What is White Privilege & How does it Work?
Whites...like all other ethnic groups inherit the legacies of those before them, in a strange sense, making them victims of an eagerly sought after inher circumstance as well - believe it or not. However, un-educating them out of the conventional wisdom of their colonial forbearers regarding the quiet and sometimes not-so-subtle control of a numerous proletariat/minority is a task only they can undertake with any real hope of success; it's the same for blacks who must learn how to fight TOGETHER by first seeing themselves positively in a world where they are practically dead-last in virtually every facet of society.
As a black man, I find that a good number of whites and those who may easily identify themselves as white are oftentimes annoyed by - if not, indifferent to - the stark realities that blacks and other "minorities" must endure on a variety of levels and in a number of countries. Apparently, it isn't yet conceivable to many them how their "white privilege" - centuries in the making - will inevitably imperil the so-called "Democratic freedoms of expressions" (as has been the case in previous regimes, governments, and kingdoms long forgotten) which are currently taken for granted by an incredible mass of Americans. On the other hand, they can very easily see how it has afforded them virtually an automatic creditability in nearly every corner of the globe usually at the expense of the indigenous populations they inevitably subsume or annihilate outright; the Indians, Africans, and even the Asians (to a certain extent) have an intimate knowledge of being the helpless victims of white supremacist ideology, which of course has many forms. In fact, no other group has the distinguished record of causing so much death, destruction, and mayhem amongst themselves and all others in order to maintain a death grip on power at the top of the pyramid. History illustrates this point nicely: Consider Alexander the Great of Macedon who actually led the first European forays into Africa (356-323 B.C.E.); or Caesar of Rome (100-44 B.C.E.) into Gual; the marauding Vikings (789 - 990A.C.E.) of the Bearing Straits; Los Conquistadores lead by the ruthless Hernán Cortés de España who mercilessly slaughtered Los Aztecas de México in the 16th century; Hitler of Germany in WWII (1939-1945) in Poland and other adjacent sovereign nations; The infamous fascist coward Mussolini who thought it glorious to invade a shoeless
Ethiopian nation in 1935 without any provocation whatsoever ...all for the purpose of bolstering Italy's waning influence and prestige in World Affairs; and let's not forget the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade of the 16th century of which, every social class in the western world greedily partook. In their capitalistic ventures of wealth accumulation, it was not enough to simply dispossess Africans of the land, their enslavement was hitherto necessary. Unfortunately, their dominion over Africans @home and in the diaspora continues.
For many people (blacks especially), Western society is the paragon of civilization. However, looking through the prism of history I find their collective camp wanting. If there is any human quality or trait whites show exceptional proficiency at...it's craftiness, that is to say, their incomparable skill to cause so much dissension in the camps of others. Divide and Conquer is the game plan and they are very good at it.
For example:
They divided the land of the Indians in the North & South and ended up going to war for it (American Civil War 1860-1865); they carved up all of Africa and even had a discussion about who gets what @the Berlin Conference of 1884 and @the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (Specifically to dispossess Germany of all her colonial holdings as punishment for causing WWI 1914-1918.) Despite the overwhelmingly self-incriminating historical evidence that speaks to the horrific violence perpetrated by White barbarism and insatiable greed the world over, it is we, the hapless and unsuspecting natives/indigenous populations who shamefully bear the stigma of savage brutes; meanwhile, the white figures of antiquity with little exception are essentially white-washed
of all wrong-doing and further still, they are lauded for their butchery and the privations they suffered others, thusly immortalized by the insidious Hollywood entertainment industry. Since childhood we've all been weaned on their fictitious stories of selfless heroism, we've been taught to revere them and therefore aspired to be like them as much as humanly possible. The history books they wrote extolled their European heritage as benevolent bringers of civilization; Their scientist operating out of a racist paradigm suggested that other ethnic groups (blacks especially) suffered from an intellectual deficit compared to whites and were therefore slightly more prone to criminal urges. In America and certainly back in our ancestral home on the African Continent, whites beat us into submission and we love them for it. ...ultimately, whites go on feeling generous and even smug in their empathetic displays toward the less favored races who wait patiently at their beck & call. Whenever they need to make room for whatever, they... cut down whole populations, have their banks call in debts simultaneously to break the backs of the working-man (many of whom ARE white) in this "free-market" economy (more like free-for-all-bankers economy, fire some hapless black employee usually after making him/her sufficiently train their replacement... a white undeserving subordinate who's due for a promotion because of nepotism; or conveniently scapegoat minorities for taking out loans THEIR white bankers sold to us by purposely concealing the pitfalls in obscure legal jargon; or simply start wars in far away places (Iraq, Africa, Asia, the Balkans) and casually blame it on the natives - we minorities pay for all of it in blood ultimately ...along with white-foot soldiers of blue-collar families who've been so thoroughly conditioned to blame the cheap-labor dark-skinned invading foreigners for taking their jobs, never realizing that it's the people @the top pulling all the strings..
Of Late, The Western Powers have...
...created a phantom media image of "the opportunistic terrorist", who is just itching for a chance to blow the altruistic white American society back into the stone age; now, Iran is in it's cross-hairs for wanting to become a truly independent nation (energy-wise) and is therefore accused of enriching Uranium for development of nuclear weapons - never mind their willing compliance to the United Nations' IAEA DEPARTMENT [As a side note, I suggest that the reader click on the highlighted IAEA DEPATMENT highlighted in red and conduct a cursory keyword search for Iran. You will easily verify their observance of International Law on Uranium Enrichment for peaceful purposes per UN guidelines the last time inspections were made and in subsequent visits. The Iranians have been more than open regarding their personal right to developing uranium for peaceful purposes.]
Not Surprisingly, middle and lower class whites along with everyone else are perceived as potential terrorist threats by the superstructure of (mainly white & usually untouchable) elites and are therefore treated accordingly. These concerns have only begun to take center stage because an inordinate amount of white people have suffered. Fortunately, white luminaries like Alex Jones, Peter Joseph, & now Tim Wise (Speaking in the clip above) dig deep and share observations with those who need it most, OTHER WHITE PEOPLE. My sincere hope is that more of them will acknowledge these truths, but not for our (black people) benefit - by no means! I want them to do so for the good of the world because many of them are now starting to feel the crushing weight of many of the systemic contradictions of Casino-Capitalism and other mechanisms that until recently had benefited virtually the whole lot of the them. For better or for worse, they (whites) will remain at the vanguard (at least for the foreseeable future) of whatever becomes of us all. If you (the person reading this now) are anything like me, you are slightly more trusting of self-fulfilling prophecies than of mythological ones written in the ancient texts of long ago and far away places, foreboding the absolute devastation of all mankind. If the white man is somehow able to turn the page of imperialism and finally break with that horrid past perhaps then, some measure of equanimity within the common thread of humanity might begin to finally take root and eventually bear much fruit. Until many more of the various white ethnic subdivisions/groups stop believing in the misguided notions of some master race/some inherent genetic superiority over others; until they stop preaching to the choir that is... other minorities, and confront their own personal demons, the white man's burden (Click Here) won't be anyone else...but himself.
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Paul Mooney: Analyzing White America
[WARNING: Dark Comedy Edition]