Competence, Or Tolerance and Inclusion?

When can we start telling the truth?  As a staunch advocate of the First Amendment, and of free speech in general, I have some observations concerning the headlines of late:

Carnegie Mellon University professor Uju Anya reacted to the news of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II suffering from poor health shortly before her death on Thursday by calling her a “wretched woman” and a “genocidal colonizer” who is “the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire,” adding, “May her pain be excruciating.”

That's very tolerant, inclusive, sophisticated and subtle, Uju.  Who are you, again?  Let's find out.  Here's her bio from her own lavishly done website:

Dr. Uju Anya teaches and conducts research in the Modern Languages Department at Carnegie Mellon University as associate professor of second language acquisition. Her primary fields of inquiry are critical applied linguistics, critical sociolinguistics, and critical discourse studies examining race, gender, sexual, and social class identities in new language learning through the experiences of African American students. She has expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion in instructional practices and curriculum design, applied linguistics as a practice of social justice, intercultural communication, as well as service-learning and civic engagement in secondary and university-level language programs.

Wow.  Woke much?  In connection with her comments and her worldview, let's delve into some inconvenient historical truths.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain  explored the globe, bringing enlightenment and civilization to under developed areas of the world, especially in India, Africa and the South Pacific.  Had the ancestors of that “genocidal colonizer” who is “the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire,” not colonized Africa, and essentially elevated its civilization by a millennia or two, this pseudo intellectual with the cush job at an ivy league university would still be fetching water from the muddy creek, chasing game, and living in a thatched hut along with the rest of her tribe.  If this fool is truly a student of "critical applied linguistics, critical sociolinguistics, and critical discourse studies" as she claims to be, she would know that, but for British and western European influence, her tribe's social and cultural advancement, evolution and enlightenment was unlikely given its unwritten language and stone age culture.  But no matter.  She obviously hates herself, and is willing to demonstrate that hate to the entire world by damning a woman she's never met simply because - yes, I'm going there - western white culture pulled her and her ancestors out of stone age ignorance.  Further, another western European inspired country, the United States, gave her an opportunity to elevate herself from ignorance and backwardness. And now, a century or two later, she benefits from that "colonization" by having an English speaking cush American university professorship teaching what she calls "languaging blackness."  Racist people like her continue to bite the hand that feeds. 

Or how about this:

Democrats are “increasingly pessimistic” about Stacey Abrams’ prospects of unseating Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), according to a report from the left-leaning New York Times.

Oops.  Could it be that the requirement of competent merit in our local, state and national leaders is returning?  That we the people are now aware that we must elect leaders who have the will, ability and competence to lead, rather than electing those who fit into an arbitrary social group?  Or is it that we the people are tired of the divisive aspect of voting for candidates who run on simply being of a defined identity?  One hopes the trend continues, and we can finally get intelligent and competent adults back in charge.

  

As for Stacy, she's all about being "black" and a "woman." And yes, she did serve in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017, but her campaign for governor of Georgia is limping along.  Why?  Are the fine folks in Georgia - both women and blacks included - sick and tired of candidates whining  about their identity, and not so much about the real issues challenging folks every day?  Or maybe it's the fact that this loud and obnoxious feminist racist is not even a native Georgian; she was born in Wisconsin.  Being a Yankee carpetbagger doesn't sit well with a lot of Georgians. Nonetheless, she'll lose this gubernatorial election - again - because she offers voters nothing more than herself as a black woman.  And that no longer will cut it.

Far from picking on just these two Democrat women to make my point about the need for competence - as I define it as merit - I'm not.  There are countless other examples of this glaring contrast between competence and identity in both parties, in positions of power both elected and appointed.  Even in my home state of Florida, a Democrat is challenging Florida native Governor Ron DeSantis for that office.  Charlie Crist, like Stacy Abrams, is another looser who loves to concede elections, and as he's from Pennsylvania originally, the term carpetbagger applies to him as well.

The silver lining in all of this is the woke idea of absolute tolerance and inclusion, but only for the left, is dying upon the altar of competence.  Merit and competence are putting to shame the lunacy of identity politics.

And it's about time.