Are We Self-Destructive?: What The 2020 Election Cliffhanger Tells Us About Ourselves

A good friend of mine sent me an interesting article two days after Election Day 2020 and asked me what I thought. I’ll warn you: If you’re white and have never read an analysis like this, prepare yourself. It’s tough love — from as early as the headline: “America’s Problem is That White People Want It to Be a Failed State.”

In my opinion, white (majority culture) people who study diversity and who are honest with themselves will understand that we are really fighting to save our society from itself. It’s an uncomfortable fact that, of any population, half will be less smart than average. Our country is mostly white people (non-Hispanic whites are 60.7%), which means we are saddled with 92 million white people of below-average intelligence. No judgment, it’s just the way it is, but the impact of all those people working together isn’t well understood because the majority culture of this country rejects the concept of “white culture.” But the chart below clearly illustrates it.

White voters distribution in presidential elections
Source: Roper Center (via Center for American Progress)

The books of historian and journalist Robert Caro convinced me that Lyndon B. Johnson was our greatest president, second only to Abraham Lincoln. LBJ summed it up like this: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” LBJ had the gift of lifting himself out of his own bigotry; it gave him amazing vision and insight.

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