In his recent Bloombergview article, Francis Wilkenson ridiculed conservatives for their distorted demographic perceptions. He wrote:
In June and July, Latino Decisions conducted a national poll for the Center for American Progress and PolicyLink. The poll’s sample was especially large — 2,943 adults, including 1,319 non-Hispanic whites. In one question, respondents were asked to give their “best guess” about the percentage of racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. population…
Every racial group overestimated the size of the nonwhite population, which in reality is about 37 percent. “Asians had the most accurate estimates,” the survey report stated, “with respondents estimating an average of 43 percent — followed by whites with an average of 48 percent, Latinos with an average of 50 percent, and African Americans with an average of 53 percent.”…
On average, whites overestimated the nation’s minority population by 11 percentage points. Digging a little deeper, the poll showed that 59 percent of conservatives estimated the minority population at 41 percent or higher, with 33 percent of conservatives believing nonwhites account for more than half of the U.S. population, a demographic milestone that is still decades away.
Keep that figure in mind as you consider this result from the same poll report: “Sixty-one percent of white conservatives and 56 percent of whites ages 65 or older agree that discrimination against whites will increase due to rising diversity.”
So conservatives think the nation is already either majority or almost-majority nonwhite, and a majority of conservatives believes that they will be discriminated against as the nation becomes more nonwhite.
There was a time, before the days of television, billboards, movies and brochures, when peoples’ perception of reality was shaped by what they saw and heard in real life. Folks spent most of their time among their countrymen, working, socializing, worshiping and playing. It’s true that they were ignorant of foreign lands, but they were acutely aware of the goings on in their own villages and provinces. Medieval man might have believed that troglodytes inhabited far-away lands, and sea-monsters the waters, but he was an expert when it came to local matters.
Today, many people spend more time in front of the television than mingling among the locals. Furthermore, today’s cities are so populous that one cannot even rely on what he sees to gauge demographic trends; at any given time, all he’ll see is a specific subset of the population. So, while the modern city-dweller may not believe in sea-monsters or troglodytes, he can easily be fooled about his own immediate surroundings.
In my search for a particular item of clothing, a friend recommended my local Kohl’s. While I didn’t find what I was looking for at Kohl’s, I did notice a profusion of model images throughout the store. I have previously written about Target’s habit of under representing white people in its signage. Kohl’s is no different. Here are some images I snapped there.
I apologize for the poor image quality; the lighting was difficult and I used my cellphone. But, at least in the men’s section, very few whites are depicted. Blacks outnumber whites. Is Kohl’s trying to cater specifically to blacks? In the women’s section, the vast majority of images are of white, or Asian, models. It’s hard to see how this would benefit Kohl’s financially – but it’s easy to see the similarity to Target.
I don’t watch television, but I’ve viewed enough commercials (online) to know that non-whites are featured in numbers wildly out of proportion to their actual percentages of the population. Does Wilkenson have anything to say about this? I doubt it.
People like Wilkenson are responsible for the over representation of non-whites in the media, and in places like Target and Kohl’s. While they may not directly demand it, their attitudes (of promoting non-whites whenever possible) necessarily lead to such phenomena. It’s interesting that Wilkenson would ridicule people for perceptions that are a direct result of policies he promotes.
Libertarian Realist did a video on the same topic, but focused instead on internet advertising: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CMVLLe91Bs
Thanks! His original video, which I’d linked to in the Target post, had been deleted.
They are trying to “groom” women (esp. white women) to desire black men with that advertising.
The stupidity of the day:
http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=858737
Apparently blacks using “white face” is ok.
Alternatively, Census misses a lot of non-whites and therefore undercounts them, and also has way too loose of a definition of “white.” So the 11% that whites overestimate minorities might not be such an overestimation.
Let’s see…
15% black
17% hispanic
5% other (asian, indian etc._
= 37% non white
Would you get on a boat where 37% of the cargo space was filled with water?
Go to a school where 37% of the students hate you for skin color?
Eat a meal where 37% of what was on the plate was and unknown substance?
There is nothing magical about the 50% mark – all that is, is the point where the downward slope becomes a nosedive.
So don’t get hung up on the idea of whites becoming a statistical minority. We’re already a cultural minority – it’s just going to take a little time for demographics to catch up with politics and make us a numerical minority.
Also one must look at demographics. Non-whites are generally younger, and having more children. If you ignored all the people over say 50, who will not be breeding any more, I would think the percentage of whites is much lower than 63%. And as is mentioned above, the censuses are not reliable for exact figures. Add this to the breeding rates, and thinking of the percentages in even one generation, and it becomes much more alarming.
As for people thinking anti-white discrimination will increase, well this is probably true, so what is wrong with thinking it? That “whites should feel guilty” is already so ingrained in white societies, that as whites become a minority, and the non-whites feel even more empowered as a result, the idea that whites are guilty of perpetrating past injustices will result in plenty of “excusable” racism directed to us and our children.
Just look at Zimbabwe!! Whites in the minority + past injustices = a murderous society which the locals say is all okay, because it’s all in the name of supposedly righting past wrongs.
Are the likes of Wilkenson even aware of any of this?
Funny. Who goes to Kohl’s? Upper middle class and rich Whites.
What ideology do most upper middle class and rich Whites adhere to?
Progressivism.
The swipples want to not see any Whites depicted anywhere. Their stores reflect their preferences.
Does anyone protest the lack of white faces in adverts?
I remember going to Macy’s a year or two ago and noticing a poster of a white female with a black male posted right on the entrance door. All the major department stores and clothing stores propagate this kind of imagery.
Recently I went to a Target and saw a huge poster of a smiling Mestizo couple with two East Asian children. I remembered it because usually they are pushing white-female and black-male couplings, so it was unusual.
Interestingly, in East Asia, it is not uncommon to see white models in ads! I’ve seen several Chinese, Korean, and Japanese ads which featured attractive blond females. By contrast, I have seen no East Asian ads featuring blacks, or Mestizos, Arabs, or any group other than either their own or whites.
Coming from a majority black area, I just assumed the advertisements I saw were aimed at the local population, and I rarely visit department stores when I travel. It was only when I started looking for clothes online that I really took notice of this frankly bizarre phenomenon.
Blacks tend to be more muscular than whites, but that can’t be the only reason black men are chosen so frequently to model clothes. Surely clothing manufacturers realize that blacks are a smaller percentage of the population than whites and that white customers aren’t likely to identify with images of black guys.
Speaking of being put off by male models, does anyone else wonder why companies would try to advertise their products to the common man using photos that could only appeal to gay guys? Who’s their target demographic? Do they honestly think a picture of some roided-up male model is going to motivate me to guy socks or underwear? Call it irrational or just plain weird, but I feel uncomfortable walking to the counter with a package of undershirts plastered with an absurd homoerotic image.
Watching “House Hunters” and the similar home remodeling shows on HGTV, one would think that 40% of American couples are gay, 40% black male/White female pair, 10% other interracial, and 10% same race heteros.
White models sell less clothing.. Simple as that.. The non white model is more visually intriguing to people who shop at Kohls.. People who shop at Kohls probably see waaaay more whites than they do non whites during their day to day lives so when they see a non white model it sparks a little bit more interest than it would had it been a white model..
Then how do you explain that, in the women’s section, most models are white?
Black males are more desired than black females. Black males are more muscular than white males, have more chiselled jawlines and generally just model clothes much better. Ditto for white females. It’s just the way it is.
Same reason why with whites + East Asians the male models will naturally be more “white” and the female models be disproportionately East Asian.
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