There is a little voice inside all of us. Some people call it a conscience. Others call it a moral compass.
My little voice did not align with the things that Smith College, my employer, my alma mater and powerful elite institution was telling me.
I was told that white people unconsciously uphold a system that excludes and oppresses the majority of people on the planet. A system that white people –and only white people– benefit from. I was told that white people need to do “the work” in order to remedy this, and that any white person who resists such work is by default, upholding this system.
Who among us wants to uphold a system that hurts other human beings? When Smith told me I could avoid this fate by doing “the work" I was relieved. Although “the work” was never explained to me in detail, all signs indicate it was largely comprised of the (mostly white) staff and faculty gathering in groups to discuss “whiteness” in some way.
While I was working in the Smith Libraries, I attended such a discussion. It was for white people only, and the plan was to come together and do “the work.” Together, we discussed our so-called “whiteness.” Then we ate our sandwiches and went back to work.
I felt like I was a participant in a staged reading. It felt weird and wrong. But as staff are so often reminded at Smith (such as in a recent letter to the community by President McCartney) the “work is hard, but it is the foundation for change.”
Toward the end of my time at Smith, I met with VP of Equity and Inclusion Floyd Cheung. During this meeting, Floyd mentioned the necessity of doing the “work.” I asked him what exactly the “work” is. I doubt anyone had ever asked Floyd such a question (probably because at Smith College even asking such a question can be construed as a sign that you support racism in some way). He laughed nervously and said: “Ah, that’s the question, isn’t it?” Apparently, even the VP of Equity and Inclusion at Smith College does not know what “the work” is.
The house of cards had collapsed.
Smith College used its status as my employer, a powerful institution supposedly dedicated to “social justice,” to manipulate me into suppressing my moral compass. Convincing people to undermine their own moral compass is a tactic used to inculcate all manner of evil in the world. It is a strategy employed by cults and other people who seek to abuse and control. It is at the heart of all totalitarian movements. When we crush and replace the moral center with what James Lindsay calls a “para morality,” not only does a part of us die, we become capable of doing horrible things to each other (please see the NY Times coverage of the Smith response to July 31, 2018).
This is the exact opposite of “social justice.”
At least in the normal definition of the phrase.
Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian
Canaries were used by coal miners because of their extreme sensitivity to toxic gasses. If the canary fell ill or died, the miner knew it was time to evacuate the mine. Most canaries died in the line of duty.
When I saw that my bird was sick, I grabbed her and I got the hell out of there. Every day I think of all the canaries still trapped the mine, and of all those trapped in all the other “mines” all over this nation. It is a tragic situation.
So look, you know that little voice inside of you telling you something doesn’t feel right? That’s because something is not right. That little voice inside you is your moral compass, it is the linchpin to your integrity. It is your canary.
You are not crazy. You are not racist, and you are not alone. That little bird is doing its job. Listen to it. Keep it alive no matter what. And as soon as you can, restore it to health so that one day it may sing again. And when it does, all the other birds will know they are not alone.
Here is this week’ playlist.
Weekly Check-in
A note about this Substack
Although a lot of posts will still be free (around half) I will start creating and issuing paid-only content in the month of May.
A note about what’s going on behind the scenes
I will probably be making another one video soon! However, right now I am actively working behind the scenes, doing my best to make things happen for people and organizations that want to help people trapped by the tyranny of this ideology.
The situation at this point is critical. Every voice matters.
My advice? Find one other person to talk to. Then another. Keep going until you have a group. Create an infrastructure to support your communications (like Telegram or Discord or even just an email list-serv). Host weekly Zoom meet ups.
Keep your heart open and your mind sharp. Together we will find a way.
Canary
To successfully fight - we must match the radicalism on the other side. We need to copy some of their tactics. Do you know of Judd Legum Popular Information letters that is bullying big corporations for their wrongthink political views? We must start a newsletter focusing on sizes and activities of DEI of the corporations, universities etc. DEI is a waste of money: investors, customers, taxpayers, donors - all of us. We need to know how much they waste, what are the atrocities they do and go after them - the same way Legum incites mobs to intimidate . What do you think?
I am wondering whether there is a way to connect anti- CRT movement with restoring the police. We need our safety back, but the racist left is using BLM riots to scare police and citizen into submission. This is a constant threat https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/04/developing-blm-crowd-gathers-minneapolis-scene-officer-involved-shooting-threaten-doxx-cops-target-families-video/