How the word racism has lost all meaning and is used as a way to silence people.

Ilhan Omar. Official congressional photo. 

As you are most certainly aware, the media and the left has lost their minds this week about President Trump and his fans. He has been extremely critical of Ilhan Omar and the other members of "the squad", a group of freshmen women who are extreme leftists. President Trump suggested Ilhan Omar should go back to her own country, Somalia, and fix it before she lectured America. Trump's fans chanted "send her back" at a recent rally.

The media and the Democrats have called this racist. On the face of it, it makes zero sense at all. It's very clear to me that telling Omar to go back to her home country has nothing to do with her race and everything to do with her actions. Some people may indeed hate her for her skin, but the vast majority of Trump fans love black people who are on our side. People like Ben Carson and Candace Owens are beloved on the right. Omar herself said that she'd be loved if she wore a MAGA hat and that's totally true for the vast majority of Trump supporters. Clearly something else is going on here.

 The true definition of racism is hating people because of the color of their skin. It's a very bad thing because nobody deserves to be punished for things they aren't responsible. Having a bad experience with one person shouldn't prejudice you against a second one. I, of course, hate this kind of racism and everyone should be opposed to it. You should take people one by one, and this is something I do everyday. I work in a very multicultural place and try to treat people as individuals, not as a group. I've dealt with practically every race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and nationality at my job and I let everyone I interact with win me over on their merit, not by their race. 

For a long time this definition of racism has been universally agreed upon by everyone. This is no longer true. For the left the definition of racism has expanded dramatically. There is all kinds of nonsense about privilege and power and it generally is used as a way to ignore criticism from pretty much anyone who isn't a liberal. 

Under the nebulous, poorly defined liberal version of racism, asking someone to leave if they don't like the country is racist, but hating white people just because they are white is not. Under their world view, telling Ilhan Omar to leave is racist but doing to same thing to Asian right wing pundit Michelle Malkin is not. (Be aware that there are some actual racial slurs in the below tweet)

In case you are under the illusion that morally pure libs neeeeeeeever tells non-white women to "go back" to some other country, here's just a small sample of my go-back-to-fill-in-the-blank messages to educate you otherwise. And this is just on Twitter. Enjoy. I do every day! pic.twitter.com/DquAIdWXVw

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) July 15, 2019

Why is saying the same thing to Michelle Malkin and Ilhan Omar racism in one case and not the other under this definition of racism? Very simple, Malkin's a Republican and Omar isn't. There might be some morally consistent people that would have a problem with both, but this post isn't about those people. It's about the people that have a problem with one and not the other.

Something else is going on here and it's pretty clear that it's tribalism. Democrats don't hate Michelle Malkin because she is Asian or a woman, they hate her because she's a Republican. And the same is true for Ilhan Omar and Republicans. It's because of the behavior and beliefs of these two people that they are hated, not the color of their skin. Some people might say racist things about these people but for the vast majority of people, it's the fact that they vote for the opposite party and are pretty consistently attacking their side. 

And I think that's what people don't get about Ilhan Omar and the right. She's done and said things about us and in general that we find absolutely horrible. Even her political plans are things that would cause massive amounts of misery for the middle and lower classes that make up President Trump's base (and the same members of those social and economic classes that are of different races but are less keen on Trump). She's a far left person and supports socialism, an ideology that we have been at war with for 100 years, and she also seems to be prejudiced against Jewish people and the nation of Israel (which may not be racism but is certainly bigotry). Some might be prejudiced against her because she is a Muslim, but in their defense the horrors of the fight against ISIS and al-Qaeda are fresh and she hasn't been overly critical of the worst people in her religion. Hating her just because she's a Muslim is bigoted but her political stance on terrorism is a valid criticism of the woman.

Ilhan Omar is basically a big fat symbol of what is wrong with America today when viewed from a right wing perspective. She's been telling everyone who lives in middle America and benefits from the Trump administration that not only are we going to take away all the good things President Trump has done but we are also going to destroy your culture, take away your money and support your two most hated enemies, socialism and radical Islam. And that's not even getting into the fraud accusations or the fact that America let her into this country and she is repaying that act of incredibly generosity with bile and hatred. Is it any wonder why they hate her?

But even the mildest criticism of Omar and her compatriots is met with accusations of racism. Asking her to go back home is about as mild as you can get. Given her behavior and beliefs and how thoroughly they disagree with the right, much worse things could be said.

Of course being called a racist is among the most damaging things that can happen to a person. President Trump is immune because he's the most powerful person on earth, and some higher ranked Republicans and media personalities on the right are mostly safe as well. But for a normal person? It can cost you your job, your friends and even your freedom.

And that's the real goal here. It's not about protecting people from being judged unfairly, by all accounts Ilhan Omar and "the squad' are being judged fairly. Anyone who so openly and blatantly attacks a group of people is going to get a reaction. It's about control. The left has been using racism as a cudgel to batter the right for years now and it's to silence criticism. And when it's not racism, it's homophobia or sexism.

If America is to survive as a country we have to be able to criticize our leadership. You can't shut down free speech even if you find it distasteful. Ilhan Omar and her ilk are extremely controversial even in their own party and are not above criticism, even when crudely stated. It's not wrong to want her to leave. And it's not racist either. 

As far as I am concerned America has very few actual racists. I have met a few in person and seen more online but people that just hate people because they are a different color are rare. And even the few borderline people I have met at least try to treat people as individuals.

But the liberal definition of "racist"? That's more than half the country. It includes every Republican, every white person, every minority and Democrat that's not "woke" enough and everyone who is on board with the left's ideology but makes a momentary mistake. Any one of these people can have a media machine, a protest engine and an outrage mob at their doorsteps on a moments notice.

This is something we have to fight. I agree we should fight real racism and bigotry where ever we find it. But there is no reason for one small group of politically unpopular people, the media and the leadership of the Democratic Party, have all the say in what is racist or not. Telling someone to go home isn't racist, but hating people because of the color of their skin is, no matter what these idiots say. And the time has come that we start sticking up for ourselves.