Proud to be White

[rlobinske]

This puke-a-riffic bit of bilge water appeared today, the first line was from the person who actually sent it:

I have to agree with this one, 100%!

Proud To Be White~~Someone finally said it.

How many are actually paying attention to this?
There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, Native Americans, etc. And then there are just Americans.

You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction. You Call me "White boy," "Cracker," "Honkey," "Whitey," "Caveman" .. And that's OK.

But when I call you Nigger, Kike, Towel head, Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink ... You call me a racist.

You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you, so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?

You have the United Negro College Fund. You have Martin Luther King Day. You have Black History Month. You have Cesar Chavez Day. You Have Yom Hashoah You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi You have the NAACP. You have BET.

If we had WET (White Entertainment Television) . We'd be racists.

If we had a White Pride Day .. You would call us racists. If we had White History Month We'd be racists.

If we had any organization for only whites to "advance" OUR lives ..We'd be racists.

We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce. Wonder who pays for that?

If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships ... You know we'd be racists. There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US , yet if there were "White colleges" THAT would be a racist college.

In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race and rights, you would call us racists.

You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and you're not afraid to announce it. But when we announce our white pride ... You call us racists.

You rob us, car jack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug-dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society ... You call him a racist.

I am proud. But, you call me a racist. Why is it that only whites can be racists?

There is nothing improper about this e-mail. Let's see which of you are proud enough to send it on.

I didn't think the person had gotten this bad.

[Chloe]

Proud To Be White~~Someone finally said it.

Absolutely! It's about time some privilege was extended to white people. Maybe one day, we'll have a white president.

How many are actually paying attention to this?
There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, Native Americans, etc. And then there are just Americans.

Irish Americans? Italian Americans? Polish Americans?

You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction. You Call me "White boy," "Cracker," "Honkey," "Whitey," "Caveman" .. And that's OK.

I've never done anything of the sort, and neither have I heard anyone else do so.

But when I call you Nigger, Kike, Towel head, Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink ... You call me a racist.

I know! How off the wall is that?

You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you, so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?

Because of poverty. Duh.

You have the United Negro College Fund. You have Martin Luther King Day. You have Black History Month. You have Cesar Chavez Day. You Have Yom Hashoah You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi You have the NAACP. You have BET.

If we had WET (White Entertainment Television) . We'd be racists.

We do; it just happens to be called NBC, CBS, ABC, etc. You see, being white is such an extraordinary privilege, it doesn't need a marker.

If we had a White Pride Day .. You would call us racists. If we had White History Month We'd be racists.

You have March through January inclusive. Not enough for you?

Rest deleted. Moron level just too high to cope with. I am deeply embarrassed that an accident of birth makes this person feel s/he can speak for me.

[Artemis]

Caveman? That's a slur against whites? Because only whites were cavemen?

I thought caveman was an insult against someone for being...well...dumb. Although those Geico ads have made me feel rather sensitive about that one.

[snoozn]

This reminds me of a Jon Stewart clip (I wish I could find it, but my youtube-fu is weak) about congressmen whining about how oppressed Christians are in this country. And Stewart comes back with something like "yes, imagine a time when a Christians could be the majority, perhaps even a 99% majority in our Congress. Imagine a time when a Christian could become president of the United States, perhaps even 43 Christians in a row." One could of course substitute "white" for "Christian" and make the same point.

This whole piece is so ridiculous it's hard to know where to start or if it's even worth it to respond.

I've never been called any white racial epithet and I dont know anyone who has mentioned it. Is it really a big problem? It's rude whatever race the insulter and insultee are. Don't we all agree on that?

As for all the black pride, black colleges, black chambers of commerce, etc. Well, see my earlier point about congress. Personally I wouldn't care if someone did start an all-white college, but there are so many mostly white colleges that it's hard to believe they'd find many students. I would expect such a college to be racist just because there wouldn't be another good reason to start one. There are some other good reasons to have black colleges or women's colleges (though I personally wouldn't want to attend one of these either).

