The Sickness of White Supremacy and Male Victimhood
“See what you made me do.”
The victim mindset is how male and white supremacists justify violence and murder. It’s the same poisonous frame employed by domestic violence abusers. “See what you made me do.”
Male and white extremist’s target is all of us.
The weaponizing of victimhood is a response baked into our dominance-based man box culture of masculinity. Never self reflect, don’t look at your own culpability, don’t consider how you might change and grow. As men, the problem is ALWAYS external to our group, our gender. Our only way forward is to blame others, double down on dominance.
Extremist recruitment is driven by endless victimhood narratives. “The white race is being erased.” “Women have all the advantages.” It is manipulation that relies on men’s unresolved trauma inflicted by the very dominance based culture of masculinity that now seeks to recruit our young sons into racism.
The openly white nationalist Republican Party is actively encouraging whites to lean into a victimhood mindset in order to recruit disaffected men and women into white nationalism. “The election is rigged,” is just the latest big lie in this recruitment strategy.
Instead of self reflecting, doing our men’s work, finding connection and healing, extremists invite white boys and men to double down on our self obsessed victimhood and attack women, BIPOC, LGBTQI+ people, and immigrants; anyone different from us. Men like Donald Trump spread this poison so effectively because he lives it; a millionaire born to privilege sees himself as the victim.
When men pause and actually see our larger culture of masculinity, we can ask ourselves, “Why do I believe what I believe about women? About being a man?” This is men’s work. To stop leaning on false notions of white or male victimhood as a crutch to avoid self-reflection.
Here’s the bottom line. If anyone is encouraging you to embrace your victimhood and commit violence, they likely see you as disposable; a resource to accelerate their own march to power.
Wise up. Don’t be a sucker for these sick bastards.
I wrote about my own struggle with victimhood in an article titled: When Men Make “I’m Sorry” Into a Weapon.
Ready to break out of man box culture? Download a free five chapter sample of The Little #MeToo Book for Men.
