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I think the idea of there being a "white" identity is one of the dumbest things ever invented. What does it mean to be "white"? Its a non-identity, it tells you almost nothing about an individual.
Contrast "whiteness" with the Irish identity. If someone says i'm Irish, I know. The are from a specific place called Ireland, there is a language, religion, history, culture, heritage, way of life and historical struggle that accompanies being Irish. Its an actual identity.
If someone says i'm "white", what do I know? Almost nothing about them. Being white is not about being something its about not being something. You aren't black, aren't Asian, aren't Latino.. Sorry but if your core identity is being "white" then you have no real identity.
Being White (aka European) means your ancestors originated somewhere on the European continent within the last 5,000-10,000 years.
There are cultural differences amongst Europeans, but also similarities we don't share with other people. It's an identity, meaningful in its own context. If I go to a European nation, saying I'm European has no meaning. There it will matter if I'm English or French or something like this. But if I'm in the USA, or Australia or Canada then being a European-descendent has meaning.
Likewise, in all countries, saying we're all human has no meaning to me. Maybe one day if outerspace aliens come and colonize our planet, then human identity will have more meaning, now it's meaningless.
I think the idea of there being a "white" identity is one of the dumbest things ever invented. What does it mean to be "white"? Its a non-identity, it tells you almost nothing about an individual.
Contrast "whiteness" with the Irish identity. If someone says i'm Irish, I know. The are from a specific place called Ireland, there is a language, religion, history, culture, heritage, way of life and historical struggle that accompanies being Irish. Its an actual identity.
If someone says i'm "white", what do I know? Almost nothing about them. Being white is not about being something its about not being something. You aren't black, aren't Asian, aren't Latino.. Sorry but if your core identity is being "white" then you have no real identity.
Just as when I tell you I'm a white American. I have a great deal of Irish ancestry btw.
But I'm not going to play your game that those of European descent don't really exist and don't have more similarities, commonalities and affinity for each other than they do with others.
I find it interesting that, although the OP is just a simple poll asking whether anyone personally knows a white supremacist, several white supremacists have joined in the conversation to either disingenuously argue about the definition and/or assert that there's nothing wrong with it.
Once again, from the font of all knowledge, Wikipedia:
"White supremacy or white supremacism is the racist belief that white people are superior to people of other races and therefore should be dominant over them. "
Hands up from all those people who think that whites should dominate other, non-matching, people. Another vote from those who think that whites are superior to the various flavors of Asian ethnicities.
I think I'll go with Green Mariner, that there's really just a pecking order at work. Blacks are practically always at the bottom, although you can make a case for aboriginal Tasmanians.
If you want to redefine the term, you go for it girl.
What people mean by "white" is really European. We as European people have shared Christian values, a lot of cultural similarities, generally fair complexions (with a minority of southern europeans having olive complexions).
This is hilarious...shared Christian values??? Oh like the Troubles in Ireland, or the Thirty Years War... Do you even know any European history?
What cultural similarities do Russians have with the Spanish? How about the the Greeks with the Finnish?
There are loads of non-Europeans who have a very fair complexion and plenty of Europeans who have a darker complexion. Its a meaningless to divide people as such.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldenPineTree
You as a middle easterner are some contact population, that's often lumped in as White for the purpose of census counting. Indeed, many Arabs, Persians can pass as Europeans but many cannot as well.
Which further proves how idiotic the concept of being "white" actual is.
[quote=GoldenPineTree;55927665]Being White (aka European) means your ancestors originated somewhere on the European continent within the last 5,000-10,000 years.
There are cultural differences amongst Europeans, but also similarities we don't share with other people. It's an identity, meaningful in its own context. If I go to a European nation, saying I'm European has no meaning. There it will matter if I'm English or French or something like this. But if I'm in the USA, or Australia or Canada then being a European-descendent has meaning.
Likewise, in all countries, saying we're all human has no meaning to me. Maybe one day if outerspace aliens come and colonize our planet, then human identity will have more meaning, now it's meaningless.[/QUOTE
As the Bosnians and the Croatians still hate each other.
Once again, from the font of all knowledge, Wikipedia:
"White supremacy or white supremacism is the racist belief that white people are superior to people of other races and therefore should be dominant over them. "
Hands up from all those people who think that whites should dominate other, non-matching, people. Another vote from those who think that whites are superior to the various flavors of Asian ethnicities.
I think I'll go with Green Mariner, that there's really just a pecking order at work. Blacks are practically always at the bottom, although you can make a case for aboriginal Tasmanians.
If you want to redefine the term, you go for it girl.
This is hilarious...shared Christian values??? Oh like the Troubles in Ireland, or the Thirty Years War... Do you even know any European history?
What cultural similarities do Russians have with the Spanish? How about the the Greeks with the Finnish?
There are loads of non-Europeans who have a very fair complexion and plenty of Europeans who have a darker complexion. Its a meaningless to divide people as such.
Which further proves how idiotic the concept of being "white" actual is.
I think I can give a reasonable answer to that.
'White' is a construct that came from the largely English but somewhat mixed European population in the New World.
They were faced with an existential threat from the natives and found themselves banding together to keep their kith and kin alive. It isn't like the Dutch or French were close friends with the English. The indigenous folks were used as cannon fodder as an extension to European wars, but soon came to be viewed as a common enemy.
In a sense, it's like the way the Russian nation was founded from similar but not identical people who were faced with the threat from steppe tribes from the east.
I was at the rest stop on the New York State Thruway in their cafeteria area. I was with a church group with two kids at my table. I started talking about the Spanish Inquisition and used the term grand inquisitor. All of a sudden a skin head sitting with his family started staring at me and continued staring through his meal.
You know, if you want to hide something from a stupid person just put it under a stack of books.
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