To understand the current historical moment, it is not enough to catalog the reactionary policies of the Trump administration. One must understand the deeper ideological logic that makes those policies appear both rational and necessary to the ruling class. In the United States, the resurgence of open appeals to “Western civilization,” the demonization of immigrants, the criminalization of anti-colonial resistance, the assault on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), and the expansion of the national security state are not isolated political developments. On the contrary, they represent a conscious reassertion of a normalized racialized colonial worldview that historically has always rationalized Western colonial/capitalist conquest and dominance.
If you really think that the minutia of white-supremacy is common knowledge, you’re in a bubble. Sealed off from mainstream (white) culture.
Everyone knows that it was taboo (and after Nat Turner illegal) to educate enslaved people. What isn’t such common knowledge is the current project of white-supremacists is ‘White Innocence’ if your being polite, or ‘White Ignorance’ if your not.
They labor day and night to keep white people incurious and out of touch. Entire news organizations, newspapers, influencers, even radio broadcasters make it their business to lull white people into believing that anti-colonial struggle is irrational and savage; that racism is an artifact of a bygone era; and that state violence is necessary and good.
The ironic part is that for POC, all this is obvious basic knowledge. But in the white world, it’s esoteric and mysterious.
This is the main reason I hate white supremacy. Not because I’m a good person or an ally to the oppressed. I’ve always known white supremacy was bad for those people. I didn’t get aggravated until I realized they were keeping me ignorant and out of touch.