Is it Racist To Be Proud To Be White Or Caucasian?

[Dannie]

It's not necessarily racist, though it's ignorant.

It's important to understand why being "black" is a thing. For a few hundred years being a certain color meant you were property. It mean people could beat you with impunity, you had no rights. It didn't matter what tribe our country you were from, all that mattered was that those in power declared you black. Then slavery was abolished, and still this group was singled out by those in power. Their rights were still restricted, laws were created on the basis of skin color, and it still didn't matter where you were from. Things have certainly gotten better, but racism is still a constant threat.

So when you look at why black pride is a thing, you need to account for the history behind what it means to be black. It wasn't a group that was formed out of desire, it was a grouping that was forced on a diverse group of people, which was then used to enslave and oppress them for centuries. The black pride movement was one born out of self defense, it was a necessity for survival. A group of people was treated like a monolith by the institutions of power, so they became a monolith to overcome those institutions.

So, given that context, it makes sense for black pride to be a thing. Try to examine white pride through the same historical context. It's a very different picture. There was no oppressive force to overcome. There was no forced grouping. White, in at least an American context, is a meaningless concept. White has never existed as a monolithic group, because white never had to band together to defend itself from those who sought to use whiteness as a tool of oppression. In fact, whites have fought amongst each other for centuries. My ancestry is Italian and Irish. When the Irish began to immigrate to the US, they were treated like garbage. The "native" whites ran newspaper headlines calling them sub-human. Yet now I'm supposed to believe "white" is some coherent group in which to be proud of? Why? That's silly. Are the Irish part of this group? What about the Germans? How about the Polish? What about Russians? What do I and someone in Moscow have in common that we should be proud of? Absolutely nothing.

So then where did white pride come from? Quite simply it came from white nationalists who desire a white ethno-state because they believe white to be superior. Its roots are plainly racist, and has zero meaning beyond that when even the slightest level of critical thinking is applied.

This was a very well put-together post and all, but people should learn to let go of the past. If you didn't personally experience an event yourself then I don't see how someone should let an entire ethnic group who has been oppressed many years ago define who they are today.

As you said, things have gotten better, but trying to use history from a few hundred years ago to defend "black pride" today is ridiculous.

Racism might still exist within certain individuals, but it is not on the extreme level as it was long ago, so why black pride exists and makes sense today in your head, is kinda weird.

 

[Typhon]

This was a very well put-together post and all, but people should learn to let go of the past. If you didn't personally experience an event yourself then I don't see how someone should let an entire ethnic group who has been oppressed many years ago define who they are today.

As you said, things have gotten better, but trying to use history from a few hundred years ago to defend "black pride" today is ridiculous.

Racism might still exist within certain individuals, but it is not on the extreme level as it was long ago, so why black pride exists and makes sense today in your head, is kinda weird.

There are millions still alive who did, and still do personally experience it. There are people alive today who lived through segregation and had to personally fight for their right to vote. Ruby Bridges, the first student of desegregation, just turned 63 this year. Just last year the courts ruled that North Carolina's voter ID laws targeted minority groups.

This isn't some distant history, it's integral to the experience of being black in America today.

And to be clear, I don't think having pride in historical achievements or heritage is bad. As I said earlier I have Italian ancestry. The area I grew up in had a large Italian population so there were annual Italian festivals and it determined the traditions my family celebrated, as well as the foods we ate and the area we lived in. Nobody ever called it "Italian Pride", but that's essentially what it was. Nobody called it racist either, because it made sense. White pride just doesn't make sense, and historically it's been a rallying cry for racists like the KKK and Neo-Nazis. There just isn't a sensible reason for white pride to be a thing.

 

[ChicagoJhawk]

Lowkey, if you're white it's like being handed a pair of aces in poker



Ot:Op has to be trolling

 

[Dreckerplayer]

It's not racist but sad and that goes to all who have pride in something they have no control over. Pride comes from self-accomplishments. Why would you be proud of your skin color? It means you're a sad loser, who hasn't achieved anything in your pathetic life, and to make yourself feel better, you take pride in what others have achieved, who share only one thing in common with you: skin color.

Like AFK, for instance. The guy messaged me a whole bunch of white supremacist BS.Trying to hide the fact that he thinks white people are superior, and everyone else is inferior.Completely taking credit, for what someone else did.

The only people who would think white is "superior", is simply a white person or some kind of convinced uncle ruckus jr.. No one else cares.

 

[Fountain]

Cool response bro.

Cool story bro. Very educational, factual, and non-biased in the slightest.

 

[Typhon]

Cool story bro. Very educational, factual, and non-biased in the slightest.

Feel free at any time to voice your concerns.

 

[Fountain]

Feel free at any time to voice your concerns.

I just did. Though, it was more of a feedback if you didn't notice.

