White Futility

White Women and White Dudes Put On Their "Listening Ears"

White Women for Kamala

It’s unlike me to offer a disclaimer before rendering a sharp, mocking commentary at The Cornfield. This one is an exception. Before I lace into the recent bizarre phenomenon of the massive “White Women for Kamala” and “White Dudes for Kamala” zoom calls, I can say for certain that I know some of the people who joined these calls. I consider them friends, and sane, brilliant, educated, caring people. They want to do good, and support others who want to do good. This wasn’t the way.

Lumping massive groups of people together based on immutable characteristics, then requiring endorsement of a uniform set of political views and goals is deranged. The left has gone so far out on the limb with identity politics and race, suppressing any dissenting or questioning voices that won’t fall in line. Assuming that entire races of people think and act and vote the same—or worse, that they must—has always been catastrophic for this country and indeed, the world. It’s baffling to watch so called progressive thinking people resurrecting these racist notions.

How does being white add any special significance or power to a vote for Kamala Harris? A vote counts because it was cast. You did your thing, your civic duty and right to vote. No one knows you did it while being white. So, when you create a public event to endorse the Democratic hopeful for President, in what way does a show of white solidarity (separated by sex) behind a party and candidate bring special significance or force to the endorsement? I’m sure this observation has already been made, but it seems fairly predictable to me what these people would do if there was a giant online pep rally for Trump announced, under the banner “White Dudes for Trump.” I can hear my acerbic liberal friends quipping “redundant” from here. Okay, fine, be that way. But make the case for me, just for fun.

What’s the message being relayed to undecided white people who might be watching? Surely you want to build support for your candidate, enlarge the coalition. But presenting yourselves en masse is clearly making some statement about white people, right? Adding your voice and in some cases, celebrity, in order to define the kind of white people for whom the promise of a black female President can be the only enlightened view—while white folks for Trump are straight-up Nazis. Some white folks looking on might resonate with the vibes and join in; many white folks have hate-watched these zooms and ripped them gleefully on their right wing podcasts. Whites like myself are still stuck at the “White Women” and “White Dudes” concept. In what way, if any, should we respond to the implicit challenge these white zoom crusaders have set before us? Join the good white folks! Don’t be a Nazi!

I’ve never been a joiner, and my need for external validation has motivated only my acting career. I never feel right in the middle of a mob, white or otherwise. The white zoom people just underscored how insipid racial segregation is. How cynical to reduce our role and responsibility as citizens to some idiotic “good guys and bad guys” game. For people obsessed with rejecting binaries, they’re very comfortable with offering a with us or against us ultimatum.

People instinctively, by nature, seek purpose and meaning, and I believe we do have an innate sense of what is right—which we rarely trust, until it’s too late. As Oscar Wilde wrote, “Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first, and the lesson after.” I try not only to trust my gut but to think things out for myself, and I immerse myself in content and listen to voices on all sides. This practice helps one recognize the way our right and left wing spin machines silo us all. The popular takes and memes spread like locusts, echoed by all the talking heads skewing things right or left.

My liberal leaning friends jump to repost and share the popular “take;” right wingers adopt the latest lefty mockery that provides a quick sugar high; the instant affirmation of lots of likes come rolling in. I understand the quick fix some get from a shoutout to like minded social media buddies, via a viral meme or clever takedown—THOSE GUYS WE HATE SUCK! To get back the satisfying YEAH, THEY SUCK! comments assures you you’re in with the right crowd. The trap is that it’s easy to believe something you read on X or on someone’s feed and to have that belief reinforced when you’re rewarded for simply liking, or sharing, or giving a thumbs up emoji in the comments. It's easy to buy into one interpretation of an issue or one version of an event, when you have slight knowledge of the matter, and have only “heard” this or that. I’ve had lively chats recently with good friends, who don’t tune in deeply to news and long form discussions on podcasts.

