There is an excellent book titled “How the Irish Became White” by Noel Ignatiev. It’s based on his doctoral dissertation and it provides a detailed historical look at just how arbitrary the concept of race really is.
I was gonna say some of these people look pretty white to me. But then we’re getting into the arbitrary question of who counts as white which is probably way beyond her understanding.
Part of being “white” is getting to decide who is “white.” This is only possible because “white” is a completely made up category. We shouldn’t even engage with the term.
I’ll just let my comment above stand as an example of how I think it should be engaged with. You can recognize that it’s a fantasy people have without participating in the fantasy.
It’s true that white is a made up term made to justify owning slaves and on that front it’s a meaningless way to group many different ethnicities. On the other hand as a white person I have to acknowledge that I am lumped in that group. I have privileges, and responsibilities because of it and there are social groups and spaces that are not for me. I can’t absolve myself of being white by saying white isn’t real.
I agree. It’s not about absolution. It’s about breaking down a culturally constructed instrument of oppression by refusing to participate in it. I can’t tell the world to stop treating me better because they think I’m white, which I believe is part of your point. But we do what we can, when we can, with knowledge of what we can and can’t.
There are at least 3 white people here. This fuckhead just doesn’t see it because they’re dressed differently then they think white people dress.
Also, there were black people, but I’m sure this ethnocentric asshole didn’t see them either.
They’re not white, they’re Irish.
There is an excellent book titled “How the Irish Became White” by Noel Ignatiev. It’s based on his doctoral dissertation and it provides a detailed historical look at just how arbitrary the concept of race really is.
I was gonna say some of these people look pretty white to me. But then we’re getting into the arbitrary question of who counts as white which is probably way beyond her understanding.
Part of being “white” is getting to decide who is “white.” This is only possible because “white” is a completely made up category. We shouldn’t even engage with the term.
Fair point but it’s so deeply rooted. Don’t we have to engage with it to some extent in order to eliminate it?
I’ll just let my comment above stand as an example of how I think it should be engaged with. You can recognize that it’s a fantasy people have without participating in the fantasy.
It’s true that white is a made up term made to justify owning slaves and on that front it’s a meaningless way to group many different ethnicities. On the other hand as a white person I have to acknowledge that I am lumped in that group. I have privileges, and responsibilities because of it and there are social groups and spaces that are not for me. I can’t absolve myself of being white by saying white isn’t real.
I agree. It’s not about absolution. It’s about breaking down a culturally constructed instrument of oppression by refusing to participate in it. I can’t tell the world to stop treating me better because they think I’m white, which I believe is part of your point. But we do what we can, when we can, with knowledge of what we can and can’t.