Evil White Males

May 17, 2005

By: Mike Talley

Once again, for some inexplicable reason, I was listening to NPR's Morning Edition (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4654635) on the way into work today when they had a story about the falling college graduation rates among men. Well actually, the story was about the record number of women who are graduating from college, but the part that interested me had to do with the lack of men.

They had on Tom Mortenson of the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education to attempt an explanation as to why men are doing so poorly in college. Mr. Mortenson was asked, "Has any college succeeded in what you might call an affirmative action program for men?" To which Mr. Mortenson replied:

I think colleges are justifiably nervous about this question of affirmative action for males. And in part it's because the women have worked so hard, and accomplished so much in preparation for college, that to think we might deny a space in college for a qualified and prepared and motivated young women just go get another less well prepared, less motivated, less focused young man in college is rather disturbing to most people.

Hmmm…..that is funny. Isn't that one of the best reasons for ending all affirmative action? I mean, why give one group a preference over another group? Doesn't that make people a little uneasy?

Mr. Mortenson then says that things are going to get worse for males:

We seem to know how to encourage and motivate and prepare young women. But there's really no conversation going on about what we ought to be doing to prepare our boys for the kinds of jobs that are going to be out there when they become adults

The reason there is no conversation about how to motivate males is that men in the U.S. are under attack. Let me rephrase that a bit: Straight, white males are under attack. As a straight, white male I am bombarded with messages that I am the root of all that is wrong with the world. After all straight, white men enslaved blacks, killed the Indians, beat their wives, practiced Christianity, started wars, developed nuclear weapons, made more money, and committed sundry other evil things. Somehow I am supposed to feel bad for these things.

Before someone looks into my past and pulls out a "Gotcha!" here is my full disclosure statement: my ancestors once owned slaves. They were rather wealthy farmers in central Virginia. The Civil War almost ruined them and by the time my father was born, we were solidly middle class. Am I proud of that? Not particularly. But I do not feel bad about it. Not a bit. Why? Because I did not do those things.

Why should I be made to feel bad for the bad things that other males have committed? While there were mistakes made in the past, the overriding result has been positive. Anyone like living in the U.S.? Sorry, evil white males set up this country based on the writings and ideas of other evil white males. Europe, do you enjoy freedom today? Sorry, evil white males were the predominate fighters of the past two world wars to give you that freedom (I am not taking away from the contributions of other people, but the vast majority of the fighting men and leaders were evil white males). Those wars were able to be won because of the U.S.'s vast industrial complex run by, you guessed it, evil white males. The list goes on and on. Yes, mistakes have been made, but a vast amount of good has been accomplished as well.

I am tired of being told that I am the problem. If you were to lump any other group together like the media and feminist do to white males, you would be tarred and feathered. Watch TV (http://www.popmatters.com/tv/features/030109-male-bashing.shtml) and see how men are portrayed. For some reason it is ok to bash white males. Feminists have been telling everyone for years that all men are potential rapists. They even tell young mothers that the baby boy they are holding may grow up to be a future rapist. I am tired of all of this.

Wendy McElroy is a feminist, but she calls herself an individualist feminist and she takes on the issue of male bashing quite frequently and she does a wonderful job exposing how unwarranted this bashing is. She has written about the anti-male bias many times, but this essay (http://www.zetetics.com/mac/ifeminists/2003/0513.html) is a great overview.

She also points out how men are put forward as the only people capable of committing domestic violence. This is evident in campaigns to stop domestic violence. One such campaign (http://endabuse.org/programs/children/) says:

In a national survey of more than 6,000 American families, 50 percent of the men who frequently assaulted their wives also frequently abused their children.

What about the women and mothers? Don’t they commit child abuse? Why is it assumed that only males abuse their children?

Here is another one (http://www.adcouncil.org/campaigns/Domestic_Violence_Prevention/):

Adults have an important role to play in helping prevent domestic abuse. The objective of the campaign is to engage men and have them speak to boys about how women should be treated. By influencing the attitudes and behaviors of young boys, adults can prevent violence towards women. Print ads encourage men to learn about the role they can play in putting an end to domestic violence.

I can assure you that I am teaching my boys to respect women and that violence towards them is NEVER an option, but why all the focus on men?

Here is my favorite (http://www.zetetics.com/mac/ifeminists/2001/1127.html):

Anti-male slander so frequently passes for domestic violence "awareness" that the YWCA of Middle Tennessee was recently able to run an ad in two Nashville newspapers that depicted the blurred photo of a boy near a front door. The caption read, "One day he'll own his own house ... drive his own car ... beat his own wife."

Nice, real nice. What if they had a picture of a black male that said: "One day he'll deal drugs...be on welfare... rape a white woman"? There would be outrage like you have never seen before. You can not lump people together. Isn't that what the multiculturalists have been telling us for years? That you can not judge an entire group based on the actions of some of that group. That is generally what we call racism. If I were to say that all black people are lazy or that women are stupid or that Jews are greedy, I would rightfully be called a bigot. But no, it is ok to lump males together in one group. Don't you know they are all evil?

Violence against anyone, male or female, adult or child, is wrong. We can do our part by teaching our children to respect others. But singling out males is not the correct approach. I have a feeling that there is a sense of guilt on men today. We are not allowed to be proud of what we are. If I succeed in business, it is because of my privileged position as a white male, not because of my hard work. If I get that promotion or into that school or any other accomplishment, it must be because of my maleness. That may have been true years ago, but things have changed, times have changed, the workforce and social norms have changed. That is fine by me, but stop trying to make me feel bad for being a male. In fact, I refuse to feel guilty for being who I am. I am a straight, white male who loves his wife and kids, helps around the house, works hard, is not a racist, is not a misogynist and tries to get along with everyone I meet. If it is ok for women to celebrate their womanhood, for African-Americans to celebrate their blackness and for homosexuals to celebrate their gayness, then by God it is ok for me to celebrate my maleness.