Martin Luther King Jr. was a giant not merely in US history, but in the history of the world. His noble message is for all of us—black, white, or Blue Fugate of Troublesome Creek—and isn’t possessed by just one color. Judging a person by content of character, not color of skin, is a truth for all mankind.
On this anniversary of MLK’s birthday, I am disturbed. I am tarnishing his legacy because I have turned into a racist—a reverse racist.
Let me explain.
MLK gave his life to free people from oppression. I grew up in the social luminescence after the Civil Rights movement. Those of good intent from my generation took to heart MLK’s ethic and brave sacrifice. And the majority of us lived out MLKs message individually and in the country writ large. Racism continued to diminish as different races worked together, lived in the same spaces, got to know each other, and the older generations of white, racist Democrats began to die off.
I am mostly caucasian and I look white. Race is usually visually obvious, and my practice was to reach out a hand to someone with a different appearance, and treat the person as an individual, not a stereotype. I think MLK would have been proud.
Then along came Ibram X. Kendi, Robin Deangelo, and their proxies. Constantly in my face via media, their wokeism required me to search my soul for hidden bias lurking beneath the surface. According to them no one is free from subconscious racism. Even babies are already racist and anti-racist baby training became necessary.
Wokeism grew to be so pervasive it seeped into my brain and I became hyperconscious of race. No longer do I view a black stranger as just a person. Now I have questions: “Is she looking at me sideways because she thinks it’s a given that I’m a racist?” “What do I need to do to show her she isn’t surrounded by racists?” So, I wound up treating random black people better than random white people. I go out of my way to greet a black person, make a friendly comment about something while we are standing in a line, or step aside to let a black woman through a tight aisle. I ignore white people. Hence, the reverse racism.
I have been disgracing MLK’s precept not to treat human beings according to their shade of melanin. Now the task before me is to fight my way back to the days before the Kendis and Deangelos colored my view of folks. I have begun the new year resolving to honor MLK by cleaning wokeism out of my mind and entering a fresh future that treats people as people—regardless of race.