It’s a little off-putting to find that close friends don’t know names like Douglas Murray, or Coleman Hughes, or even Ibram X. Kendi and Robin Diangelo. They’re mystified by my position on things like drag queens for kids, because they haven’t seen the video I’ve seen, the footage of a drag queen story hour culture gone wildly inappropriate. It is these clips conservative media runs exclusively, and conservative parents are panicked that the freaks are gonna get their children. Most of the drag story hour stuff is benign, but it only takes a few outrageous and offensive spectacles captured on video to raise a ruckus. I wish that some of my LGBT+ friends would be more responsible and that the organizers who bring them in to children’s spaces would use some discretion and taste and common sense about what’s for kids. If you think it’s gonna make some parents flip out, maybe book another diva. Unless your goal is to make parents uncomfortable, in which case, I think you’ve got your priorities askew.

The Last Supper…that wasn’t

Stunts that are clearly intended to provoke and antagonize conservative or religious people, like the tacky performance art burlesque of the Last Supper at the opening of the Olympics, don’t represent, and couldn’t ever claim to represent the sensibilities of all LGBT+ people. I found it disgusting, cowardly and disingenuous when the left wing media responded to the controversy by parading through art historians and professors of classical Greek culture to assure everyone that the thing we thought it was making fun of was not what we thought it was and their experts want us ignorant reactionaries to know that we need a brush-up on our obscure mythological paintings of antiquity. Nothing to see here. Oh, come on. This manipulative, passive-aggressive tendency of certain activists to intentionally pull a stunt and piss people off, and then act wounded by those they triggered into rage, whining “See how hateful they are? See how bigoted Christians are? See how they want to erase queer people?”

No, bitch, make a choice. Frankly, I’d respect you more if you’d just own it. You commissioned a particular artist to create a provocative spectacle to open a global event. The presentation was cast and designed and rehearsed and it must have been signed off on by a whole lotta important people. This was their choice. I’m certain that in some meeting, some time, in the year before the Olympics, some random person raised a hand and asked, “Um…is it just me, or does anyone else think this looks like The Last Supper?” Why would thousands of outraged Christians see it, but the Olympics didn’t? Because they did. They wanted to make a statement, and they did. The statement I got? We’re here, we’re queer, we’re coming for Da Vinci. Don’t do something subversive and risky, and then blame the people you knew you were provoking for being provoked. Own your mistake in judgment and apologize. I mean, it’s not the first time a bad taste decision was broadcast live across the globe. The Oscars sanctioned that insane Rob Lowe/Snow White “Proud Mary” performance in 1989. Egads. Talk about an abomination.

Look, you’re not gonna make progress for anyone if you brand all people of faith as bigots and Nazis. Faith, I think, is one of the few remaining colorblind common human experiences left. People of every color and origin practice the great religions, and in America, the majority are Christian of some stripe, and even if they’re not orthodox or regularly observant, they try to uphold, and live by, the moral principles of their faith. It’s really okay to not kill, or lie, or dishonor your parents. And even I, a confirmed atheist, feel it shouldn’t be acceptable to take someone else’s Lord’s name in vain. It’s unwise to tell billions of Christians of the caucasian persuasion that they’re Nazis because they protest when their cherished beliefs are camped on and disrespected. Aren’t we better than that? I mean, I always thought Madonna’s provocative religious camp back in the day was a bit adolescent, but she did it well: at least she cast a gorgeous black guy as Jesus in her “Like a Prayer” video—and the song was baller. Madonna was excommunicated much to her delight, and she acted like a brat. But she owned it.

Back to zoom. Riddle me this: why would woke folk who reject gender binaries explicitly separate the white zoom groups by gender, or should I say sex? Why call the women women and the men ”dudes.” Why “dudes,” rather then men? Is “dude” an attempt at a welcoming, unthreatening, most-of-us-are-regular-guys vibe or…what? I’m confused. Pete Buttigieg was on that call and I don’t think “dude” when I think of Mayor Pete. “Dude” isn’t something I call anyone actually. I don’t use “bro” or “bruh” either. It’s interesting to me that a movement that can’t and won’t define what a woman is, that seeks to erase gender distinctions, sees no contradiction in forming an exclusive “White Woman” group to push a candidate for President for the primary reason that she’s a woman of color.

