Do you build your entire identity around being “white” though? Or are you a person with actual hobbies and interests?
It doesn’t upset me because I might be white, but that doesn’t mean anything. It only means something if someone is so pathetic and empty that their lack of melanin is the only noteworthy thing about them.
I didn’t mean it like that, more like, “whiteness” is defined more by what it isn’t than what it is. It’s an in-group that defines itself by not being a part of the out-group. Italians are “white” for now, but weren’t 30 years ago or so. Irish people weren’t white for a very long time, despite being some of the most pale people in the world.
“White” people don’t have a “culture” because “white culture” doesn’t exist. White ethnicities have cultures, but “white” is meaningless. A lot of people in colonial nations latch onto “whiteness” to be a part of the “in group.” We should oppose this sort of thing and encourage people to celebrate their culture rather than trying to smash it all into some empty homogeneous “white” culture.
Oh, I was thinking more of my own country, Italians were our vilified group of immigrants until the 90s (then it switch to Chinese immigrants, then Muslims)
I mean I get all that, but at the end of the day, that’s not the sort of framework that is salient. It’s not even that big of a deal, it just wears on you after a while.
Sorry if it made it seem like I was invalidating your feelings there. It doesn’t wear on me, but that doesn’t mean other people aren’t worn out by it. I do have a lot of contempt and loathing for people with strong “white” identities though, so I don’t mind being “collateral damage” when they are getting made fun of.
I think thats fair, especially when its some rich suburban white kid with liberal parents telling you youre bad because youre white and they just read about it for the first time on reddit
All of that is true. However, a white person rejecting “whiteness” does not prevent others from attributing that identity to them anyway, any more than someone else can prevent society treating them as nonwhite. If someone starts shooting people they view as white, then all of your reasoning means nothing.
‘Whiteness’ is a label assigned by society, not self-identity. I think race is absolute nonsense and also don’t identify as black nor white, that doesn’t stop people assigning it to me when they see me outside. And if someone says they want to kill people based off of their own interpretation of white or black, our self-identity or lack of one means nothing.
Like you, the comment itself doesn’t insult me because it’s not about a group I identify as, but the normalization of conditional racism here absolutely does concerm me.
Do you build your entire identity around being “white” though? Or are you a person with actual hobbies and interests?
It doesn’t upset me because I might be white, but that doesn’t mean anything. It only means something if someone is so pathetic and empty that their lack of melanin is the only noteworthy thing about them.
If a white person were to say that they’re not actually white, how do you think that would go over here?
I had more to say, but deleted it accidentally.
I didn’t mean it like that, more like, “whiteness” is defined more by what it isn’t than what it is. It’s an in-group that defines itself by not being a part of the out-group. Italians are “white” for now, but weren’t 30 years ago or so. Irish people weren’t white for a very long time, despite being some of the most pale people in the world.
“White” people don’t have a “culture” because “white culture” doesn’t exist. White ethnicities have cultures, but “white” is meaningless. A lot of people in colonial nations latch onto “whiteness” to be a part of the “in group.” We should oppose this sort of thing and encourage people to celebrate their culture rather than trying to smash it all into some empty homogeneous “white” culture.
Truly the 90s were a terrible time for Italian Americans; I became white just a few months after being born
Oh, I was thinking more of my own country, Italians were our vilified group of immigrants until the 90s (then it switch to Chinese immigrants, then Muslims)
I mean I get all that, but at the end of the day, that’s not the sort of framework that is salient. It’s not even that big of a deal, it just wears on you after a while.
Sorry if it made it seem like I was invalidating your feelings there. It doesn’t wear on me, but that doesn’t mean other people aren’t worn out by it. I do have a lot of contempt and loathing for people with strong “white” identities though, so I don’t mind being “collateral damage” when they are getting made fun of.
I think thats fair, especially when its some rich suburban white kid with liberal parents telling you youre bad because youre white and they just read about it for the first time on reddit
All of that is true. However, a white person rejecting “whiteness” does not prevent others from attributing that identity to them anyway, any more than someone else can prevent society treating them as nonwhite. If someone starts shooting people they view as white, then all of your reasoning means nothing.
‘Whiteness’ is a label assigned by society, not self-identity. I think race is absolute nonsense and also don’t identify as black nor white, that doesn’t stop people assigning it to me when they see me outside. And if someone says they want to kill people based off of their own interpretation of white or black, our self-identity or lack of one means nothing.
Like you, the comment itself doesn’t insult me because it’s not about a group I identify as, but the normalization of conditional racism here absolutely does concerm me.