I am a fourth generation Italo-Canadian whose great grandparents came from Italy shortly after the First World War. Relatively intelligent, I find Michael Eric Dyson’s racialized perspective utterly absurd…..i.e., I approach the world not as an Italian, but as a Thinking Human Being. My pre-postmodern educators, given that Canada was clearly a product of British Civilization, were perfectly comfortable with a Humanities Curriculum devoted to the evolution of Western Civilization in general and, more specifically, the rich cultural heritage of Great Britain. In the 60s and 70s, that is to say, it was permissible to celebrate Human Achievement, to simply assume, for example, that the insights of Socrates and the brilliance of Shakespeare were the products of a Civilization categorically, demonstrably, more advanced that those of various other peoples around the planet.
This is an observation based not on racial bias but on historical fact. To suggest that the Cultures of Indigenous peoples who had not discovered the practical applications of the Wheel as recently as a few hundred years ago were in any significant way comparable to the Cultures of Western Europe is palpably ridiculous. Of course if Technology were the sole criterion of our valuations, China might win the gold medal for achievement, its amazing Ancient and Medieval contributions including paper, printed books, gunpowder and the compass. But no Civilization in the history of the planet has engendered and inspired a greater passion for the pursuit of the Truth, the meaning of Life, the appreciation of Beauty and the quest for Justice than that which emerged from Ancient Greece 2500 years ago.
My University exposure to the endlessly variable and ever evolving literature, art and philosophy of the West, and, more specifically of Great Britain, is my most precious possession. So much has the world changed in the past 50 years, however, that this now makes me not an Enlightened Humanist, but a White Supremacist.
The hypocrisy of the narrative pursued by academics such as Michael Eric Dyson is that while they feel entitled to denigrate those “ideas” which led to the freedoms and affluence of the West as merely “White ideas,” they nevertheless insist the “disenfranchised” have every right to share in their proceeds……i.e., You may be no fan of the “protestant work ethic” but you’re absolutely entitled to your end of the month welfare check. This is in no way directed at all people of color most of whom would no doubt find the double-talk of “intellectuals” such as Dyson absurd.
In a Dec. 28 article published on Bari Weiss’ “Common Sense” site, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, survivor of an oppressed Somali/Islamic youth, declares herself a true liberal which, she says, entails “a belief in the rule of law; in individual liberty; in equality between men and women; in due process; and in, yes, a belief that some cultures–namely, liberal and democratic ones–are better than others.”
The last part of her statement is a violation of the idiotic egalitarianism that informs the contemporary Left…..i.e., the notion that all Cultures are equally worthy of respect, that all Ideas are equally valid, that all Peoples are equally accomplished, etc., etc. The alternative to such nonsense is not the demonizing or stereotyping of any particular ethnic group, but a simple acknowledgement of the facts of History.
Typical of “progressivism’s” aversion to those facts was an opinion piece published in the Hamilton Spectator on Dec. 6 by one Bob Hepburn. The essence of his article was that it was time for Canada to sever its political ties to Great Britain and become a Republic. This would, it seems to me, hardly be a major catastrophe given that Canada’s relationship to the Monarchy is purely symbolic. But Hepburn is clearly motivated by the dominant narrative of our day, the notion that Colonialism was inherently evil, that Britain’s various victories in its ventures around the world were the result not of the superiority of its Culture but of the depravity of its aspirations. A complex issue to be sure, one which only a fool would resolve in simplistic black and white terms! Upon defeating the French on the Plains of Abraham, for example, the British, rather than confining them to gulags and attempting to exterminate them, granted them their autonomy which ultimately evolved into the Province of Quebec as we know it today. That Quebec, with its oppressive language laws, is the least democratic province in our nation, surely exposes the stupidity of the narrative that the vanquished in any given human conflict are always somehow innocent.
Hepburn invokes the principles of Democracy to make his point, saying that a recent poll shows 52% of Canadians wish to sever ties with Great Britain. But in the very same paragraph he mentions that that number swells to 72% in Quebec, a fact clearly rooted in the racial resentment of the French speaking citizens of that province. Eliminate Quebec from the equation and it turns out the majority of Canadians are perfectly comfortable with Canada’s British heritage. Cancel the input of newly arrived immigrants with no empathy for Great Britain whatsoever though they clearly came to Canada to partake of its benefits, and that majority becomes even more overwhelming.
My point is simply that while “progressives” love to invoke irrational human proclivities such as Racism in denouncing the political Right, they are perfectly comfortable in citing statistics rooted in the very same proclivities to make their point. What suffers in the process is intelligent discussion of the merit of the Principles and Values in question. Such is the bequest of the contemporary political Left, a Mindless regime which insists there are really no Good Ideas or Bad Ideas, but simply a variety of equally valid ideas born of the apparently sacrosanct Biases defined by Human Identity! Truly Insane!