Here at The Root, we talk a lot about things like white privilege, whitesplaining, white fragility, etc. Some of the folks who read our site find it hard to understand these concepts, so it’s always helpful when we have an example that displays exactly what we mean. Today is one of those days.
I would like to introduce you to Lucian B. Wintrich, a young white millennial and self-described “NYC Bureau Chief for The Gateway Pundit.” On his website, which I will not link to, he has quotes from other sites that have described him as “a dangerous troll,” “far-right intellectual,” “conservative boy wonder” and someone who is “known for propaganda.”
He is most recently known for having tweeted a conspiracy theory accusing some of the Parkland, Fla., shooting survivors of being “trained actors who were recruited by Soros-linked organizations as spokespeople after a crisis.” He also gave an “It’s OK to be white” speech at the University of Connecticut in November.
If you think that’s as white as it gets for Wintrich, you are wrong. It gets whiter than that.
You know how some white people are always trying to explain to black people what the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. really meant in some of his speeches and written works? You know how they are always wrong because they cherry-pick his messages to suit their own needs and agendas? Buckle up, because this is going to be a good one.
Bernice Albertine King, the youngest child and daughter of the civil rights leader, took to Twitter on Sunday to correct comedian Josh Denny—who happened to be engaged in whitesplaining MLK’s message to suit his own personal dumbass agenda.
You see, Denny had gotten on Twitter Friday and said that the phrase “Straight White Male” had “become this century’s N-word.”
“It’s used to offend and diminish the recipient based on assumption and bias. No difference in the usage,” Denny wrote.
Of course many people—black, white and otherwise—rushed to tell Denny he was wrong, but because he is white, male, and above reproach or correction (in his mind, at least), he wouldn’t back down from his point.
Instead, he invoked MLK’s name to drive his point home in some weirdo, misguided way.
“Saying ‘my label for you invalidates your opinion or place in society’ is literally what Dr. King fought against,” Denny wrote.
That is when King’s daughter stepped in to correct Denny.
“My father was working to eradicate the Triple Evils of Racism (prejudice + power = oppression/destruction of a race deemed inferior), Poverty (Materialism) & Militarism. Pointing out the group that most commonly benefits from all 3 is not ‘labeling.’ Truth before reconciliation,” Bernice King wrote.
It was at this point that Bernice was double-teamed by the “Well, Actually” Whitesplaining Duo.
Wintrich, who clearly does not give a fuck about anything Martin Luther King Jr. had to say or teach (again, he gave a speech titled “It’s OK to be white”), decided that he needed to tag himself in to explain to Bernice King what her father really meant in his most famous speech, “I Have a Dream.”
Quoting Bernice’s tweet, Wintrich wrote:
Hmmm... I don’t think you actually listened to your father. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”
He followed that up with, “I’m pretty sure he never said, ‘I have a dream we will make continuous references to people’s sexuality and whether they’re white or not... oh, and capitalism is bad too..’”
And even as people called Wintrich out and showed him with screenshots and quotes where he was wrong, he, just like Denny, continued to argue his point. He somehow knew MLK and his message better than King’s own daughter.
How white do you and your privilege have to be for you to get on Al Gore’s internet and correct King’s daughter about what her father meant?
Whiter than chalk? Whiter than Casper the Friendly Ghost? Whiter than the purest booger sugar that has not been stepped on? Whiter than square dancing? Whiter than clapping on the ones and threes? Whiter than the Ku Klux Klan? Whiter than white supremacy?
You get my point.
Neither one of these white dudes truly gives a fuck about Martin Luther King Jr.’s message. They simply want to invoke his name as a means of trying to silence black people who call them out for their privilege and supremacy. That’s usually how it works for people like this.
Dear White People:
It’s OK if you don’t truly understand or know King’s message, but don’t you ever in your pasty-ass lives try to invoke him against black people again.
Oh, and before you get in your feelings, please remember: