I hate being white....

[G96 Saber]

Though, in the past our race (European origins) has done some terrible things. Your race doesn't make you who YOU are. It is not our race, ancestors or cultures that define us, its who you are. No matter how evil or benevolent your ancestors were they don't affect your actions. There is nothing to feel guilty about. If you still feel the way you do, our race has done so truly great things over the ages. On top of that, other races are just as bad, and often in more modern times. Take the massacre of 100,000-300,000 Chinese civilians by Japan in 1937.

 

[Shockolate]

I hate being white too.

But that's because I get sunburned easily and don't tan very well.

 

[Zaik]

As far as I know, you're alone.

At least now, anyway. I had assumed white guilt died out after the abysmal job going on in the White House right now, but I guess it never will truly die.

 

[LobsterFeng]

There's a King of the Hill episode where a guy comes into Bobby's highschool and teaches them about racism. The point of that episode was to show that yes, everyone needs to learn about racism and it's effects. But dwelling on the choices of your ancestors is stupid because you didn't do anything.

 

[PickledMonkey]

Part of being white is accepting the sins of your forefathers and trying to put the past where it belongs; in the past. People are telling you to suck it up, and that is an insensitive way of looking at it, but it is essentially the truth. Other races suffer from prejudice, and we suffer from being the ones who committed the most prejudice in our country. Even today, we are guilty of prejudice which we cannot control effectively. There are too many social stigmas ingrained in our head to completely control our behavior. It sucks, but it is life.

Being white is an interesting thing. I've wondered about it myself, and I plan on learning about it somehow. Many minority groups have seminars to discuss living as their specific minority, but you don't see much of that for being white. I think the most commonly faced prejudice white people face, is that they are not allowed to be proud of their heritage.

 

[Febel]

((Forward: I'm not flame bating, I'm not trolling...This a a real opinion that I carry in my mind. I've seen some really good debates about race and culture here. I thought I'd bring my own feelings to the table.))

I do. I hate it. I hate that North American white culture is so shallow and stupid. I hate that my very existence represents all the horrible things that were done to the superior, and noble native peoples of this land (and other amazing creeds and cultures as well). I hate that most likely my ancestors were the cause of so much pain, and suffering.

I hate my hazel eyes, my pale skin, and my blonde hair. I look at myself and i see a monster.

I've cried over this...and I still do sometimes.Hell part of my ongoing struggle with depression is my deep deep cultural, and racial guilt.

Yes yes I know 'Why is she saying all of this?' but what I want to know is...Am I alone in feeling this way? is anyone else as hurt and sad as I am about being white?

Also, well, what can I do to bring myself out of this? Can I bring myself out of this?

Should I?

You're turn...

I know, I hate being all privileged and shit.

 

[Strain42]

If you look in the mirror and see a monster, you clearly have some deep seated problems that probably have nothing to do with your race or skin color.

I'm white, I'm a good person.

I know that sounds hard to believe, but trust me, it can happen.

 

[Aulleas123]

Not in the slightest, I refuse to feel guilty about things that happened before my great grandad was so much as a sperm cell. I didn't do it, why should I feel guilty? What wrong have I commited? Having the same melanin levels of some people that did bad things? Being born in the same country as them centuries later? Piss off.

British by the way, in case anyone asks.

This pretty much sums up my viewpoint, with a minor addition.

There's a lot of diversity in our history just like any other culture's history. My ancestors were poor Irish peasants and poor Slovak peasants, my family was too poor to own slaves, too weak to go on crusades, and too stupid to invent the weapons of mass destruction that we see today. I take pride in being who I am because I know that my family had improved their station since the last century.

I think that the problem is that we have so much guilt directed toward us that we forget two very important things:
1.) Being bad and hurting others isn't a 'white' thing, it's a human thing. Everyone has had their share of destruction and stealing so blaming us for being human is like blaming grey squirrels for stealing all of the nuts when it's inherent to all squirrels.
2.) Most of the destruction and pain cause was caused by very very few people at the very tippy-top of the social ladder. I would bet that your ancestors were like mine: poor, ignorant, weak little peasants who kept their mouths shut for hundreds of years and never hurt a fly (I don't mean to insult you if you know for certain that you came from royalty, if you did though you really shouldn't be posting here, you should be out living the high life right now...).
3.) I know, living in America, there's a lot of blame focused on people of European descent. Our education system focuses much more on the horrible things that slave owners did to their slaves than on focusing on the actual Civil War, the cause for the end of slavery in our country. I'm not saying that we didn't do our fair share of stupid, hateful things, we did have slavery and racism. We had those things because we were human, not perfect.

