No, Racists Aren’t “Only” Abusive to the Groups They Discriminate Against

Your tips are greatly appreciated! Upgrade at 30% offRacism apologists have long been a part of America’s cultural identity. In fact, our nation was founded by racism apologists. It’s often only through deliberately disregarding the intent of the founding fathers that we discover the ideals of equality and individual liberty that our national narrative claims have “always” been our noble purpose.The truth is, “freedom” didn’t mean the same thing at the onset of our country that it does today. You’d have a more accurate understanding of our founding documents if you replaced “freedom” with “white privilege” wherever the word appeared.One of the characteristics that adds complexity to the world is the impulse of evil people to spend hours and hours coming up with arguments to justify themselves. Unfortunately, this impulse applies to evil people, semi-evil people, and even good people. We’re all vulnerable to being seduced by the trap of backwards arguments.It’s easy to get caught up in the tangle of a dubious justification that compels you to indulge a selfish impulse. It’s easy to convince someone who wants to be convinced, particularly when that person is yourself. This can be compared to the opposite of the scientific method: you seek any evidence that seems to support your theory and disregard the inconvenient facts that indicate you are wrong.I recently came across a particularly nefarious argument from a racism apologist. In fact, the argument is so awful that I initially doubted the sincerity of the person who wrote the words. However, I’ve seen enough corrupt thinking from my fellow human beings that I feel it’s warranted to spend the time necessary to dismantle this patent absurdity.“Racists only mistreat the people they discriminate against”I don’t apologize for using the word “evil” to describe racists. Some people want to use the words “stupid” or “ignorant.” Some people even try to argue that you dilute the word “evil” by applying it to those that are guilty of “lesser transgressions.”All of that is nonsense. Racism is flat-out evil, and our society is going to continue to wallow in the mud until that’s taught as a fundamental concept.Racism is the seed from which a large percentage of all American unrest originates. We can’t seem to make any progress in our society because our population has been so thoroughly conditioned to disregard this fundamental truth.Racism hurts everybody. If you carry any taint of racism in your heart, it renders you a bad person. You can’t justify yourself by claiming ignorance. The only way out is to recognize the flaw in your fundamental beliefs and get yourself on a better path.Now that you’ve read this article, you can consider yourself educated. Leave the racism behind and dedicate the rest of your years to a philosophy of decency. Forget the past and prove your good intentions going forward.Stop justifying your evil beliefsThe most important element of becoming a decent person is learning how to abandon the contorted arguments and personal justifications that got you into trouble in the first place.In a recent argument, an individual claimed that I was “wrong” to call racists “evil” because, “Racists aren’t wholly evil, their aggressive behavior is only deployed against the groups they don’t like.”So, according to this absurd argument, even though a racist might run over one child with a car, we have some sort of an obligation to give them “credit” for all the times they don’t run a child over?I find that argument appallingly ignorant. Initially, I wanted to dismiss it and move on. But then a sense of dread washed over me as I realized this is likely a widespread belief.This experience was similar to when I come across a video on social media of a politician making an evil statement, and I expect it to be denounced. However, when I check the comments, I’m disgusted to find a vast majority expressing their unwavering support.“We hold these truths to be self evident…” — The Declaration of IndependenceWhat truths?Their mistreatment is compartmentalized — you’re safeThe idea that racists only mistreat the groups they don’t like is a terrible deception. Some people probably go on to think that in a competitive environment, what’s bad for one group might be beneficial to others.This is nonsense.Why is it so hard to recognize that any indulgence that serves to dehumanize any group in a community is going to come back and cause you anguish eventually?“Meh, why do I care, it doesn’t apply to me,” should be the new American motto.Our allocation of resources doesn’t make any senseThe thing is, dehumanizing beliefs do affect you, it’s just that the downside is not immediately apparent to those that receive some unearned and artificial benefit in the short term. It’s like greedy little hands clutching at a $50 hand-out who fail to recognize they’ll be required to pay back $5,000,000 in the very near future.The compounding interest charges of racism are stunning. In the example of the United States, they’ve served to run up a 32 trillion dollar debt (and that’s just for starters).It takes an astonishing amount of resources to maintain a system of racism. Americans are so blind to this that we don’t even talk about reducing military budgets or police budgets when the conversation turns to fiscal responsibility. Slogans like “defund the police” are shot down even by the politicians that generally help us. Just think about the offensive amount of money America spends on maintaining the threat of a devastating punitive response to any behavior that’s deemed “unacceptable.”Who decides?The problem with forging swords is that those swords can be turned against you. America does nothing but forge swords and leave them lying around for children to get cut up on. The money that went into making those swords might have eliminated poverty, improved education, and ended hunger.But we can’t have any of those things, our nation is committed to wasting its resources on creating a devastating response directed at “people it doesn’t like.”No.I’ve met the people that harbor evil in their heartsWe’ve all met people who gave us a creepy feeling even though they treated us nicely. I’ve had that experience socially, at school, and at work. There are people who wear their prejudices on their sleeves and attempt to invite you into a fellowship on the basis of your superficial traits.In my experience, these people are dangerous, and they’ll be quick to turn on you if it proves advantageous to them.Ultimately, these people are opportunists. They don’t cultivate or exhibit a single admirable trait. However, they are often charismatic in the same way a stand-up comedian can entertain a room full of drunks. The skillful comedian often picks an unfortunate soul in the crowd that becomes a target of mockery, and everyone joins in because they’re happy not to be the focal point of all that intoxicating rage and hatred.The best kind of person refuses to participate in such an attack. The greatest people stand up for anyone who is being attacked. Our most admirable people understand that the focus of anger can shift with the snap of a finger.Unfortunately, admirable people often end up getting chopped up by the mob.It’s not excessive to call them evilSome people try to argue that racists are “good” because they are still capable of acts of love towards the people for whom they don’t harbor unreasonable hatred. They might say that racists, too, love their children.This argument is ridiculous.I reply with the example of Thomas Jefferson who was so racist that he was content to see his own children born into slavery. They were only freed as a condition of Jefferson’s will (Correction, Jefferson’s children Beverly and Harriet were freed in 1822, Madison and Eston were freed by Jefferson’s will in 1826). It’s important to emphasize that such was the evil in Thomas Jefferson’s heart that he was content to see his own children condemned to a life of slavery while he lived.He could have freed them whenever he wanted, but he was such a coward that he allowed them to endure torment until his death.It’s important to recognize that this is the ultimate destination for those that choose the slippery slope of justifying immoral thoughts. You can’t walk around with the toxic justification that though you treat some people poorly, you’re fair to “the ones that matter.”Everybody matters. Wouldn’t it be great if that phrase was actually spoken with sincerity in our society?We’ve tried the path of racism, it doesn’t workIt shouldn’t be controversial to say that if you live all your life committed to works of good, but you occasionally murder somebody in an act of rage, then you’re a bad person. You can’t justify the horrors you inflict on the world by compartmentalizing them.Commit yourself to the path of decency now!The evil you carry in your heart taints all of your labors. The first thing you need to do is to look inward and make sure your motivations are pure. You must abandon the seductive justifications that enable selfish and corrupt beliefs. The end point of racism is that you sit back indifferent to the enslavement of your own children.A decent person does not so much as look down that path. They certainly don’t indulge in idle speculation as to the false merits of taking a step in that direction.Somebody needs to come along and grab our country by the shoulders and force it to face the other way. But we don’t have that “somebody” so it has to be you.You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI'm so happy you're here, and I'm looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe