I know that to some I will sound awfully biased, if not -heaven forbid-  slightly prejudiced. The fact is, as a white person,  I am faced time and again with a dilemma. The dilemma is to find to the proper balance between a sincere desire and a commitment to the true equality of races, and the actual state of our current social system. During the past 40 years of so, a positive current of social, political and economical reforms has allowed many nonwhites in the United States to redress past injustices and segregating policies which have been appropriately decried and rejected. Since then however, a very strange and insidious phenomenon has occured. Gradually, as the past sins of a limited number of people of European heritage have come under public scrutiny and condemnation, all white people have been made to bear the guilt of their ancestors. Not a single day seems to go by that a slight reference to slavery or segregation or other social crimes committed by white persons is not mentioned or alluded to in the political discourse. To a person who is not white, this type of repeated harping and bashing of white societies and policies may seem as harmless fodder for conversation at best, or at worst, a legitimate subject of grievances, real or imagined. However, to a person who happens to be white, this repeated, incessant and unrelenting excoriation of everything white is in the end ressembling more like vilification, and in some cases, outright abuse, than justice or racial equality. In short, it is starting to feel as racism.

In the span of the past 40 years, the social, political and economical landscape for people of European descent in the United States has essentially remained stagnant and in some cases has deteriorated. While the intent of some politicians may have been to level the playing field and create a colorblind society, the reality is that the American society of the 21rst century is anything but colorblind. If this society was indeed colorblind and equanimous with regards to race then:

• University policies using affirmative action would benefit ALL first generation college students, regardless of race
  
• Companies who truly do not discriminate would reject quotas and race-based promotion
  
• Grants or scholarships would be granted based solely on merit or need and not on race.
  
• A person's color would never be the subject of either praise or condemnation. A person's race would never be even mentioned except if it was absolutely necessary for specific identification purposes.
  
• Equal air time would be given to the excoriation of the past racist or xenophobic or ethnic cleansing policies of China or Japan or Zaire or Rwanda as is given to the past racist or xenophobic policies of Germany or the United States and would be equally condemned.
  

The list unfortunately goes on. Certainly, no one denies that racism against nonwhites has been entirely eliminated. In fact this very forum is a testimony that there are still great strides to be made in this regards. But what few people seem to recognize and acknowledge is the subtle racism against people of European descent in the form of the failure to recognize the needs of economically disadvantaged white people, for example, or in the form of a media which often views white people as invisible at best, and evil at worst. A truly colorblind society would assist people in need not according to thir race but according to their income and ressources, no matter what their race may be. A truly colorblind would portray black people and white people as equally good or bad and not censor itself only when portraying nonwhites in a less positive light. This type of imbalance not only creates a new form of racism, it actually harms everyone whites, as well as nonwhites. It has been noted actually that race-based quotas in university admissions do harm Asians, for example.

What we must realize is that the true equality and success of ALL races cannot be achieved by making only one race bear the burden (reference intended) of guilt and shame for all other races. Doing so only replaces one form of racism with another, and allows racist individuals of all colors to triumph over the chasm we create between ourselves. For true race equality and equanimity to be achieved, we must cease to be blind only to the needs and feelings of white people. We must either see no race at all or see all races. If we truly want our society to move forward in justice and racial equality, we must reject all forms of injustices based on race. We also must not allow the past to forever dictate our future, and look back at past grievances to excuse the problems we face today.

Then and only then can we know true freedom and justice. Martin Luther King would have wanted no less.

Note: For those who wonder about the title of this thread, please refer to a famous text. I just added a certain adjective for effect. Hopefully people who have passed the Intellectual test and have earned the moniker of "intellectual" will know to read between the lines...

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Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.   - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Support your peers!

I simply cannot agree that we can forgo some forms of reverse discrimination. I don't really like programs such as Affirmative Action at all, but there doesn't really seem to be any way around it. In a perfect world, there wouldn't be a need or Affirmative Action or anything. But what you must understand is that the world isn't perfect. The media's portrayal of black people is nothing less than horrible, particularly black men. Bumbling, idiotic, self-centered, oversexed, violent crazed animals-even in our own movies and literature we're depicted as such. Without Affirmative Action, employment for black men would probably drop quite a bit, if for no other reason than the perceptions that many people hold of black people.  

Quote: from Laurence at 7:34 am on May 4, 2006

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University policies using affirmative action would benefit ALL first generation college students, regardless of race  

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I agree, with this particularly, it's fair.

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Companies who truly do not discriminate would reject quotas and race-based promotion

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I don't believe that there are many companies that don't truly discriminate, but the ones that don't shouldn't need a quota.  The only problems are finding a company that doesn't appear to discriminate. In some fields, there just aren't that many qualified minorities.
 

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A person's race would never be even mentioned except if it was absolutely necessary for specific identification purposes.  

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Yes, I see no need why someone would need to know my race if I'm taking the same test as everyone else.

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Equal air time would be given to the excoriation of the past racist or xenophobic or ethnic cleansing policies of China or Japan or Zaire or Rwanda as is given to the past racist or xenophobic policies of Germany or the United States and would be equally condemned.

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Good luck with that. I would love for Africa and Asia to have more attention-they really need it. I wouldn't mind those regions appearing to be more racist, at least then something could be done. By ignoring what's happening there we do more harm than good.  

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. But what few people seem to recognize and acknowledge is the subtle racism against people of European descent in the form of the failure to recognize the needs of economically disadvantaged white people

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It's a shame, too. The truth is, there are white people that are economically disadvantaged, but I don't think that it would be easy to portray them. My grand-father once told me, "White folk only want to show the best of themselves and the worst of you." If we don't recognize it, it's because we haven't seen it enough.

Coming from the a poor, low-income neighborhood white usually equated to suburb in my mind. Of course, that was when I was younger, but I think you understand what I mean.

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...for example or in the form of a media which often views white people as invisible at best, and evil at worst.

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I wouldn't say that, I've seen many positive portrayals of white people in movies, television, etc.

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A truly colorblind would portray black people and white people as equally good or bad and not censor itself only when portraying nonwhites in a less positive light.

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Trust me, it doesn't. The media has absolutely no problem portray blacks in a less than positive light. How many times have you seen blacks on the news for murder, etc? Of course they commit more crime, but the attention that they gain is completely and utterly disproportionate.

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What we must realize is that the true equality and success of ALL races cannot be achieved by making only one race bear the burden (reference intended) of guilt and shame for all other races.

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I really feel that you're being slightly over dramatic, but I do understand what you're saying. You haven't done anything, yet you're conditioned to feel guilty for acts commited in the past by people that happened to be your color. It's not fair, but keep in mind that other races bear a burden as well.

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We must either see no race at all or see all races.

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I'd prefer the former, even though it's probably impossible.  

Even still, I agree with a lot of this essay.This is my favorite part:

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We also must not allow the past to forever dictate our future, and look back at past grievances to excuse the problems we face today.

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(Edited by DaRareBlackNerd at 12:21 pm on May 4, 2006)

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Cruisin' down the street in my six-four;
Jockin' the bitches, slappin the hoes.