Note: This post is about white pride in America, but much of what I say probably applies to whites in other English-speaking countries.
White pride means being proud of being white, to the point where your sense of self-worth and self-image become built on it. It is like patriotism but it is about your race not your country.
In America the only people who seem to talk about white pride are skinhead sorts. They see it as the white counterpart to black pride: something necessary to keep the race strong. They do not see it as racist.
But most whites do not talk about white pride: not only does it seem racist to them, they think they do not have it. Like with racism, they think it is just a skinhead thing.
Some on the left go even further: they like repeating all the terrible things whites have done: genocide, slavery, colonialism, imperialism, etc. You would think this would lead to white shame, but in practice it just seems to add to white guilt.
American mainstream culture supports white pride. We are constantly being told that “white is right”. For example:
- White History Month is the longest month of the year: it never ends.
- “White is beautiful” is pushed by the film and fashion industries.
- CNN never shows “White in America”.
You know that ordinary whites have white pride because they do things that otherwise make no sense. Like defend the slave trade. Why would anyone waste their breath defending such a clear evil? Because their white pride is at stake.
Even whites who you would think had no white pride have it: like those who have married black and have only black children. If you start bad-mouthing whites to them they often get upset too and try to disprove you, sounding just as racist as most other whites (though their arguments are often more subtle).
Whites think they are neutral: that they just concern themselves with facts and reasons. But when race comes up two things come in: white pride and white guilt. Fact and reason fly out the window; hurt feelings and weak excuses take their place. Because they feel they must defend their pride and avoid facing their guilt. They no longer think clearly but in a twisted, half-blind, self-serving way. Their feelings can become more important than the truth.
In and of itself there is nothing wrong with being proud of your race. If you live in a racist country where your race is outnumbered it is both necessary and healthy in order to fight against internalized racism. In America black pride is a defence against the white pride of the mainstream.
But where pride in one’s race goes wrong is when it is used as an excuse to:
- Look down on other races.
- Turn a blind eye to the faults of one’s own race.
And in America white pride is used that way all the time, causing great damage to the country.
See also:
- What this blog has taught me about white people
- The feelings of white people
- white guilt – I know whites think they do not have it, but it makes sense of so much
- growing up white
- The blackness of American television – or, rather, its blinding whiteness
- internalized racism
- “Black is beautiful”
I have to admit “white pride” does sound like a skinhead thing. And how could anybody be “proud” because they are white? It sounds absurd.
LikeLike
One more, till my original comment appears (I forgot about the “forbidden” words).
I was never proud of being white. Never. To be honest, I was never particularily ashamed, or guilt of being white, but I was never proud. I disliked my white skin for a long time, but that’s all.
LikeLike
I’ve never understood the concept of white pride; i.e. why anyone would feel the need to have it. What for? Black/Asian/Latino pride is the direct result of these groups being minorities and marginalized by American society. In the case of Black pride, the people have no record of their ancestry, and are trying to form some sort of solidarity and sense of self amongst its members who receive insidious messages every day that tell them they should not be proud of who they are.
But white pride? Whites are from all different areas, and most can trace their lineage. They are well represented in nearly all aspects of American culture. White is pushed as the ideal, as you expounded upon above. I’ve only seen the term white pride used with obvious white racists/racialists or amongst those that feel they are not given the “advantages” that minorities are, such as organizations, student unions, etc and the “white race” is being discriminated against. Which just seems like paranoia and lack of critical thinking in the case of the latter (and the former, in majority of cases).
Irish pride, Italian pride, etc. I can understand because that forum of pride is essentially patriotism, but not white pride.
LikeLike
*form
LikeLike
Natasha says,
I’ve never understood the concept of white pride; i.e. why anyone would feel the need to have it.
I’ve only seen the term white pride used with obvious white racists/racialists or amongst those that feel they are not given the “advantages” that minorities are, such as organizations, student unions, etc and the “white race” is being discriminated against. Which just seems like paranoia and lack of critical thinking in the case of the latter (and the former, in majority of cases).
laromana says,
Natasha, I think that abagond’s statements below clarify what makes white pride an issue.
