MTV recently released a video titled: “Dear White Guys.” In the video, several millennials offer “white guys” some advise for 2017, including:
“First off, try to recognize that America was never great for anyone who wasn’t a white guy.”
“Can we all just agree that Black Lives Matter isn’t the opposite of All Lives Matter? Black lives just matter.”
“Blue Lives Matter isn’t a thing…cops weren’t born with blue skin.”
“Learn what mansplaining is, and then stop doing it.”
“If you’re a judge, don’t prioritize the well-being of an Ivy League athlete over the woman he assaulted.”
This video is a microcosm of progressive thinking. It takes a reductionist approach to extremely complicated issues, and in doing so, creates a straw man at which the MTV audience can shoot its arrows. The video implicitly asks its audience to disregard the universe of data surrounding the issues they touch upon, and focus solely on one point.
The reduction of necessary complexity is intellectually stifling. Moreover, it’s dishonest. To reduce the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement to a simple declaration that “black lives matter” is deceptive. BLM is about much more than an acknowledgment of the value of black lives, it’s a movement that has fomented hatred of, and violence against, police officers; it’s a movement built upon a foundation of demonstrably false data. To disregard these critical points is tantamount to lying about the very nature of the BLM movement.
The same idea applies across the board. One cannot blind themselves to relevant data in order to suit a narrative. MTV’s “Dear White Guys” video asks viewers to cast aside measured analysis in favor of progressive tropes, and such a practice is intellectually insulting, deceitful, and ultimately harmful.