Politics and Society: It's Okay to be White
"It's okay to be white"
This phrase recently trolled many college campuses across America in the last week, sparking outrage from some leftist, identity-political czars. A youtuber, Sargon of Akkad effectively covers it here, so I don't want to re-hash the details here. What I would like to point out is that historically speaking white people have gotten a bad wrap, and that the mere fact that some felt the need to post this phrase on their campuses AND the subsequent outrage is indicative of a campaign (perhaps crusade) against the current ethnic majority in America. If all you had to go by was the mainstream narrative of history you would think that white Americans were the 'people' that invented slavery instead of being the people that abolished it. It was not African, Middle-Eastern, or Asian nations that first abolished slavery in all its forms. It was western peoples that pushed such ideas to the forefront of their respective cultures. Certainly there was debate on both sides of this particular issue as there always are with new concepts. The truth is that slavery still exists in Asia, Africa, and the Middle-East. It does not exist in Western nations where whites are a majority.
I am not stating this to advocate that melanin-challenged individuals are superior in any other way to our darker-skinned brethren, rather, I would remind society that no one in the present is responsible for anything that happened before they were born and perhaps to also assert that a re-vision of history is being used as an instrument of division and oppression.
It is the same Western thinking that embraces the idea of the individual, of equality, and justice for all that brought us as a society willing to make our best attempt at being color blind, to look at an individual based on their merits and their potential and not on the color of their skin nor their gender. Now the assertion is that if we are successful in being colorblind then we are passively racist because we fail to acknowledge the differences previously sought to be ignored.
Suggesting that because your skin is categorically white you possess iniquity is in of itself a form of racism. In its extreme forms this line of thinking would have white people pass their properties and wealth not onto relatives but onto ethnic minorities in America, it is not enough for these people that your white ancestors fought and perhaps died in the fight to abolish slavery, they want you to will your possessions as well. I am white, I inherited nothing except the ethic that hard work will pay off eventually, and it has, as it has for the Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, and Arabian peers that have worked along side me for years.
For years homosexuals were told that they were somehow bad, or deficient in some way. They were made to feel guilty and hide their true selves in the metaphorical closet until society got over the Judaeo-Christian principles regarding homosexuality and declared, "It is okay to be a homosexual". This makes me wonder if it is the goal of the white-hating (often self-loathing) left is to shame white people until they too retreat to some sort of closet. How does one hide being white? One can't. Resigning oneself to the adage "I did not choose to be white" is a form of this surrender, the first step on a path of apologizing for the color of your skin. If you do this then in cowardice you are surrendering to the pressures of bigotry and racism, and in this perhaps there is shame but not because of your skin color but because of your spinelessness.
"It's okay to be white" is not a proclamation of white supremacy, nor is it a denial of the challenges posed to other ethnicities. It is not an apology either. It is a declaration that one cannot be summed up based on their color, rather that one should be measured by the merits of their individual character... which is something that others have fought and died for.
What I would propose to all Americans is that we cease the identity-driven interest. It is divisive in nature. Often I will hear someone state that they are proud to be Latino, or Black, or Filipino, fill in the blank here, which is fine but I think the trouble with this is when these groups come before being "American". As of late I have heard this same sentiment from blacks more than any other, preferring to be considered simply and 'American' over 'African-American' and it seems to me that placing any other identity before the word 'American' is a form of segregation. How can full integration be possible if we still separate out into sub-groups?
It's okay to be black. It's okay to be male. It's okay to be gay. It's okay to be straight, bi, Asian, white, Latino, Italian, Jewish, Female, Navaho, Indian, Christian, Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and any combination of these and more.
It is Great to be American. That greatness was forged by the contributions of men and women of every ethnic and religious background, including white people, not despite them.
This phrase recently trolled many college campuses across America in the last week, sparking outrage from some leftist, identity-political czars. A youtuber, Sargon of Akkad effectively covers it here, so I don't want to re-hash the details here. What I would like to point out is that historically speaking white people have gotten a bad wrap, and that the mere fact that some felt the need to post this phrase on their campuses AND the subsequent outrage is indicative of a campaign (perhaps crusade) against the current ethnic majority in America. If all you had to go by was the mainstream narrative of history you would think that white Americans were the 'people' that invented slavery instead of being the people that abolished it. It was not African, Middle-Eastern, or Asian nations that first abolished slavery in all its forms. It was western peoples that pushed such ideas to the forefront of their respective cultures. Certainly there was debate on both sides of this particular issue as there always are with new concepts. The truth is that slavery still exists in Asia, Africa, and the Middle-East. It does not exist in Western nations where whites are a majority.
I am not stating this to advocate that melanin-challenged individuals are superior in any other way to our darker-skinned brethren, rather, I would remind society that no one in the present is responsible for anything that happened before they were born and perhaps to also assert that a re-vision of history is being used as an instrument of division and oppression.
It is the same Western thinking that embraces the idea of the individual, of equality, and justice for all that brought us as a society willing to make our best attempt at being color blind, to look at an individual based on their merits and their potential and not on the color of their skin nor their gender. Now the assertion is that if we are successful in being colorblind then we are passively racist because we fail to acknowledge the differences previously sought to be ignored.
Suggesting that because your skin is categorically white you possess iniquity is in of itself a form of racism. In its extreme forms this line of thinking would have white people pass their properties and wealth not onto relatives but onto ethnic minorities in America, it is not enough for these people that your white ancestors fought and perhaps died in the fight to abolish slavery, they want you to will your possessions as well. I am white, I inherited nothing except the ethic that hard work will pay off eventually, and it has, as it has for the Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, and Arabian peers that have worked along side me for years.
For years homosexuals were told that they were somehow bad, or deficient in some way. They were made to feel guilty and hide their true selves in the metaphorical closet until society got over the Judaeo-Christian principles regarding homosexuality and declared, "It is okay to be a homosexual". This makes me wonder if it is the goal of the white-hating (often self-loathing) left is to shame white people until they too retreat to some sort of closet. How does one hide being white? One can't. Resigning oneself to the adage "I did not choose to be white" is a form of this surrender, the first step on a path of apologizing for the color of your skin. If you do this then in cowardice you are surrendering to the pressures of bigotry and racism, and in this perhaps there is shame but not because of your skin color but because of your spinelessness.
"It's okay to be white" is not a proclamation of white supremacy, nor is it a denial of the challenges posed to other ethnicities. It is not an apology either. It is a declaration that one cannot be summed up based on their color, rather that one should be measured by the merits of their individual character... which is something that others have fought and died for.
What I would propose to all Americans is that we cease the identity-driven interest. It is divisive in nature. Often I will hear someone state that they are proud to be Latino, or Black, or Filipino, fill in the blank here, which is fine but I think the trouble with this is when these groups come before being "American". As of late I have heard this same sentiment from blacks more than any other, preferring to be considered simply and 'American' over 'African-American' and it seems to me that placing any other identity before the word 'American' is a form of segregation. How can full integration be possible if we still separate out into sub-groups?
It's okay to be black. It's okay to be male. It's okay to be gay. It's okay to be straight, bi, Asian, white, Latino, Italian, Jewish, Female, Navaho, Indian, Christian, Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and any combination of these and more.
It is Great to be American. That greatness was forged by the contributions of men and women of every ethnic and religious background, including white people, not despite them.
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-J