Lately in class we’ve been talking a lot about white privilege, a bit of a touchy subject for sure! We even talked about “white guilt”, which as a white male it’d never honestly crossed my mind. What does white guilt feel like? Some of you might ask that, and it’s a simple answer (for me anyways). I can pretty much break it down to two things guilt and pride.
Guilt is defined as a “cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes accurately or not that they have violated a moral standard, and bear sole responsibility for that violation” (according to dictionary.com). As long as I can remember I’ve been taught about the white man’s wrong doing; slavery, genocide to the Native-Americans, nuclear warfare, and just overall not being that fair. My whole life I’ve been taught to be extremely proud of my heritage, and now the whole thing kind of just tastes salty in my mouth. And I don’t mean my family’s Scottish and or Norwegian heritage, but just the general whiteness. Thoughts like “Do I deserve this skin?” crept into my head. Then guilt of a different kind crept up my spine like high tide at a beach. “Should I really doubt this skin god or whoever gave me?”. The answer is one nobody knows really, but it still clung to my mind just like Jerry Rice’s hands to a football. How does one feel guilty for something he had nothing to do with but benefits from? It’s easily felt, but not explained, like an awkward moment on your favorite sitcom, it’ll make you cringe but you’ll never be able to do anything about it. So why even panic? Because I see violence, poverty, and hatred all around me. I don’t have any grand solutions, but I got a lot of love in me so I hope with time I can see some peace as well as agreement.
Pride is defined as, “positive emotion that is a product of praise or independent self-reflection. Philosophers and social psychologists have noted that pride is a complex secondary emotion which requires the development of a sense of self and the mastery of relevant conceptual distinctions (e.g., that pride is distinct from happiness and joy) through language-based interaction with others. Some social psychologists identify it as linked to a signal of high social status” (according to dictionary.com). Quite the mouth full huh? Well in my book it means I’m American and I love it. I’m proud of our revolution, our cities, our people, WWI, WWII, Mustangs, the 4th of July, and yes our pop culture dominance from Michael Jackson all the way to Martha Stewart. Am I proud of my race? Yes, very much so we (white people), are squarely responsible (to blame in some people’s point of view) for this beautiful America we all belong to. Would I have our history repeated exactly the same if given a chance? No, not really, the fact that it took 44 presidents before one was a non white male really makes me sick to my stomach. I’m just saying without our (white people), contributions you’d be looking at a different world with different problems.
Guilt is defined as a “cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes accurately or not that they have violated a moral standard, and bear sole responsibility for that violation” (according to dictionary.com). As long as I can remember I’ve been taught about the white man’s wrong doing; slavery, genocide to the Native-Americans, nuclear warfare, and just overall not being that fair. My whole life I’ve been taught to be extremely proud of my heritage, and now the whole thing kind of just tastes salty in my mouth. And I don’t mean my family’s Scottish and or Norwegian heritage, but just the general whiteness. Thoughts like “Do I deserve this skin?” crept into my head. Then guilt of a different kind crept up my spine like high tide at a beach. “Should I really doubt this skin god or whoever gave me?”. The answer is one nobody knows really, but it still clung to my mind just like Jerry Rice’s hands to a football. How does one feel guilty for something he had nothing to do with but benefits from? It’s easily felt, but not explained, like an awkward moment on your favorite sitcom, it’ll make you cringe but you’ll never be able to do anything about it. So why even panic? Because I see violence, poverty, and hatred all around me. I don’t have any grand solutions, but I got a lot of love in me so I hope with time I can see some peace as well as agreement.
Pride is defined as, “positive emotion that is a product of praise or independent self-reflection. Philosophers and social psychologists have noted that pride is a complex secondary emotion which requires the development of a sense of self and the mastery of relevant conceptual distinctions (e.g., that pride is distinct from happiness and joy) through language-based interaction with others. Some social psychologists identify it as linked to a signal of high social status” (according to dictionary.com). Quite the mouth full huh? Well in my book it means I’m American and I love it. I’m proud of our revolution, our cities, our people, WWI, WWII, Mustangs, the 4th of July, and yes our pop culture dominance from Michael Jackson all the way to Martha Stewart. Am I proud of my race? Yes, very much so we (white people), are squarely responsible (to blame in some people’s point of view) for this beautiful America we all belong to. Would I have our history repeated exactly the same if given a chance? No, not really, the fact that it took 44 presidents before one was a non white male really makes me sick to my stomach. I’m just saying without our (white people), contributions you’d be looking at a different world with different problems.
Interesting post. I like your analysis of the terms guilt and pride and the connection to whiteness. I think you are saying that pride is the opposite of guilt and possibly a response to white guilt.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see a little more analysis and acceptance of history. You say that white people are squarely responsible for America. I guess I'm not really seeing that; white people could not have developed the US economy without slavery or cheap immigrant labor from China, Japan, and Mexico. Whites could not have developed democracy without contact with the Native American tribes who taught them the concept. What part of "America" do you think whites are solely responsible for?
Now, whites are not the only race that has committed attrocities. You only have to look at the ethnic clashes in Africa right now; or know the history of the Maori people, who slaughtered the original natives of New Zealand. And recognizing the atrocities that have been committed by our race does not mean you can't feel any pride. But racial pride can be built on a recognition and acceptance of history as it actually happened. For example, I'm proud of the white Americans who risked their privilege and stood with people of color in the fight for civil rights and desegregation in the 1950's and 60's. I'm proud of Tim Wise, who is a white man who writes about race and white privilege.
Sorry for the long comment. Lastly, your media reference seems very tangential here. Remember to include an analysis of media in your blogs.
The biggest part I'd give whites credit for is military exploits, after all in case you forgot this (or the whole world) could very well be part of the Great Britain or Germany right now if it was not for white America's military exploits. You mention cheap labor from places like "China, Japan, and Mexico", what about white immigrants who worked for dirt cheap? And as awful and disgusting as slavery, and some of that cheap labor were white people were indeed squarely responsible for both (not proud of this it's just fact). "Acceptance of history", is something I can and will work on though.
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