I’m White….And It’s All Right

I’m not going to apologize.  Not for my color.  Not for my culture.  The question is why so many with similar pigmentation seem to feel the need to wail and whine as if they are attending a wake.  It’s true, if they are not careful, they will be at a funeral, but they may not live to see it as it will be their own.  Attacking whites seems to have been in fashion for quite some time now, but why whites feel the need to “fit in” by attacking themselves requires a lot more understanding than I am willing to give. 

There will be those who attack this article as evidencing racism and bigotry, ironically based on a twisted interpretation of the value system espoused by those they attack.  It is way past time to set the record straight and to strongly suggest that whiteness is not a color, but a way of life, a value system, a particular philosophical and/or theological way of looking at the world.  When one understands what these imply, one can understand that if I don’t like you it has nothing to do with the color of your skin and everything to do with the content of your character.  I understand how much easier it is to place the blame for my distaste on something you have no control over, rather than accepting I don’t like you, individually, based on who you are.  There is no question that it is much, much easier to appeal for support based on a group characteristic rather than accepting any individual responsibility for behavior which might be generated from within.

Now that I can assume most shallow thinkers and intellectual light weights have gone on to other things, I invite the rest of you to suspend your biases and prejudices and consider what I have to say.  My purpose in writing this article is really two-fold.  On the one hand, I really don’t understand the apparent need by so many whites to denigrate a heritage for which there is much to be proud.  On the other hand, I invite those who may have a darker complexion to accept and share in that heritage as if it were their own.  The rest of this article will be devoted to explaining, defining, and, yes, defending, that heritage.

I’m White.  I said that.  But what does that mean?  Alexander the Great conquered a large part of the known world.  I am unaware of any Macedonian connection, yet his exploits were included as a part of “my” history.  “White” empires of which I am an heir include the Greeks, the Romans, the British, and, depending on one’s definition, the American.  Now, as it turns out, I also have Scandinavian, German, and possibly Celtic blood running in my veins, which suggests I can also lay claim to the various discoveries, victories, and inventions which may be a part of their varied cultural heritage.  But wait, I might have forgotten to mention at least one more.  Did I mention the fact that I am descended from the French Huguenots who were Protestants driven from France by the Catholics, first finding sanctuary in England, only to flee across the Atlantic to what was then called the New World? 

This whole “white” thing seems to be getting a bit confusing.  Wasn’t England conquered by the Roman legions, which would suggest that I should have a deep-seated hatred of all things Italian?  The French and the English fought many a war, but then so did the Celts and the English, the Catholics and the Protestants, not to mention the Vikings and the English.  The hyphenated label, “Anglo-Saxon“, is derived from the merging of two disparate peoples with a long history of conflict.  My entire history is a testament to the propensity of one group of people to attempt to subjugate another.  At the time the Africans were selling one another to whoever would buy them my ancestors, although not actual slaves were on the run from the French Catholics who wanted them dead, scraping by in England, and then disembarking in America as penniless indentured servants glad enough to have escaped with their lives.  Who is it I am supposed to hate? 

It’s true that the Portuguese and the Spaniards had been plundering this New World for quite some time, but I hardly think a civilization which had the propensity to rip the beating hearts out of selected victims was in a position to claim the moral high ground.  I ask, do I really have to go into the history of violence and conquest of the Aztecs and the Incas respectively, or the fact that neither civilization needed any lessons on how to enslave others?  But how about the gentle and civilized tribes further north?  Aside from the fact that they too were almost always at war with each other, enslaved their captives, used their women as beasts of burden, and tended to give the greatest status to their greatest warriors, is there something I’m missing that would suggest they should occupy some exalted place in the pantheon of human civilization and achievement? 

The point to this story is not to attack the heritage of others, but to simply suggest that without even discussing the numerous achievements of Western Civilization, or attempting to balance the “good” with the “bad”, the history of Western Civilization evidences no worse behavior than its numerous competitors while its primary fault seems to be that it met with more success.  It is for that reason that this article will not even attempt to address all the obvious benefits which we enjoy as a result of its success and instead return to the question of what it means to be “white” and why it seems that those who benefit the most seem to be some of its most voracious critics. 

As I pointed out above, the fact that “white” is now considered to include a number of groups which were originally at each other’s throats points out the related fact that when various groups are assimilated into one group, under one banner, the result is a stronger and more unified group which tends to emphasize what it has in common rather than those areas which originally created conflict.  Those who continue to attempt to create chaos and dissention for their own personal gain are in actuality causing damage not only to the system which has proved most beneficial for all, but are also ensuring that the most damage is sustained by those they are claiming to champion.

Vote against chaos, discrimination, and bigotry.  Vote against the Left.

Vote for liberty, prosperity, and equality.  Vote Conservative.