chithappens
Senior Member
Originally posted by FistOfThe North
In comparison to the dozen other racial slurs Whites on here have lashed at me.This is just the beginnign. What I'm doing is showing that racism and Whiteness have a real close association.
Read my Racism and Whiteness article again..here it is..
Racism and Whiteness
Although all nations have had notions of national superiority at one time or the other, white people (specifically, early modern Europeans) developed this notion to "unprecedented" levels as an intrinsic element of the process of colonisation and imperialism. This resulted in the notion of superiority based on race (a euphemism for skin color). This ideology was then used as "justification" for their subjugation of non-white people across the world. Essentially, white people constructed a hierarchy based on 'race', with whites at the top. This created a de-facto global class system based on skin color - with white being seen as the standard against which all others were judged. This folksonomy produced real social effects such as white privilege for whites and colorism between non-whites, with many non-whites competing for proximity to "whiteness" by bleaching their skin (see skin whitening) and adopting a variety of white cultural practices in the form of manners, dress, speech, cultural tastes and Eurocentric aesthetics.
Although laws have been introduced in most countries worldwide, to dismantle this folksonomy, its tenets appear to be still deeply ingrained in many societies (see postcolonialism, colonial mentality and skin whitening). In many ways, this "mental subjugation" (or "internalised orientalism"😉 is the most harrowing aspect of racism, as it is not "directly observable", and therefore difficult to recognize, let alone ameliorate. Whole swathes of nonwhite people have absorbed, by means of cultural osmosis (or memes), subconscious feelings of inferiority, and a poor self image either by way of their direct contact with white people (through enslavement, assimilationist immigration policies, or practices of ethnic cleansing - see Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous Australians) or through indoctrination (i.e. colonisation).
Generally, the closer an individual's skin color approximates to "whiteness" on the "race hierarchy" established by Europeans, the more the "psychological wages of whiteness" accrue. This has led to wide scale skin whitening in many parts of the world where indigenous peoples have been exposed to racist ideology (either overtly or covertly) via one of the aforementioned events (i.e. subjugation of one sort or the other by white people). Low self image often leads to depression and sometimes internalized oppression, but can also be the cause of intense resentment of a former "oppressor" by a former "oppressee" and may sometimes lead to a "revenge mentality" by those who feel aggrieved or victimised as a result of (real or perceived) ongoing racism in their society/community.
It is impossible to estimate (i.e. put a monetary/societal value) on how much worse off we are (either as a society or globally, as humans), as a result of millions of people worldwide being unable to achieve their full potential, as a result of lowered self image and actual discrimination resulting directly or indirectly from racism. Some white people on the other hand, also, feel a sense of guilt (see white guilt) for the global marginalisation of non-white people (in favour of white people) that had its genesis in racist ideology (and continues to be perpetuated by racism), whilst other white people feel they are "under siege" as a result of historic events that they were "not personally responsible for" (although white people as a whole, continue to benefit from a world system that evolved from a series of historical events that can be directly linked to racism - and now manifest itself in "economic racism" - see neocolonialism and dependency theory)
In the most extreme general sense, all of that is true;however, what you continue to forget is that it still is not all white people.
There were some people of power, who were white, who set some of these things in motion. As you said, it has always existed to a certain degree but it became more widespread as the slave trade happens. Still, what does that have to do with most white people even of the Romantic people of England, for example, where the working class was shit on by the nobility?
First off, the power structure does not see race. If you are an asset, you are an asset regardless of race. There are plenty of accounts in the 19th century of black slave owners in the U.S. Of course they could not do so without the help of a white man, but this sort of thing tends to be skipped over when you discuss it. Being a black man, I find it very important to include this fact. Race is not a factor, making money is.
Second, race is used to confuse the masses and make them bicker so they do not realize they are all going through the same thing.
Third, it is clear that the racist structure has caused all sorts of issues across the world. Can you blame all white people for that? Hell no. So what is your point? The people who put these things into effect are in a very small minority. Acknowledging the issue is important, but to generalize a race and then get mad when they do it back is hypocritical and makes you a bigot.
Fourth, the system of capitalism innately results in disequilibrium - to have the rich, there most be many, many poor people.
I could continue but that is good enough.