Is it ok to be proud to be white?

[malachi]

Be proud of whoever you are. The hell with everyone else.

 

[Jambo]

The only reason it is not ok is because it doesn't make sense. How could you be 'proud' of the colour of your skin? I don't think proud is the correct word. Maybe you could be pleased about your skin colour. Personally I'm a bit too white for my liking.

 

[Ugley_Matt]

I'm proud of my achievements, not something that i had no control over like my skin colour.

 

[rubberduck]

But people are proud to be from their place of birth etc. yet it wasn't something thay had any control over.

 

[Jambo]

But people are proud to be from their place of birth etc. yet it wasn't something thay had any control over.

Also bizarre. Not appropriate use of the word proud for me.

 

[Angilion]

It's funny how context changes everything.

Nobody would bat an eyelid if you had said, "I'm proud of being black." It would not have connotations of racial superiority. Instead it would elicit feelings of self-respect, overcoming the odds, etc.

If a person says, "I'm proud of being white" then immediately the suspicion is that that person holds feelings of racial superiority.

It's just how it is. I think it's really obvious why this is the case (once you apply context), but it's worth pointing out regardless.

I think that it's just a matter of which irrational prejudices are currently fashionable. It's always been the case that identical words/deeds/etc are treated very differently depending on which group identity they are directed against(*). All that changes is which group identity is a fashionable target. Sad, but that's how it is and always has been. The idea of equality, and I mean genuine equality, always loses to irrational prejudices.

In reality, the same position is the same position. Being proud of being the "right" race is the same as being proud of being the "right" race and it always has connotations of belief in racial superiority because (a) it requires belief in race and (b) it requires belief that one race is better than others because that's where the pride comes from. You can't be proud of something you don't think of as being better than the alternative.

Be proud of whoever you are. The hell with everyone else.

But happening to be put into a particular group that was made up in an arbitrary fashion and isn't really a group at all in any meaningful sense and is irrelevant to almost everything and nothing you had any control over, let alone anything you achieved, is not who you are.

The idea that an obviously inaccurate description of the colour of my skin, made up to rationalise irrational prejudices, is what I am is ludicrous.


* It's always a matter of against, not for, regardless of how it's phrased (the phrasing is also just a matter of what's fashionable). Irrational prejudice in favour of group identity A is irrational prejudice against group identity not-A.

 

[Thekwango]

Of course it does not automatically make you racist.

it does of course give an indication that you probably are.

being proud to be white probably makes you racist?! really?

so being proud to be black/yellow/polka dot - probably makes all those folks racist too then?

 

[Jean-F]

Do you mean you're proud of accomplishing being white, or you think you're superior to those that are not white?

Aye, and there's the rub, if you say that you're proud of being white, to a lot of
people, that's tantamount to saying that you're glad you're not black, or brown.

 

[Lopéz]

You can be proud off something you didn't personally achieve our have control of. I think some of you are over analysing the definition of the word proud.

 

[One More Solo]

I don’t get why anyone would be proud of their skin colour, gender or nationality. It’s like being proud of the sun shining, you had no control of it. I would only take pride in achievements through my own work, the rest is down to good fortune or otherwise.

 

[Pixel]

I can't see this thread lasting long, sensitive topic these days. Here, have an image:

 

[Glaucus]

It makes no sense at all, what ever you are.
County is slightly different as you could be proud of collectively influencing a forward thinking human rights country etc. But that's not the UK anymore.

Historically of course it had racist Connotations.

 

[Efour]

What a crock of ****.
If anyone said to me I'm proud to be white, brown, black, yellow, red or bleached white for all you northern Indians out there I would instantly class you to be a complete moron.

I can go with proud of your culture, ancestors achievements, even at a stretch area you live but bloody amount of pigment in your skin..... Urghh go away.... I'm proud of my fingernails too.

 

[brendy]

Colour shouldn't really come into it, be proud of who you are not what you are. Failing that just work on in life like the rest of us, it isn't a long ride.

 

[Participant]

I was invited to join a workshop at work that's focusing on 'bringing a voice to men in the gender equality debate'.

Needless to say I ran a mile. Sounds like very dangerous territory as any men partaking, especially straight white ones, will no doubt be secretly labelled as whopping sexists and misogynists.

 

[cheesyboy]

Being white, pride is all around you. Your race is celebrated in monuments, events, and culture. It's venerated in advantages in day to day life, from treatment in the job market to treatment by police and authorities. And it doesn't have a history of racial persecution or stereotyping demeaning the value of the race itself.

Try to avoid the temptation to take this too literally, but imagine someone suggesting that we should be OK to promote pride in being able-bodied. How might that come across?

 

[Kenai]

The first thing that popped into my head was "what exactly is it about having white skin that you are proud of?"

I'm amongst the group that doesn't really see the sense in having pride in things you had no part in anyway though, so I just see it as an odd thing to be saying in the first place.

 

[bloodiedathame]

Why are people proud about things they have no control over or input to. Retardation?

 

[Chris Wilson]

Being white, pride is all around you. Your race is celebrated in monuments, events, and culture. It's venerated in advantages in day to day life, from treatment in the job market to treatment by police and authorities. And it doesn't have a history of racial persecution or stereotyping demeaning the value of the race itself.

Try to avoid the temptation to take this too literally, but imagine someone suggesting that we should be OK to promote pride in being able-bodied. How might that come across?

Like the Olympics used to be, probably, a celebration of health and fitness.

Would the original poster's rather bizarre question be asked were we not now a multicultural society? One is not simply white, one embraces or decries so much that is associated with that skin colour. I embrace much that the white man has achieved.

 

[cheesyboy]

The only reason it is not ok is because it doesn't make sense. How could you be 'proud' of the colour of your skin? I don't think proud is the correct word. Maybe you could be pleased about your skin colour. Personally I'm a bit too white for my liking.

I'm proud of my achievements, not something that i had no control over like my skin colour.

Why are people proud about things they have no control over or input to. Retardation?

In a world where your experience is not coloured by your.... colour.... then it doesn't make sense. But what if you are treated negatively because of your colour?

Black Pride (see also Gay Pride etc) is a counter balance to that