These words were written twenty years ago by classics scholar Mary Lefkowitz in her book Not Out of Africa. (I was inspired to look at her book again after reading this post by Steve Sailer.) As I pointed out a month ago (here), that book was in response to a book by Martin Bernal that argued that Greek philosophy had come from Egypt, that Cleopatra was black, and so on. Lots of people insisted that Lefkowitz was nothing but a racist. Some insisted that she had an agenda she herself was not even aware of. She wrote in an epilogue in the paperback edition:
Even if I state explicitly that Not Out of Africa was not written to promote Greek culture over all other cultures, or to uphold white supremacy, or to reinstate an outmoded university curriculum based on the classics, which has never, so far as I know, been in operation during my lifetime, certain reviewers will insist that I am promoting such agendas at least unconsciously. (181-2)
Later, she turns the tables on them and asks, “What about their hidden agendas?” (186). She goes on to suggest what they might be, like promoting ancient African culture over all other cultures and that only people of African descent can properly understand this culture.
But I think more can be said that we couldn’t easily see twenty years ago. There will be disagreement, of course, but at the very least part of their agenda includes the disparagement of white culture and whites, especially poor whites. This is true not just here in America, but throughout the entire Western world these days. Our elites hate poor whites. The extremists say that our elites want to exterminate all whites, whereas I say merely that they want to disenfranchise poor whites. Hillary called poor whites “deplorables” prior to the election and insulted them again just recently while on a trip to India. Some have gone so far as to say they think that poor whites should be replaced by immigrants. Others clearly think that poor whites shouldn’t be allowed to vote because they make such bad decisions. No elite has been particularly concerned about the plight of poor white girls in English towns being trafficked by Muslim men, even though feminists at least claim to care about all victims of sexual misconduct. Elites constantly talk about how diversity is strength, even though there are plenty of historical examples of homogeneous peoples doing well.
So, we are getting a clearer idea of what their hidden agenda is, and I hate to think of how much clearer things will be in another twenty years.
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