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This really bothered me

K
Kyosogi

First of all, I am not "White." I am an American first, a New Yorker second; strictly legal monikers. I received the following e-mail from a business associate today. It bothered me.

Subject: Proud To Be White

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, 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, carjack 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.


Fine. The author was annoyed at something, feeling unappreciated, stereotyped, or whatever; enough to want to assert a feature of their own identity. Fine. This person has the right, check that, the privilege to freely express their thoughts. I don't have a problem with that. But this person seems to have overlooked why they have the privilege to begin with. They have the privilege because they are an American, because people of all color, creed, and calling fought and died to protect their privileges and keep them free from persecution and punishment. They have the privilege because people of wisdom had forethought to acknowledge that although we are all born of different features and quality, we should all have the privilege to develop those features and qualities- equally.

We are beings, human beings, social creatures relying on each other for survival. We live together, and will die together, as a species- the human species. Human life is the one thing we all share, amongst the infinite number of differences between us. Our shared existence, the human existence, can guarantee our survival. Dwelling on our differences will destroy us.

I am proud of my family's cultural roots, as everyone should be, but refuse to acknowledge my person associated with a color, religion, political party, or region. It dehumanizes me to do so, and devalues me. We spend too much time and effort emphasizing our individualities and not our commonalities.

Be proud of who you are- a sentient being, a human being.

Comments (19)

