WOKE Virtual/Augmented Reality (AR/VR)

How our ability to navigate discussions on race got distorted and 5 steps to better handle perceived racism

Virtual/Augmented Reality(AR/VR) is the new rave, as big tech companies race to grab the biggest piece of the metaverse pie. AR/VR enables you to see the world anew as you desire to construct or modify it. Reality is reshaped by algorithms, programmed to generate an immersive model of the world that reacts to your stimuli as if it was real. If you stay in AR/VR long enough, you can theoretically begin to lose your grip on reality.

Once upon a time, I navigated a construct of reality generated by WOKE (AR/VR) goggles. I could see racism, and every social "phobia" everywhere, as an explanation for everything that was wrong with the world. I remember previously coming across this quote by Neely Fuller Jr when I was fully immersed in the WOKE VR world:

"If you don't understand white supremacy/racism, everything that you do understand will only confuse you."

There was a sense in which understanding white supremacy was the means to decipher and make sense of everything else in the world - especially that which felt unjust or dysfunctional in society. A theory of everything if there ever was one. It initially felt so satisfying and deeply empowering, to have this superpower to identify bigots and shame them for their oppressive humor or casual social slander. It felt like a newfound purpose, the closest thing to a superpower.

Those who didn't see eye to eye with me were either ignorant or wilfully blind. And my greatest gift to them would be to get them a pair of these AR/VR goggles so they could become all-seeing too. My conscious intentions were pure, I just wanted to fix the world to become as I deemed just.

Gradually over time, the initial excitement waned, my daily anti-racist tirades on social media were incessant and began to push away any dissenting voices. I lashed out at friends and family who would dare to challenge my polarising perspective. In the end, I created imaginary/virtual enemies whom I castigated as racist till proven otherwise, lost real friends, and could no longer discern what was fact from the narrative in the realm of human conflict. The mental bondage of that place was so exhausting, blinding, and faith-destroying - both my religious faith and my faith in humanity.

I eventually awakened to the realization that my distorted view of the world was harmful to me, my family, and my loved ones. I'm grateful I got out but I'm a recovering "race-aholic" — previously addicted to racial victimhood and sold white guilt thinking I was God's gift to racial progress.

That cultural pressure to presume race as the filter through which humans process their negative evaluations or intentions is very alluring and the means by which so many have been strongly indoctrinated. It's important to recognize it and squash it because it poisons our relationships.

If someone says something that you perceive to be racist, i.e. that implies you are inferior based on your race, What do you do?

Here's what I think could help:

Don't lose your cool.

Feeling upset is a valid reflex emotion, but anger will likely undermine your clearest thoughts and best decisions. Compose your thoughts after gathering your emotions.

Give the initial benefit of the doubt.

Seek to clarify what was said & what was intended without assigning motives. Often we can be mistaken in our perceptions. So we would do well to ensure we got the message that was being delivered. We would want the same charity if roles were reversed.

Avoid stereotyping based on personal bias.

It's easier to assume the person is being racist because they are associated with a political party, profession, or religion that you or the mainstream media portrays as racist. You may also project past experience, or your own insecurities as a bias through which you interpret the other. Be aware of how your biases might be inferring motives that aren't necessarily present.

If racist intent was present after exploration.

This part is difficult. I think it is useful to remember that racist ideology is first built upon many misconceptions of the nature of human beings, where cultural assumptions and biases have been so deeply ingrained into our collective psyche. I think racists are often miseducated into racial falsehoods and need for that to be brought to their attention. Many racists have become this way via cultural indoctrination. Very few people who say something that is intentionally racist actually believe in an immutable racial hierarchy with themselves being part of the most superior race.

Now of course there are those who tragically believe in such racial hierarchies based on some deeply entrenched collective delusion such as the KKK. But while it's easy to write them off as hopelessly lost, there are wonderful stories of Klan members leaving that ideology behind through some pretty transformative encounters with those willing to challenge and re-educate them. I think it's important to see real racism as an opportunity first to re-educate rather than to shame and litigate. There are times when a racist act is indeed a crime then of course it's appropriate to seek legal recourse. Rushing in to catch a racist by the tail and punish them may stroke the ego but it won't heal the pain and it probably won't bring any true reform to the racist.

If racist intent wasn't present.

I think it's important to learn from the experience, acknowledging that we can be wrong in our perceptions, and it's important to evaluate our biases judiciously.

Real racism is policy, legislation, or action inspired by and reinforcing the LIE that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.

Much of what is called racism in popular discourse and leftist academic institutions just isn't. If we continue to politicize & weaponize racial conflict we only eviscerate human solidarity, reinforce the falsehood of racial categories, exacerbate interracial hatred, and inflate the economy for race grifters to exploit this financial gain while not actually solving real racism.

I look forward to a world where blackness or whiteness as we understand these social dichotomies today becomes obsolete, and the need for WOKE AR/VR becomes redundant.

Only time will tell.