You can feel however you want to feel, I just think you're being a bit short-sighted if you think that we have been the only bad people in the world.

 

[TheNaut131]

I'm sorry, but this is the most pathetic, retarded, pitiful and just...UGH thread to ever grace my eyes. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, there's something you need to know. Listen, it doesn't matter what your ancestors did, where you come from, your skin color, your race, where you live, your ethnicity, or anything else. You have no reason to be ashamed of your ancestry, but no actual merit to be proud of it either. Whether or not you're black, white, Asian, Mexican, whether you live on the highest mountain top or lowest valley, believe in one god or, two it doesn't matter what other people do or believe in. Why should you care anyway? You didn't just kill multiple people in pointless gunfire, or save a few lives by helping those in danger. You didn't enslave a race, or free one. You didn't steal someones land or win it right back.

There's only one true minority you should worry about because it's apart of you. It determines how people perceive,how you live your life; it literally determines the outcome of every moment in your life.

That minority, the one we're all apart of, is being an individual. You're an individual, you should be ashamed of your bad choices and proud of your good ones. You decide what the world thinks of you and how it treats you. Because the individual is the smallest and weakest, yet largest and most dangerous minority on the planet. Why? Because being an individual is the one thing on this planet that truly effects you.

So stop worry about what other people did, and what people think of your color. You have to worry about what you do and what people think of you period.

 

[bluelaserX]

You silly kids and your first world problems. Suck it up.

 

[Casual Shinji]

You'll probably wanna avoid watching Avatar then.

And here's a short history lesson: Every other creed, colour or race can be just as disgusting of human beings as we can. You want to know who else helped out in the enslavery of Africans by white people? Other Africans.

 

[Canis_Anubis]

Valis88: Try reading more history. All history: American, European, Asian, African, Middle-eastern, you name it. What you'll discover is that history is festooned with examples of injustice, tragedy, and exploitation, as well as examples of true altruism, inspiration and justice.

To put it all in perspective, I really recommend you, (and any other human being who wants to really understand history and politics) read this: http://www.amazon.com/Parable-Tribes-Problem-Social-Evolution/dp/0791424200. It endeavors to analyze and explain the role of power in shaping civilization, and lays out a framework that shows how the circumstances of civilizations are really what determine when exploitation and depredation occur in lieu of a more equitable and peaceful coexistence.

 

[WoodenPlanck]

I think the real issue here is depression completely unrelated to ethnicity/race/culture/etc. This forum is probably the least helpful place to solve your issue. Why not stop by a counselor's office? I assume you go to a school of some sort that offers such a service, I'm sure you can work your image issues out there one hour at a time.

Excuse me while I don't even bother going into racial debate.

 

[Rasputin-2]

Just wait about 50 years then you will be in the minority here in the United States.

 

[aba1]

eug stop seeing colour you have nothing to do with your ancestors I really wish people wouldn't associate themselves with there herritage so much and just live there lives with the culture that is all around them instead.

It's nice and all to appreciate where your family came from but just because your ancestors came from another country doesn't mean you have to focus your life around it esspecially if you have never even lived in that country (and no being a baby does not count)

 

[theheroofaction]

Maybe you should realize this, most people don't let the actions of their grandfathers bother them, because YOU are set on your own path.

 

[Mallefunction]

Yeah, not like EVERY FUCKING RACE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH has a history of rape murder.

This. Seriously, I'm white and my ancestors didn't even come across here until the early 1900s and then the 1940s. Even if my family had a history of being slave owners or other terrible things, I am not my ancestors, I am not making those decisions.

And at this point, we KNOW for a fact that almost all cultures have done horrible things to both their neighbors and their own goddamn people.

 

[uttaku]

all races, creeds, belief systems and people suck equally and have equally bad track records. the end.

 

[ChildofGallifrey]

Not in the slightest, I refuse to feel guilty about things that happened before my great grandad was so much as a sperm cell. I didn't do it, why should I feel guilty? What wrong have I commited? Having the same melanin levels of some people that did bad things? Being born in the same country as them centuries later? Piss off.

There is no way to phrase my opinion better. I refuse to feel any sort of guilt for things that people (that I have NO connection to whatsoever) did centuries before I was born just because I share a skin color with them.

 

[stefanbertramlee]

Just wait about 50 years then you will be in the minority here in the United States.

Doubtful

Even if all of Mexcio transplanted themsleves into the states there would still be more whites.

(US population 308 million, 223 million of which are white, total population of Mexcio 112 million. Total 420 million of which 223 million would be white or 53%)