What Do You Say When Whites are Denigrated?
By • 6/5/08We live in a time when most Americans deem it acceptable to use the word “white” as a term of insult. For example, in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, the hero, Neo, tells the Architect of the Matrix, “You can’t make me do anything, you old white prick!” It speaks volumes about our society that such a racial insult can be put in the mouth of a movie hero without provoking public outrage. The term “white” in this case implies that whites are excessively rational, controlling, and, indeed, mechanical—after all, the Architect is actually the personification of the machines that run the Matrix. Such is the typical meaning of “white” when used as an insult. The related connotations of sexual repression and lack of spontaneity are often implicit as well.
It’s worthwhile to think through how exactly to respond when “white” is used as a term of insult, just as we did in the article What Do You Say When You’re Called a Racist?. Napoleon once said:
If I always appear prepared, it is because before entering an undertaking, I have meditated long and have foreseen what might occur. It is not genius that reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do…, it is thought and preparation.
The key to conquest is to prepare, prepare, prepare.
Here’s one possible response, if a white person makes the remark: “Using ‘white’ as a term of insult is an expression of racial hatred, and that offends me. Turn it around. Imagine a black person said, ‘I can’t do well on the SATs because I’m too black.’ We would think any black person who said that was suffering from morbid, sick, self-loathing. We’d recommend that he seek mental help. And I feel the same about you! I demand an apology! I don’t want to spend any time around people who promote racial hatred!”
If a non-white makes the remark, you can vary it as follows. “Imagine I said, ‘He can’t do well on the SATs because he’s too black.’ I would be hounded out of decent society. And you should be too! … etc.”
This response has its strengths and weaknesses. Most Americans would be deeply, viscerally offended if the same sort of insult were directed at non-whites, so forcing them to imagine that situation will be effective in communicating your grievance. Racial hatred is the most loathed of emotions in today’s culture, so the term will hit the offender very hard, especially since he will be unable to plausibly deny that he is guilty of this sin. However, this response does also suggest that you endorse the deadly cliché that blacks are capable of doing as well as any other race on the SATs and are merely held back by low self-esteem. Thus, this response conflicts with the broader philosophy of race realism, and clever opponents can always exploit such contradictions.
Another possible response is: “Whites have accomplished far more than any other race. Ninety-seven percent of major scientists have been white. Whites were the first to abolish slavery and have fought to end slavery all around the world. Whites invented the concept of human rights and representative government. Yet all we ever do is denigrate them. Why don’t we ever talk about how compassionate and creative whites are?”
I’m not entirely satisfied with this response either because it doesn’t deal out the full measure of fury and scorn merited by the racial abuse that provoked it. I want the offender to know that he is a hater, and, even worse, a masochist who hates himself.
So, do you have any suggestions?
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It is good that you bring up this subject. Being a German-American, I well know the hatred toward the German people because of an element that keeps the hatred alive. We, here, have been so inundated with the guilt of being intelligent and progressive that we are a target to be brought down so the minorities can be brought ‘up’. This is the goal of multi-culturalists…and what is happening is NOT happening by chance; it is a concerted effort to back the Caucasian/White folks into a corner and forever destroy their talent and love of ideals and quality of life…which seems to be what the minorities envy. It’s like an unspokken HEY WHITEY STOP BEING YOU!
Thanks for your thoughts on rebuffs to stupid whites who go along with self-denigration, and the minorities who thrive on picking on the good guys!
I think it’s just easier to simply say, with a mostly inquisitive tone, “What do you have against whites?” You can feel the person out based on their answer, but it will probably catch most off-guard since people aren’t used to anyone engaging them further on the issue.
We live in a time when most Americans deem it acceptable to use the word “white” as a term of insult. For example, in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, the hero, Neo, tells the Architect of the Matrix, “You can’t make me do anything, you old white prick!” It speaks volumes about our society that such a racial insult can be put in the mouth of a movie hero without provoking public outrage.
This is inverted liberal reasoning. When you are verbally aggressive to someone, you typically address them using some feature of their appearance that most differentiates them from yourself. It is not necessarily a sign of a more general prejudice. Compare:
You old bald/fat/red-haired/Coca-cola-drinking prick!
