There is something happening here.

ASTORIA, NYC- I am only now starting to look outside my window and wondering what lies just beyond my field of view here in New York City.
When I first moved here last July I didn’t really care too much about the city. My interest and most of my work was in Asia, my focus was on setting up a base of operations to travel out of on various projects and assignments. So I set myself up with a sick video editing suite, nice stainless steel tables that stretch all the way across one side of a room, some shelving for video gear, added a 6K Blackmagic cinema camera and a proper set of lights. Then it was business as usual: I began traveling, collecting stories, giving talks, and coming back to NYC to process it all and publish.
Then the pandemic hit and I found myself marooned. A few months rolled by where I had my head down making progress on On the New Silk Road and a documentary about a community fighting against a Chinese development project in Malaysia. But I’m now running up against the end of these projects, and I’ve looked up from my desk, peered outside, and realized that there is an entire country out there gone batshit.
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I grew up in a relatively impoverished village in Western New York, around 400 miles from New York City, right in between Rochester and Buffalo. There are a couple of prisons there and that’s about it. My school was relatively diverse for a rural community — around 15% black, 10% Hispanic, roughly a cross section of the USA as a whole — but I remember everyone getting along and ethnicity was rarely an issue. It probably helped that most of us were from a similar income bracket — dirt poor to working class — and race wasn’t an indicator of class.
But, even in the 80s and 90s, our educators were extremely proactive about race issues, drilling it into us from the start the standard rhetoric of the day: that everyone was the same and that race was only skin deep, that we shouldn’t treat people different because of their ethnicity, that we shouldn’t even really acknowledge race at all. We absorbed these teachings as though they were indisputable fact and went on with our days without thinking about everybody’s skin color all the time. Black and white kids would sit together during lunch, play sports together, make music in bands — we’d all laugh when the Mexicans would insult the teachers (for some reason they were always insulting the teachers) and we still reminisce about the time in 8th grade when Gary Burnie beaned the vice principal in the face with a baked potato during a food fight. Where I came from, if you partied and liked to have fun nothing else really mattered.
It was an easy assumption to make at this time that race issues would continue dissolving in the coming generations; that we’d all just blend together, ethnic lines would blur to the point of irrelevance, and we’d find other factors to separate the Us from the Them.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
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I feel as if I’ve been stuck in a weird sort of ideological amber for the past 20 years. My take on what America is has been frozen in time. I’ve mostly been abroad and have never really had much of a need to re-think the country I came from. But now that I’ve been stuck here longer than I’ve ever been since I started traveling at 18 I’ve had a chance to look around and I simply cannot believe what’s become of the place.
I truly do not understand what is going on: left is right, 2+2=5, what was considered racist when I was a kid has become the backbone of anti-racist theory now. The ideology of the country is being flipped upside down, and discourse, civil liberties, and rationalism is being trampled. We have entered a new intellectual dark age:
Apparently, if you say that all races are equal you are being racist.
If you say that you are color-blind towards race and treat all people the same regardless of skin color you are exhibiting racism.
All white people are racist.
A white person denying that they are racist is proof that they are racist.
The suburbs are racist, too.
If you support the President of the United States or even the Republican Party, you are racist.
The United States has the third worst caste system in history, right behind Nazi Germany and India.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture says that signs of whiteness include, but are not limited to, rugged individualism, a nuclear family, objective and rational thinking, hard work, respect for authority, a desire to avoid conflict, and an appreciation of bland foods.
The city of Seattle held a segregated training for their white employees which instructed them how to undo their whiteness.
A woman in Indiana was murdered after an altercation where she said, “All lives matter.”
David Dorn, a black, retired police captain, was murdered for defending his friend’s pawn shop against a mob of looters in St. Louis.
A guy in Wisconsin was intentionally ran over for riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. His murder explained his actions by saying, “All racists ride Harleys.”
California is in the process of repealing Proposition 209, which says that you can’t discriminate against people on the basis of race in terms of employment. (No joke.)
Many bird names are racist.
2+2=4 is a racist colonial construct. I’m not joking:
When a woman points out that there are other ways of knowing than 2+2=4 that just might generate new kinds of solutions to many heretofore unsolved problems, it seems as if the patriarchy sounds an alarm and then the troops come in to defend, belittle, or attack
— 🟣 Dr. Laurie Rubel 🎗️ (@Laurie_Rubel) July 7, 2020
Using the word “master,” as in a “master bedroom” or the “Master’s golf tournament” or “masterbate” is racist.
Noam Chomsky, the great leftist crusader himself, is being attacked by the left.
An entire list of liberals are being canceled for signing the Harper’s open letter against cancel culture. (Case in point, right?).
A statue of Hans Christian Heg, an abolitionist who was killed while fighting for the Union in the Civil War, was torn down by leftist activists in Madison.
A statue of Frederick Douglas, perhaps the greatest abolitionist in US history, was torn down in my hometown of Rochester.
Statues of Abraham Lincoln and the founding fathers are being vandalized. Jesus too.
A statue of an elk was torched by anti-racist groups in Portland.
A professor at UCLA is under investigation for reading a Martin Luther King letter as it was written.
