About those Dead Black Males

“Students upset by the focus on ‘dead white males’ demanded that the freshman course be replaced with one more inclusive toward women, minorities, and non-Western cultures.” Thus read a Boston Globe report about a controversy at Stanford in which students rebelled against their university’s Western Culture requirement. It did not take long for Jesse Jackson to get in on the act. It was during the Stanford controversy that he first sounded his famous chant “Hey hey, ho ho, Western Culture’s got to go!” Like the students he supported, Jackson, too, thought that it was wrong for universities to give so much attention to dead white males. Needless to say, in the end Stanford yielded to the protestors’ demands.

This was more than two decades ago, and things have have only gotten worse since. Perhaps you have also noticed that dead white males have not been getting good PR in recent years. Ceaselessly portrayed as dominating, selfish and oppressive, they have been painted as the villains of world history. Their crowning sin was the creation of a socio-economic system – Western civilization – which they used, it is alleged, as the self-serving means for their own advancement, benefit and pleasure. This they accomplished by oppressing everyone else in their society such as women, homosexuals, racial minorities, transsexuals and whatever other identity groups or genders are yet to be discovered. Patriarchal, domineering and insensitive, dead white males exploited not only every other demographic within their own societies but also people of other cultures. So goes the official politically correct narrative of our times. The widespread attacks on the symbols of western culture which we witnessed in recent months is the logical culmination of this line of thought. Why I Am Not A Muslim Warraq, Ibn Best Price: $31.00 Buy New $18.50 (as of 04:02 UTC - Details)

We have recently argued that this characterization may not be quite correct. In the process we have suggested that the opposite is actually the case and that the civilization which the dead white men brought into existence has been a great liberator of people everywhere. This is particularly true of women, racial minorities, homosexuals, transsexuals and whatever other identity groups yet to be discovered genders.

But be that as it may, we would now like to honor the spirit of racial equality and fairness and look at the deeds of dead males of other races. Let us begin today with dead black malesÔ and see what kind of works they have wrought. We are sure that few would disagree that after the long years of neglect they should be given their chance to shine.

Let us, then, inquire into the kind of civilization those guys have brought into being. What type of culture and socio-economic system they left behind as inheritance for future generations? What manner of contributions have they made to the general well-being and advancement of mankind? How do their scientific, technological, literary, philosophical, artistic achievements compare with those of their dead white counterparts?

If truth be told, the achievements of dead black males are less than you may think. When early European explorers first arrived in Africa, they observed that the indigenous civilization seems to be roughly at the stone age stage of development. The indigenous populations – ruled over by the iron hand of black males – lived under most difficult and primitive conditions. They apparently did not know how to make use of the wheel and had no written language. As far as science, technology, philosophy, literature and jurisprudence are concerned, nothing of note has been accomplished or even apparently attempted. The religion was animistic, magic and woodoo in nature devoid of any underlying systems of scriptures or developed theology. In terms of architecture, dead black males built no great cathedrals, public buildings or monuments. Most of their building efforts seem to have been confined to the construction of mud huts and simple wooden structures.

But let us not dwell on the fact that those dead black males made no practical contribution to the general welfare and betterment of the human race and left behind virtually nothing of significance in any area of human endeavor. It is likely they had no time for distractions such as science or philosophy, since they must have been fully preoccupied with building their fair and just societies. Given the multiculturalist trumpeting of virtues of non-white cultures, how could anyone doubt that those enlightened dead black guys ran societies in which women, racial minorities, homosexuals, transsexuals and everyone else must have been treated with utmost respect, dignity and equality? Why the West is Best: ... Warraq, Ibn Best Price: $5.30 Buy New $14.50 (as of 04:02 UTC - Details)

We do not have the time or space to examine their tender handling of all identity groups so we will just focus on one: women. Nevertheless, seeing the compassion with which they treated one vulnerable demographic should give us some idea about how well they also treated the others. Our focus on women will undoubtedly please Western feminists who unceasingly complain about the alleged male oppression, domination and discrimination within our civilization stream. Surely those white males responsible for the creation of Western civilization will blush with shame in their graves once they hear how their black counterparts treated women in their circles.

