Professor of linguistics, John H. McWhorter, in his new book, "Losing the Race," writes about victimhood and how a cult of victimology plays a role in racial relations.
His definition of victimology is paraphrased as, "a view to foster and nurture an unfocused brand of resentment and sense of alienation from the mainstream; not of forging solutions."
He cites an example of victimology, a Washington D.C. case where in 1999 an ombudsman for Mayor Anthony Williams, David Howard had a budget meeting with two other co-workers. Howard used the word "niggardly," applying it in the context of its true meaning, stingy.
One of his co-workers was incensed at the use of the word and stormed out of the meeting. Usage of the word niggardly comes from the Middle Ages and was in common use in England in the 9th century at a time when black people of any kind were unknown there. Its origin is Scandinavian from the word "nig" meaning, miser.
The only commonality between niggardly and a derogatory word referred to as the "N" word is their first four letters. In this case unfortunately no explanation would suffice. David Howard's resignation was quickly accepted by Mayor Williams. Mr. Howard had not foreseen the consequences of using a word that could offend some African Americans. It's predictable that the word may soon be dropped from the English language, at least in America.
Professor McWhorter believes this type of incident helps perpetuate the cult of victimology. It seems a fair question to ask, given the sensitivity of attempts to control illegal immigration and secure our borders, whether or not a cult of victimology is in play in border security.
Are the extreme reactions on the one side simply an outpouring of empathy for our Hispanic brothers and sisters; and on the other side simply those of racists? Are there people who benefit by keeping the "pot stirred"?
In the case of African American victimhood, Professor McWhorter sees high profile people who benefit from it such as Maxine Waters, a California congresswoman from the Los Angeles area and Reverend Al Sharpton. They and others gain more from promoting victimhood than from positive efforts to resolve conflicts.
McWhorter is an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who lives in Oakland and, he is black. He makes the case that a cult of victimology, separatism, and anti-intellectualism work against the black community achieving its rightful goals.
He has an uphill battle with those who have had success with promoting victimhood. He counters that it's better to look for long-term gains. McWhorter is "swimming against the tide," but makes a strong argument for a critical look at perpetuating victimhood.
The perspective of people of other ethnic origins with regard to black victimhood is influenced by the knowledge that many of today's superstars and megastars in professional and amateur sports, business and politics, science, medicine and education, as well as the arts and entertainment are from the black community.
Their current prominence has been a rise from obscurity to that of dominance and argues against the validity of victimhood.
Reynolds lives in Pleasant View.
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