"White America is Dying"

Normally, I might expect a news item to be the first subject page I was able to populate with a post, but I found it took a moment to find a subject that would bridge cleanly from the philosophy of the last blog to whatever philosophy I will adopt for this feed, which I will allow to develop organically.

I believe in democracy and self-determinism, so, naturally, I'm averse to opening the blog with a discussion of the blatantly racist, fetishized conceits of the so-called 'royal' family of the United Kingdoms. I am not above a single clear statement on the subject, however, so I will say that a Duchess, by definition, is allowed to bully anyone who is not a Duke, Duchess, King, Queen, Prince, Princess or, perhaps, the Consort thereof. The Queen, in fact, is infamous for physically assaulting anyone, even 'royals,' who even tangentially contradict her in public. That is what this 'royalty' nonsense means, to the extent that it means anything at all. Since double standards are markers of discrimination-in-progress, and the Duchess of Sussex is Black, suggesting that members of the household who complain should not be summarily dismissed is, of itself, #racist.

Super, clearly, obviously racist. There's no valid dispute. If someone called Fergie a bully, leaked it to the media, there'd be hangings. Say nothing of Katie...

To be clear, I could GAF who's the 'royal' favorite; which 'royal' grandchild nearly sat on his nephew's face, state-of-dress unclear; or which worthy charity the 'royals' are influencing for now. I. do. not. fucking. care.

But that shit is obvious, and the comparison is literally glaring there in Black (woman) and White(AF) (girl).

Enough. More ink than they are worth, in fact. (you like that?)

I was home from the café, TV on but sitting on the bed, fully expecting to fall asleep for twenty minutes before rallying and taking stock to continue with my day. Fredricka Whitfield was on CNN, wondering why conservative culture warriors cared that a private corporate entity had voluntarily undertaken a racial sensitivity evaluation and voluntarily implemented the recommendations. "Its not even cancel culture!" she exclaimed.

I turned to the dog (yes, there's a dog, photos forthcoming...) and I said to her (yes, I talk to the dog, no, I will not be taking questions...), "Its because its not about cancel culture its about..." and I had my first topic.

I dated this beautiful, half-Jewish, half-desi woman from Pacific Palisades back when I lived and worked in the city proper. Her high-school chum was my co-worker, a Black lesbian who knew some of the good-stuff only city kids, who grew up local to that particular town would know (I'm located north of LA, if you're new to my blog). We were wandering down Hollywood Boulevard, one wonderful LA day, south side of the street, somewhere between DSW and the Arclight, but it was midday, because I remember being in the sunshine.

Some D-bags in a pickup truck, garishly done up in performatively patriotic flags, ribbons and signage, you're familiar with the type, it was a one-truck precursor to those sad little Trump truck parades. They went by us once, driving the opposite direction (I think we were headed to the theater) and they must have turned around down by the Scientology temple because they came back, driving close enough for us to hear the drivel spewing out of a bullhorn coming from the bed of the truck. I don't remember any of it, except for the one very distinct scrap of vitriol we all three caught.

Now, a quick reminder that Pacific Palisades is a rich neighborhood between Malibu and Santa Monica, so my beautiful, sexy mixed-Asian girlfriend, our Black lesbian friend and I, a Mex-Itali-Jew, as Eric Garcetti has described his similar ethnic mix, having the best day of our summer, and all from educated, professional backgrounds, hear this woman's voice coming at us over our shoulder, knowing, already, who it must be.

"...WHITE AMERICA IS DYING..." it says, in the most plaintive, on-the-nose description of what's really driving conservative desperation that I've ever heard. And I couldn't help myself. I looked at D, I looked at my girlfriend, and we burst out laughing just about as hard as I've ever laughed in public.

So, why do the culture warriors care about the Dr. Seuss Estate discontinuing racist material voluntarily? Because #WhiteAmericaIsDying, and if businesses are conducting their own, independent analyses, without any external pressure, and just announcing, out of the blue, that they're making changes, then they, too are coming to the conclusion that the death of White America is delightful and it all must be happening at an accelerating rate. And let's be clear, it is long past time when anyone might have done anything to prevent it, if it even could have been prevented, but by the time they can see the signs, more thoughtful people have been pointing to them for years just looking for proof.

So that's the Daily Arc. White America is dying (which 'ol witch?), LFG! Subsequent posts won't be married to explaining the reasons for optimism about the world, but we will continue, always, our mission of Metering the Arc.