Thursday, November 22, 2007
Slanty-eyed Chavez?
= = = = = = Cesar Chavez Avenue? = = = = = =
The Communist mayor of Portland decided, under pressure by Hispanic activists, to rename Interstate Avenue to 'Cesar Chavez Avenue' after the famous Communist labor leader who died a few years ago. Merchants and residents along Interstate complained furiously, so the Politburo backed off and decided instead to apply the name of Chavez to 4th Avenue. Well, 4th Avenue is the heart of Portland's Chinatown.
After more complaints, the whole plan is now on hold, which really means it's gone. Apparently somebody finally asked the Communist mayor why it was so crucially important to rename any damn street!
Nevertheless, the process shows us how the modern leftist totem pole is stacked. Authentic African Americans (ie gangsters) are on top of the privilege column; illegal Mexicans are next; but generic Caucasians aren't quite on the bottom. No, the lowest head on the pole is the one wearing glasses, the nearest available 'clever and clannish' ethnic group. Since Portland doesn't have a significant Jewish community, leftists must pick on the local Chinese.
This is oddly inconsistent, since modern leftists are essentially Maoists, but most of the Chinese who live in our urban Chinatowns are anti-Mao types, tied more to Hong Kong than to Beijing, which probably makes them Inauthentic.
(Thomas Sowell has described this hierarchy with wonderful conciseness.) ¶ 1:48 PM
= = = = = = Cesar Chavez Avenue? = = = = = =
The Communist mayor of Portland decided, under pressure by Hispanic activists, to rename Interstate Avenue to 'Cesar Chavez Avenue' after the famous Communist labor leader who died a few years ago. Merchants and residents along Interstate complained furiously, so the Politburo backed off and decided instead to apply the name of Chavez to 4th Avenue. Well, 4th Avenue is the heart of Portland's Chinatown.
After more complaints, the whole plan is now on hold, which really means it's gone. Apparently somebody finally asked the Communist mayor why it was so crucially important to rename any damn street!
Nevertheless, the process shows us how the modern leftist totem pole is stacked. Authentic African Americans (ie gangsters) are on top of the privilege column; illegal Mexicans are next; but generic Caucasians aren't quite on the bottom. No, the lowest head on the pole is the one wearing glasses, the nearest available 'clever and clannish' ethnic group. Since Portland doesn't have a significant Jewish community, leftists must pick on the local Chinese.
This is oddly inconsistent, since modern leftists are essentially Maoists, but most of the Chinese who live in our urban Chinatowns are anti-Mao types, tied more to Hong Kong than to Beijing, which probably makes them Inauthentic.
(Thomas Sowell has described this hierarchy with wonderful conciseness.) ¶ 1:48 PM
