Even though we say “culture and history”, we are saying the signifier of that culture and history is race. That culture and history is inherited by lineage not by choice. Culture and history are a product of things other people have done. It’s a result of their character and accomplishments. Can you take pride in those peoples achievements and encourage others to associate you with them due to your shared race, but then be offended when they also link you to the past sins and cultural dysfunction of your race? This is the problem we have. We believe we can keep one and get rid of the other. Have pride, but no shame. Associate me with the heroic Generals and wise leaders that founded this country. My whiteness connects me to those figures. On the topic of their record on slavery, how dare you connect me with them! I am an individual, I shouldn’t have to feel any shame. How about no racial pride or shame because they are unrelated to who I am. Their whiteness did not contribute to the accomplishments or the sins. So our shared whiteness means nothing. And I will take it even further. Just because I share American culture and history, does that make me different, in an important and special way, from citizens of other countries? Should I take pride in what other Americans have done in the past? If I truly believe we are all the same and race or ethnicity are superficial then I should believe that our histories are just a product of circumstance. My countrymen are no more courageous or intelligent than your countrymen, they were just exposed to different circumstances. This kind of pride is so integral to our being that we fail to realize it is the same instinct that makes us tribal in negative ways. Pride is relative. There has to be a “them” for me to be proud of “us”. It’s ok to believe the ideas your ancestors came up with were better, but not if you believe it was because your ancestors were better. Pride is a sign you believe the latter.
I would ask Glenn, why do you get to choose? When you tell yourself the story of blackness that brings you pride you are talking about things other people created or accomplished. Why are you related to those things and not to the things you don’t like or don’t agree with. You share skin color with people who have run the gamut from brilliant, courageous and strong to dumb, cowardly and weak. The only way to ditch the shame is to also ditch the pride and claim complete individuality. Then, as an individual, choose to keep certain traditions alive because you think they make your life better. Not because they are integral to your blackness.
Why should you not teach your daughter to treat members of her own race preferentially? Is that a real question?
Even though we say “culture and history”, we are saying the signifier of that culture and history is race. That culture and history is inherited by lineage not by choice. Culture and history are a product of things other people have done. It’s a result of their character and accomplishments. Can you take pride in those peoples achievements and encourage others to associate you with them due to your shared race, but then be offended when they also link you to the past sins and cultural dysfunction of your race? This is the problem we have. We believe we can keep one and get rid of the other. Have pride, but no shame. Associate me with the heroic Generals and wise leaders that founded this country. My whiteness connects me to those figures. On the topic of their record on slavery, how dare you connect me with them! I am an individual, I shouldn’t have to feel any shame. How about no racial pride or shame because they are unrelated to who I am. Their whiteness did not contribute to the accomplishments or the sins. So our shared whiteness means nothing. And I will take it even further. Just because I share American culture and history, does that make me different, in an important and special way, from citizens of other countries? Should I take pride in what other Americans have done in the past? If I truly believe we are all the same and race or ethnicity are superficial then I should believe that our histories are just a product of circumstance. My countrymen are no more courageous or intelligent than your countrymen, they were just exposed to different circumstances. This kind of pride is so integral to our being that we fail to realize it is the same instinct that makes us tribal in negative ways. Pride is relative. There has to be a “them” for me to be proud of “us”. It’s ok to believe the ideas your ancestors came up with were better, but not if you believe it was because your ancestors were better. Pride is a sign you believe the latter.
I would ask Glenn, why do you get to choose? When you tell yourself the story of blackness that brings you pride you are talking about things other people created or accomplished. Why are you related to those things and not to the things you don’t like or don’t agree with. You share skin color with people who have run the gamut from brilliant, courageous and strong to dumb, cowardly and weak. The only way to ditch the shame is to also ditch the pride and claim complete individuality. Then, as an individual, choose to keep certain traditions alive because you think they make your life better. Not because they are integral to your blackness.
Why should you not teach your daughter to treat members of her own race preferentially? Is that a real question?