing for the house and say I was ‘setting the standard’. One time one of my roommates in our house counsel meeting told me that I was harming her experience because she didn’t want a white roommate. When I switched rooms the next semester to live with someone else that was not black because, you know, I didn’t want my old roommate to keep up the super passive aggressive stuff she was doing, they made a fuss about that and also told my new roommate to not come back in the next semester. It was a very interesting and somewhat traumatic experience for really everyone involved. I firmly believe that hatred or discrimination anywhere shouldn’t be tolerated, and I think there is a way to do that while also acknowledging and giving space for black and poc experiences. Oddly enough, their behavior helped me understand their experiences more, but through inducing a small amount of the same trauma they have experienced a lot. I think there is a better way to do things, but it requires everyone’s effort.
The poster was taken to task by someone who asserted that the person had a white-savior complex and that they left under a cloud of being done with helping them build a community. The poster was also accused of setting up a camera in the house without notifying the black residents. And if true, that is just bad manners if it isn’t your private property. I don’t care what color someone is, or even if they hate people like me. They are entitled to quiet enjoyment of their home. This person also reminded the poster that black people are not a “petting zoo.”
There is a point to be made there. White people have no business telling black people how to be black. And to move into a house designed for black people simply to avail oneself of the black experience is patronizing at the very least. Be that as it may, the rules mentioned above indicate that white people are naturally inclined to racism and violence by virtue of their DNA. It is a stereotype. And at least one person who wanted to show her woke colors still ended up being accused of racism.
In other news, the Post Millennial reports that on Monday, a group of Apple employees calling itself “AppleTogether” posted a petition on Twitter stating that the policy of having employees come into work in the office three days a week would make the workplace “younger, whiter, male-dominated and less diverse.” So working in the office is now racist. Oddly enough, there is no shortage of companies that have twisted themselves into knots to become woke.
It has been said by those making the accusations of racism (including one in the Reddit forum mentioned above) that they do not have the time or the energy to explain racism to white people. They may honestly believe that, but I also think that if they were to quantify racism, it would rob them of some of their power. To define racism means that there will be some behaviors, policies, or even people that are not racist.
It is far more expedient, not to mention profitable, for racism to mean whatever someone needs it to mean at any given moment. In the case of the Apple employees, it is working in an office. In the case of the Berkeley housing issue, it means a person is guilty for no other reason than being white. And no matter what steps you may take or examples you offer to prove you are not racist, those things are only more indicators that you are racist and just haven’t admitted it yet.
So the answer to the quiz, including the non-existent #7 if you are white, is “yes.” And increasingly, the answer is “yes” even if you aren’t white. Ask Larry Elder, Jason Whitlock, or Candace Owens.
The problem, of course, is that by accusing everyone whom you don’t like of being racist, you rob the term of the severity it is due, and people may be less convinced to take it seriously when it in fact truly rears its ugly head. The other problem is that this mindset continues to fracture society. Which may have been the point all along.
I’m not a racist. And hating me for the color of my skin won’t make me one. That is your prejudice. Not mine.
