Saturday, June 04, 2022

Learning to Not Be So White


It took most of a lifetime for him to realize many of the riches he had been blessed with were based on his skin color. He was born pale and hairless; a puny lump of puking, shitting, totally dependent squirmy piece of flesh. But he happened to be White. His chances of good luck in his future were higher right out of the gate than the life prospects of the black, brown and yellow people living down back roads that crossed defining tracks separating Humanity into various groups based on imagined figments of superiority or inferiority.

It did not take him many years to believe his color, his race defined his greatness. The traditions of his ancestors insisted on their supremacy from centuries of exploiting folks whose only weakness was slower technical development. In his child like ignorance, he used his luck of the draw advantages as his due. Subjugating others became not an evil, but business as usual. He even convinced himself he was doing all the unwashed masses a huge favor by allowing them to bask in his White greatness.

And now multiple generations later, the unwashed masses have caught up and are insisting on the real equality they feel is owed them after so many years of exploitation. The latest progeny of the White Culture looks on a landscape his ancestors never envisioned. All around him the bedrock philosophy of his race is being attacked. His knee jerk reaction was it is an unfair and unwarranted surprise attack on him personally, using the evil committed by his White ancestors as an excuse.

Had not his forebears passed laws that turned the masses into humans just like him? Had not advantages he had never been given been bestowed gratis on the multi-colored rabble? Wasn't he and his race to be given credit where credit was due? Why were they still bitching? 

The White Man could not see past his anger over their lack of gratitude. He did not, could not, would not recognize the fact that passing laws and refraining from racial slurs was not enough. The reality was all those moments of progressive racial and ethnic actions were in reality turning out to be but window dressing disguising the ingrained racist history many white folk did not even know still existed.

The unwashed masses were still angry, still ungrateful. And White Folk all over the land were perplexed and soon many became angry and re-located their White Legacy of embedded racial hate. Not enough made any effort to walk in the shoes of the unwashed masses. They just hunkered down with their White hate and dug out Great, Great  Grand Dad's Confederate flag and dangled it from their pick up truck; all the while failing to acknowledge just how lucky they were to be White. They did not realize that just being White automatically removes much of the baggage the unwashed masses are saddled with the day they are born. 

The White Man liked to consider himself a fair man, an empathetic man, a man who was concerned about his fellow man. Slowly he began to calm down and tried to look at the new culture of racism from outside his classic clueless and skewed White perceptions. 

Inch by inch, article by article, speech by speech, he began to question the legacy that had been handed him from his White ancestors. He knew they had probably been good people who thought they were in the right. But he began to understand that racial superiority is ingrained so deeply, it would be years after he was dead and gone before it was resolved.

In the meantime, he vowed to try and not be the White Man he used to be.

Keep it 'tween the ditches ................................................

__________________________

Not sure I want to find a song that would be appropriate to the post. But I have created a tradition such as it is with a musical number to go with the post. 

I thought finding an appropriate tune would take some serious screening of more than a few tunes. But I picked the first one I listened to. Here is Billie Holiday singing, "Strange Fruit" .

Something most White Folk never had to consider for their kind.



6 comments:

One from Ukraine said...

Sad fact, but "black and white"-racism can exist even in absence of division by the skin pigmentatin AT ALL.

Attitude (and talking points actually too) Russians demonstrate toward my poor Ukrainians is stunningly the same as you describe here in your version of White Man.

MRMacrum said...

One from Ukraine - I have always held that groups in general will find some other group to look down on. In Example, Maine has had and still does have a very small population of blacks. So for years, the group looked down upon by others here were the French Canadians who migrated here back during the booming Mill days. History and time may change the groups being picked on, but the mentality remains. It's sad really.So sad.

One from Ukraine said...

Mmm, yes.
Big city folk vs villagers. Humanitarians vs techy-nerdy. "High society" vs "peasants". And etc, etc, et cetera.
But there is a difference.
Big difference. When such segregation is supported, or even imposed by a state government. For a sake of some kind of "national interests" policy.
People are powerless against government. ((((((

One from Ukraine said...

Saw something unpleasant today.
ruSSian terroristic regime captured three foreigners, here on the East of Ukraine -- where they fought for my country, as soldiers.
And made a cangaroo court trial with claiming them being mercenaries and sentenced to death. Well, that cannot be even called "court". Of course, that all is just for show and to make West kneel before Pu-tin to free em, by given something valuable in exchange.
Because two of them was british, plus one maroccan.

But what I see, on CNN was reported only TWO being sentenced.
Well, BBC was better... but still used as background foto only with brits too...

One from Ukraine said...

One more thing. Funny one, IMHO. Seen on a CNN today.
There is a town in Ukraine. With historical name -- ta-dah, New York.
'Cause in late 19th, early 20th century there was immigrants from Europe, who came to our Easter Ukraine territories to industrialise it there.
So they was giving names to a new places here as they liked.
In soviet times that names was changed, obviously.
But recently, under wave of de-comunisation, was restored.

Oh, wordy explanation, but it was important for understanding.
So... today in CNN they happen to show some flick from that place.
And called it... >Niu York< :-)))

Well, I understand their problem. As it is known from previous times.
For example in time of 2008 year war of RFia against Georgia Republic on a Causas.
There was noted commoution in USA, by people who misunderstood it like if Russia attacked Georgia state of USA. :-)))

The Blog Fodder said...

A perfect song for an accurate assessment of White privilege. Just being white gives us a huge jump up on everyone else in a world dominated by whites. In Saskatchewan it is First Nations that bear the brunt of our racism.