This really reminds me of whiny children who complain that there is Mother's Day and Father's Day, but no Children's Day. Every parent knows the answer to this complaint (every day is children's day!) and the same answer applies to almost every complaint in this email.

And the whole "you rob us, etc." thing.....huh? As far as I know we lock up those who rob "us" and shoot "us". Likewise, we should punish racist police officers who abuse innocent people.

Bah, I shouldn't even read these things, but thanks for the advance notice in case this lands in my in-box!

snoozn

[Mouse]

Uh, dumbass, most of the stuff you're bitching about was started in response to white racism, but I guess several hundred years of slavery followed by half-heartedly endorsed civil rights legislation and a whole mess of lynchings can in no way shape or form compare to the pain you feel when some smartass calls you a "cracker."

Dumbass.

[Esprise Me]

I agree. I don't remember learning about any of the myriad and significant contributions of African Americans except during the month of February. It's sad.

[Tantei Kid]

I'm proud to have been a high school valedictorian.
I'm proud to have gotten on the college bowl team as a freshman.
I'm proud to have the love and respect of my family.


I take neither pride nor shame in being born white, female, brown-haired, American, etc.

[Ramblin' Dave]

We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce. Wonder who pays for that?

The Republican Party, if the frequency with which the Chamber of Commerce endorses it is any indication.

[Troberg]

This is too stupid to even try to give a verbal response. This kind of letter needs to be responded to with a shotgun.

[Avril]

I've often wondered why we as Native Americans have to be "Native" Americans rather than "just" Americans, which happened, of course, when the immigrants stopped calling themselves Englishmen, French, Germans, etc. I know the heritage is too difficult to trace to give everyone a label, but I recall rendering a history professor speechless (he had said that in the particular class he was teaching, Native Americans were "irrelevant," despite the fact that our textbooks made frequent reference to them--Native Americans were plenty relevant to eighteenth century English colonists!) by saying, "I don't quite understand how you can claim to be teaching American history when you have no interest in talking about Americans."

After which we had a lecture on Native Americans.

Avril

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Originally Posted by Avril

he had said that in the particular class he was teaching, Native Americans were "irrelevant," despite the fact that our textbooks made frequent reference to them

Avril

Dude. Really? And he was teaching? Scary.

[Avril]

It was an upper level graduate seminar on a particular eighteenth century figure, an English colonist in Massacusetts. This colonist lived in a Native American settlement for more than five years and otherwise encountered Native Americans in his daily life so I always thought it strange that they were not relevant to my professor, yet our main text (a recent biography) was one of the first works to discuss this aspect of the man's life, so in general, those who study this man, and have studied him for centuries, have not deemed the natives "relevant" any more than my professor. This is changing, but still baffling.

Avril

[Canuckistan]

Originally Posted by 1958Fury

He expressed pretty much the same sentiment - that the ultimate goal of having a Black History Month is to eventually no longer need a Black History Month.

I would say that's true of a lot of these awareness months -- they hope to eventually and truly not be needed.

In that sense, yes, I look forward to the day that such awareness months are no longer needed.

[Canuckistan]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Caveman? That's a slur against whites? Because only whites were cavemen?

I have to admit that I'm as baffled as you are by this one.

Must make me a caveman.

Well, I say enough is enough! I'm going to start calling other white people caveman! Oh, it's okay: I'm reclaiming the word!

Originally Posted by Avril

I've often wondered why we as Native Americans have to be "Native" Americans rather than "just" Americans, which happened, of course, when the immigrants stopped calling themselves Englishmen, French, Germans, etc. I know the heritage is too difficult to trace to give everyone a label,

I think they should stop calling 'native' Americans that and just call them Americans, then they can start calling the rest foreign Americans. It may stop the diatribes against foreigners if they can have a reminder their ancestors were foreigners at one point or another.

