Virtual Signals Ahead: “What Being Born White Means”
Gregg Popovich, NBA Championship Coach of the San Antonio Spurs, is on a “White Privilege” guilt trip. I don’t know where this is going. I’m not convinced that Coach Popovich knows either.
He does not know what being born an Anglo-American man actually means. The irony, considering that I am African-American, is that I do happen to know what it means. It means nothing! Absolutely NOTHING! Nope, it doesn’t mean a single solitary thing. Why? Because being born to any particular ethnic group does not, in and of itself, convey upon the recipient of that birthright some guaranteed pathway to life, liberty, or a guarantee of happiness. Conversely, being born to a particular ethnic group does not impose upon other ethnic groups some intrinsic or automatic disadvantage. Being born “White”, “Black”, “Brown,” or even “Neapolitan” means nothing. Being born “White” does not mean that person starts the race of life ahead of others. Being born “Black” does not mean that person starts out in the last place. What matters are the decisions and choices we make (or not) as we live our lives from day-to-day and moment-to-moment? What matters is how we exercise (or not) our own God-given free will.
Greg Popovich does not know “What being born white means.” Again, the surprising thing is that I do. It means that his claim of being privileged, merely by virtue of his complexion, is a virtue signal. Popovich is indicating that he is supreme and that people of color are not. Yes, Coach Popovich’s claim of “White Privilege” makes him, by definition, a supremacist. Yes, privilege and supremacy go hand in hand. Can you have privilege yet not be supreme? Can you be supreme and not parley that into privilege? Isn’t that goal? Coach Popovich informs us that he is “White” and that by virtue of that he has privilege. Therefore, by his own admission, Coach Gregg Popovich is a “white supremacist.” No, he is not the Swastika, head-clean-shaven, or cross-burning type of supremacist. Nope! Gregg Popovich is the NextGen “White” supremacist – “White,” rich, successful, and….yes….privileged. He is the Progressive model of a supremacist. He is designed specifically to show Liberal-minded millennials how to hate themselves correctly.
Greg Popovich says that he
“…can’t imagine being a Muslim right now…”
Neither can I. Not now or any other day. Muslim on Muslim violence happens every day. Algemeiner reports that
“on November 24, at least 80 people, many of them Shiite pilgrims on their way home to Iran, were killed when an ISIS suicide bomber detonated a truck filled with explosives at a roadside service station in southern Iraq.”
I venture to say that many Muslims are struggling to understand what being Muslim means. Coach Popovich can’t imagine being Muslim but not for the self-flagellating reasons he pretends. Popovich is voicing a common refrain of the “Open Societies” Left that Muslims are under attack. He’s right in one sense. Algemeiner reports that,
“…on August 22, more than 50 people were killed and scores more wounded in a suicide attack at a wedding ceremony in Turkey…”
They are under attack…by other Muslims. The virtue signal Popovich is sending is that Muslims are being harmed by his “White” privilege, not the daily shootings, bombings, stabbings, kidnappings, rapes, and beheadings in the Muslim world. It’s Popovich’s privileged “White” birth that is the root of Muslim suffering not the centuries-long bloody struggle between Sunni and Shia Islam.
Popovich says that he
“can’t imagine…being a woman.”
Well, neither can I. Why does he even consider what being a woman is like? Is Popovich so guilt-ridden over the fact that he was born “White”, and more onerously, male that he is considering a transition…to the WNBA? Will the NBA have to formulate a new locker room and bathroom policy based on gender self-identification? I digress. Coach Popovich is, of course, virtue-signaling that he is supreme and women are not. Being born “White”, according to Popovich’s way of thinking, gives him inherent advantages over women. How would he then explain that women tend to outlive men? How does Popovich’s claim of “White” privilege square with the reality that women get higher degrees at higher rates than me?
Gregg Popovich says that he
“can’t imagine…being African-American.”
Now this one is in my wheelhouse. I happen to know a great deal about what it means to be African-American. Activist Shaun King, however, does not. Writing for The Intercept, #BlackLivesMatter activist Shaun White suggests that “White” people should
“…Be More Like Gregg Popovich.”
This is odd. Because if we take Coach Popovich at his work, HE doesn’t want to be “White” himself. During his interview he stated,
“ I’m a rich white guy, and I’m sick to my stomach thinking about it.”
Popovich is in a quandary it seems. The fact that he is “White” makes him sick to his own stomach. Yet, surrounded by Blacks his entire career, Popovich is clueless as to what it means to be “Black.” Shaun King says Whites should be more like Popovich. Not so long ago, popular culture was urging everyone, Black or White, to be like Mike, as in Michael Jordan. Oh, well.
This leg of Popovich’s “White privilege” guilt trip winds its way through the fetid, garbage-strewn, anti-capitalist, shantytown called “Occupy.” Coach Popovich bemoans the fact that he is rich. It’s bad enough that he enjoys “White privilege.” Compounding the problem, he is also immensely wealthy. According to BleacherReport, Coach Popovich and the Spurs agreed to a multi-year contract that pays him a base salary of $6 million dollars. Of course, Popovich is virtue signaling that his wealth and success are the product of “White privilege.” This aspect of Popovich’s virtue signaling mirrors the socialist ideal that one person’s wealth comes at the expense of others or indeed at the expense of society as a whole.
Yes, it’s being “White” with its inherent privilege that burdened Popovich with millions of ill-gotten gains. Oddly, it wasn’t hard work in the gym. It wasn’t the training. It wasn’t the man-years spent studying films of upcoming opponents. And certainly not the energy and effort of the extraordinarily talented athletes he’s been blessed to coach. Popovich, by his own admission, is “White” and rich. Given his $6 million dollars annual salary, Coach Popovich has a lot to be guilty about. In the interest of social justice, I pronounce Gregg Popovich guilty as charged. The punishment phase now begins. BlackLivesMatter recently issued their demand that those judged guilty of being both “White” and rich surrender their privilege-tainted wealth, assets, and holdings immediately. Here is Gregg Popovich’s opportunity to unburden himself of all that loot. Here’s his chance to redeem himself. What’s he waiting for?
Coaches are by definition instructors, teachers, and educators. Gregg Popovich still has a lot to learn.
