Playing the Victim
Appeals to victimhood culture won’t work for whites.
“White men are very easily the most oppressed group in history,” proclaimed “Hoe Math,” a content creator known for his illustrations about his dating woes.
That statement was delivered in a strange debate over how bad anti-white discrimination is. Conservative activist Chris Rufo argued white men face discrimination but are still responsible for whether they’re successful in life. His critics disagreed, with many, such as Hoe Math, claiming white men face more oppression than antebellum slaves.
In real life, Rufo’s assertions, which may be too dismissive of the harm caused by anti-white discrimination, would resonate the most with people. But this isn’t real life. This is X, so the hyperbolic takes claiming life is worse for white men than black slaves received far greater support.
An article disputing that claim or assessing whether whites are the most oppressed group in history would be a waste of time. What’s more interesting is the appeal to victimhood culture made by identitarians. In this discussion, Rufo’s critics make a left-sounding argument in order to advocate for white interests. This doesn’t make for an appealing argument, nor does it account for how victimhood culture imagines white men as the ultimate villains, not the greatest victims.
For whites to have a better society, victimhood culture needs to be dismantled–not upheld to include whites.
Victimhood culture is a major element of the modern Left. I dedicated a chapter of my book No Campus for White Men to explaining how it animated the campus insanity of the 2010s. Victimhood culture, as a distinct moral framework, was coined by the sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning in a 2014 paper. They defined this concept as:
…one characterized by concern with status and sensitivity to slight combined with a heavy reliance on third parties. People are intolerant of insults, even if unintentional, and react by bringing them to the attention of authorities or to the public at large. Domination is the main form of deviance, and victimization a way of attracting sympathy, so rather than emphasize either their strength or inner worth, the aggrieved emphasize their oppression and social marginalization.
This value structure contrasts sharply with other moral cultures, particularly honor culture. “Public complaints that advertise or even exaggerate one’s own victimization and need for sympathy would be anathema to a person of honor – tantamount to showing that one had no honor at all,” Campbell and Manning wrote.
This culture overtook campus life and much of America in the age of woke. It inspired Black Lives Matter, MeToo, trans mania, and other social contagions. It supplanted the previously dominant dignity culture, making it highly desirable to be a victim. To be one made you superior in the eyes of third parties–whether they were school administrators or HR managers–who would rush to the aid of the oppressed.
It made sense for the Left to cultivate this moral culture. The third parties that increasingly controlled life and disputes in America were filled with leftists. Appeals to victimhood allowed them to impose penalties for microaggressions, cultural insensitivity, “homophobia,” and just being a white man. Hence, the title of my first book.
In this culture, the worst thing one could be is a straight white male. You oppress all the poor minorities. You have limitless privilege. You’re why we need radical rules to correct the injustice of the white man’s world. There’s no way to gain advantage under victimhood culture as a white dude–unless you’re gay or transition into a woman. White male identity puts one at the bottom of the moral hierarchy.
It is a good troll to flip this hierarchy and imagine white men as the most oppressed group. White men are the most discriminated group in the country. It puts you at a disadvantage in college admissions and hiring. White men are the one group allowed to be vilified as a group in movies, TV shows, and advertising. Schools teach whites that they’re born racist and that everything wrong in this country is due to them.
Anti-white racism is real and systematic. In terms of who the “system” oppresses the most in America today, it’s hard to deny that it’s white men. However, it gets ridiculous when the claim is expanded to all of history and our fate is seen as worse than that of slaves and the victims of genocide.
All that aside, appeals to victimhood won’t work for whites–at least with how the moral culture is set up. The culture is set up to be mediated by third parties. These third parties aren’t sympathetic at all to whites legitimate complaints of discrimination. They are in fact the ones doing the discrimination.
Most making the appeals to victimhood understand they won’t win over the third parties. They hope they will rile up whites to take action to throw off their own oppression. They may be disappointed in how it’s received. White Americans don’t like to see themselves as victims. Most of them have okay lives. They don’t feel like the downtrodden of society. They hate whiners and complainers. Being told they’re the biggest victims in history is likely to draw eyerolls and awkward silences.
You have to draw in your audience. Rather than make appeals to victimhood culture, it’s better to state how this culture undermines American values and leads to anti-white discrimination. It’s a travesty that whites are singled out. It’s made even worse when they’re the most qualified for the slot at the elite college or the prestigious job, but that reward goes to someone simply for being non-white. It violates Americans’ commitment to meritocracy and undermines our pursuit of greatness.
Victimhood culture must be abolished for America to be made great again. Life will be much better for whites when we no longer indulge a framework that imagines us as the great villains.
It’s important to highlight how our current system discriminates against whites and disregards time-honored American values. But we should avoid turning into a pity party for whites and expecting this group to suddenly rise up over hysterical claims that our fate is worse than that of slaves.
The point of politics is to persuade people into supporting your cause. It’s not to make the most hyperbolic statement to get the most engagement on a site dominated by bots and South Asians masquerading as Americans. More and more Americans understand that anti-white racism is a grave threat. There’s no need to turn into a victimhood competition that we can’t win.