(I met you at the Mother’s of Promise retreat, in case you happen to wonder who I am)

What bothers me is that if someone were to make a blogring called “White Caucasian Christians”, or “Thoughts and Ideas from White People”, it would likely be considered racist. All kinds of people would be offended. So in our culture it is fine for every race to circle the wagons and enjoy their common ground, except for white folks.

Any ideas as to why? Do you see this as a double standard? What is the deal? Shiopeitience, I am genuinely interested in you opinion on this topic. You seem to have a clear and intelligent, though unique, perspective on the issue.

Hahaha…Jarod, you brought up a good question, and one that has actually crossed my mind before, but never really bothered to think about. So I’ll try to be “clear and intelligent” here and think about what you’ve addressed.

Is this a double standard? I would say both yes and no. Certainly it does seem rather hypocritial for society to be fine with loud proclamations of “Asian Pride!” or “Black Pride!” or…most recently “LATINO PRIDE!!!!!” but totally jump all over a simple peep of “White Pride!”

Those two words: “White Pride” manages to create an uproar and lashback that any other “Ethnic-Pride” doesn’t. But I think that it does this because it gets way too close for comfort to the idealogy of White Supremacy, which has a basis in ethnocentrism and a “desire for hegemony” -meaning the dominance of one group over another. White Supremacy is a racist belief that those of light and fair skin were superior in intellect and class and humanity than those of colored skin. This conviction alone, if you look at history, has been the basis of a lot of violence and senseless killing of non-white people. I’m thinking…KKK, and the horrors of the Third Reich of Nazi Germany.

I think maybe the issue is that society, in this modern, tolerant, accepting, pluralistic, open-minded, diversity-valuing age wants to distance itself as much as possible from anything that even RESEMBLES what caused the atrocities against non-whites in the past. You have to remember that whites DO (or did…) make up the dominant culture…and perhaps this dominant society feels the need to be non-judgmental about others. Maybe the issue is wanting to appear tolerant towards minorities. Maybe it goes too far in trying to do that, at the expense of the people and values who made this country what it is today.

Now that I think about it, I recognize in myself a sort of “victimized” thinking–that white people are bigger and more numerous and that it is the WHITE PEOPLE who holds the power in the country. Maybe a lot of other non-white people think the same thing, and so the “Ethnic-PRIDE!” movement is just a defensive thing, where we feel the need to validate our existence in a country dominated by whites. But it’s not ALL just a defensive thing. We DO take pride in who we are: the unique experiences that make us the “bridges” between cultures. We understand that there are certain things we go through that neither our parent culture or the dominant WASP culture doesn’t. That’s what makes us proud.

So with that said, I’ll step out and note that while “White Pride!” sounds awfully racist to me, something along the lines of “Proud of my German Heritage!” or “Celtic Women all the way!” doesn’t. Heck, even if you wanted to do “Country Boy from Indiana and Proud of It!” I would say “Go you!.” To each their own. When you say it like that, it becomes a matter of identity–about who YOU are, and what you value, and how you identify yourself. That’s not threatening.

That’s how I view calling myself an Asian-American. To me, it’s a matter of identity. And maybe in the end, that’s really what it all boils down to–a respect for yourself, and a respect for the humanity of others.

So, those were my thoughts, on the fly, off the top of my head.

This post brought to mind 1 Cor. 6:12-20  All things are lawful unto me but all things are not expedient (or profitable): all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any….Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body….Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?  shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot?  God forbid…..

Great post!  :-} Thanks for your honesty and not backing down from the truth…