J
JeepChick·
I Agree with you completly. What his email fails to recognize is that every month is White history month, every parade is White parade. Our founding fathers were White-Christian-Men, so most of what we do in the country, from scholarships to TV, is for White, Christian Men. Pointing out our differences helps up to appreciate them.....it shouldn't be negative.\r \r And as for me....I am Scotch-Irish American......TAKE ME TO THE BAR OR I'LL BITE YOU! LMAO
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nomodifier·
The Powers That Be can't control us if they can't compartmentalize us, and turn against each other. I tend to live by the words of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and judge people by the content of the character. No one should be condemned nor given a pass solely because of the color of their skin.
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supergg2k·
It amazes me to see that email. You'd think that we would be past these discussions about white this, black that, yellow the other thing in the 21st century.\r \r Times may have changed but ignorance remains the same.
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TDrag27·
That is really fucked up...I'm not even sure how to comment on that. That has to be the most racist \"I'm not a racist\" commentaries I've ever seen. \r \r I think you should be \"proud enough\" to forward that shit on to Human Resources - And then hopefully some white person will fire him...(Okay, that's probably unnecessary, but karmic irony would be fitting). \r
J
JeepChick·
noice Tdrag...lol.....That would be something that I think HR would raise a few eyebrows at.
D
DaddyFatSack_25·
HONKYS
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SamuraiCoder·
If you aren't white and a business associate forwarded it to you, do they know you are not white? If they do, you have what amounts to a hate crime.\r \r My wife and I have two children. In school they have friends of all different colors. It never enters their mind.\r \r As nomodifier states, we should all be judged by the content of our character. Dr. King was an American. The best kind of American. One who keeps fighting for freedom. It's in the damn Declaration of Independence!
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KuruptU4Fun·
I just dislike short people.....
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TANK·
The author has some great points. Why are there all these 'pride' days based on color, creed, race, whatever but if something like that is 'white' thew ites are labeled racist. I mean it's a totally valid point, i've thought the same thing for years.\r \r For everyone to be equal, there needs to stop being separation.\r \r
K
KuruptU4Fun·
Tank, how do you stop segregation when that's what everyone wants and does by instinct???
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RivalJJH·
I like ham.
A
Azuredreams·
I agree , the seperation of the races is what makes for racisim. HOWEVER our society does not tolerate any sort of pride in our skin tone without calling us Nazis and or white supermisits. It's a double standard that needs to cease, because that kind of thing is exactly what bolsters the ranks of the KKK and the neo nazi party. \r \r Jeep chick...wow...I have to say that I have never once witnessed a all white parade, or pageant, or all white anything. \r \r As for me, I'm German, Irish on my mother's side and full blooded hungarian on my father's. My gypsy ancestors were accused of stealing babies and chickens and my Irish roots were treated even worse, yet I don't see any reperations comming my direction any time soon! :P
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TDrag27·
Tank - I think at some point or another, most people have thought that having \"days\", scholarships, organizations, or specific race whatevers have done more harm than good because they still focus on the differences. And a true equal society is colorblind. \r \r I personally have just come to the conclusion that it must be easier to think that way when you've never lived a day in your life thinking about your race. I don't know if I'm explaining that well - but with an issue like this that polorizes people so badly, I just assume give benefit to the doubt for what I don't understand...There's work to be done all around and clearly a colorblind society is the ideal...\r
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Baine·
Its hard to be white, straight, male and short.\r \r Oh and Kurupt...FU...kisses
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JeepChick·
\"Jeep chick...wow...I have to say that I have never once witnessed a all white parade, or pageant, or all white anything. \"\r \r Are you serious? Okay, let me put it another way. It isn't MEANT to be an all-white thing, it just happens like that because the planners and the town or whomever are putting it together are white. The same thing happens when another race is the majority in the area. But when a minority puts one together, they showcase their pride for their cause and lable it. I don't think that is any big deal.\r \r Stanfield, NC - Christmas Parade - Just White People.\r \r Went to see Shoot 'Em up the other night: Just white people.\r \r Ms. Someka Pagent, Charlotte, NC 1965 - only white people [my mom won it]\r \r Ms. Someka Pagent, Charlotte, NC 1995 - only white people [I got 2nd place :p]\r \r Private School: Charlotte Latin School grades 4th-6th - only white people.\r \r What it bring to mind is when I was a kid and Mother's Day or Father's Day would come by, we would always ask when Kid's Day was....and the response is, everyday is kids day. Why do we have Black History Month? Because there was a time when that history was not acknowledged or discussed. \r \r Now I know in today's society, and with my generation and those younger, the lines of color are blurred and not as noticeable. Ir reminds me of my son last year, he was having trouble with a kid in his class. In trying to determine which kid it was, I asked what color he was. My son replied that today he was orange, but yesterday he was blue. ??? It was the color of the child's SHIRT. My son doesn't see the race thing, I am sure he will eventually, we all do, but for now colors are just colors.
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Ewok_Poacher·
The author has points...I\"m not sure I'd call them great, or even informed. In our countries history you can point to race, most notably oppresion of certain races as playing a large part in defining our nations past. It is only reasonable then that these tensions shape our national psyche. Why the author is taken by suprise by this tells me they either forgot, choose to ignore or jsut doesn't know US history. \r \r They are proud to be white...fine, why shouldn't he be? (Personally I don't know why I should be proud to have brown skin...I mean, it's not like armor in Halo 3, I did't have to amass experience points to get it, anyway) Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstien...both white. The problem in part is that well, someone already beat them to the 'white pride' verbage. Those people are ....racists. So this isn't so much about being proud of who you are, it's about bieng smart enough to know why things are the way they are.
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alabama_old_fart·
Jeep Chick, it's like you're reading my mind. I agree 100%. I see the same thing with my kids. I grew up in the deep south and went to a school that was 75% black. The high school basketball coach routinely told racist jokes (he was white). That was 25 years ago. Would I like all the labels to go away and everybody be Americans? Absolutely. Will I live to see it? Probably not, but it's better than it was in high school and I see signs that it's continuing to improve. The only negatives I see are the kids in private school spouting what their parents say. It's a constant struggle to impress on my kids we're all Americans, we're all human, and differences are the spice of life.
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ixtab·
why is it because I'm white and have no hair people automatically assume I'm a skinhead. I AM NOT A SKIN HEAD I'M BALD YOU DUMB PRICKS.only by showing our kids how not to judge a person based upon how they look can we end this dumb shit. I judge people by their actions, not by their color/race/sex/religion Usually I just hate everyone but that has to do with the lack of common sense that people display and nothing else. If you really want to keep things straight just call us all humans and be done with it. make no distinction between sex, color,religion, or ethnicity.\r my beliefs are mine and mine alone , I won't push my thoughts on to anyone else. if you never teach your kids about racism chances are someone else will, and it probably won't be the message you want them to hear.\r \r \r \r ..................................................I blame the Media
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Mandingo·
\"But when a minority puts one together, they showcase their pride for their cause and lable it. I don't think that is any big deal.\" - jeepchk\r \r I think this is a somewhat contradictory point. If the whole effort is to stop labeling things and take color and race out of the picture then just have the god damn parade and don't say \"hey look, we're a bunch of blacks walking in the street.\" Everyone has to stop the labeling especially the minorities *cough, jesse jackson * Its misleading when we (whites) are constantly told to stop labeling, but the rest of the non-white world continues to. What are we to do?\r \r \r I agree with the author of the email on several things, but I'm smart enough not to forward that stuff around because of the backlash and thin skin. Its 2008 and free speech only applies to things that we agree with or that the other sheeple tell us.