We all have our own thoughts on what makes a good vacation. Some of us might picture a hotel facing the blue waters of the Atlantic. Others might picture a serene cabin in the mountains. Still others might prefer a vacation that begins and ends on the couch, remote control close at hand.
But probably all of us can agree that a three-day excursion where we are told to feel guilty about our race is not likely to soon rise to the top of our dream vacation list.
But of course, the students who attended the University of Vermont’s “Examining White Privilege” retreat presumably did not go in search of a good time. They went in search of higher liberal enlightenment. And one can only imagine that they got what they wanted, considering the scope of the retreat. Last weekend, white students on the retreat were asked to confront such questions as:
What does it mean to be white?
How does whiteness impact me?
Is this education really worth thousands of dollars in student debt?
Okay, that last question was not part of the agenda, but it was probably looming in the backs of these attendees’ minds. If not theirs, than almost certainly their parents’.
Now, you may have questions of your own.
Say, is it not strangely racist to hold an event exclusively for white people, even if the point of the event is to force attendees to wallow in shame?
Well, the university has anticipated your question. That’s why they opened the retreat specifically to “undergraduate students who self-identify as white.” See, race is a social construct. You are whatever you say you are. Ergo, there is no racism or discrimination.
Right, you say, but could a business owner refuse to serve customers who “self-identify as black?”
No, and you are racist for even asking that! You need to cancel your next vacation and instead sign up for a white privilege event at your earliest convenience.
But, you say, I’m black!
No, by denying the evils of white privilege, you are self-identifying as white. White is evil, therefore anyone who commits evil is white. Anyone who does not commit evil is not white. Thus, all non-white persons are non-evil and all white persons are evil, and that is the end of it.
Oh, you say. So you’re telling me that I am speaking with an idiot?
Of course! What else did you think?
It’s quickly becoming clear that the majority of liberal arts universities in this country have become something closer to liberal incubator universities. It is a self-propelling cycle. Students learn from liberal professors, and then some of them become liberal professors themselves. Those professors want to push the doctrine a little further, so they slide a little further to the left. Their students learn this slightly more liberal take on the world, become professors, and so on. And with each generation, the doctrine gets more and more ridiculous.
Judging by the way things are now, how much more ridiculous can we let it get?