“But where pride in one’s race goes wrong is when it is used as an excuse to:
Look down on other races.
Turn a blind eye to the faults of one’s own race.”
LikeLike
Laromana,
I understand why the concept of white pride is a problem. I’m just trying to understand why some whites feel the dire need to have it. Most of the times when I say “I don’t understand…” it really means I understand but I think the explanations are absurd. 🙂
LikeLike
Amen
“White Pride” is reaffirmed every day.. All one has to do is look the media and ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox to tell you that.. Minorities make up 34% of the population and only 8.4% of the people on TV are POC.
Even “Cleveland Brown” A show about an African American family on Fox voice is that of a white actor..
“According to an Entertainment Weekly study of scripted-programming casts for the upcoming fall 2008 season, each of the five major broadcast networks is whiter than the Caucasian percentage (66.2 percent) of the United States population, as per the 2007 census estimate.”
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20206185,00.html
Hello ‘Couples Retreat’ where the African American actors just happened to disappear from the poster. http://www.wavenewspapers.com/entertainment/movies/70334912.html
White history is taught all year long at school. Look at the sanitized history of Slavery, the Civil war and First American History and the tales of Columbus Day and Thanksgiving that are taught to American children.
CNN never shows White in America because being white is not a novelty. White in America is featured every day on the news and reaffirmed of its dominance. The newsrooms are overwhelmingly white. In 2008, only 13.52 of people in news organizations were minorities.
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=58&aid=141425
I say be proud of your ethnic heritage however white pride messages are already everywhere and it’s not just limited to the entertainment field. I used entertainment because it is so obvious.
LikeLike
I’ve never understood the conceptnof ethnic pride, period.
LikeLike
Natasha:
Excellent question! Black pride and even skinhead white pride make sense as defences, but mainstream white pride seems like overkill.
LikeLike
@ Kisha: Thanks!
LikeLike
You seem to allow for a white pride that is positive, but I don’t see how that is possible. To me, for a white person to come to grips with white racism means realizing what makes them a white American is inextricably linked with contributions from many other races and cultures. When you subtract out the white racism/white supremacy, what’s left is pride in being an American. Unless you mean white pride in the sense of being comfortable and happy with your skin and the way you look. I guess what I’m getting at is what makes white people a race or a collectivity distinct from other Americans is the white racism/white supremacy. That’s the glue.
LikeLike
Hmm, maybe I’m just lucky, but I can’t say I’ve ever heard a white in my life defend the practice of slavery. Are you over-reaching here?
At most, I’ve only heard whites say that slavery was nothing exclusive to the white race and that all races did it, which is true btw, but not defend the act per se.
Well if you start badmouthing ANYONE’S race they are going to get upset and defensive. That’s just a natural human reaction.
LikeLike
Tulio said:
“At most, I’ve only heard whites say that slavery was nothing exclusive to the white race and that all races did it, which is true btw, but not defend the act per se.”
They are still excusing it. It is not whether their arguments are true or false that I am talking about – but why they feel the need to even point this stuff out. Even your “which is true, btw” sounds just like them.
“Well if you start badmouthing ANYONE’S race they are going to get upset and defensive. That’s just a natural human reaction.”
Good point. Maybe I need to state that better. I mean that if you point out the faults of whites their pride starts getting in the way making it hard for them to see things objectively.
LikeLike
Bingregory:
White pride can be a good thing, it does not necessarily have to be racist, but in America it almost always is racist. It is not just “whites have done some good in the world” but “we are great and you are messed up”.
LikeLike
I still can’t see how it can be a good thing. Sure, whites have done some good in the world, but that has nothing to do with being white.
LikeLike
White pride is unneccesary since whites are so obviously superior in intellect, morality, achievements etc. Pride is required as a psychological booster for the morally incoherent, culturally defecient, and those who have low intelligence. This is why Pride is often expressed among Gays, Blacks, Hispanics, Italians etc.
LikeLike
How does that old saying go again? If you say something often enough, long enough, and convincingly enough that eventually some people will start to believe it is true just like the previous poster Gray is doing.
