2008 Woodie Awards
Politics of Victimhood
Spencer Case
Issue date: 2/2/05 Section: Opinion
While the rest of America moves toward tolerance, extremists of the left are vigorously fanning the dying embers of racial tension. Though their messages frequently masquerade in noble-sounding rhetoric, the segment of the population African American commentator Larry Elder not-so-endearingly terms "Black Victicrats" are more committed to big government and self interest than to genuine social progress.
No shortage of such Victicrats exists, but few exhibit the intellectual dishonesty of Dr. Claud Anderson, president of The Harvest Institute. Over the course of his six-page, fall 2004 president's message, Anderson gleefully reassures his readers of their hopelessly oppressed condition. In one of the first sentences on the first page, Anderson flatly states, "The socioeconomic status and condition of Black Americans, in relative terms, are the same today as they were on the eve of the Civil War..."
According to Anderson, things are so bad for African Americans that Martin Luther King's dream of equality is an unrealistic expectation and integration has only worsened matters. Rather than pursuing a futile goal, Anderson urges his followers to seek their own empowerment via PowerNomics, or a "the pooling of resources and power to produce, distribute, and consume in a way that creates goods and wealth that Black people control." In other words, more unfair meddling by the government to ensure African Americans enjoy competitive advantages that other citizens don't.
Unfortunately, the seven hundred words I am allotted here are insufficient to expose all of the distortions and contradictions in Dr. Anderson's address. (Indeed, to do that I would have to write a text that would dwarf an unabridged copy of Altas Shrugged.) But a few paragraphs of critical examination should be enough to convince any objective reader that the main pillars of Dr. Anderson's argument are false. Contrary to Anderson's woeful claims, tremendous progress has been made since the Civil War, much of it specifically due to integration.
No shortage of such Victicrats exists, but few exhibit the intellectual dishonesty of Dr. Claud Anderson, president of The Harvest Institute. Over the course of his six-page, fall 2004 president's message, Anderson gleefully reassures his readers of their hopelessly oppressed condition. In one of the first sentences on the first page, Anderson flatly states, "The socioeconomic status and condition of Black Americans, in relative terms, are the same today as they were on the eve of the Civil War..."
According to Anderson, things are so bad for African Americans that Martin Luther King's dream of equality is an unrealistic expectation and integration has only worsened matters. Rather than pursuing a futile goal, Anderson urges his followers to seek their own empowerment via PowerNomics, or a "the pooling of resources and power to produce, distribute, and consume in a way that creates goods and wealth that Black people control." In other words, more unfair meddling by the government to ensure African Americans enjoy competitive advantages that other citizens don't.
Unfortunately, the seven hundred words I am allotted here are insufficient to expose all of the distortions and contradictions in Dr. Anderson's address. (Indeed, to do that I would have to write a text that would dwarf an unabridged copy of Altas Shrugged.) But a few paragraphs of critical examination should be enough to convince any objective reader that the main pillars of Dr. Anderson's argument are false. Contrary to Anderson's woeful claims, tremendous progress has been made since the Civil War, much of it specifically due to integration.