Valis88 said:
((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...
You are one of the few people I have ever seen who is racist towards herself. From a psychological perspective, I find this fascinating, but nonetheless I must point out that this self-hatred is unwarranted. I am another white folk, descended of the Great British Empire. My great-great Grandfather served the Crown in the Chinese Boxer rebellions, and saw first hand the sins of his people. Many other monstrosities were committed by my people, but quite frankly, despite all this, I feel damn proud to be an Englishman. Do you know why? Because I know we are no more loathsome than the other Peoples of this Earth!
Yah sure we Brits oppressed the people of India for centuries, but it's not as if it was some egalitarian utopia beforehand. The same level of oppression was experienced under the corrupt authority of the Maharajas, and I would also point out that part of the "cultural oppression" the British introduced was the abolition of Indian Tradition of the Sati. Essentially, upon the death of her husband, a Hindu Widow would be burned alive with his corpse on a funeral pyre. Many other horrible practices where put a stop to by the British Administration, and I find it unfair that people focus exclusively upon European crimes, while completely overlooking wrongs committed by other ethnicities.
A better example would be the Jews. I have many good friends who are ethnically Jews (Thoroughly Atheist mind you) who are really quite appalled at how one can not speak out against Jewish actions without being considered racist. When it is even suggested that the Jews have acted wrongly in their persecutions of the Palestinians, you are often considered an anti-semite. For many people I know, the holocaust has given the entire Jewish Nation a free license to treat other people like feces. This is simply unjust, and one should chastise all iniquities REGARDLESS of wether the culprit has had a similar experience in the past.
As for the "noble native peoples of this land", I must say that was pretty inexcusable. Do not think, however, they where not above the occasional genocide here and there. The any given "First Nation" is often not so much the very first people to arrive upon a completely uninhabited land, but rather the ones who held it upon european contact. The Aztecs, Maya, and the like where certainly awesome civilizations in their own right...but they sure as hell killed people, just the same as the Euros.
Yes, we white men took slaves from Africa to the Americas. Guess how we got them? We bought them from OTHER AFRICANS. Why do people seem to think that Europeans where the only ones who had slaves? NEXT TO EVERYONE HAD SLAVES, and you, as a white person, have no more need to feel ashamed over historical slavery then every other ethnicity on Earth.
In short, Every race has done evil, every culture has blood on their hands. As a white man, I feel my ethnicity has done a reasonable job of fixing the problems it has caused. There is an Atticus Finch for every Bob Ewell, an Abraham Lincoln for every General Lee. If this is insufficient for you, and you feel guilt regardless of the crimes of other races then that is fine. Let that drive you to even greater heights of tolerance, and work to rout out prejudiced behavior wherever you may find it. But please, don't urinate upon your entire culture, history, and people just because a few of 'em were dicks! And for the love of St. Peter, don't feel you are destined, by the color of your skin, to be just as shallow as your kinsmen! Trust me when I say we, of all the different races, can be better then our past, and more to the point, be better then our present.
PS-I apologize if you don't get the second last reference-It's from Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird". If you haven't read it, I sugest doing so ASAP. A good book will do wonders to keep your mind of things.