David Shor, a Democrat who worked on Obama’s reelection campaign, tweeted a reference to a paper written by Princeton’s Omar Wasow, a black data scientist who co-founder the social site BlackPlanet, which demonstrated how violent protests sway voters towards Republicans. The mob deemed it racist. They contacted his employer. He was fired.
This was the tweet:
Post-MLK-assasination race riots reduced Democratic vote share in surrounding counties by 2%, which was enough to tip the 1968 election to Nixon. Non-violent protests *increase* Dem vote, mainly by encouraging warm elite discourse and media coverage. https://t.co/S8VZSuaz3G. pic.twitter.com/VRUwnRFuVW
— David Shor (@davidshor) May 28, 2020
Cities across the country — including my neighborhood in Astoria — have been attacked by BLM rioters indiscriminately destroying both multinational and locally owned stores, burning places down, and besieging government buildings. A portion of Seattle was occupied for nearly a month where multiple people were murdered, including a 16-year-old unarmed black kid. Riots have been ongoing in Portland for over 60 days. Elements of the Democratic party seem to not only be complicit with the riots but in some cases actually supporting them. Local police in both Seattle and Portly were ordered to stand down and the mayor of Portland himself actually participated in the riots.
**
What the fuck is going on?
What the left is doing is exactly what we accused white supremacists of trying to do when I was a kid: divide us along racial lines. Same action, different actors, same result.
What’s of particular interest here is that the United States of America is by far one of the least racist countries on the planet. Admittedly, this doesn’t say much. But if you want to see racism go to places like China, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, Eastern Europe … What’s happening in the USA — even at its worse — doesn’t even come close.
At the very least, the USA has such a strong concept of what constitutes racism, which puts it in a league far above much of the world where racism is so culturally, politically, and economically embedded that it often goes unrecognized. The fact that there was such a nationwide uproar over the George Floyd murder shows how fundamentally not racist this country is.
A viral video of a Uyghur serial felon being brutally killed by a cop in China probably wouldn’t get a similar response.
Or maybe I’ve just been away from the USA for too long? Maybe I’m the one that’s out of touch?
Maybe I should go find out?
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About the Author: VBJ
I am the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. I’ve been traveling the world since 1999, through 93 countries. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China and have written for The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. VBJ has written 3728 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.
VBJ is currently in: Rome, Italy
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July 30, 2020, 11:05 pm
Hi Wade, like you growing up in a mellow, multicultural place (NZ, for me) during the 1970s + 80s and traveling constantly since 1988, this emerging Age of Extremes makes me want to weep…
Whether it’s the anarchist or PC left or the conservative or brutal right of the West; likewise radicals within Islamic, Zionist, Hindu, Buddhist (present in Myanmar + Sri Lanka) communities, it’s all getting apeshit fast.
And that’s all before we consider zenophobic nationalism, big-power geo politics, rich poor social divisions, impending climate disasters and yeah, our dear coronavirus friend that just won’t leave the party.
My only question is: when will aliens enslave us /spare us – humanity, from ourselves?
Anyway, in remote China living a van life 🚐 ensures life here reminds in a lovely bubble 🏞 … for now.
🍻 I hope things brighten for you soon and that the road opens again.
Regards – MRP
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July 31, 2020, 2:03 am
I dt normally comment on topics like this but:
“that we shouldn’t even really acknowledge race at all”
The ones that wanna be treated the same are constantly drawing attention to themselves for being black:Like this: HERE ARE 25 BLACK FEMALE INFLUENCERS THAT YOU NEED TO FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM
And:
Blogging With Confidence: Black Bloggers Who Inspire Us!And completely off topic, a comment on a Twitter photo in kosovo: “Do you feel unsafe in Kosovo because of Serbia?” I wonder which news channel they are watching? Only bad thing about Kosovo are that the summers r too hot no one uses AC a bit like Bishkek
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July 31, 2020, 10:37 am
I have a similar but different background from you. I grew up young in hippie Oregon but by the mid 1980’s, my parents had taken an increasingly racist bent. By the mid 1990’s and after I was out of the family, they had become hardcore racists. They were active in groups that the ADL and Southern Poverty Law Center had on their watch list.
As someone who grew up in hippie Oregon, a lot of what they believed didn’t make sense to me. I know all the teachings and beliefs, but they don’t make sense. I was pretty much color blind and I didn’t care what someone’s race was. I could go on in-depth about what they got involved in but I really don’t want to in a comment.
I believe I started to travel in the mid to late 1990s because I didn’t have a home anywhere. I wanted to escape the racism and the craziness. I never had a home to go back to and certainly wouldn’t want to go back to it. My wife is a “mud person” and my kids are “half breed” so I am going to hell for my sins. (Wade, there is probably a place in hell reserved for both of us. lol)
In my travels, I can see racism or other kinds of BS wherever I go, but as a white American, it never really affected me except in China where someone Han thought I was a Uyghur and my wife was Han so needed to be assaulted for taking a Han woman. Like you, I thought that the racists were a small bunch back in the US and that we were moving along from it but when I moved back to the US in 2013, I realized that it couldn’t be further from the truth.
