I am in the same boat, I do not pretend to know what it is or how it is best defined or understood, if I have missed the point, I would prefer to know what the point is.
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Okay, to finish off this subthread/diversion/derailment, the point that I said you missed is that of the Baldwin quote (pasted again below), which for me is: as in Baldwin’s time, and earlier, white (American) culture encourages admiration for white people who tote guns while demanding their constitutional rights; OTOH, it encourages condemnation and fear of black people who do the same.
As the piece I just linked basically explains, when black people openly displayed guns (not just as a demand for their rights, but also as a demand for and defense of basic safety), white people were up in arms (as it were), calling for gun control.
Now that the image of “ordinary, lawful gun owner” has shifted that of a white person, white culture has too – to approval of gun ownership, and admiration of those who fight for that right, often while wielding a gun in public.
Nowadays, for example, “open carry” by a white person isn’t as scary (to most white people) as it is when black people do it. Maybe especially if said black people are organized.
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This similar sentiment is being played out in Britain now in another way: the constant hounding of Megan Markle by the tabloid press, while the same behaviors are praised if it’s Kate Middleton doing it. The point of this observation is that it’s latent racism coming out in the Brit press just the same as in the USA, because the dominant white culture dictates to put down any successes by non-whites. So yes, the Baldwin quote is every bit appropriate to this discussion.
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This remembrance is inspired by recent political events, certainly, but at the same time it’s a good reminder of how blissfully unaware white culture is, as the so-called default. Especially when it comes to the difference between “exact words” and “actual meaning”.
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Yes. Picking and choosing MLK quotes to make and then admire their own MLK doll (instead of listening to and admiring him for what he actually meant) is definitely a part of white culture.
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Also: being butthurt that MLK gets his own holiday because he’s black, so it’s necessary to stage Heroes of the Confederacy celebrations and gun rights rallies and other National Butthurt White Folks Day marches for January 20th, so as not to let the “nice black man” have all the attention.
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I think this article fits here, even though it’s tangentially related:
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And the other days.
Confederate Memorial Day. Columbus Day. Independence Day.
They’re all celebrations of white supremacy.
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Thank you, I apologise for dismissing it, I was/am having a problem applying it to a global context.
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Hey, that’s a great first step. Yes, we’re all born into our culture, it’s baked into everything we see, do, learn, etc. It’s hard to see past our conditioning, but it’s the ethical and responsible way to be a human being. It takes a long time to really understand, and even when you think you’ve ‘got it’, something will come up and you’ll realize that you’re barely halfway there. But the effort is worth it. Keep going.
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Especially for Happy BB Mutants!
Abstract
The dramatic reconfiguration of the social, political, and ideological order in South Africa since 1990/1994 has demanded a concomitant reconceptualization of (white) Afrikaner notions of self and belonging in the (new) nation. In this article, we draw on recent developments in the study of varidirectional voicing (polyphony), performance, and mediatization to examine how the South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord makes use of parody and metaparody in their music to critique emerging ‘new Afrikaner’ identities and the racial, class, and gender configurations on which they are based. We also discuss the structural limits of these critiques and the political potential of (meta)parodic performance more generally.
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Going back to the idea that it’s white supremacists who are controlling the narrative of whiteness itself, in this case to argue that “whites” are under attack and hence actions like this are not only justifiable, but necessary to “preserve” the white race. If we don’t talk about what it means to be white, with an eye to dismantling white supremacy, they get to the be ones who control the narrative. This is why “color blindness” in addressing structural inequality isn’t helpful (even when treating people in your life as distinct individuals who you treat with respect who ever they are).
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White culture: disdain for non-white hairstyles.
(Except when appropriating non-white hairstyles.)
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When people don’t exist except in the context of someone white:
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Everything I have read from actual Mexican and other minority authors is that American Dirt is bad. On top of being pure appropriation, it’s also just not a good book.
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