Why I hate white ‘anti-racists’
A news article mentioned that a Kent State undergraduate received notice from the FBI that an opinion piece of hers had attracted the attention of a white nationalist internet group. In “I am not a white bitch,” [link broken, read full text here] senior Beth Rankin complains about being “ostracized” for being white. She claims she wants to be “united” in the “fight against prejudice.”
The problem is that the black people are being mean to her. No, really! And undoubtedly that’s what’s stopping her from being a good anti-racist.
But read through Rankin’s piece, and you see the condescension, the arrogance and the privilege that too often are the hallmarks of the “white anti-racist.”
First, Rankin believes that she should be welcomed everywhere and is shocked to find that is not the case. She attended a Black United Students event four years ago and it is still fresh in her mind:
From the moment Justin and I entered the ballroom, the tension was palpable. We received puzzled stares from students sitting around us, and though we couldn’t put a finger on why, we felt incredibly unwelcome. I left feeling uncomfortable and unable to make sense of what had happened.
Many white people are unaccustomed to being the minority in a group. They are used to being made to feel welcome, and are shocked and dismayed when this is not the case. They conclude, as Rankin did, that it is because of racism!
She goes on to wrote that she confronted members of the Black United Students:
“… but that’s racism …” we were told that as the majority, we were unable to feel racism. We just couldn’t understand.
Two years later, I was forced to understand.
She was “forced to understand” because on two separate occasions she claims she was called a “white bitch.” By black people.
Because she experienced two or three acts of prejudice, she now claims to understand racism. And it apparently stung her deeply. Not only did black people not welcome her at their university event, but she was told that she might not have the life experience necessary to understand a viewpoint and people were mean to her to boot!
I would laugh if it weren’t for the fact that so many discussions of racism end up with white people similarly claiming all the air in the room for themselves. Once during a discussion of systemic institutionalized racism, a white man talked about the racism he too had suffered. He talked about how black people were racist too. And when asked what he was referring to, he said a black boy had thrown pebbles at him once when he was walking down the street.
I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP.™
At another community meeting convened to discuss problems of racism in the schools, a white woman took up a large portion of time while she cried. She said that she had tried, really tried, to be nice to black people. But sometimes they were mean to her.
And of course, people of color should be extra-nice to white people who deign to come and help us out with our “plight.” We should give them cookies and be very grateful. Because of course, racism isn’t their responsibility.
Unless, of course, their feelings have been hurt. “Racism” is an issue to white people when they believe that they have been on the receiving end. For example, why did the FBI contact the writer of the original article? Because she had received attention on the St0rmfr0nt website? How often are people of color threatened there? Has the FBI contacted them as well? I don’t recall ever hearing about it before, but maybe racism isn’t important unless it’s reverse racism. You know, racism that is going in an unexpected direction. That’s why they call it “reverse” racism-because it’s not supposed to happen that way.
More at the source
The problem is that the black people are being mean to her. No, really! And undoubtedly that’s what’s stopping her from being a good anti-racist.
But read through Rankin’s piece, and you see the condescension, the arrogance and the privilege that too often are the hallmarks of the “white anti-racist.”
First, Rankin believes that she should be welcomed everywhere and is shocked to find that is not the case. She attended a Black United Students event four years ago and it is still fresh in her mind:
From the moment Justin and I entered the ballroom, the tension was palpable. We received puzzled stares from students sitting around us, and though we couldn’t put a finger on why, we felt incredibly unwelcome. I left feeling uncomfortable and unable to make sense of what had happened.
Many white people are unaccustomed to being the minority in a group. They are used to being made to feel welcome, and are shocked and dismayed when this is not the case. They conclude, as Rankin did, that it is because of racism!
She goes on to wrote that she confronted members of the Black United Students:
“… but that’s racism …” we were told that as the majority, we were unable to feel racism. We just couldn’t understand.
Two years later, I was forced to understand.
She was “forced to understand” because on two separate occasions she claims she was called a “white bitch.” By black people.
Because she experienced two or three acts of prejudice, she now claims to understand racism. And it apparently stung her deeply. Not only did black people not welcome her at their university event, but she was told that she might not have the life experience necessary to understand a viewpoint and people were mean to her to boot!
I would laugh if it weren’t for the fact that so many discussions of racism end up with white people similarly claiming all the air in the room for themselves. Once during a discussion of systemic institutionalized racism, a white man talked about the racism he too had suffered. He talked about how black people were racist too. And when asked what he was referring to, he said a black boy had thrown pebbles at him once when he was walking down the street.
I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP.™
At another community meeting convened to discuss problems of racism in the schools, a white woman took up a large portion of time while she cried. She said that she had tried, really tried, to be nice to black people. But sometimes they were mean to her.
And of course, people of color should be extra-nice to white people who deign to come and help us out with our “plight.” We should give them cookies and be very grateful. Because of course, racism isn’t their responsibility.
Unless, of course, their feelings have been hurt. “Racism” is an issue to white people when they believe that they have been on the receiving end. For example, why did the FBI contact the writer of the original article? Because she had received attention on the St0rmfr0nt website? How often are people of color threatened there? Has the FBI contacted them as well? I don’t recall ever hearing about it before, but maybe racism isn’t important unless it’s reverse racism. You know, racism that is going in an unexpected direction. That’s why they call it “reverse” racism-because it’s not supposed to happen that way.
More at the source