I hate being white....

[martin's a madman]

I like being white, I like my pale skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair (on me) while being far from a white supremacist as I have a particular fancy for brown women (India, Middle east, etc).

As for 'white culture' being shallow? What the hell is 'white culture'? You might unique culture in regions that are mostly white, but there isn't such a thing as a universal 'white culture'.

I don't feel guilty for anything white people might have done. Why? Because they weren't me, they have no connection to me besides something as arbitrary as providing ancestry. It's not like other races weren't guilty of atrocities as well (in fact, the enslavement of africans by the 'white nations' was largely assisted by other africans). But just to single out white people is an unhealthy ideal. Stop it.

 

[ThatLankyBastard]

... if you haven't noticed, humans as a species are pretty big dicks too...

Imagine, for every bad thing you blame yourself for because your white, there are a million extra things that humans have done that are worse than it!

I'm not trying to really fuck your day, just saying that you should focus more on what you've done than what people decades and centuries ago have done...

 

[Dan Steele]

Humanity is smarter, not just your race, but all the races. Its time to stop dwelling in the past. one of my ancestors owned slaves. Today 3 out 4 of my friends are African American.

 

[empirialtank]

Personally I take pride in the fact that my ancestors (The Germans and the brits,) are the single most lethal portion of any species to ever walk the face of the earth. (The british had a company that bought india. BOUGHT IT! and the empire ruled over a fifth of the earth's land mass and a third of its population through the power of coal, the brown bess, and merchant banking. No matter how you slice it that's impressive.)

As for the crimes my ancestors commited to take that power, they weren't really crimes. Genocide, colonization, exploitation, slavery, that's par for the course as far as most cultural interactions go. In fact Europe was an improvement. The last world spanning empire were the mongols and their policy was to surround a town, kill everyone, burn the town down, cut off the heads of the dead, set the heads on fire, and then throw the flaming skulls of their victums over the walls of the next town and demand their daughters and all their worldly goods as tribute or suffer the same fate. The english just showed up, bought your town and gave you a job working a local plantation or building a road. They even paid you for it and would kill the people who usually treid to raid your town and kidnapp your sister and the tigers in the bush trying to eat you.

The only reason why people think that european colonization was an atrocity is because those same europeans stood up in the latter half of the 19th century and demanded better of themselves. The fact that we think that wars where a mear fifty thousand people die at atrocious evil that the UN and USA have to step in and stop is evidence of their success. Yes Europe ruled and dominated the earth for a few hundred years, but they left it a better place then when they found it.

Can we still do better than we have in the past? Yes. are there still problems that have to be faced and overcome? Yes. Is there still racism and descrimination in the world? OF course. But who does the world turn to to solve the problems? Europe, America and China (A country of Asians who wish they were white.) Western culture carries the vast bulk of power in the world, and with it comes a burden. You can complain that that power was missused in the past, (A case that's harder to make then you would think) Or you can get to work using it to better the future.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

Boo hoo, my ancestors did horrible things of which I had no part or control. Y'know, like people of every other race ever.

I mean this sincerely: go fuck yourself.

 

[Corporal Yakob]

Why are the natives superior? No race is superior and this collective guilt feeling is hogwash in my opinion: feel bad if you personally crack the whip over the backs of a hundred slaves otherwise it means nothing.

 

[slyph]

Part of being white is accepting the sins of your forefathers and trying to put the past where it belongs;

This isn't part of being "white", this is part of being human.

This entire debate is laden with exactly the kind of skewed and warped thinking introduced by the OP with his assertion that being "white" (specifically white-American) somehow puts you at the bottom of an imaginary ladder, with all the humble, well-cultured and well-meaning minority folk at the top.

Taken over the course of history, almost every race of people (with the exception of, what, the Eskimos?) has committed atrocity, both systematic and singular, on a par with anyone else. The difference being they are generally not aware of it, whereas in an effort to avoid repeating past mistakes most Western children are made painfully aware of the failures of people with the same colour skin. Look at the history of Africa alone and at least half of the practices that are considered simply "traditional" are utterly abhorrent from a human rights perspective.

