American white people really hate being called "white people

[KitSileya]

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/policy-and-politics/2018/7/26/17613844/racial-diversity-poll-twitter-white-people?__twitter_impression=true

A Twitter poll drama, explained.
By David Roberts on July 26, 2018 3:10 pm

A few days ago, I came across this rather striking finding from a recent public opinion survey by the Public Religion Research Institute:

Does increased racial diversity have a positive or negative impact on America?

...
It occurred to me that white people rarely if ever experience questions like this, about their very legitimacy. Do they belong? Is having more of them around good for America?

...

Substantively (if you can call it that), there were two basic reactions. One is to say that I’m a racist, or liberals are the real racists, because they keep calling attention to race and dividing people up by race, while conservatives are just trying to be individuals and judge people by the content of their character. It’s the “No puppet! You’re the puppet!” of racism.

...

In most situations in the US, a woman is a female person. Someone part of a racial minority is a black person or a Latino person, etc. Gay people. Trans people. Immigrant people. All these groups are [adjective] people, people with an asterisk, while a white, heterosexual male is simply a person, as generic as he chooses. His presence is taken for granted; it rarely occurs to anyone to question it. A white man in khakis and a polo shirt can walk into almost any milieu in the US and, even if he’s greeted with hostility, be taken seriously. His legitimacy is assumed.

The power and privilege that come along with that — being the base model, a person with no asterisk — are invisible to many white men. Simply calling them “white people,” much less questioning the behavior or beliefs of white people, drags that power and privilege into the open.

In light of recent threads here on DU, I found this article very enlightening. It serms that even on this progressive website there are white people who ferl it is racist to call white people white people, because to do so challenges their normative position. White people are to them people, while all others are (adjective) people. Interesting.

[Tipperary]

1. I have no problem being called a white person. The stupid nicknames are annoying, but I just

figure some people need to use nicknames to make themselves feel superior.

I am white. I am as happy in my skin as any person of any other race presumably is. I have never felt the need to call people by silly nicknames that sound as if a toddler made them up.

[phylny]

3. Agreed. I stopped reading posts

using pejorative words. I’m white, can’t help it, born this way.

[OnDoutside]

10. It takes a lot to make me put anyone on my ignore list but the

carry on of two immature provocateurs in particular, led me to adding them and I must say it has made DU a much better experience.

[Tipperary]

14. Yes, I did the same. Never had anyone on ignore before that idiocy.

It does make things better. They became tiresome.

[OnDoutside]

8. You should probably re-read Tipperary's post, they did not make

the statement you suggested.

[Demit]

21. She said "some people need to use nicknames to make themselves feel superior."

She said that's what she "figures" their motive is. Doesn't get any plainer upon rereading.

[OnDoutside]

56. Where does she say that she feels superior ?

[Tipperary]

16. No. I did not. Feel free to attribute motives to me that make you happy.

I am a gay, white woman. I am happy in my skin. I feel sure others are the same...despite their gender, sexual orientation, or color. As they should be.

[ailsagirl]

24. What you said

+100000

[EndGOPPropaganda]

63. +1

[bitterross]

11. I agree. Please feel free to use valid attributes to describe me.

Feel free to refer to me as a gay, white male. A white male. A white man. A white person.

There is nothing offensive nor charged with any sort of underlying meaning in any of that.

Just as no other person wants to be painted with a broad brush based on some immutable physical characteristics neither do I.

I find, and have posted at length here, the use of names like "wypipo" is inappropriate. The word "wypipo" is a term that paints an entire group with the same brush based solely upon their skin color. We find that wrong when people do the same thing using the n-word or or other class terms like Muslim, Christian, "faggot," etc. We should be consistent and hold our selves to the same standards across the board.

[Tipperary]

17. Yes.

[EndGOPPropaganda]

64. Yes

[SMC22307]

22. Agree. None whatsoever.

And nicknames like "wypipo" (or however it's spelled) is just as idiotic as all the other nicknames out there for every other racial group.

[brewens]

58. I saw the wypipo thing. I never even wasted my time trying to figure out what they

meant by that. I might not bother to read an explanation even if someone gives one here.

[Ferrets are Cool]

39. ...

Thumbs UP

[Hoyt]

2. Old Bill Maher joke -- There are two things white Republicans hate --

There are two things white Republicans hate -- (1) Being called a "racist;" and, . . . . . . (2) Black people.

[Iggo]

54. Still funny!

[dchill]

4. I think being called an American bothers me more ...

than being called a white person. These days, anyway.

