Of all the different ways I would describe myself if someone asked me, there is one quality I have that I take no pride in at all.
In fact, it’s the one that matters the least to me.
Being white.
In point of fact, my skin — and the skin of everyone else who isn’t an albino — isn’t even close to white. I suppose light brown or tan might be the most accurate description, although I guess beige could also be accurate for some folks.
Of course that’s not the point. Even if I call myself a white man, which I don’t, there is nothing admirable about it. There is an old expression that a friend of mine was still using occasionally until about 10 years ago — “Mighty white of you” — that implied behaving well was a white quality.
Folks also used to say they were “free, white and 21,” which these days means even less.
There are only two types of people who make a big deal of being white. Stupid people and people who want to take advantage of stupid people. It’s why politicians on the far right in Europe and opportunists like Tucker Carlson in the media here are going on and on about the Great Replacement.
They profess to believe that people in power are reducing the white population and bringing in non-whites to enhance their own political status.
There is nothing good or bad about being white, just as there’s nothing good or bad about being part of any other race. None of that matters at all. The only things that do matter are the contents of our minds and our hearts, and what they mean to the way we treat other people.
Show me a racist — or a racialist, if you prefer — and I’ll show you someone lacking in both mind and heart, someone easily manipulated to others’ ends.
Someone who never puts others — or the greater good — ahead of their own wants and needs.
About what you would expect from someone who thinks being white is something special.