Sacred Blacks

Bruce Almighty (2003) – Morgan Freeman. Credit: UNIVERSAL PICTURES / Album

If Black Lives Matter is like a faith, it follows that blacks have a special spiritual status. The Left sees them as saviors, rescuing whites from their own racism.

Teen Vogue, which has been publishing radical Left content for years, suggests whites need blacks because whites may not even have souls. Jameelah Nasheed writes: “[T]his [2020] election has proven that America doesn’t have a soul; it has Black people. We don’t deserve the weight of this nation and its moral failings, and this nation doesn’t deserve our grace. But here we are.” Teen-age girls read this between articles on eyeliner and spring frocks.

If blacks award “grace,” it is a form of blasphemy to deny them the credit they are due. Actress Eva Longoria called “Latinas” the “real heroines” of the election. After sharp criticism, she returned to the fold.

 

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Watching this back I can see that this sounds like I’m comparing Latinas to Black women, which I would never do. I was comparing Latinas to their male counterparts, but my wording was not clear and I deeply regret that… Black women have long been the backbone of the Democratic Party, something we have seen played out in this election as well as previous ones. Black women deserve a standing ovation for the work they have done year after year!! Over 90% of black women showed up for Biden. Finally, Black women shouldn’t have to do it alone. Latinas, many who identify as Afro Latina, and other women of color are standing with them so we can grow our collective voice and power. Together we are unstoppable! Again, so sorry for the confusion and lack of context on my part!

A post shared by Eva Longoria Baston (@evalongoria) on Nov 8, 2020 at 8:20pm PST

It is common to depict blacks as somehow “magical.” National Review’s Richard Brookhiser called this version of black people the Numinous Negro: “The Numinous Negro is a presiding divinity. The place he presides over is America, and contact with him elevates us spiritually.” In many movies and television shows, blacks are the semi-divine guides that help white characters overcome moral flaws. Examples include The Legend of Bagger Vance, The Green Mile, and of course, Bruce Almighty, in which Morgan Freeman plays God Himself.

The Netflix “Strong Black Lead” Twitter account doesn’t just link to black films. It lists names we should remember: “Breonna Taylor. George Floyd. Tony McDade. Ahmaud Arbery. Mike Brown. Trayvon Martin. Sandra Bland. Eric Garner. Amadou Diallo.” For many blacks, they are virtually saints – martyrs of black liberation – and reciting their names is a rite.

Ibram X. Kendi considers “the two souls of America:”

If God breathes souls into humans, then humans breathe souls into nations. What did the Founding Fathers (and the Founding Mothers they barred from participating as equals) breathe into America? . . .

It is hard to imagine the enslaver and the enslaved being together in any elemental sense. It is hard to imagine Trump and the survivor who voted against him being together in any elemental sense. But they have been battling in the same nation. . . . There’s no uniting the souls of America. There is only fighting off the other soul of America.

That other soul that must be fought presumably dwells within Trump voters.

The memes are funny and we should celebrate, yes, but I want to remind everyone how important it is, now more than ever, that we sit down with our Trump-voting friends and family and—with love—tell them they’re racist fucking shitbags who deserve zero respect and dress bad

— Dustin Milligan (@DustinWMilligan) November 7, 2020

JUST REMEMBER that welcoming back unrepentant white supremacists into the fold after the Civil War for the sake of “unity” gave us a century of Jim Crow. Fuck unity. Justice is what the country needs.

— Sean Dermond (@SeanDermond) November 7, 2020

Or… to put it more plainly:

Fuck I look like urging “unity” with white nationalism?

— michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) November 9, 2020

While Ibram Kendi ponders dueling souls, I have more practical worries. Whites and blacks are trapped in the same country, but we are not the same nation. The same man who said “all men are created equal” also said “the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government.” Blacks seem determined to prove him right. We’d be better off if Jefferson had written “all men are equal before the law” or if our national creed was the words from the preamble to the Constitution: “for ourselves and our posterity.”

Do blacks, especially black women, have powers to grant “grace?” A simple white man like me can’t answer. I can say that even with affirmative action, single black women in their prime working years have a median net worth of just $5.00. Blacks disproportionately commit more crime. Blacks disproportionately need more welfare.

One question cuts through all the religious abstractions. Who needs whom? We may need “grace,” but we write paychecks. We soulless whites would be fine on our own. Even after a one-time alimony payment for a racial divorce, would blacks thrive without whites? Would Wakanda be just around the corner?

These are uncomfortable and perhaps offensive questions, but we need to start asking and answering them. In the face of serious national problems, journalists, academics, tech CEOs, and politicians are bowing to a new religion of BLM and anti-racism. We’ve seen where egalitarian cults can end. We need to look for a way out. If we have “two souls,” perhaps we should have two countries.