LikeLike
Indeed. Plus, I can’t help noticing that, according to him, Italians are not white.
LikeLike
@leigh204 Right on
LikeLike
Jeezis, Gray. If you’re going to troll, at least be creative.
LikeLike
Having special pride in what whites in general have contributed to America I think has to imply that those contributions belong to whites in some way more than they do to other Americans. If it doesn’t, then like Mira said, what’s white about it? If it does, then this is problematic: if the dominant culture doesn’t belong to minority groups as much as to the majority, in the eyes of the dominant group, then isn’t that back to racism again?
LikeLike
@leigh204
ha! Statistics must be racist then!
LikeLike
Gray:
Just a word of advice: if you are going to call people “culturally defecient” and doubt their intelligence, then please at least learn to spell.
LikeLike
^ He also misspelled unnecessary as unneccesary. lol! 😛
What’s the point of being so “obviously superior in intellect” when Gray can’t spell correctly. Haha! 😀
LikeLike
Bingregory:
“Having special pride in what whites in general have contributed to America I think has to imply that those contributions belong to whites in some way more than they do to other Americans. If it doesn’t, then like Mira said, what’s white about it? If it does, then this is problematic: if the dominant culture doesn’t belong to minority groups as much as to the majority, in the eyes of the dominant group, then isn’t that back to racism again?”
As Kisha pointed out above, American television is whiter than America. So are “mainstream” magazines. So is what you are taught at school or read in the newspaper. The only part of the culture where blacks take part equal to their numbers or better is music.
LikeLike
Sorry, wires crossed there somewhere. I’m not contesting that American mass culture is overwhelmingly white. What I’m trying to say is I don’t see any way that white pride can be understood that doesn’t exclude non-whites, and therefore white pride can’t be a good thing.
Oh and Happy New Year to all you folks still stuck in 2009 🙂
LikeLike
Lol! A spelling mistake invalidates an argument! Statistics are racist!
So much logic… No wonder Congo has landed on the moon.
LikeLike
A poster named TONY makes a Declaration of White Pride as he attempts to boost his self-esteem in what he imagines is an attack on his (vicarious) Whiteness. His statement seems to be Exhibit A for what you observed about Whites who try to present themselves as neutral. I call people like that White advocates… I think my observations them illustrate just how Tony was just that or at least someone who, instead of being neutral, clearly placed himself on one [White] side.
LikeLike
Gray, you haven’t made an argument yet. All you’ve done so far is spew BS.
And as for statistics, let me quote Mark Twain:
There are three kinds of lies in this world: lies, damned lies and statistics.
LikeLike
You (Abagond) might also like (( this ))
I did. I immediately thought of you, your style/exploration of issues, when I read it.
LikeLike
I don’t really believe in racial pride conceptually. I think pride should come from one’s accomplishment and sense of self-worth. Since nobody has any CHOICE what race they are born into, I see no reason to be proud or ashamed of it. Or at least not proud in a chest-thumping boastful manner.
I have gotten into debates with whites that believe in white pride and what I tell them is that white pride will never be respected because there is no white pride organization I’m aware of that isn’t based in neo-nazism and steeped in hatred of other groups. Black pride was never based on hatred of other races but rather in black advancement.
LikeLike
“And statistics ARE racist because racist white people create the statistics themselves.”
yes, de evil White man create de evil statistics.
Blacks who are as stupid as this probably don’t even realise what a slave mentality they have. Only a slave would blame his master for all his problems. A free man bears his own responsibilty.
LikeLike
Oh, look! Grey’s seen “The Song of the South”!
Funny! Huhr, huhr, huhr!
A free man bears his own responsibilty.
Which is, of course, why we hear the free white trash constantly blaming their problems on the government, black helicopter, immigrants, people of color and the orbital mind control lasers, rfight? 😀
LikeLike
I think that’s an American-related word, If you were in Germany,France, or any other Country of Europe people wouldn’t think in those terms, they would be talking about French pride, German pride, Greek pride and so on. That means culture-related pride.
Germans and French sometimes don’t get along well because they belong to different cultures and sometimes they have opposite points of view, I imagine that the French would find more common ground with Latino Countries and the German more with Great Britain and perhaps the USA.
