Two Percent Victim
Here are the first couple lines of a podcast segment from CatholicVote.org talking about the Ta-Nehisi Coates article on Kanye.
It’s designed to enrage liberals — so beware:
STEVE: To talk about this issue, because we’re sensitive to identity politics and we don’t want to offend Ta-Nehisi Coates, who better to have on than Amanda Prestigiacomo from the Daily Wire— because we recently discovered Amanda, haven’t we, that you are over two percent African and Asian, isn’t that right?
AMANDA: Yeah! I’m two percent victim. I’m very excited about it. Hopefully I can get some free stuff.
The line, and the set-up, are so perfectly designed to unite those who mock identity politics, and alienate those who don’t. I’m almost awed by its evil brilliance.
It so quickly dismisses the possibility of victimhood as anything other than a cynical ploy — thereby dismissing the centuries of slavery, Jim Crow, redlining, mass incarceration, and any other legitimate suffering. It closes any opportunity for any actual dialogue on the limits of the victim/oppressor lens.
I honestly thought I might learn something from listening to a different take on the Kanye situation. And I’m almost happy I was quickly reminded that this is not what’s considered honest dialogue.
The whole show, if you’re interested:
