Tokenism

[[File:Arcade_token.jpeg|right|thumb|165px|Insert one to ignore genuine inclusiveness]]
{{politics}}{{cquote|And as you know, [[Imperialism#United_States_of_America|American Imperialism]] is absolutely justified because we had a [[Barack Obama|black President]] once... before I fucking killed him!|||Senator Armstrong, ''An Incorrect Summary of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance''<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgmTsa3rFU0 An Incorrect Summary of Metal Gear Rising | Part 2 | Sons of Obesity] Max0r on [[YouTube]], 2022.</ref>}}{{cquote|There's nothing the rightwing loves more than a [[African American|black person]] willing to say black people are the real racists or a [[queer]] person willing to say queer people are the real threat. If you're queer or a person of color and you're telegenic and articulate and willing to sell the rancid cum rag that passes for your [[soul]], you'll never have to do an honest day's work again in your life.|||[[Dan Savage]]<ref>[http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/02/20/24881934/milo-yiannopoulos-girls-are-in-danger-when-adult-trans-women-use-public-toilets-but-13-year-old-boys-can-benefit-from-giving-head-to-adult-ma "Milo Yiannopoulos: Girls Are In Danger When Adult Trans Women Use Public Toilets But 13-Year-Old Boys Can Benefit From Giving Head To Adult Males"] by Dan Savage (February 20, 2017) ''The Stranger''.</ref>}}
{{cquote|Think of the worst [[politician]] you can. When we have a woman as bad as him elected, then we have equality.|||{{wpl|Amanda Vanstone}}<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-06/sue-boyce-gender-parliament-survival-issue/7135384 Sue Boyce: Preselecting more Liberal women is not just a 'feel-good' issue] by Sue Boyce (February 6, 2016) ''Australian Broadcasting Corporation''.</ref>}}
'''Tokenism''' is the practice of using a member of a minority group in order to "prove" how "[[progressive]] and forward-thinking" your organization is.

For instance, [[Alan Keyes]] was the [[Republican Party]]'s "token black" and would still be if Alan Keyes weren't insufficiently crazy in the era of [[Ben Carson]].<ref group=note>Other former tokens, like {{wpl|Colin Powell}} and [[Michael Steele]], have also been purged for excessive sanity. But they also have [[Dinesh D'Souza]] and [[Michelle Malkin]] if one needs non-black minority [[wingnuts]].</ref> Some companies{{factoid|Which?}} will hire one representative of a given group — for instance, one [[African American]], one [[gay]] person, or one [[woman]]<ref group=note>Or one black lesbian to include all three groups with one person.</ref> — to give the entire company the appearance of being [[Tolerance|inclusive]]. 

Similarly, traditionally exclusionary organizations such as private schools will go out of their way to put (stock) photos of minorities in their literature,<ref>[https://www.pexels.com/search/multicultural/ multicultural Photos] ''Pexels''.</ref> creating a parallel Bizarro World of [[multiculturalism]] that [[Cognitive dissonance|does not exist in said organization's objective reality]]. It's why [[Bob Jones University]] has photos of black guys and [[Asia]]ns on the front page of its web site.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220201092852/https://www.bju.edu/ Bob Jones University] (archived from February 1, 2022).</ref><ref group=note>There are many, many more photos of white people, however.</ref>

In some cases tokenism is used in attempt to dilute a qualified candidate's votes with an opposing candidate in the same demographic without any pretense of progressivity, e.g. the totally unqualified but famous Herschel Walker ([[GOP]]) running against Senator Raphael Warnock in the 2022 Georgia Senate race. Both candidates are [[African American]].<ref name=attiah>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/09/herschel-walker-gop-black-candidate-tokenism/ Why we barely dodged the Herschel Walker bullet] by Karen Attiah (December 9, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. EST) ''The Washington Post''.</ref><ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/shaunharper/2022/12/07/herschel-walkers-loss-in-georgia-senate-runoff-shows-why-tokenizing-black-people-usually-fails/ Herschel Walker’s Loss In Georgia Senate Runoff Shows Why Tokenizing Black People Usually Fails] by Shaun Harper (Dec 7, 2022, 12:59pm EST) ''Forbes''.</ref> "As for Walker: This won’t be the last time the GOP raises up a Black man [Walker] who lies, says dumb things and has a history of sexual misconduct and violence when the candidate on the opposing side is a liberal Black man with a squeaky-clean public persona who generally projects preparedness, intelligence and savvy."<ref name=attiah/>

Tokenism is also used to give organizations the appearance of [[Fair and Balanced|political balance]]. For instance, [[Alan Colmes]] was one of [[Fox News]]' "Token Liberals."<ref group=note>Similarly, [[Pat Buchanan]] was one of [[MSNBC]]'s "Token Racists."</ref>

==#NotYourShield==
[[File:Gamerghazi pyramid.jpeg|thumb|left|165px|The #NotYourShield pyramid of ultimately [[Antisemitism|blaming the Jews]] ([[Cultural Marxism]])]]
{{main|Gamergate#.23NotYourShield|Gamergate#NotYourShield}}

[[Gamergate]] found a way to weaponize the [[friend argument]] with the #NotYourShield hashtag. It is ostensibly a group of women, non-white people, and people of varying sexualities who claim they are not a shield from criticism for the [[journalist]]s who decried Gamergate as a hate movement focused on evicting women, [[feminist]] ideas, and [[liberalism]] from the [[video game]] industry and that they care about "ethics in video game journalism".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140907141620/http://www.cinemablend.com/games/-NotYourShield-Hashtag-Shows-Multi-Cultural-Support-GamerGate-67119.html #NotYourShield Hashtag Shows Multi-Cultural Support For GamerGate] by William Usher (2014-09-06 20:35:46) ''Cinemablend'' (archived from September 7, 2014).</ref>

