In modern politics, almost any opinionated person can be identified by a generalized ideological label. Conservatives wish to conserve traditional values, libertarians want to increase individual liberty, and anarchists want the abolition of the government as a whole. While most labels seem to fit their respective ideology, there is one moniker frequently used that is misleading at best: progressive.
These are the people we see engaging in “fiery but mostly peaceful protests,” refusing to define the word woman, and wearing “p-word” hats while marching in Washington, D.C., to smash the patriarchy.
While the ideology of these troubled individuals makes them think they’re somehow creating progress, the reality is their far-Left activism is killing decades of positive change on multiple fronts. And every time we refer to them as progressive, we mislead the general public by indirectly lending them false credit.
Whether it be the transgender movement’s deterioration of women’s rights, the climate alarmist movement’s undermining of our economy, or BLM’s assault on race relations, the damage of progressives is evident.
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When it comes to race relations specifically, the damage is undeniable.
On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech during his march on Washington. While the man may have had his flaws, one line from this speech remains engraved in the minds of all who have studied American history; “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
This revolutionary idea — that people should be judged for who they are instead of what they look like — was key in transforming the United States into the most just society that has existed in all of human civilization.
Unfortunately, after a generation’s worth of hard work to get here, many self-identifying progressives are abandoning this idea because it invalidates their victim complex.
A movement that once identified itself as fighting for equality now finds itself refusing to accept it.
According to “progressives” like Robin DiAngelo, author of the bestselling leftist propaganda book “White Fragility,” it doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done, if you are white you are complicit in racism. She even goes so far as to say; “The simplistic idea that racism is limited to individual intentional acts committed by unkind people is at the root of virtually all white defensiveness on this topic.”
DiAngelo’s seemingly radical take, however, actually isn’t radical at all when you consider how many people and companies have embraced it. From black columnists like Jamilah Lemieux saying things like “we’ve never been safe in the presence of White people” to companies like Starbucks targeting its white employees with a national racial bias training, the growing popularity of this idea is apparent.
In his book “The Right Side of History,” Ben Shapiro shares how in 2013, “72 percent of white Americans thought race relations were good, and so did 66 percent of black Americans; that statistic had remained relatively stable from 2001 through 2013. And yet our racial battles are now bloody and brutal, with renewed tribalism raging on all sides; by July 2016, just 53 percent of Americans said race relations were good, while 46% said they were bad.”
In 2019, over 60 years after the landmark SCOTUS case Brown v. Board of Education that ruled school segregation unconstitutional, the National Association of Scholars (NAS) released a study titled “Separate but Equal, Again: Neo-Segregation in American Higher Education”.
The study surveyed 173 college-level institutions and it was found that 42% offered segregated residences, 46% offered segregated orientation programs, and 72% hosted segregated graduation ceremonies.
Unlike the segregation of Jim Crow, this new neo-segregation doesn’t come from a place of institutionalized racial supremacy. It instead comes from a place of fabricated oppression that relies on the idea that racism is skin deep.
As conservatives, it is our duty to conserve all that is good about American tradition. Ten years ago that may have meant things like lower taxes and access to gun rights, but today is extended to pushing back against one of the most destructive ideologies in American history.
While it may be a small step in the greater scheme of things, one way we can all contribute to the fight is by changing our vocabulary. The far-Left is anything but progressive, so let’s stop making it sound like they are.
Jacob Falach is an associate producer at The Daily Wire. You can find him on Instagram at @thatjewishconservative.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.