The Dangerous Stereotype of ‘Dead White Men’
Sure it’s easy to blame everything you don’t like about America on the patriarchy and “straight white dead men” who founded it. But have you ever thought about the dangers of such a lazy stereotype?
Todays unparalleled truths will be groundbreaking in that even though it’s being delivered by me: A White, European, Male, somehow it’s STILL true! What kind of witchcraft can this be!?
One of the main expectations from the left is that no one, and I mean no one, no matter what their skin color or gender or lack of gender or any other attribute may be reduced to a stereotype because that would be bigoted!
They say this with a straight face all the while cavalierly mocking the Founding fathers of America specifically by stereotyping them as, and I quote “dead white European men”. They claim that since they were white, and European, and male, and often Christian, then none of their ideas or philosophies for America can be given respect because it was tainted by their station and privilege in life. They claim this freedom to demean their ideas as worthless by referencing the 1st Amendment. The 1st Amendment, I might remind you who haven’t picked up on the ominous foreshadowing, that was created by these same dead white guys!
So, if you really want to grow and engage culture as a good citizen it is important you start practicing some simple techniques. Techniques I have acquired and studied and have applied to my comedy for years though I do it surreptitiously because nothing gives me more satisfaction than knowing that I am either educating or dismissing someone’s ideology all the while they have no idea it’s happening.
A professor at Dallas theological seminary, Ramesh Richards, once watched my show and said he appreciated my subversive evangelism. That definitely lands in my top ten category for compliments I am proud of.
Anyway back to educating those that don’t want to be.
One simple but crucial technique when you are engaging someone who is postulating an idea is to always take a moment to identify the pre-supposition that is undergirding their foundational philosophy. Or, in layman’s terms, what do they mean by that last statement? Remember anyone that claims any knowledge or perspective about anything is presuming they are right about how they see things.
Let me give you a real time example. Oftentimes, people whose philosophy originates from leftist thought will have a handful of buzzwords they use to dismiss ideas or people they deem unworthy of serious consideration. One of the go-to guys that they enjoy dismissing is the Founding Fathers as we mentioned. You can tell they have a disdain for these men because they don’t refer to them as the founding fathers but instead with the apparently insulting catchphrase Dead, White , European, Males. Thus it is imperative that you deconstruct what they are implying, or as I said, their presupposition in order to understand how they see the world.
Everyone has a worldview or a foundational belief as to how the world works and what is true about it. So, when you hear the phrase “Dead white European males” the first fact you can gather is they are using this phrase pejoratively. In other words they are defining a set of human beings using four words, each word is implying there is something intrinsically bad about these guys.
The first word is dead. For some reason the left find dead people an easy target to insult. For one, dead people are the only people they don’t have to worry about responding to them with facts. Probably because dead people are the only people they can count on who won’t see through their illogical perspective and draw attention to its shortcomings. If the only people you can convince your leftist ideology is good are dead people, you may want to reconsider the value of your perspective? You can insult dead people all day long and yet, the only pushback you will ever get is from living people and clearly they don’t count. But what is intrinsically bad about dead people? Why would being dead be a disqualification for having something they left behind that might be useful to the living? Michelangelo is dead but he left behind the Pieta and the Sistine chapel. Does anyone look at that magnificent art and comment it would be much more profound if the artist were still alive? I mean it was OK while he was alive but NOW LOOK AT IT! NO! Actually the opposite is true. This dead guy left us something so profound that it still moves us and inspires us hundreds of years after the artist lived! Why? Because great art, just like great ideas, has the advantage of standing the test of time. We have hundreds of years to literally compare the art to what came before and especially afterwards and see which of the two has more lasting impact and has proven to be a standard by which we can measure all future art. If you don’t believe me just take a look at what is now called “modern art”. From Jackson Pollack making art out of spilled and dribbled paint to a banana duct taped to a wall. Any living human being that considers the banana as equal in technique and proficiency as say Rodin’s The Thinker is more dead than any one we might come across in a mausoleum. So I think we can rule out dead as a disqualifier for poignancy.
Ok, what’s the second insult that is used as though it was profound? It’s the color white. Dead, WHITE, European males. Now when referring to humans the color white is applied to anglo-saxon’s but of course they are not actually white. As a matter of fact the only truly white people we ever see is a result of a genetic abolition known as the albino. “Whiteness”, by the way, is simply the result of a lack of melanin in a human being’s epidermis. It is something you are born with or without and has absolutely nothing to say of your mental capacities, your intelligence, your kindness or lack there of because as we have observed in a previous episode of Brad Stine Has Issues. Skin color is literally irrelevant when it comes to the accomplishments and the value of a human being. Skin has done and can do nothing on its own. It is only the earth suit used to contain the human organs which includes the brain which is used for drawing conclusions and philosophies and ideas. So when you hear someone use the term white to describe a human with disdain you are listening to the words and thoughts of a racist human being no matter what color they come in. The moment a human color is advanced it is referencing race! How can anyone with a straight face purposely insult someone’s race and then declare they can’t be racists?
The third word used is European. Of course there are lots of humans that have come from Europe and there are enormous ideas that have come from there as well. This area of the world encompasses what we refer to as the “west” and yes the west has created and brought ideas to the world much different than what was created in the east. The west, gave humanity Greek Logic and reason , as well as modern science and universities, hospitals and human rights. All derived from Christianity I might add as well as other insights derived from what we call the west and literally changed the world for the better. If you hear a leftist speak about how it is good that we fight for human rights, women’s rights, children’s rights, equality among all races and the charitable expectation of the rich giving to the poor make sure you remind them that everyone of those ideas did not exist in human nature or culture until it was received into culture by the thinking, life and commandments of Jesus Christ.
Lastly in our quad-fecta of diminishing the “other” we have the word MALES. Leftists believe there is something intrinsically suspect about half of the human population. But why males? When you look at human history every single great war, great nation created, great political system, as well as 99.99% of every single invention, idea, philosophy, and human advancement has come from the male blood sweat tears and intellect. But fear not ladies, every single male ever birthed in human history came from the womb of a FE-male. All women are literally, genetically half of what makes men, men. Thus, you get to take half the credit for everything men have accomplished because without you we wouldn’t… nay… couldn’t exist!
So what is the problem with exalting men? Because the left has been taught that men have always been simply brutes. Misogynistic cads who have oppressed woman and confined them to the kitchen and the bedroom when clearly all ancient woman’s secret desire was to earn a degree in women’s studies. This episode doesn’t have time to go into the myth that woman hated their lot in life but instead relished and took maximum pride in their role as ruler of the household. That’s for another time but for now let me send you on your way with this.
The next time you hear someone berate the Founding Fathers as racists and misogynists just ask them this question. How do you enjoy the freedom and Liberty to malign, slander and frankly lie about a unique group of men who created the greatest nation in history and while doing so you never have to fear someone shooting you, jailing you or deporting you for those idiotic views? If you appreciate it the 1st Amendment like you say, you can thank the Founding Fathers. Hmmm, maybe there is something noble to be said about, dead, white, European, males?
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