this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2024
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Okay I'm pretty sure "just don't be white" is referring to the caste identity. Nobody expects you to stop having bleach skin, I don't think.
I will say though, it is kind of rich reading a white person's complaints about how they can't change people's perception of a race and will always be perceived as white. Like, hmmmm...
How does this change what I said? I can agree with any analysis of whiteness put forward, but that will not change the way people perceive me. It's nonsensical advice.
"This advice does not make sense" is not a complaint. If you tell me I can stop being poor if I tug on my bootstraps, I'm not complaining if I point out the world does not work that way.
What it means is: stop identifying with "white" as a cultural thing, because "white" is a label constructed by racist fuckers exclusively for the purpose of oppressing people by way of
You are litetally saying, "I'll never be perceived as anything but the most privileged group in racial terms", and that comes off as pretty tone deaf. But it's also totally missing the point I made above, about what "white" is as a concept and why everyone needs to stop identifying with it.
Various POC are still gonna call you "white" because I dunno, that's the label associated with their oppression. That's not for you to worry about though, you just need to quit identifying with it. That is what "not being white" means.
You're looking for disagreement where there is none. The first thing I said was:
I can agree race is a social construct, and I can choose not to think of myself in racial terms, but that does not have any material impact on the world. How other people classify me -- cops, banks, landlords, whoever -- will not change no matter what I personally think of race. And people treating each other differently based on perceptions of race is a major, material way the concept of race is used to harm people. If I'm not affecting that in the slightest, what is the use of "don't be white?"
Okay but if you agree with that then there's no problem?
Yes, that's true. You aren't gonna stop benefiting from a white supremacist society, Idk. Just be cognizant of that privilege, you know? That's all people are asking you to do with this. Nobody expects you to end racism single handedly, "don't be white" is about internal thought processes and being aware of how you benefit, I'm pretty sure that's all.
I mean, since being white gives you the benefit of the doubt from cops and stuff, you could make use of that to do something extremely funny
You're right, no problems here comrade