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if a black retailer in West Philly had a black pride month or a Puerto Rican in Bethlehem had hispanic pride month they would be celebrated and likely be the subject of a feel-good fluff piece on a slow news day. this white guy in Flemington celebrates pride in his people and all of a sudden he is a horrible racist who deserves a boycott and has his livelihood ruined.
if you have no issue with that, then i suggest you do a search for the definition of:
double standard
is this that thing called "white privilege" that everyone talks about? losing your livelihood for being proud of your skin color? maybe being forced to move your neighborhood or spend thousands you don't have to send your kids to private school so they aren't harassed for being white..are these all examples of white privilege?
Having pride in European ancestry is considered racist and extremely dangerous because it's the impetus that killed so many people throughout history...colonialism, slavery, Holocaust, etc. Minority groups are allowed to celebrate theirs because they have always been victims.
This. The biological race is Caucasian. White is really not properly defined and a politically charged term (e.g. are Jews white?, at various points in American history, groups like Irish, Italians, Slavs, and Greeks were not considered white).
I don't think there would be anything wrong with celebrating Irish heritage, German heritage, Scottish heritage, Dutch heritage, etc. The term "white" however reeks of exclusion so it will stir up controversy.
This is just my 2 cents. Full disclosure: WASP here.
This. The biological race is Caucasian. White is really not properly defined and a politically charged term (e.g. are Jews white?, at various points in American history, groups like Irish, Italians, Slavs, and Greeks were not considered white).
I don't think there would be anything wrong with celebrating Irish heritage, German heritage, Scottish heritage, Dutch heritage, etc. The term "white" however reeks of exclusion so it will stir up controversy.
This is just my 2 cents. Full disclosure: WASP here.
Bro that's a messed up double standard. In Philly I have seen Caribeans, West Africans and American descendents of slaves celebrating black pride. Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Mexicans celebrating Hispanic heritage, and a Pakistani, Vietnamese, and Chinese all celebrating Asian heritage.
Now that we are in the United States, after the second or third generation the ancestry means nothing. You're no longer Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Thai, or Mexican. Americans are classified as White, Black, Spanish/Hispanic, Asian and Indian (feather)..
If you're only supposed to celebrate your heritage and not just your racial background..what are my kids supposed to celebrate? My dad's parents are Neapolitan, my mom was born in County Armagh Ireland, my wife's mother is a Polish immigrant and her father is a Portuguese...my kids aren't Italian/Irish/Polish/Portuguese...they are just white Americans. That's their heritage unique to this country after centuries of European migration and mixing.
While you have your dictionary out, look up these two words:
Majority
Minority
Personally, I find people who want to celebrate their skin color weird, at best.
I am caucasian. It never occurred to me to celebrate my skin color!
Majority? Not in 37% white Philly or 33% white New York or 45% white Boston or 10% white Miami or 31% white Chicago or 8% white Detroit or 25% white Los Angeles...
After enough generations in the United States, most whites are mixed up. We don't have one european ancestry to celebrate, our only ethnicity and heritage is European which is white.
Bro that's a messed up double standard. In Philly I have seen Caribeans, West Africans and American descendents of slaves celebrating black pride. Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Mexicans celebrating Hispanic heritage, and a Pakistani, Vietnamese, and Chinese all celebrating Asian heritage.
Now that we are in the United States, after the second or third generation the ancestry means nothing. You're no longer Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Thai, or Mexican. Americans are classified as White, Black, Spanish/Hispanic, Asian and Indian (feather)..
If you're only supposed to celebrate your heritage and not just your racial background..what are my kids supposed to celebrate? My dad's parents are Neapolitan, my mom was born in County Armagh Ireland, my wife's mother is a Polish immigrant and her father is a Portuguese...my kids aren't Italian/Irish/Polish/Portuguese...they are just white Americans. That's their heritage unique to this country after centuries of European migration and mixing.
First off, I personally have no problem with this dude celebrating white history & heritage (not sure why he wouldn't call it "American" though). If people don't like it, they can go patronize another place, let the free market take care of it.
That being said, I can see why people are offended. Again, the term white is exclusionary and not properly defined, believe it or not, your dad's parents were not considered "white" in this country when it was founded. Historically, its a very politically polarizing term and still is (e.g. can you say who is white and who is not to a 100% certainty?). I doubt there would have been any problem with him celebrating X European heritage. Last I checked, the St. Patricks day and Otktoberfest don't offend anyone.
I agree we are all Americans and there is a bit of a double standard with minorities being able to celebrate their heritage without the same controversy, but 2 wrongs don't make a right either.
If you're only supposed to celebrate your heritage and not just your racial background..what are my kids supposed to celebrate?
Do you feel your kids are missing out on some celebration or other?
I can celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, Mardi Gras, Oktoberfest, or any other day I want to celebrate.
So can your kids.
Your kids are Americans. They can celebrate Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Independence Day, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving Day, Columbus Day, etc., right along with all Americans, regardless of skin color.
No one is "supposed to" celebrate anything. Where did you get that idea?
It's not like there is a law stating everyone MUST celebrate their heritage.
Mine's English, Polish, and Russian. I'm an American. I really never felt the need to celebrate any part of my heritage. Those people I descended from are long gone.
Unless you and your family are first-generation Americans then you also probably don't feel any particularly strong ties to the heritage of your ancestors.
You don't like being American or something?
Last edited by Fox Terrier; 04-17-2015 at 01:41 PM..
First off, I personally have no problem with this dude celebrating white history & heritage (not sure why he wouldn't call it "American" though). If people don't like it, they can go patronize another place, let the free market take care of it.
That being said, I can see why people are offended. Again, the term white is exclusionary and not properly defined, believe it or not, your dad's parents were not considered "white" in this country when it was founded. Historically, its a very politically polarizing term and still is (e.g. can you say who is white and who is not to a 100% certainty?). I doubt there would have been any problem with him celebrating X European heritage. Last I checked, the St. Patricks day and Otktoberfest don't offend anyone.
I agree we are all Americans and there is a bit of a double standard with minorities being able to celebrate their heritage without the same controversy, but 2 wrongs don't make a right either.
He didn't say American because the history and culture of European descendants in the US is different than other Americans.
You can say things like "back in the day the Irish weren't considered white" but this isn't back in the day, it's now. Back in the day (and I am talking about the 1970s when my dad was growing up) the respectful terms for blacks were negro/colored and for Asians it was Oriental. Now say that in public and you're branded with the scarlet letter or "waycist".
To a white American mutt like me, Saint Pattys day or Oktoberfest has no cultural significance. I'm not Bavarian or Irish, I'm a white American and it's a completely different identity at this point.
In 2015, white is perfectly defined in the American context. To be white in the United States means that you're descended wholly from Europe whether Romania or Ireland. Cuban Cameron Diaz is white, Italian Al Pacino is white, Irish Ted Kennedy (yuck) was white. Since European settlement centuries ago there has been mixing between different European descendants in the States...Jamestown colony was settled in 1620, thats almost 400 years of European descendants on this land mixing. If that isn't enough time for us to have a cohesive cultural identity as white Americans than I don't know.
Me and mine are not Irish, or Italian, or Swedish or Bavarian or whatever. We are Americans and we are white, and if someone has an issue with that but not with BET (Black Entertainment Television) or Hispanic Heritage Month, that makes you a big ol' exclusionary racist.
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