Regarding the story Wilonsky broke here yesterday -- about Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church, publishing a list of businesses or other entities that fail to celebrate Christmas in an acceptably enthusiastic way. I'm worried about old white people.
Seriously. I'm one myself. I go fishing with old white people. I am deeply concerned.
Wilonsky quoted Jeffress as saying his mission was to encourage businesses not to "bow to the strident voices of a minority who object to the holiday."
Who objects? Who cares? When I walk out of a CVS, where are all the bell-ringers for the Anti-Christmas Army?
It's part and parcel of this whole thing about old white people seeing themselves as the new discriminated-against martyr class. You know: The real racism is against old white people. All that stuff.
Here is my concern. Well, a couple concerns.
First, of course, it's loony. But more profoundly and in the longer run, I am worried that old white people are setting themselves up to be the new loser class of our society.
If you are genuinely discriminated against, you'll know it. They'll burn your churches, refuse to hire your kid, not let you into the country club, etc. If you are genuinely discriminated against and you're pissed off about it and you do something about it like fight back, then you're smart.
If you are not genuinely discriminated against -- if, in fact you are in the historical class of discriminators -- and you're in the driver's seat anyway with all the money and the privilege but you start feeling like you're discriminated against -- you know what that's a sign of?
Loser. Mental emotional moral political social loser.
You are training yourself to be tomorrow's loser, the one who doesn't get it, who can't get his or her mind around tomorrow, the one who's going to be out in left field. Guess what does happen to that one eventually. He loses his money, his privilege and his position.
It's self-marginalization.
This does not have to happen to us. Old white people! Unite! Fight the slide! We don't have to be this loony!
Alternatively, I think the way things are going if we just bide our time a generation or so, we can claim not to be white. "Me white? Sorry, buddy. You got the wrong guy." We can un-pass. It may be the only way to dodge the deluge.