 

[Multiply]

I would say yes(Not that it's racist, just ignorant) because there's no such thing as 'white'. That's just a tool used for segregation that has survived those times. You can have English pride, Swedish pride, German pride, French pride, etc. But, what is white pride? You can't claim pride for all of Europe because of how nuanced European history is. If you want to claim US-American pride that's even fine if you want to. Just depends on what side you are on.

 

[The Sentinel]

Did you earn it?

Why take pride in something beyond your control?

Spoiler

Silly ass

 

[SamAdams]

Its stupid to be proud of anything you had absolutely no control over but its not racist.

 

[SamAdams]

There are millions still alive who did, and still do personally experience it. There are people alive today who lived through segregation and had to personally fight for their right to vote. Ruby Bridges, the first student of desegregation, just turned 63 this year. Just last year the courts ruled that North Carolina's voter ID laws targeted minority groups.

This isn't some distant history, it's integral to the experience of being black in America today.

And to be clear, I don't think having pride in historical achievements or heritage is bad. As I said earlier I have Italian ancestry. The area I grew up in had a large Italian population so there were annual Italian festivals and it determined the traditions my family celebrated, as well as the foods we ate and the area we lived in. Nobody ever called it "Italian Pride", but that's essentially what it was. Nobody called it racist either, because it made sense. White pride just doesn't make sense, and historically it's been a rallying cry for racists like the KKK and Neo-Nazis. There just isn't a sensible reason for white pride to be a thing.

The voter ID thing is just funny to me. I consider it more racist to assume black people don't have Id's than that an ID law is racist. Thats some kinda stupid.

 

[Team7monaa]

Why would you be proud of something that’s not in your hands? I understand pride stemming from minorities because they’ve been discriminated against and most have been through a hell of a lot to be in a position where they are now, but for white people?

You systematically oppressed minorities for years, you stole from their culture and didn’t even credit some of them for that. There’s no pride in your ancestors being thieves and anyway if y’all decided to go and celebrate being Caucasian that’s basically just a welcoming party for white supremacist and neo-nazi’s to stir some controversy and the cycle repeats.

You can appreciate your whiteness but maybe do it at the safety of your own home.

 

[Cornson]

having pride in your race, color, nationality, culture or religion is equally racist (it's not)

 

[ArabianLuffy]

I was talking with one of colleagues at school and he said he was proud to be white after he heard me saying i was proud to be african and of african heritage? is what he said racist? In my opinion it is because that shows a supremacist mindset as we saw in slavery, blacks are the minorities. Thoughts?

Some white guy feels proud for being white, and you feel it's racist? Well, only you give power to such statement he says.

 

[demon of the leaf]

No why should it be is it racist to be proud to be an african, an asian, a muslim or an indian?

 

[demon of the leaf]

Why would you be proud of something that’s not in your hands? I understand pride stemming from minorities because they’ve been discriminated against and most have been through a hell of a lot to be in a position where they are now, but for white people?

You systematically oppressed minorities for years, you stole from their culture and didn’t even credit some of them for that. There’s no pride in your ancestors being thieves and anyway if y’all decided to go and celebrate being Caucasian that’s basically just a welcoming party for white supremacist and neo-nazi’s to stir some controversy and the cycle repeats.

You can appreciate your whiteness but maybe do it at the safety of your own home.

Your the very definition of a racist bigot people like you wether they be any color that would discriminate a person because of what people of the past did slavery had been around way longer since humanity began moving stone work and building monuments humanity is filled with *******s humanity would inslave a weaker group because they could but since we are punishing people for the sins of their ansestors should we crucify egiptions for their building the pyramide of giza of the backs of slaves or the romans or even the persians the people of today hold no card in what had happened in the past

it took alot of blood in the american civil war to end slavery which the vast majority were white so it wasnt the black man who freed black man from slavery it was the white man of the north and it was a white man who ended the segregation laws in the 60s

Be happy you werent alive in those times cause i sure as hell am those times were much more hellacious then we have today

 

[jimbobbity]

It's not racist, imo, its just a silly thing to be proud of. Race alone has little to do with the qualities of a person. I can understand being proud of a deformity, for example; they can shape you into who you are today, but to me, being proud of your skin colour seems extreme.

 

[Typhon]

The voter ID thing is just funny to me. I consider it more racist to assume black people don't have Id's than that an ID law is racist. Thats some kinda stupid.

Its not an assumption, its just the factual statistics. Which is exactly how the GOP determined which IDs and voting methods to target with their laws. They researched which groups were more likely to possess what kinds of IDs and moved to block certain groups from being able to vote. Minority groups aren't the only target, college students are also often targeted with these laws.

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In its ruling, the appeals court said the law was intentionally designed to discriminate against black people. North Carolina legislators had requested data on voting patterns by race and, with that data in hand, drafted a law that would "target African-Americans with almost surgical precision," the court said.

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The GOP-backed bill, H.B. 589, will require voters to display specific types of government-issued IDs at the polls, and it doesn’t recognize college ID as valid identification. The measure also removes preregistration for high school students, cuts early voting time and eliminates same-day registration.