(no subject)

[serene]

Mine is a white ethnic blog.

That is to say, I recognize that when I am talking about anything here, I am talking about it from a white person's perspective. I have a lot of examined-and-discarded bias in my history, but don't doubt I have a lot of unexamined bias, too. I was raised in a racist environment in a racist country by racist people, and I can't possibly have escaped some of their thinking. I just want to acknowledge that here, and let you all know that if you ever wanna call me on that shit, I'm listening.

Comments

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

I have similar doubts about such a label.

Colour is not the same as ethnicity. Ethnicity is not the same as culture. I think a lot of what people refer to when they discuss "race" are cultural differences. While sometimes the shorthand is ok, I think it's important to label cultural influences (and the level of privilege that may be associated) if that is what one is talking about.

So, I'm a Paheka (European-descended) New Zealander. Sure, because I'm "white", I have a certain degree of privilege in NZ society. But a pakeha cultural identity is not the same as a "white" American cultural identity. The privilege set is not quite the same. We had no slavery. Maori had a lot more economic and political privilege compared to black Americans. We differ from Australians in that we had no convict settlers. As my family are mainly of Irish descent, we had a different (and reduced) privilege set compared to those who were of middle-class English descent. New Zealand as a whole has a different political impact on the world compared to the US.

In sum (to Serene), what I'm saying is your "white" is quite different from my "white". Even leaving aside your family origins and what part of the US you have ties to (since I assume a descendant of plantation owners in the South would have another interesting set of cultural influences compared to a New York Jew). While I totally think being aware of your privileges and shortcomings is valuable, perhaps being a little more specific about the context would be helpful too (although you've provided some of it).

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

In this country, being white is a cultural (and if not ethnic, than some word that means roughly the same thing) heritage. The only people I've heard say it isn't are white people.