The direct insult is in “prick”, not in what qualifies “prick”. An individual is being denigrated, not a larger group. Of course, if a white hero had addressed a black in the movie as “You old black prick”, there would have been hysteria among liberals, but that is because they are hysterical about race and see racism where it doesn’t exist.
I’m reminded of two common terms used to denigrate whites: “white bread” and “vanilla.” Whenever they’re used I respond that the best breads in the world tend to be French white breads, and is that what you’re thinking about? And on vanilla, I recount an article I once read about artificial vanilla and how scientists could only re-create about 60 of the 150 or so components of natural vanilla.
At Resisting Defamation, we recommend the same tones, outrage, and viciousness in responding to slurs and smears that others have learned so well with the sole exception of “offense.” We are not in a position to claim we have been offended because the nearest white slacker, leaning on the wall at the corner, can be counted on to say, “I’m not offended.” That undermines your claim of being offended.
Instead, we have re-defined slurs as an invitation to examine the mind of the speaker to see how mean and petty his mind and heart happen to be. Here are our best responses so far. Modify as needed.
“Your disgust marks you as a left-wing racialist who hates before he thinks. What does it feel like to be full of such hatred?”
“Your claim to name us is based on your claim to supremacy. Sorry, we reject it.” [This is a good one because no left-wing racialist expects to be called a supremacist.]
“Your label is a violation of our right to self-designate. How dare you be so bigoted?”
“Why are you so willing to oppose our diversity? We don’t have one name, we have many.”
“Sorry, Charley, I don’t argue with extreme bigots like you.”
MORE
In the example by Mr. Jobling, what was happening was not just a slur, it was a claim to have the right to name us. There are many responses, and one is to game it with the old naming card. “We don’t call ourselves white. We are the diverse white American peoples. If you are going to be snotty, get it right.”
You can call the namer/slurrer “divisive” and “contemptuous.”
The fun part is that being called a name/slur opens up so many left-wing terms that there is no end to it. Claiming “offense” is the only non-starter.
you might say, “Boy, being both retarted and a bigot must be a tough row to hoe.”
Reacting to racial hyper-sensitivity with more racial hyper-sensitivity doesn’t seem like a particularly productive tactic to me.
To poster B.B [sic], who said:
“Reacting to racial hyper-sensitivity with more racial hyper-sensitivity doesn’t seem like a particularly productive tactic to me.”
You don’t get it.
The issue here (for me or any similarly melanin-challenged-American-non-immigrant-by-many-generations) is not reacting to “hyper-sensitivity”. It’s the ever present double-standard of ‘permissible’ expression—nothing ‘hyper-sensitive’ about criticizing that.
I reject double standards, and I reject your trivializing a legitimate issue as ‘hyper-sensitivity’. I’ll thank you not to slur people like me on this forum.
My usual response is: “I see that (anti-white) brainwashing has taken root nicely.” Usually (since I don’t hang out with people of other races) these things are coming from other whites, in reference to things like, “cracker, redneck, ‘Deliverance’” etc. I once made a comment about how whites are a minority of the world’s population and may soon be extinct and got a “Good!” in reply. My response was “Since you seem to wish that all white people were dead, why don’t you start with yourself?” The most effective reponses to these sorts of things seem to be a mirror image…Watching a movie with a black “hero” defeating the “redneck racists” and seeing the person I am with identifying with the black and expressing contempt for the whites, just makes me go blehhh. On the other hand, its a good opportunity to tell him or her just how deranged that means they are. “I am not sick! You’re a sick racist!” “Your brainwashing, my sad, sick friend, just prevents you from seeing how insane you really are…”
I feel pointing out how 99% of all modern devices, discoveries,medical treatments etc. are due to whites is a good strategy. When I see shows or commercial that denigrate whites, I always think about “99%”. For example, there was a commercial in which a black had a $10,000 plasma TV and was playing a Madden type video game with a white friend. The white was holding the controller and when the black said throw a pass, the “stupid” white throw the controller at the screen destroying the $10,000 TV. I made the ccmment ” The white guy sure looks stupid. But if it weren’t for whites there would be no television.” I softened the statement slightly by going on to talk about the 15 yo male who while plowing on his family’s farm in Idaho, got the idea for transmission of images electrically by using radio waves.