The primary victim of Gamergate, Zoe Quinn, later revealed they had evidence disproving everything about Gamergate up to that point, including evidence that the progenitors of #NotYourShield were [[sockpuppet]] accounts of straight white guys having stolen avatars from across the Internet of women and non-white people to use for making new [[Twitter]] accounts.<ref>[http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/09/new-chat-logs-show-how-4chan-users-pushed-gamergate-into-the-national-spotlight/ "Chat logs show how 4chan users created #GamerGate controversy"] by Casey Johnston (9/9/2014, 4:20 PM) ''Ars Technica''.</ref>

However, this did not stop Gamergate from actually recruiting the kinds of people they initially pretended were supporting them, setting up a culture-jamming campaign and [[ironically]] a shield from criticism for Gamergate itself. When anyone criticizes Gamergate for being a hate movement against women and ethnic and sexual minorities, Gamergate adherents cite #NotYourShield, believing that the presence of women, anyone who isn't white, and anyone who isn't straight who agree with them discredits the experiences of those who disagree.

==Example tokens==
* [[Greg Abbott]] — Received somewhere in the range of $9 million from a tort against a homeowner whose tree branch fell and permanently paralyzed him while was jogging.<ref>[https://www.texastribune.org/2013/08/02/greg-abbott-gets-millions-lawsuit-proceeds/ For the First Time, Abbott Discusses Details of His Lawsuit Settlement] by Jay Root (Aug. 2, 2013) ''The Texas Tribune''.</ref> As [[Texas]] attorney general he has supported tort reform that would substantially cap the amount of tort payments.<ref>[https://www.texastribune.org/2013/08/04/candidate-faces-questions-turnabout-and-fair-play/ Abbott Faces Questions on Settlement and His Advocacy of Tort Laws] by Jay Root (Aug. 4, 2013) ''The Texas Tribune''.</ref>
*'Tolkien Black,' a token black guy in [[South Park]] — his name is literally a play on words.
* 'Chef', The token Black in [[South Park]]
*[[Roy Cohn]] — [[Joseph McCarthy|Ruined the careers]] of [[Democrats]], gays, [[Jews]]… and he himself was all of those things. "Not all Jews are [[Communists]]," he said, "but most Communists are Jews."<ref>[https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/king-cohn/ King Cohn: Roy Cohn was one of the most loathsome characters in American history, so why did he have so many influential friends?] by Robert Sherrill (August 12, 2009) ''The Nation''.</ref>
*David Cole — A [[Jewish]] [[Holocaust denier]].
*[[S. E. Cupp]] — Token [[atheist]]. Uses the same basic techniques (academia and the media hates [[Christians]]!) to deliver the [[conservative]] votes.
*[[Candace Owens]] — A token Black Hitler apologist<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/08/one-trumps-most-vocal-black-supporters-seemed-defend-hitler-recent-speech/ One of Trump's most vocal black supporters seemed to defend Hitler in a recent speech] by Eugene Scott (February 8, 2019 at 4:22 PM) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>
*[[Jordan Peterson]] — Token academic who is the "favourite figure of the alt-right"<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/who-is-jordan-peterson-favorite-figure-of-the-alt-right-1221615171523 Who is Jordan Peterson, favorite figure of the alt-right] (April 28, 2018) ''NBC News''.</ref> believes that academia has been polluted by "[[postmodern]] neo-[[Marxists]]", and who is handsomely rewarded for it via his GoFundMe page, bringing in $50,000 a month.<ref>[http://www.macleans.ca/opinion/is-jordan-peterson-the-stupid-mans-smart-person/ Is Jordan Peterson the stupid man’s smart person?] by Tabatha Southey (November 17, 2017) ''Maclean's''.</ref>
*[[Thomas Sowell]] — You mean the segregation-supporting Sowell?<ref>[https://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2016/10/04/dunbar-high-school-after-100-years-n2227261 Dunbar High School After 100 Years] by Thomas Sowell Oct 04, 2016 12:01 AM) ''Townhall''.</ref>
*[[Christina Hoff Sommers]] — Insufferably smug,<ref>[http://i2.wp.com/www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/6f4.gif?resize=400%2C219 "Check your facts, not your privilege" meme] via ''We Hunted the Mammoth''.</ref> "factual feminist" and [[Gamergate]] shill
*[[Blaire White]] — That [[Transgender|trans woman]] who tells the right-wing that it's OK to be [[transphobic]]. She holds views that are antithetical to those of the overwhelming majority of trans people, but [[Projection|still manages to claim]] the left is "fighting a fight transgender people don't want." Known for making extremely sensationalist claims like "trans children are [[child abuse]]"; welcome to [[clickbait]] culture.
*[[Milo Yiannopoulos]] — [[Alt-right]] figurehead (although he doesn't identify himself with the alt right)<ref>[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TpYc31boyYo "I don't, in fact, describe myself as a member of the alt right."] minute 1:41</ref>{{Dead link}} who is ([[conversion therapy|ex]]-?)[[gay]]. He has [[vague]]ly advocated [[Pedophilia|fucking children]]. Well, he was [[Child sexual abuse|molested as a kid]], so he's pretty hard to top in the "token" category.
*[[Alice Weidel]] — leader of the far-right party [[Alternative für Deutschland]], a lesbian and an opponent of [[same-sex marriage]]s.

==See also==
*[[Friend argument]]
*[[Race card]]
*[[Uncle Tom]]

==External links==
*[https://reddit.com/r/asablackman /r/AsABlackMan] on [[Reddit]].
*[http://www.osborne-conant.org/tokenism.htm The Sociology of Tokenism]
*[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TokenMinority Token Minority] on [[TV Tropes]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{stub|racism}}
[[Category:Racism]]

Categories: Racism