the evolution of a charge: from white privilege to white supremacist [View all]

[cali]

Aargh. I just managed to lose what I wrote. Isn't it funny how when you have that happen, what you lost suddenly becomes a lot more meaningful and important than it almost certainly was in reality?

Here's the much condensed version

White privilege describes the advantages to having a white skin in a racist society; the most basic advantage is a right to be much safer from the effects of institutional violence. There are many more. Now I'm not wild about the term white privilege for the same reason that I'm not fond of the word oligarchy. They're both buzz words; they have a tendency to make eyes glaze over with remarkable rapidity. In any case, white privilege is accurate and I can't think of a better term that isn't several sentences long.

I digress. On to the definition of white supremacist. A white supremacist is someone who believes that anyone not white is inferior and that whites should subjugate and dominate non-whites. Personally, I'm neither hurt or offended by being called a white supremacist because I identify as a liberal and I'm white, or because someone is doing so for obvious political reasons. It's too silly to take offense over something that.... silly.

I'm not telling black activists what words to use or what actions to take. That's up to them. But that doesn't mean I have to agree with every word spoken or every action taken by every activist. And it doesn't mean I forfeit the right to voice my opinion. If anyone wants to call me a white supremacist for doing so, have at it.

One more thing: Regarding Marissa Johnson, so what if she supported Sarah Palin in high school? When I was 15, I read Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead and loved it. When I re-read it some years later, I threw it aside in disgust. I think Marissa Johnson is a confused young woman who may be laboring under religious delusions but I don't think she's some sort of demon and I don't need anyone to disavow her. In the scheme of things, she's not all that important.