Noel S. Williams, American Thinker, November 21, 2017

While every other demographic group is coddled by the media, it is still PC to ridicule white males, partly because they are a benign majority who don’t complain much. This Thanksgiving seems an opportune time to give them thanks for forging a country that beckons the world’s tired, huddled masses, and to appreciate their overall magnanimity in sharing our abundance.

The loony left, forever futile in foisting the discredited socialist tenet of equal outcomes upon unequal contributors, purports that white privilege explains discrepancies in achievement. Actually, through their invention, brilliance, and industry, whites wrestled comfort and plenty from nature’s tight grasp. Guilt-ridden apologists, effete elites, and the race-hustling grievance industry may discredit Western Civilization and rewrite American history, but through our beneficence America’s poor are comfortable, compared to the most of the earth’s population. Our bottom 99 percent comes “surprisingly close” to being in the top 1 percent of household incomes worldwide.

Consider that in thirteen states welfare pays more than $15 (tax-free) an hour. Staggeringly, in a majority of states welfare payments exceed 2017-level minimum wages. And the purportedly privileged are disproportionally paying the taxes — over 45% of households paid no income tax in 2015. The other 55% of households deserve our thanks for footing the bills. Instead of disparaging white males, we should appreciate their largesse; for example, in formulating the Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC has been described as “the most effective federal antipoverty program for working age households,” by the Tax Policy Center.

Assuredly, we are trying to expand the workforce and broaden the tax base. Underpinned by affirmative action and adherence to disparate impact to rectify neutral policies that occasionally result in unintentional discrimination, we often choose minority candidates even if they are only “qualified for training.” Meanwhile, white males who are already qualified succumb to diversity quotas. Where’s the gratitude for their sacrifice?

Clearly, white males are mostly – mostly — a bighearted bunch who deserve our thanks for reaching out to minorities in a way few other countries bother. Even President Trump wants the Department of Energy to commit a formidable $200 million every year to expand racial and gender diversity in computer science curricula.

Of course, the ruling class, such as it exists, will protect its self-interest, and no one likes it when underperforming companies dish out huge payments to failed CEOs, or provide golden parachutes to executives before going belly-up. But that’s more the exception than the rule, and no justification to manufacture mayhem while Occupying Wall Street. The vast majority of Americans like to roll up their sleeves and get to work, as substantiated in the report “All Work, No Pay: The Impact of Forfeited Time Off” (pdf) by Oxford Economics. A survey conducted by Harris Interactive for a careers website presents even starker figures: U.S. workers only use 51% of their eligible paid vacation and paid time off.

Far from privileged, then, America’s silent majority are work martyrs. The American Dream has to be earned, even by white males, and one would be an ingrate to begrudge them — or anyone — the fruits of their labor. Opportunities exist for all who take personal responsibility instead of interminable government handouts which inevitably atrophy their skills and undermine self-esteem. The main encumbrance to success is laziness and immersion in entitlement, not outmoded notions of privilege from a bygone era. In every facet of our society, including housing, education, employment, and voting rights, equal opportunity has been inexorably expanded. Indeed, minorities exercised their ultimate civic power by voting at higher rates than whites in several recent elections. Though African-American voting rates dropped in 2016 when Obama wasn’t on the ballot, voting among other minority groups was lively.

While we’re being gracious this Thanksgiving, let’s also express gratitude to our law enforcement community for what is generally a thankless job (for our amazing veterans we are eternally indebted). According to Peter Kirsanow (himself a minority) of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, African-Americans are killed more frequently by police officers, but far, far less than the data would predict given they are much, much more likely to commit crimes. The narrative — probably accurate 30 years ago — that African-Americans are still disproportionately targeted by cops is now demonstrably false. Kirsanow’s assertions are well founded in Department of Justice data. And there’s more evidence that black cops are more likely to shoot black suspects than white cops.

All in all, you see, America is a salutary environment to be a minority. Maybe there are a few — though rapidly dwindling — remnants of privilege, but it pales compared to the classism or tribalism in many of our ancestral homelands. Even as many nations sitting on vast natural resources contrive to flounder under endemic corruption, a generous America gives mountains of aid at home and abroad. One can argue it took too long, but rather than retroactively impose today’s sensibilities on yesteryear, rather than dwell on historical misjudgments for a crutch, we should respect America’s ultimate altruism.

This Thanksgiving, civility compels us to give thanks that American white males, admittedly spurred on by once-relevant Civil Rights groups, nevertheless helped lead us to the broad, sunlit uplands of equal opportunity. The bitter left, engulfed in misappropriated white guilt for not bucking the prevailing standards of the time, and the malicious media may mock us, but thanks to our preponderance of compassion America remains the last great hope of earth. Period.

Happy Thanksgiving, pilgrims.