We are taught that in the past everybody was racist, that they held prejudice against other races and cultures. The white race and/or European cultures are usually the focus of this teaching. In a way, this isn’t really wrong and is true to this day. It is only banished from European (particularly northern European) society through cultural pressure and to varying degrees, through the legal systems.
In saying that this is true, I am not endorsing the narrative of the cartoon like racists portrayed in the media. I don’t accept that the prejudice that existed was bigotry but rather a natural caution towards outsiders that sometimes manifested as bigotry. Reading non-fiction and fiction from the time, there is certainly a whole lot of politically incorrect language that would make the modern art major faint, but little that one would describe as genuinely bigoted.
Take this as an example in the novel, Gone with the Wind which is written about what is considered the most racist and Hitlery time before Hitler, the protagonist and daughter of a slave owner:
There, she thought, I’ve said “nigger” and Mother wouldn’t like that at all.
I imagine her mother wouldn’t like that because it was simply considered impolite and lowborn to use such language. Her mother was certainly fine with owning slaves but still felt they were owed a certain dignity. Not enough dignity certainly, but far more human than the cartoonish whip-crackers we’re supposed to imagine now.
Now my purpose here is not to repaint the past as a nicer time with some blemishes but merely to remind people that reality is far more nuanced than is usually portrayed.
Which brings me to my main purpose in writing this. Something that few have failed to notice among the anonymous of the AltRight is the genuine bigotry that they seem to hold towards other races. This extends to attacking people that are on their side because they are Jewish or in the case of someone like Roosh V, because he is a “kebab”. Basically, anyone who is not white is seen to be suspect and not “our guy.”
At first as I’ve said, I found the Nazi memes quite funny right up until I realised many of them weren’t just being funny. When it became clear that far from pushing back against what is sacred today, they were just bigoted themselves.
There is plenty of truth to the claim that racism and assorted bigotries tend to manifest in the poor and poorly educated. That people will find ways to blame someone or something for the difficulties they face (whether true or not), rather than trying to deal with them. This must be true for many of these anonymous kids who would certainly be frustrated with societies ills and through no fault of their own. While I can sympathise with their struggles, they do not help themselves (or anyone), by going to these extremes. And as is so often the case, they will use societies problems as an excuse not to do better.
There is a limit to my empathy though and as their behaviour is destructive to themselves and to the more serious side of the AltRight. I have reached the limits of my patience with them. You can support things like borders, nations and homogeneous societies without derogatory remarks and prejudices. I do want to live in a society where the majority share the same core values and attitudes as me. Humans do fight over differences but they do also manage to live separately and relatively peacefully too. There is no reason why this can’t be the case again.
One wonders if there is a room for nuance in the world as it is. The simple fact is, that I don’t have anything in particular against any race as a whole. I just think nations and culture exist for a reason. Race certainly exists and the differences between races are of importance, whether or not we find these things uncomfortable. These anonymous little bigots are not as destructive as our cultural masters who try to deny these truths, but they aren’t helping.
Of course they would probably just put this all down to my wife being Asian.