By: Ken Willette – Feb. 2024
The concept of original sin has fueled a global debate since even before the dawn of Judeo-Christian thought. It is a belief system for some followers who assert that humans entering this world are predisposed to sin due to the actions of Adam. As a Christian, I would often focus on the morality and compassion of Jesus’s parables, rather than rely on a strict interpretation of the bible. However, the philosophy of original sin is instrumental in this column since many people throughout our nation’s history were cast with the societal stigma and burden of being born into a certain race, gender, religion, or ethnicity.
For centuries, millions of African Americans and women were treated as property, limited in their mobility, and often only permitted in the shadows. Millions of African Americans were enslaved, abused, and deprived of any wages for their hard-earned labor. Many women were considered subservient through marriage in the eyes of the court, relegated to only household responsibilities, and denied access to education except for some rare exceptions.
Women couldn’t vote nationwide until the early 20th century, and they couldn’t even apply for credit until the time frame when I was born. Arranged marriages, dowries and underage brides were not uncommon practices. Many African Americans and women still rose above the societal obstacles and exceled in the areas of literature, civil rights, science, health care, and business.
All these past transgressions certainly serve as a dark stain on our national soul. But instead of acknowledging our tremendous progress, we are singling out certain groups in the 21st century for mandatory indoctrination. Rather than learning the historical lessons of slavery, the subjugation of women and the structural discrimination of other racial and ethnic groups, we unfortunately are witnessing prominent politicians in 2024 who seek to stigmatize and punish innocent citizens for the perceived sins of deceased generations.
Notice how some political leaders and academics, who are so intent on promoting inclusion, often are the same misguided individuals who are most guilty of exclusionary policies, discriminatory actions, and unverified stereotypes. For example, affirmative action, which was forthrightly banned by a Supreme Court decision, has been proven to discriminate against Asians who had better test scores.
To give an overly favorable admissions process to some applicants, university administrators were then denying equal protection to other historically oppressed minorities (Chinese Americans who were subjected to past immigration quotas and xenophobic laws, and Japanese Americans who were forced into internment camps). How is that not morally reprehensible, replacing one form of structural discrimination with another?
Mind you, I am also totally against legacy admissions—just because your rich daddy attended Harvard doesn’t entitle you automatically to a Golden Ticket from Willy Wonka. Another cancerous theory is that whites have an ingrained proclivity toward supremacy thoughts and aspirations. This would be ludicrous as a theory if not for very serious leaders who assert it as Gospel truth.
They have a warped interpretation of American history. Last time I checked, Irish and Italian Americans were identified as whites dating back to Europe. But for many years in this country, Irish needed not apply for jobs in certain neighborhoods. Italians faced the same wrath. White Catholics were falsely accused of taking marching orders from the Pope when dealing with politics and economics. Do you honestly think these aggrieved populations would then collectively engage in supremacy over any other group? How about white Jews who survived Hitler’s Final Solution?
Obviously, these reverse racists never read J.D. Vance’s autobiography, Hillbilly Elegy. J.D. grappled against turbulent and painful events during his youth. His father disappeared. His mother, a hardcore drug addict, was constantly involved with the criminal justice system. J.D.’s only North Star constant was his unbreakable grandmother who guided him through the stormy seas of a dysfunctional and broken family. Because of that moral compass, J.D. rose above the aftermath, joined the Marines, graduated from Yale Law School, and now currently serves as a United States Senator. Does his life journey cry out supremacy or a mandate for inclusion reeducation? Absolutely not!
If you look at the infant mortality and drug abuse rates for economically underserved West Virginia and Baltimore, you may be surprised by the shocking similarities. These proponents of universally assigning whites to a supremacy class should read about a real apartheid nation, because their actions would be familiar to the F.W. de Klerk regime. Born a Crime, written by former Daily Show host Trevor Noah, is a fascinating book about him being ostracized by many groups in South Africa because of his mixed race. Interracial marriages and relationships were strictly forbidden. If the authorities found out that Trevor’s parents (a white European dad and a Black South African mother) gave birth to a mixed-race child, both parents would have been arrested and jailed for years.
The evil genius of South Africa apartheid was that whites, other races and even tribes were assigned regions to reside and were pitted against one another. Sanctioned geographical divisions, tribal animosities and stereotypical behaviors ran rampant, which was exactly the mission of those in power. The parallels are striking in how Radical Left America identifies certain people despite flourishing diversity, judges the motives of other groups without learning history’s wrongs, and hosts separate public events without inviting others. A textbook divide and conquer mentality. Plus, a heavy dose of gaslighting for any non-believers.
There is even a controversial professor at Princeton who teaches a class where she encourages Black students to classify themselves as disabled. How demented is that professor? The racism is mindboggling if you seriously claim that all African Americans are incapable of competing in an equal opportunity society without special treatment. Maybe the exclusionary fraudsters and supremacy accusers can take a moment to read Martin Luther King to learn what a nonviolent, faith-based, character-driven, and brotherhood-rich environment can be realized if we don’t divide and segregate. Keep MLK’s Dream alive! ◊