If someone would talk with me about “White Pride” I’d label him either an American, Skinhead or both.
There’s no such thing as “white” accomplishments.
LikeLike
Sergio, you might be right, but given that those French, English and German nationalists ipso facto specifically, explicitly and exclusively define their national culture AS WHITE, it’s kind of a moot point, don’t you think?
LikeLike
Oh yeah those twins I’ve heard of them on a Louis Theroux documentry.
LikeLike
the article said that they can barely carry a tune if they were so superior then wouldn’t they be number 1 in the charts by now.
LikeLike
I’ve never heard of these people.
LikeLike
Horrible.
LikeLike
I have never heard of “white pride” except when it was used by racists. I am white and it is a fact, I have no reason to be proud of ashamed of it. It’s a skin color, big deal. Actually, I do get kinda annoyed since I burn so easy and can blind someone if the light hits at the wrong place. 🙂
But white, black or green doesn’t matter.
When I am proud it is because of something I had a hand in.
or in my adorable nieces and nephews or my family in general.
The concept of {insert color here} pride is foreign to me.
LikeLike
“Ethnic cleansing” is a valid term. Of course everyone has a ethnicity (whites often forget about this), but it’s still possible to do an ethnic cleansing (on another ethnicity, that is different than your own). The problem is, Americans often read “ethnicity” as “race”.
LikeLike
@Mira
Yeah I get what you’re saying.
One of my pet pevees is when people get race, ethnicity and nationality mixed up.
LikeLike
black american people are more racist than any other ethnicity I know. Black american people self discriminate more than any other ethnicity I know. Quit feeling sorry for yourselves and do something positive with your life. White Pride and black pride can go away…what about American Pride? What about Human Pride? We should concentrate on bringing our country together and not further divide it.
LikeLike
I don’t see Black American people as an ethnicity.
LikeLike
Mira
I don’t see Black American people as an ethnicity.
—-
Really, Why?
LikeLike
Because I don’t use American definition of ethnicity. I know that definition might be the most appropriate for an American issue like this one, and I am not saying it’s wrong (on the contrary, it’s right); but I still fail to see it that way, unless I think about it.
LikeLike
@Mira
The problem is, Americans often read “ethnicity” as “race” . . . . I don’t see Black American people as an ethnicity.
I agree that people often confuse ethnicity with “race”, but I do think it is interesting that you don’t see Black American as an ethnicity. I guess this is another one of these complicated issues. All people have an ethnicity (Igbo, Hmong, etc), but due to the conflation of different West African ethnicities in the slave trade those separate identities were lost . . . . So where does Black American ethnicity go from there?
I do think that nationality/ethnicity/race does get mashed together and mistakenly quite a lot (“Wait, what do you mean you’re Cuban? You look black.”), but I do think that for black people in the “Western” Hemisphere that nationality plays a huge part. Is Caribbean/West Indian the ethnicity of the black people from that region? And if so since their created ethnicity is described by the region of the world they live in than why not the same for black Americans? Or should it be like black Latinos–racially black, ethnically Latin? Would black Americans be black Anglos (etc) because of the culture forced assimilated into, not to mention whatever had to be created?
Or do black people just have to deal with the loss of an ethnicity in favor of just a racial/national identity? Very complex . . . . Very long post. Should probably go eat my dinner before it gets really cold.
LikeLike
@sami
There’s an irresistible mental urge to create some kind of accurate hierarchical taxonomy of race/ethnicity/culture/nationality but it just can’t be done. The more clearly you define the terms the less it corresponds to real life. (Actually the taxonomy of the plant world, what you might think of as the purest example of that kind of thing, isn’t even remotely as clearly defined as you might suppose, with genes slipping off sideways between classes and so on. And yet a rose is still a rose.)
LikeLike
@bingregory: Agreed . . . but the classifications I can deal with. It’s the hierarchy that “chaps my hide”. Do you have a blog? Your name looks really familiar.
LikeLike
Yeah, I have this thing where I write 500 words a month on whatever I want. 😀 (you can click my name up there)
LikeLike
@bingregory: Ok, good. I thought so. I’ve been to your blog before, just wanted to make sure. lol
Sorry everyone for the personal OT question.
