John Mcwhorter's The Cult Of Anti-Intellectualism

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In John McWhorter’s essay, “The Cult of Anti-Intellectualism,” McWhorter discusses his reasoning on why black anti-intellectualism is a result of victimology and separatism. McWhorter believes victimology, separatism, and anti-intellectualism are three causes of this lack of progression. Throughout his essay, he gives relevant arguments about the lack of progression of black America. Pointing the finger at the black community, this essay paints a picture of defeat in fatalism that threatens to keep African Americans from advancement. McWhorter began his argument about the failure of African Americans to achieve academic success by first attributing that one of the causes is Victimology. According to McWhorter in paragraph one, “Victimology determined the …show more content…

African Americans tend to use the “n word” freely but tend to find it offensive when individuals of other backgrounds do the same. Africans Americans use white privilege as a way to victimize themselves when it comes to the workplace, education, and society. McWhorter introduces the idea that black Americans would rather be victims. It is easier blame others than to actually address and solve the issue. The odds are not the favor of African American students and this is exactly what should fuel the fire rather than be a safety blanket to hide in whenever something goes terribly wrong. McWhorter proceeds his argument by explaining how “the cult of separatism,” plays a role in holding African-Americans back. McWhorter points out that African Americans have the tendency to isolate themselves from other races and only support authorities that can build black America stronger. Other races may view historical black colleges and universities as racist.

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