Matt Walsh’s new film “Am I Racist?” has hit the theaters and it has grossed a whopping nine million dollars in its second weekend at the box office; three times the budget used to make and market it. The film has also become one of the top forty most profitable documentaries of all time. It is Walsh’s second documentary film, his first being “What is a Woman?”, which explored the shaky foundation and logic gender ideology is built upon.
In contrast to his first film, which touches on many darker themes, Walsh’s new documentary is funny and lighthearted. The film takes the viewer all over America to look at various perspectives on race relations in the U.S., from the working-class and white Americans in the south to diversity, equity, and inclusion “experts.” They cover it all.
They even talk to the pseudo intellectual, queen bee of DEI, and author of the well known book White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo. DiAngelo, as well as other race relation gurus, claim ideas such as America being built on systematic racism, one being inherently racist due to their whiteness, and that America is by default a racist nation. They host events, write books, and talk to people about how to minimize their racism.
“Am I Racist?” seeks to expose the motivation behind people who promote these ideas. The documentary not only debunks many of the divisive ideas being promoted by these faux scholars, but also exposes the amount of money they are making from conducting these DEI workshops and distributing various materials.
The documentary, most importantly, shows how flawed DEI is. It’s flawed because it promotes equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity. It is flawed because it puts an emphasis on the differences between us, not what we share in common. It places suspicion and blame on the groups that overachieve. It also claims that anything you do will never be enough. Minorities will always be oppressed by default and everyone else will always be oppressors. It claims there is nothing anybody can do to change that.
Other than being wickedly hilarious and witty, “Am I Racist?” is important to see because it promotes something that the institutions, DEI, and mainstream narratives have forgotten. It promotes the idea of a colorblind America. One in which a person isn’t judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. An America where there isn’t an overemphasis put on the superficial facets of identity, but put on merit and hard work. An America where anyone can be anything, go anywhere.
As the social philosopher and American economist Thomas Sowell eloquently put it, “Racism is not dead, but it is on life support- kept alive by politicians, race hustlers and people who get a sense of superiority by denouncing others as ‘racist.’”
Let us take that racism off life support, it will most certainly create a society with the least amount of prejudice as possible. There will always be individuals who hold their own bias, but this problem can, of course, not be helped by policy, but by reaching people’s hearts on the individual level. The only thing the collective can help is the overall culture and policies of a society, so long as those things fall into place the rest will follow.
I implore you to go out and watch Am I Racist? for yourself no matter your background or political leanings. It is a film everyone can get something out of and laugh about. I promise you’ll leave the theater in high spirits and smiling.