Race is a neutral issue. It is used by fools of all stripes to justify their foolishness by referring to a physical feature apparent to all. It's only an issue because people actually want it to be an issue.

As has been stated however, the real problem here is that the OP is depressed and looking for a focus for it.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

((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...

If the other races had been given the chance, they would of done the same thing to us. It's not a matter of race, just the human condition.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Mate, ALL of our ancestors have done things that we are not proud of, but we don't let that get to us, we live in the now, what impact our present actions cause to everyone else. And frankly, don't worry or brood about such things, as you didn't cause atrocities; those things were a long time ago, and people were different.

And, if you research your roots, you can find your heritage to be colourful, diverse and intiguiging.

 

[Vonnis]

What your ancestors did is completely irrelevant. There is absolutely no reason you should feel even the slightest bit responsible for what someone else did at a time long before you were born. Racial guilt is a very, very silly thing to feel.

 

[DarkRyter]

You are in a position where you are able to vent your problems concerning the circumstances of your birth on the internet.

There are many who are born into poverty, deformity, and oppression.

You got it good, lady. Realize it.

 

[Corporal Yakob]

Also every race and culture has done terrible and great things-its called the progress of the Human race and bitching about it is idiotic.

 

[supremeDMK]

I'm Dutch and my people where the biggest slave traders and you don't hear me whine about it. It's just something that happened then and will hopefully never happen again. That's why they teach us history, to learn from the mistakes of the past.

 

[GeneralFungi]

Neither your looks nor your ancestry define who you are. Our culture has made it's fair share of mistakes, but instead of crying to yourself, you can take action and DO something about it. Even if it's as simple as donating 5 dollars to an organization helping less fortunate people.

If you feel ashamed of being white, then do something as a white person to make yourself proud. Eventually everyone else will get the picture too.

 

[Nulmas]

You know, some British reporter (can't remember who) once made a pretty good point regarding this...

He wrote a mock column demanding an apology from Rome for what the Roman Empire did to the other European people.

I honestly think that some of the apologetical acts governments do nowadays are actually starting to do some harm and creating some racial tensions.

There's no one alive today that had responsability in those acts. Our job is to insure stuff like that never happens again, not creating new racial differences.

Can anyone honestly tell me they don't see any chance that in a couple of decades, if things don't change, "whitey" will be asking for more rights and claiming they're being disciminated?

BTW, yes I'm white... And portuguese (arguably the country that started slavery, although if you really think about it, that's not exactly true )

 

[boyvirgo666]

Hello Valis. Fellow white person here.

Our race sucks, or, at least, has a very poor track record. However, trying to say that we are bad because of what others in our race do or did is just as foolish as the racism that led to such atrocities.

Have you ever forced anyone out of their homes? Do you own slaves? I imagine not. If you did, then yes, you probably deserve to feel guilty. If not, then don't feel guilty about what others have done.

yeah because africans dont slave trade, the japanese never raided and murdered the chinese, moari never cannibalized...everyone. seriously, no race smells of roses. white people are no worse than anyone else

 

[katsumoto03]

Are you a racist, shallow or otherwise less-than-awesome person? That's all you need to worry about. Who gives a fuck what people did more than half a century ago, judge yourself by your own actions.

Feel overly-privileged? Donate your time and money to those who need it.

 

[UlytimateDestruction]

Actually, you shoudn't be crying over it because being white is part of yourself and you should embrace who you are. This happened lots of years ago and its not like your the one responsible for it. Sure racism does happen but if your not the one causing it you shoudn't take pitty on yourself.

 

[TheHitcher]

To be honest; this.

Don't take it as a bad thing. It's comedy, after all. Sure it holds a hint of truth, but it's funny. I found it funny even as a black guy.

 

[Flutterguy]

None of us get to pick what race we are

Micheal Jackson.








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