Cancelling Jared Taylor For Stating The Obvious

The Right has its own version of political correctness, and it’s pretty silly

American Renaissance founder Jared Taylor rejoined Twitter last week to the joy of many right-wingers. However, the goodwill soon turned into rage over a comment he made about West Virginians. In an interview with Richard Hanania, Taylor said he found the Mountaineers to be not-so-great. He recalled that when he walked around its capital, he wondered if there was a city ordinance requiring citizens to be obese, smoke, and have tattoos. He still said that he considers these whites his “brothers and sisters” and wants a better life for them.

Amid the backlash towards his comments, Taylor clarified his position to say he believes West Virginians are “warm-hearted people who look after not just neighbors but strangers.” He added that working-class whites “will be the backbone of any true national populism.”

Taylor violated a taboo in the right-wing sphere by speaking bluntly on poor whites. You’re only supposed to see them as noble beings, if not superior ones. You’re not allowed to notice anything that might be wrong about them. They are perfect the way they are.

This kind of political correctness mimics how liberals view inner-city blacks. As evinced in such media as The Wire, liberals uphold romantic delusions about blacks. Even though white liberals choose to not live near ghettoes, they still want to see the people there as brilliant, cultured, and fundamentally good. They absolutely detest any criticism that may be made against their favorite class.

Obviously, West Virginia is a much superior place to Detroit and there are significant differences between the ghetto and the holler. However, even if rural areas are much better places than the inner city, we should still be able to notice the issues there. For example, obesity is most common in rural areas than in any other place in America and West Virginia is the most obese state in the union.

No one should feel pride over obesity, disability checks, and ugly tattoos.

We shouldn’t condemn anyone for merely saying they don’t like these things. Being honest about poor whites allows us to pursue policies to make their lives better. To create a fantasy around them isn’t helpful or honest. You don’t need to put them down or see them as an enemy. We should simply be truthful and not force ourselves to pretend a pigsty is a palace.

Taylor has earned the right to speak his mind. He has spent the last 35 years of his life engaged in promoting forbidden truths to the people. For his efforts, he’s lost bank accounts, been banned from Europe, prohibited from using many tech platforms, and had his good name ruined in several publications. This is all because he’s a race realist. People with no skin in the game are in no position to try to “cancel” Mr. Taylor for an off-hand remark. His record deserves respect, not a social media pile-on.

One user made a bizarre comment that Taylor is a foreigner because he was born in Japan (to missionaries from Virginia) and can’t love “real America.” This is ridiculous. His ancestors have been here since Europeans arrived on these shores — a trait many of his critics lack. Being born in another place doesn’t change the fact that JT is a genuine American. His background likely makes him more despondent over the current state of the country. He looks at the people and realizes something is deeply wrong here. True foreigners would just accept that this is how America has always been. Heritage Americans know that there’s a better way.

It’s curious that right-wingers demand dissidents like Mr. Taylor love the current state of America. These same people regularly report on the degradations and horrors of the nation. But once downscale whites, Appalachia, or some other venerated object enters the picture, they insist the picture is absolutely perfect!

There’s a conflicting image the Right has of these areas. At times, they claim rural America is a literal paradise, filled with beautiful women, extremely jacked Chads, and a thriving economy. Many conservatives recommend to their audience to move there to find a wife, make their fortune, and enjoy the good life. They also claim working class whites make far more money in the trades than “bugmen” do in white collar jobs.

At other times, this image completely changes. Instead of making six figures, working class whites are oppressed by poverty and lack any employment opportunities. Their hometowns are ravaged and cry out for help. This is no paradise they inhabit — this is a nightmare created by globalist policies.

While a bit hyperbolic, the latter view is closer to the truth than the visions of White Wakanda. Even with the truth out there, people still get mad if someone notices the issues with the heartland. Some may feel it’s an attack on them. Others feel that heartlanders are a sacrosanct class above criticism. Others just latch on to it as a weapon to feud with right-wingers they don’t like. No matter what, it’s a point of contention.

Several popular books on the Right have approached this topic without controversy. Charles Murray’s Coming Apart is one. J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy is another. These works didn’t sugarcoat life in the hinterlands. They were blunt about what life is like for working-class whites. Vance, a member of this class, was forthright in talking about the poor health decisions and toxic social norms of his people. Like Taylor, he didn’t look upon obese smokers with hideous tattoos with pride. He saw a problem.

That’s not to diminish the good qualities of these people, as both Vance and Taylor emphasized. There’s also a lot of bad whites in other areas and among other classes. And certainly, not all working-class whites are like Taylor’s description. But you will encounter more of these types in the areas devastated by globalization and economic change than elsewhere.

This is not an argument to mock them or dismiss their concerns. It’s only drawing attention to the problems going on in middle America. Donald Trump tied his 2016 campaign pitch to the dismal state of the heartland. He didn’t paint it as the paradise of online fantasies. Trump was honest about its dire situation and wanted to make it great again.

The average right-winger is dismayed by the sight of what he sees happening in the country. No one should celebrate how so many of our fellow citizens make themselves uglier and sicker. It’s idiotic for people who allegedly love truth-telling to force themselves into spreading falsehoods.

We all want a better America. We all get upset at the current state of the country. We all wish Americans took better care of themselves. Few of us want to live in a place surrounded by unhealthy people, wherever it may be.

The Dissident Right should be a place where we can say truths about our country and its people. There’s no need for our own version of political correctness and self-serving falsehoods. We’ve got the truth on our side and a vision for a better country. We don’t need to pretend dilapidation is the promised land.