[Dr. Dave]

I don't think anyone intentionally disregareded this bit:

There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US , yet if there were "White colleges" THAT would be a racist college.

but I would like to point out that the historically black colleges and universities do not exclude applicants on the basis of race (i.e. white people can enroll). There do remain some women's colleges that exclude male undergraduates at least, but that was not the topic at hand.

Plus, as snoozn said, many of the "other" colleges are predominantly white.

[Buckle Up]

I'm going to say something very unpopular. Please be gentle with me if you disagree.

I'm of the opinion that everyone living here should consider themselves "American" and that's it. I also believe that no one group, even Native Americans, has any more right to this land than any other group. We all came from somewhere else, whether you believe in the Garden of Eden or evolution. "We were here first" never seemed like that convincing an argument to me. None of us have a "right" to the land; we're all here at the mercy of something else - whether you think it's DOYC or the earth.

I suppose I am sensitive to this issue because I live in a place where there are many Native Americans and those who aren't, are often blamed for the sins of the fathers. I know I am very naive when I say "can't we all just get along?" But I truly think any adjective stuck in front of "American," even if that adjective is "native", only divides us into increasingly hostile and sometimes violent sects.

[Jonny T]

Buckleupp's description sounds very familiar.

Here we're given a lot of talk on "multiculturalism". What this tends to mean in practice is not a society in which many cultures exist, cross-pollinate, blend and generally get along, but instead, one in which people are assessed based on criteria of religion, race, sexuality, etc., divided, and then asked to work together on that basis. In this view, a "multicultural community" is not a community which contains Muslims, Christians, gays, straights, blacks, whites, and Asians; but instead, a community composed of "The Muslim Community", "The Gay Community", "The Black Community", "The Asian Community", and so on. Rather than transcending barriers, it reinforces difference and then promotes co-operation on the basis that these boundaries are required.

It's like taking a crowd of people at random, segregating them by hair colour, and then promoting co-operation between the "blonde community", the "brunette community", and so on - rather than treating them just as, well, people.

What this also means is that some people - white, male, straight - do not feel part of this system as they do not fit into any of these categories, which in turn fuels a lot of the "a black lesbian took my job" sentiments, led by the Daily Express and its ilk.

that being said, if people are being treated negatively due to their race, gender or sexuality, on a systemic basis, it does make sense to try and deal with these problems collectively.

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Originally Posted by Buckleupp

"We were here first" never seemed like that convincing an argument to me. None of us have a "right" to the land; we're all here at the mercy of something else - whether you think it's DOYC or the earth.

I think the ire comes from how, exactly, the current dominant culture got the land. In this case, it was through really brutal means, including the near-complete destruction and appropriation of the vast amount of cultures already holding the territory.

I dunno. It bothers me more that "native" cultures are all lumped in with one another, leading to the uneducated assupmtion that a wigwam and a man in plains dress in Cherokee, N.C. is normal (I assume he's still there).

I am not, however, bothered with pointing out what the imperialist culture that led to the United States did to other ethnicities and races, any more than it bothers me that post-colonial studies do the same for the imperialist brits or dutch. It is something that needs to be pointed out, esp. since those who resist (typically) still don't get their privilage. Until they do, I say pound it into their thick skulls.

[Avril]

My annoyance had nothing to do with land; I have no desire to move to Mississippi to reclaim my Choctaw home. (Actually, white Catholics bought up a lot of the land and gave it back to us, which is why Choctaws are in significant numbers in Mississippi as well as Oklahoma.)

I feel that some have the desire to divide, while others just want to be acknowledged. Excessive division bothers me, too. I was mortified when the Native Americans who visited the "colonists" on PBS' Colonial House tried to make the "colonists" feel personally guilty about their mere existence in the area. I don't think that is helpful at all; it just breeds resentment. I know what the OP writer was trying to say. He/she just failed miserably to comprehend the nuances. I think, Buckleupp, that you may understand the nuances. Understanding the nuances will take us all a long way.

Avril