It seems the perpetually-offended are having to go the extra mile these days. With almost all aspects of culture already decried as too white, grievance campaigners are getting creative. Perhaps there will come a day when North Korea rightly faces international opprobrium for its inexcusable whiteness, but until such time, it’s good to see the outermost regions of the earth doing their bit to help out.
Mount Everest is too white; but then, you probably already knew that. I for one, always had my suspicions – it’s covered with snow for Christ’s sake, and we know how racist that stuff is. Personally, I hope Everest gets prosecuted to the full extent of the non-crime, criminal laws our police are so fond of. I am however, slightly concerned that its accusers couldn’t find anything a bit closer to home.
Meet ‘Full Circle Everest Expedition’, the first all-black team of climbers heading to Everest. Since Edmund Hillary reached the summit back in 1953, over 10,000 climbers have managed the feat, yet only a handful have been black. So far, so good.
Let’s hand over to Full Circle, who explain the group’s aim via their website:
The Full Circle Everest Team represents a zenith in generational perseverance. This expedition will showcase the tenacity and strength of these climbers, and highlight the barriers that continue to exist for Black communities in accessing the outdoors.
Pulling no punches then – ‘The barriers that continue to exist for Black communities in accessing the outdoors’. But this is starkly at odds with last month’s Times’ feature, which described the team thus:
The group has some PhDs in environmental and science fields, multiple summits of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Denali in Alaska, and years of climbing, mountaineering and instructing experience.
In what way, then, are these people fighting ‘barriers’ in accessing the outdoors?
It’s sad to say it, but it may simply come down to money. An assault on Mount Everest doesn’t come cheap – according to those in the know, the cost per person can easily run in excess of $100k. Not so easy to fund.
Fortunately, the grievance industry is big business. With corporate America pledging $50Bn for racial justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death, it’s hardly surprising that so many want in on the act. It’s got to be galling however, when demand for offence so vastly outstrips supply, you’re forced to brave the summit of Mount Everest to locate it.
What else were they going to do though? Like the dotcom boom, all the best domain names have already been taken. Don’t believe me? Try me: TV, the English Language, Schools, books, campuses, architecture, museums, politics, classical music, the media, science, climate activism, the countryside, running, hunting, working out, hiking, skiing, tourism, cycling, libraries, milk, eating foreign food, not eating foreign food, the workplace, charities, Hollywood, social media, the BBC, the West End, the suburbs, the Lake District, Scotland, the police, healthcare, kitchen design, churches, choirs, Jesus & God, the beauty industry, models, weddings, the Royal Family, and the nuclear family – all too white; all snapped up. So where’s your next meal coming from?
While I find the victim card singularly distasteful, I do despair at the egregious lack of curiosity which routinely afflicts diversity promoters. Why do they never complain about too many Asians in tech, too many blacks in the NBA, or too many women in teaching?
And why is ‘diversity’ always just a crude euphemism for ‘non-white’? Consider this celebration from Global Sport Matters:
With 80.7 percent of players being people of color, the NBA takes the lead among men’s sports for player diversity.
Presumably if they could get rid of the remaining 19.3%, they would reach peak diversity, and win themselves a visit from Jon Snow?
We all know why they do it of course – the white privilege scam is a licence to print money.
An expedition to conquer Everest is commendable, whoever’s doing it. But I regret the need to pander to racial politics in absolutely every walk of life. Let’s have a bit more tackling the elements for its own sake; or as Full Circle prefer, let’s ‘tackle the sport’s colonial history’.
Do me a favour.