LikeLike
Follow-up link about taxonomy, hope it’s not too far OT. Horizontal Gene Transfer, the passing of genes to other than your offspring, means the “Tree of Life”-style hierarchy we’re used to really looks more like this.
LikeLike
WHITE POW- er, I mean, pride!
http://thejamminjabber.com/2010/07/23/america-loves-her-beautiful-white-sons/
LikeLike
If you look hard enough for something, chances are you will find something you can identify as that object of your search.
Whether or not you have actually found what you are looking for, well, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail…..
LikeLike
So what you believe is that an average white person is
racist because the they dont feel guilt about something
that happened a hundred years ago. No matter what a person does they will never make you feel trust worthy around them.
First off, the only thing I can do is deal with the problems I am faced with are you gonna worry about the problems hispanics face. No. because they dont affect you. why dont you make an article about the discrimination against asians? you wouldnt because they are not your problem.
There are countries in Europe that didnt take part in the slave trade like most scandinavian ones and eastern europe. So you totally dismiss that. You dismiss that people have unique views and opinions and that being white or black does not entitle you to think a certain way.
And yes Im a liberal white person who believes mass genocide and slavery done by whites was wrong and that our culture upholds whiteness as better than other races but am I one average white person to blame no. Fail. the people in power and the history of our society since it started is way society is the way it is. To say white people are racist is racist in itself.
I keep hearing black racists saying well my racism is okay because its a response to white racism. No fail. You dont respond to racism intelligently with the same thing. fire does not put out fire. Therefore sorry your argument holds no weight when it comes to being accurate its the culture that is that is perpitrated by the media who are racist whites that causes this. not the average white person who is trying to get by and sees through the bullshit. so due yourself a favor and grow a brain.
LikeLike
POC pride at least has practical purpose, but still, being proud of something that was entirely an accident of birth is silly. I love my both my racial backgrounds, I’m happy to be brown, but I didn’t accomplish it, it’s been that color since I entered the world, and will be until I die, regardless of what kind of person I am.
LikeLike
What’s that saying again? Pride before the fall? Or in this case, white pride.
LikeLike
Okay this is my take on so called White pride. It is okay to be proud of your ethnic roots and where you came from but not to the point that you think your race or ethnicity is better than others.
I am okay with ”White Prid” as long as they don’t put Blacks like me, Latinos and Asians down.
LikeLike
i agree i personally had to learn to have pride for skin color I was the white sheep In my family sort of speak I was the white child and I looked different from my brothers I was tauned by my step dad who wanted to make install me with white guilt for what other people who looked like me did i loved my step dad unconditionally still do in my own weird way but i was out casted by him for not being his child i feel if i was his color he would have been more tolerant of me my pride formed from necessity to have some sort of self esteem im proud of my jewish heritage my Celtic heritage and even my German heritage. I agree with you on the people who act as if they don’t have white pride because of their attraction to black people that’s my mom for you she felt guilty for what our people did to the black side of my family so she offered abusing me as some kind of level playing field thing but I was told to marry a white man so shed still have some white descends twisted right. So i feel happy to be white because i was born that way. Other white people do think the term white pride means skin head when often times i see white pride in them. White guilt however i see as a different thing those who have higher white pride have less white guilt vise versa however alot of people have both which is hard for me to understand. Most people of all colors don’t want to be held accountable for something they weren’t directly responsible for i personally don’t think anyone should be held responsible for something that wasn’t there fault. However that being said I feel bad for all the terrible things all people do to others it sucks. But I refuse to feel guilty it solves nothing.so I feel pride. Pride is good if it doesn’t turn into hate. guilt on the other hand is only good when your the guilty person. How am I supposed to feel having both Jewish and German history in my genetic background does that mean I should be pissed at myself feel guilty for something that happened to my own great grandmother its a strange thing white guilt I makes little sense bin my book. Mostly becuse I don’t feel it but others want me to.
LikeLike
A question for the author:
What is the difference between white shame and white guilt?
LikeLike