And the dudes? Among the viral clips from the call I watched Josh Gad, a little known Broadway performer and Disney voice actor, reliving the moment he learned of Trump’s victory in 2016 while weeping over his child’s crib. Pete Buttigieg, a gay man with adopted twin children, thought he’d use the dude gathering as a chance to preach women’s reproductive rights! Um, you don’t have any skin in that game, Pete, but thank goodness your kids’ Mom decided to carry them to term. Good grief. Do these people not see themselves, or hear the things they say? I chalk it up to being unable or unwilling to take a step back and see the way they’re perceived by people outside of their tribe, and how it is used against them. That goes for both sides.

I’ve always been one of those people who can’t just go along with things that make no sense. I was that annoying little brainiac in grammar school who challenged everything and got irritated at story time when something in the tale being told was illogical. So, I’m a bit of a show-me kinda guy, and I love to have animated conversations on the things I’m passionate about and have studied over many years. I make a point of not talking about things I know nothing about. To me, sounding off about something important and citing my source as “I heard it somewhere,” would just be crap behavior, and I’m better than that, I hope. If I want to have an opinion that is defensible and perhaps, persuasive, I need to be informed, in multiple ways, consulting multiple sources and analytic perspectives.

I’m still puzzled about what was achieved with the zoom groups, aside from like minded people showing up together and agreeing with each other whilst expressing their passion for Kamala Harris. Oh, and the millions of campaign dollars raised, of course. The few notables who hopped on the call, like Bradley Whitford and Jeff Bridges, didn’t offer anything particularly inspired or edifying. As an actor, I tend to treat with skepticism the credence the public assigns to the political views of actors. Imma just say it. You were once an unknown, struggling actor. Then, you broke through, as few do, achieving name recognition and box office power. But… you’re the same actor—just successful. You didn’t suddenly gain some deep worldly insight and political savvy because you’re famous and wealthy. Have some humility, stop virtue signalling, and be useful somehow.

I didn’t hear anyone, in either group, give us an enthusiastic, informed assessment of Harris’ accomplishments while in office, or why they find her credible, or trustworthy, or consistent in her values across her record in public service. Her inaugural campaign ads are slick and stirring, very “power to the people,” with a glorious gospel choir singing and, again and again, the blazing of the word FREEDOM. Kamala’s voiceover asks what kind of country we want to live in, defining a Republican America as one of “chaos, of fear, of hate.” She then says, “But us? We choose something different.” That thing is, wait for it: FREEDOM. The rest of the ad is pretty standard party line: gun control, reproductive rights, affordable health care. But here’s my question: FREEDOM…from what? It’s a great word and it’s the foundational ideal of our country—the land of the free—but I would be interested to know what people need freeing from right now, after four years of a Biden presidency? What long awaited freedom would Kamala’s ascent to the Presidency bring us?

The retch inspiring Arielle Fodor

And lastly, the piece de resistance from the “White Women” group, the now viral appearance of a pert, blonde SJW named Arielle Fodor. Arielle greets the other white gals with the news that “BIPOC women have tapped us in as white women to step up, listen, and get involved”(what does “tapped us in” mean? Anybody?) Arielle then offers helpful hints for dealing with the “toxicity” of the election season. She urges them not to isolate themselves, but rather, to be “in community,” such as this massive zoom call. Fodor urges them to become aware of their own inner toxicity. She lisps that “the toxic feels smaller when we support each other.” The “toxic?” There are, I have found, certain moments when “cringe” is simply insufficient to express how excruciating someone is, so I have decided to promote a new viral word to capture a level of cringe so gut-churning that it becomes…RETCH.

