Posted on November 3, 2021

‘Whiteness Remains Undefeated’ in Virginia

Gregory Hood, American Renaissance, November 3, 2021

Good news everyone, the white race is victorious again.

Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe in last night’s election for governor. White advocates can savor Mr. McAuliffe’s defeat last night for several reasons.

First, it was a good night for Southern rights. Terry McAuliffe was governor during the 2017 Unite the Right protest. Most media have never held him responsible for the chaos and violence of that day, despite evidence that he deserves blame. We can also cheer the defeat of Virginia’s ruling Democratic Party, which allowed the desecration of so much Southern heritage. A CNN exit poll found most voters support keeping Confederate memorials in place. All ballot referendums on removing Confederate memorials failed.

Second, Terry McAuliffe and his media allies couldn’t bully voters into voting Democrat by calling them racists. Mr. Youngkin promised to ban Critical Race Theory in schools. In response, Mother Jones said his campaign was about that “one racist thing.” Mr. McAuliffe himself said Mr. Youngkin’s campaign was a “racist dog whistle.” Juan Williams agreed, writing that “parents’ rights” was “code” for white race politics. The New Republican decried “Critical Race Theory Scaremongering.” The Democratic Party accused the state Republican party of sending “racist, anti-Semitic” campaign mailings. A Washington Post article called Glenn Youngkin’s final push “repulsively cynical.” None of this worked.

Glenn Youngkin (Credit: Glenn Youngkin via Flickr.)

Third, Governor-elect Youngkin won because of increased white turnout, which suggests a backlash to the Biden Administration. He did especially well among white women. According to exit polls, he won a far larger share of white women than President Trump did in 2020.

The Critical Race Theory ban was probably not the only reason for this support. Joe Biden’s unpopularity, the lingering Covid pandemic, and frustration with Democrat inaction in Congress may also have contributed. Nonetheless, the CRT ban was important.

Most Republicans said education was among their main considerations. More than three-in-four Republicans said parents should have “a lot” of say about what schools teach. An incredible 88 percent of Democrats said parents should have “not much” input. This almost unanimous opinion within his party might explain why Terry McAuliffe said, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

Mr. McAuliffe also said Critical Race Theory has “never been taught in Virginia.” But if it’s not being taught anyway, what difference does it make what parents think about it? Mr. McAuliffe said Mr. Youngkin’s opposition to this thing that apparently isn’t being taught “created hatred and division just like Donald Trump.” Several journalists last night also said that Critical Race Theory wasn’t taught in Virginia. One denied its very existence.

Larry Sabato charged the same thing, and said before the election that if Republicans were to win, it would be due to a “post-factual” white backlash.

More from Mehdi Hasan:

MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, besides charging that Mr. Youngkin “worshipped at the altar of Donald Trump” and “flew an insurrection flag,” said that the “ominous thing” was that CRT “turned the suburbs 15 points to the Trump-insurrection-endorsed Republican.” She also said CRT “isn’t real.”

It is real on the Virginia Department of Education’s website. Critical Race Theory is cited in a 2015 presentation (when Terry McAuliffe was governor) and a February 22, 2019 Superintendent’s Memo (“the means by which the Virginia Department of Education communicates official information to the commonwealth’s school divisions.”) Activist Christopher Rufo found other examples of it being used by Virginia public schools. The Fairfax County school district paid anti-racism guru extraordinaire Ibram Kendi $20,000 for a 45-minute Zoom lecture.

CRT is another example of Michael Anton’s “Celebration Parallax,” in which something “is either true and glorious or false and scurrilous depending on who states it.”

Before the election, former president Barack Obama dismissed “phony culture war” issues. After the election, these issues seemed very important to several journalists.

I’m picking on Mehdi Hason, but this is too good to pass up:

Is Critical Race Theory necessary or imaginary? Progressives had better figure out an answer soon, because midterms are coming.

Still, November 2, 2021 wasn’t the night Old Dixie returned. Governor-elect Youngkin backed removal of General Robert E. Lee’s statue in Richmond. (At least he wants it in a museum, rather than destroyed.)

The first black woman to gain statewide office in Virginia history, Republican Lt. Governor-Elect Winsome Sears, also won last night. I wouldn’t begrudge her this except that she specifically started a write-in campaign to hurt senate nominee Corey Stewart in 2018. Mr. Stewart was a far stronger voice on immigration and Southern heritage issues than Mr. Youngkin.

The best way to describe last night’s results is that it was a victory for “quasi-racial conservatism.” I define this as a desire to avoid race entirely. CRT opponents want children treated as individuals and want schools to teach basic skills. This isn’t white supremacy, or even white backlash. Many Americans, especially whites, want to be in one colorblind national community. Unfortunately for them, “colorblindness” today is racist. Indeed, you don’t even need to be white to participate in “whiteness.”

Colorblind conservatism can seem attractive, but Critical Race Theory is right to argue that racial identity is important. There are structural power differences between different groups. Supporters just have the hierarchy wrong. Those who are pushing CRT are themselves part of the ruling class.

I’ve argued that we should study Critical Race Theory — so European-Americans can learn why their government discriminates against them and imports foreigners to replace them. Yet that’s not what CRT supporters want. They assume that whites have power and they want to teach students how to dismantle it. The premise is wrong. If there were “white privilege,” we wouldn’t be having this debate.

An interview widely shared on Twitter showed an older man saying that he “didn’t care” for Critical Race Theory but couldn’t precisely define it.

While leftists mocked the man, he’s right. Critical Race Theory, in practical terms, is the ideological justification used by elites to redistribute wealth and power. He sees that schools are teaching children racial resentment rather than math and science. He thinks they’re wrong, which makes him wiser than all those laughing at him on Twitter.

Unfortunately, simply fighting Critical Race Theory or the destruction of Southern monuments isn’t a path to victory. Last night slowed Critical Race Theory and “woke” politics, but it hasn’t stopped it. Ultimately, critical theory and the study of the way power works in society need to be turned against the CRT theorists themselves. Whites must go on offense and demand justice because our rulers hold us in contempt. Last night showed that whites are still trapped in the rhetorical framework of opposing CRT because it is “racist” or “extreme,” not because it is anti-white.

Still, it was a good night. It showed that parents at least know something is wrong with what their children are learning. It showed that the more progressives yell about “racism,” the more they weaken the taboo. It showed that many Virginians still respect the Lost Cause, or at least those who fought for it. Most of all, it showed that there is a potential mass base for pro-white politics, if we can just get through the media blackout.

And we can. Glenn Youngkin is hardly a radical, but he emphasized cultural issues. He didn’t just stick to tax cuts. And he won. Racial issues aren’t abstract. They are about our communities, cities, and children. People at least know that what progressives are pushing isn’t working, and some data suggest white independents are turning against it. That’s a start, and that’s worth celebrating.

About Gregory Hood

View all posts by Gregory Hood
Mr. Hood is a staff writer for American Renaissance. He has been active in conservative groups in the US. You can follow him on Gab.