When 19th century explorers arrived in South Africa, they were startled by the rather peculiar way in which females were handled by the indigenous black culture. Here is an account of a sympathetic explorer:

“The females, and especially the young ones are kept principally among the old men, who barter away their daughters, sisters or nieces, in exchange for wives for themselves or their sons. Wives are considered the absolute property of the husband, and can be given away, or exchanged, or lent, according to his caprice … Female children are betrothed usually from early infancy … little real affection consequently exists between husbands and wives, a young man values a wife principally for her services as a slave.”

Without putting too fine a point on this, the (now dead) black gentlemen were not very nice to their ladies. Rather they displayed the form of male dominance that could only be described as gross. Sadly, the notion that women were not more than chattel seems to have been deeply rooted in the black male psyche as evidenced by African history. The evidence of historical misogyny and contempt for the female sex still lives today in the practice of female circumcision which is yet performed in the parts of Africa that are unfortunate enough to suffer from a strong influence of the indigenous culture. We have written about this brutal practice previously:

“There are no known health benefits to this practice which in many cases results in severe complications and side effects. The primary purpose behind this procedure is apparently to deprive women of the possibility of experiencing sexual pleasure. Thus, these unfortunate African women are reduced to being sexual objects for the pleasure of men and receptacles for their sperm as child bearers.”

Black males have obviously treated women inhumanly in the past and their heirs continue their ways to this day. Contrast this with the attitude of the dead white males who were more than willing to grant distinction to women. In our previous piece we mentioned the fact that even as the European explorers were horrified by the slave-like status of women in Africa, women in Europe were allowed to achieve the highest levels of intellectual and cultural pre-eminence. CANCEL CULTURE: How to... Reich, Alexander Buy New $12.99 (as of 04:40 UTC - Details)

It was the dead white males who were the first ones – and the only ones – among males of all races to come up with the ground-breaking notion that women are not inferior and that they deserve the same rights and dignity as men. This thought has apparently never crossed the minds of the dead black males. Furthermore, the dead white males were able to translate their noble ideas into reality by creating a societal system that granted full rights to women. The dead black men, on the other hand, never even thought of making such an attempt. In fact, they have always resisted such efforts and their descendants do so to this day.

Consider this paradox: To the extent that any black woman today enjoys any rights – be they human, civil, legal or political – it is wholly due to the enlightened thinking and labor of the dead white men. There are only two ways today in which black women – or women of any color – can enjoy equal rights with men. They are either fortunate enough to be living in a western democracy (created by dead white males) or they live in a more traditional society which has been reformed by the civilizing influence of Western males. Therefore, black women today should be especially grateful to the dead white males. If it was up to the dead black males, they would be still treated like chattel and slaves. But it is not only black women, but women of all colors – black, white, brown, yellow, red – who should feel deep appreciation. This is because the dead white men were the only males in history who thought them worthy of holding equal status and rights and they worked hard to secure it for them.

How paradoxical, then, that western feminists keep complaining about dead white males. And even though those angry feminists have apparently not noticed what those dead white males have done for them, others certainly have. One such perceptive observer is Ibn Warraq, the Pakistan-raised author and activist who has devoted his life to the reformation and secularization of Islamic culture. This is what he wrote: “The West is attacked as uniquely oppressive even though it has gained unprecedented rights and freedoms for women, for gays and lesbians, and for individuals in general.” Beyond Woke Michael Rectenwald Buy New $19.99 (as of 11:37 UTC - Details)

Ibn Warraq is, of course, absolutely correct. May we suggest that those western women who feel so oppressed in our society go and live in cultures erected and ran by men of any other color be it black, brown, yellow or red. They would certainly not be accorded the rights, respect and consideration they receive in societies whose foundations have been laid by dead white males. Their very ability to complain is made possible by laws, guarantees and protections instituted by those white men. Black men in traditional cultures would certainly not tolerate such complaining although in their case it would actually be justified and true. Dead black males especially would be quick to put a stop to criticisms of this kind. A black eye would be a lucky outcome for the complaining ladies.

If you think that the treatment of women by the dead black man was appalling wait until you learn how they treated racial and ethnic minorities and other vulnerable groups. Hint: they did not treat them any better than they did their women. Former Zambian President Robert Mugabe, for example, described homosexuality as “un-African” and “a white disease.” But this a subject for another essay. One only wonders what those complaining Western feminists and assorted social justice warriors would have to say about that. But anyone who knows anything about history and life cannot but observe with relief, “Thank God for those dead white men. Where would we be without them?”