Hold onto your lunch, it gets worse:

Arielle cautions us, with a weird smile: “But! Don’t make it about yourself! (giggle) We need to use our privilege to make positive changes.” Arielle reminds us we must avoid talking over BIPOC people, speaking for them, “or God forbid, correcting them!!” Then in her singsong, vocal fry baby voice, and with the most skin crawling expression on her face, she says: “We should take a beat, and put our listening ears on.” What other fucking kind of ears are there? RETCH.

Is talking to fellow adult women as if they’re toddlers effective, Arielle, do you find? This little “The More You Know” brought to us via the inane work of Robin Diangelo, who created this whole “white fragility” nonsense, combining a new kind of racism with puritan authoritarianism—which makes for a very lucrative business. Arielle, in a reposte to the wave of criticism directed at her when this video went viral, bragged that the haters just make her more money—because she’s out here fighting the good white people fight. And giggling all the way to the bank. All I learned about Fodor is that she was a kindergarten teacher turned TikTok influencer, using the handle “Mrs. Frazzled.” Oh, Arielle, you’re not frazzled, not one bit. You seem to me a slick little operator, baby-talking the works of Our Lady of Diangelo in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

I can’t explain why intelligent, educated, seemingly well adjusted modern women countenance being talked down to like children in this way, or why they buy this concocted notion that they’re possessed of a toxicity of which they are entirely unaware, yet must somehow root out. There are plenty of DEI “consultants” like Arielle who would be happy to help you do “the work”—which is never over, by the way, because you will always be racist (thus ensuring employment for Arielles everywhere).

Saira Rao and Regina Jackson of Race To Dinner

Now, some elite self-loathing women who desperately want not to be bad white people will pay $5000 a plate to attend a Race To Dinner event, where they get to sit around a table whilst they are lambasted by two absolutely terrifying harridans: Regina Jackson and Saira Rao. These shrews do not baby talk anybody! They are ruthless— and running a class A grift. I’ve seen clips from these dinners, in which Saira maniacally declares all Republicans Nazis, and puts the fear of the Reich into these gals in their Chico’s clamdiggers. Their task at this dinner is to admit their white supremacy and racism, while trying to digest their $5000 chicken and two veg. Race to Dinner promotional clips show chirpy blonde ladies effusing, “Oh yes, I’m a racist! And my mother—may she rest in peace—she was a racist too!” You can’t make this shit up. But Jackson and Rao have—two angry women of color who want to create a better world yadda yadda are raking in the chips—overcharging bored housewives to take their abuse and accusations, providing some feeling that “they’re working on themselves.” I don’t think allowing yourself to be conned by opportunists trained in a nasty system of psychological mind fuckery is going to achieve some kind of ritual cleansing of your innate white evil. It’s not a great hobby. If you want someone yelling at you and torturing you in order to make you a better person, take up pilates. Then you get to be an evil white woman with amazing abs.

The real kicker is that the Whites for Kamala actually reek of privilege, as if it will be at the behest of the good white people and their soul searching that black people will succeed. I gotta tell ya—while right wing media paints Harris as the ultimate DEI hire, it doesn’t help to have masses of white folks zoom together pledging to use their privilege so a black woman gets elected President. Please, left leaning, well-meaning white folks: don’t keep buying this shit. We all want people to be equal, and have fair treatment and opportunity—we do, because we’re Americans. We’re neither inherently evil, nor inherently noble as the result of being born a certain color. If people don’t know whether they’re good or moral without some slick race hustler assessing them for “unconscious bias,” making them confess their sin of whiteness…then it’s time to get off yourself and start doing things for other people. Show kindness and generosity to people of all sorts who need help and love and acknowledgment. Give of yourself—be useful—and you’ll find meaning and self worth. We all know how to be kind and considerate of people. I learned it as a child: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It’s a classic.