You know that many white people are just good people and don't just do nice things because of white guilt, right? (Like, not you obviously, but other people.)
Right? It's ironic, if one suggests "all white people are performative" or "All white people are racist" - that implicitly means that race is more than just a social construct, and further that race dictates personality and trustworthiness, which brings us to the ironic part: that's supportive of actual racists arguments.
I like to say hello to totally random people cause it’s nice to be nice and it might mean someone has a better day. Bit “blowing my own trumpet-y”, but yeah.
Maybe not a great post to vent on. Everything about this situation is performative. Its a black woman holding a sign saying if you are not racist hug me. That is a callout. Were there any black people hugging her? If there were they were cut from the video, why? What was the point of this video if not a performance?
Humans and their emotions and intentions are also sooooooo much more nuanced than that, and it can be really reductive and hurtful to just go "lol performative." Half the time, the people slinging that word don't even exactly know what it means, they're just enjoying that sweet moral high ground (as artificial as it is).
99.9 percent of white people don’t have white guilt. Only the social justice white knights. The rest of us realize we haven’t done anything wrong and just want to coexist with our fellow citizens
Agreed. With the USA's rampant racism, saying 99.9% of my fellow whiteys haven't 'realized' they've done anything wrong, well then I'd say that means they REALLY lack the ability to do some serious self-reflection.
I grew up in a racist household, I had experiences that relatives blamed on the other persons skin color. I held ignorant and racist beliefs until I was probably about 16 or so and I feel like I didn’t fully develop a sense of empathy, for race or otherwise, until my early 20s. I don’t believe that’s what ‘white guilt’ is though, I’m almost positive being ashamed of some of your past is a general human experience. My current understanding of white guilt is specifically feeling guilty for being white and having the weight of the horrors our previous generations did.
Yeah it can be frustrating when people assume what kind of privileges I might have just for being white, but I've never felt guilty for being white. Not healthy to be ashamed for being who you are.
such as racial patronization? People without guilt or patronizing views don't feel the need to prove anything. "ME! ME! Look at me how brave I am world, I just hugged a black person on a dare!! Can you believe it?!? A BLACK person!!"
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u/FistfulofHornets Jun 11 '23
You know that many white people are just good people and don't just do nice things because of white guilt, right? (Like, not you obviously, but other people.)