I saw racism against my wife and kids. It was little stuff here and there. White people who naturally think they are superior to a brown person. Stuff like that. It was in 2015 though that my whole world got shook up. When Trump came on the stage and all of a sudden people thought it was ok to be racist. Oh but they don’t say they are, but rather they use the words and phrases that I heard back in the 1980s and 1990s. We aren’t racist, we just want to protect our heritage, etc. etc.
For me, I see the connection to the racist rhetoric. I wonder if others are seeing it? But what if the other side is purposely pushing it so far to the other side that they are pushing people into a corner where they feel threatened?
I want nothing to do with it and almost didn’t write this comment.
The whole issue is all complicated, but I have my years and years of travel and observation behind me. I’m forced into this system now and I realize a couple of things:
1. Every single person is a racist. You are a racist, every commenter here is a racist, every woke protester is a racist, Obama is a racist, Trump is a racist, I’m a racist. I think it is human nature to be racist. (Maybe the woke protesters are protesting because they subconsciously feel their own racism?) I think we have it engrained in ourselves to look for comfort in a group that we identify with.
2. I can’t personally come to grips with it until I admit personally that I am racist. If I recognize that I am and that I don’t want to be, only then can I ensure that my ACTIONS do not hurt another person.
I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again. Too many people want to ban things that they don’t like. They can’t realize that they can not like something and let others be. I don’t like alcohol and I don’t think people should drink it, but guess what? I’m opposed to prohibition. Let people drink it if they want to. It’s their right to.
I sum it all up:
1. Respect the Rights of Others.
2. Treat others the way that you want to be treated.“We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.”
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July 31, 2020, 9:49 pm
Jack, while I agree with most of this I can’t accept the idea that “Every single person is a racist. You are a racist, every commenter here is a racist …” . Can I assume you mean that everyone can be accused of being a racist by others in this current extreme climate extremes (correctly or falsely)?
Certainly, many in the world are racist (For example, first-hand I have seen many times across Africa issues of prejudice against darker-toned individuals or other ethnic and religious groups.) But many folks across the world are truly color-blind and get on well with all other good-natured people.
And while I understand that this post is mostly about racism, especially in the USA, I believe it hints at the bigger picture of growing prejudice and extremist views across the global that’s being exacerbated by Covid-19 blues, web misinformation and a host of other impending global pressures (see my comment above).
As Wade said, maybe we have “entered a new intellectual dark age” as these gloomy cycles within humanity ride the waves between our more enlightened moments in history.
Regards – MRP
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August 1, 2020, 12:16 am
No, I actually mean that everyone is a racist. Yes, in this climate it seems like there are extreme views of what racism actually is…but I’m not really talking even about that. I think it’s pretty well established that we have fully conflated the terms prejudice and racism.
We are all racists. I think there is something to be learned about ourselves in that. We take our own preconceived notions and ideas wherever we go. We tend to prefer our own kind. That’s what I am talking about.
And getting along with other people, regardless of their race, doesn’t mean that you aren’t racist. Every KKK member will tell you that they have a black friend so they can’t be racist. 😉
Everyone is trying to say that they aren’t racist….I think it is enough of human nature that we need to own it. And once we own it, we can choose look at the individual instead of using our prejudices against them or even for them.
I’ve met a lot of racists in my life. Big name racists that have been in the news, but they are just as racist as the liberals who lived in their gated subdivisions who think they know what is best for the poor and people of color.
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August 1, 2020, 4:31 am
What if all this is not about race at all?
What if it is about division. An old statement may well be true here: Divide and Conquer!
This has all happened before. One of the names was Prairie Fire and the purpose was to divide the West so the Soviets could conquer.
Look at history and learn, don’t attempt to rewrite it.
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August 2, 2020, 1:32 pm
“These days there are a lot of people who want to divide us. Well, I’m no math genius like all those smarty dudes up in DC but I know division is the exact same thing as subtraction, am I right? (Yes!) And the Knights are not about subtraction, we are all about addition. (Addition! Addition! Addition!) In fact, an American probably invented addition!”
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August 11, 2020, 8:51 pm
Obsolete political & social commentary of an old white man. Your questions at the end tell everything.
“Or maybe I’ve just been away from the USA for too long? Maybe I’m the one that’s out of touch?Maybe I should go find out?”
Bingo.
Dude your ignorance & anecdotal little background story are embarrassing.
I’ve been active in BLM since 2014 when Mike Brown’s murderer failed to be indicted for his heinous crime. I’m an uneducated, below the poverty line white woman in rural texas (an explicitly white-nationalist project founded in 1836 – i have indigenous branches of my family tree who were straight up exterminated by white supremacist goon squad Tx Rangers) here to tell you America is racist as fuck. Do you know what mass-incarceration is? The 13th Amendment & legalized slavery? The crime bill? Red-lining? The racial wealth gap? The institution of policing evolved from slave patrols?Fuck the libs. Fuck the woke. Fuck the ignorant & the bigots in elected office. Facts are facts. Learn some about how fucking racist this society is by design & systemic enforcement.
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