Anticommunist Antiracism: What the World Needs Right Now
[Adapted from a Tweet thread I just published at my Twitter account.]
During these times, it’s shocking to me that conservatives, libertarians, and classical liberals (of which I am one) haven’t recognized the need to develop an alternative to the Marxist/critical theory model of antiracism pushed by the left. We need a strong and developed antiracism that is also anticommunist.
A specifically anticommunist antiracism that acknowledges the realities of race and injustice would be ignored by our media overlords who are obsessed with pushing a single political narrative, but it would still be valuable. It would definitely be more helpful than making memes or screeching about statues and property damage.
If you don’t want to think in terms of anticommunism, then think in terms of an anti-statist antiracism. This should be a natural fit, since practically every historical injustice against black people and minorities has been either perpetrated by or supported by the state.
Personally I prefer thinking in terms of an anticommunist antiracism, since it’s clear that the white leftist organizations driving our culture don’t care so much about racism as they do using the current racial strife as a Trojan horse to bring about a socialist revolution.
The current leftist models of antiracism pushed by Kendi and others are, when you scratch the surface, also vehemently anti-freedom and anticapitalist. In fact they make efforts to equate white supremacy with capitalism as often as they can.
This is a calculated move. The left has learned that whatever policy or ideology they don’t like can be otherized and demonized by fabricating some connection with it to ‘white supremacy’, no matter how tenuous or ridiculous.
So the nuclear family is white supremacist. So are Christianity, capitalism, free speech, property rights, due process, and so on. Even if the connection is clearly nonsense, no one will object, because objecting to any claim of racism is basically impossible. The media has made all claims of racism infallible and unfalsifiable. I’ve never seen manipulative rhetoric used so effectively on a society. (Here’s a trick: ask a leftist what criteria they use to identify a false accusation of racism, or a mistaken analysis of systemic racism. They will have no such criteria ,and the question itself may cause their brain to implode.)
So the answer is to create a robust antiracism which shows that free markets, free speech, etc. are not tools of oppression but the birthright of all people, no matter their race or heritage. Such a theory would maintain the foundational elements of western civilization that ensure human flourishing, while acknowledging the realities of racism.
You may not like the term ‘anticommunist antiracism’, but to me it captures the idea well. The driving force is to maintain the good products of western civilization (liberty, prosperity, tolerance), while jettisoning the bad (American slavery, colonialism, etc.). Classical liberalism already has the ingredients to do this, and incorporate contemporary ideas and discoveries about racism.
But I fear conservatives, libertarians, and my fellow classical liberals are too stupid or lazy to develop this sort of robust antiracist theory. Or maybe someone is working on a book right now to this effect. I hope so.
Just don’t ask me to do it. I’m just an anonymous monkey man on Medium.