[Tipperary]

7. Damn good point.

[bitterross]

13. OUCH! The truth hurts though.

I unfortunately have to agree. Ugly American used to be the term. Now, they can drop the "ugly" and it still sticks.

[dchill]

69. The "ugly" is implied.

[irisblue]

5. These paragraphs from the article are intetesting & thought provoking to me

snip...."simply discussing race at all kicks up those effects among the racially dominant group. Or to put it more bluntly, in the US context: White people really don’t like being called white people. They don’t like being reminded that they are white people, part of a group with discernible boundaries, shared interests, and shared responsibilities.


After all, one of the benefits of being in the dominant demographic and cultural group is that you are allowed to simply be a person, a blank slate upon which you can write your own individual story. You have no baggage but what you choose.

In most situations in the US, a woman is a female person. Someone part of a racial minority is a black person or a Latino person, etc. Gay people. Trans people. Immigrant people. All these groups are [adjective] people, people with an asterisk, while a white, heterosexual male is simply a person, as generic as he chooses. His presence is taken for granted; it rarely occurs to anyone to question it. A white man in khakis and a polo shirt can walk into almost any milieu in the US and, even if he’s greeted with hostility, be taken seriously. His legitimacy is assumed.

The power and privilege that come along with that — being the base model, a person with no asterisk — are invisible to many white men. Simply calling them “white people,” much less questioning the behavior or beliefs of white people, drags that power and privilege into the open"

[klook]

32. Yep, that's the essence of it.

When you hear a news report, you can always tell when the dead person, assailant, or whatever is white, because then it will just be "A middle-aged man allegedly robbed the Burger King at the corner of Fifth and Main and is still at large." If it's a person of color, it'll be "A middle-aged black man..." or "A middle-aged Hispanic man..." etc.

Now if you're a home-owning, married heterosexual white male you've got pretty much all the cards in the deck of privilege in this society. The wild card that seals the deal beyond all reproach is wealth, but if you've got the rest of those you're in good shape. Some people holding all these cards are resentful when it's pointed out. "What? You don't think I've got problems?" And of course, they do have their own problems. Plenty of them. But they'll almost certainly never have the problem of being pulled over for a broken taillight and getting into a confrontation with a steroid-pumped racist cop and ending up dead -- or any of the other many problems that come with being a member of a minority that's treated as inferior.

That's why those of who do carry the invisible knapsack of white privilege owe a duty to our fellow human beings to work to change society so that nobody is abused or disrespected because of their skin color or any other class marker.

[dameatball]

9. It's weird how many of the same people that are offended by "African American" or "Muslim American"

or "Cuban American" etc., still think of themselves as "White Americans" and that's okay with them. The talking point is that everyone should just consider themselves "Americans." Do they? Not really.

[OnDoutside]

12. Did you see the recent Trevor Noah dispute with the French ambassador ?

You'll find it on YouTube and it brings an interesting perspective to your post.

[dameatball]

15. No I did not. Thanks for the info.

[vercetti2021]

18. I'm a white person

But I'm also convinced I'm a vampire

[Blue_true]

20. Bite into a clove of garlic.

I eat enough garlic that I know for sure that I am not a vampire. Anything else? Well, whatever.

[vercetti2021]

25. But I love blood

My own

[Progressive dog]

19. Most of us realize that there

are multiple kinds of people out there. When describing someone, of course skin color will be included-including white.

[Tom Rinaldo]

23. I'm pretty used to being called a "straight white male"

but then again both my social circles and reading materials are clearly left of center. It's an objectively accurate and therefor neutral term, unless it is intentionally being used as a slur. It's those other straight white men who have a problem with this

[Hortensis]

26. Only true for me when an expression of malice or to deliver lies.

I'm pretty sure I'm very ordinary in that.

Who among these targeted groups is going to appreciate Trump's maliciously hostile, “the overwhelming amount of violent crime in our cities is committed by blacks and Hispanics”?

[Snake Plissken]

27. Why would I have a problem being called a White person?

I'm not ashamed of who I am, but I am ashamed of the racists who keep bring up with racist garbage, day in and day out.

[EffieBlack]

66. Apparently, you're not alone ...

Link to tweet

[ismnotwasm]

28. Great article

Won’t work on the people that need to listen

[lark]

29. WYPIPO is the only thing I've heard anyone here object to.

And that's because it's not really a word, it's undefined in that the definition keeps changing. On the original thread, there were 3-4 different definitions..

[KSNY]

30. "White Fragility"

is the title of a book I just ordered. Robin DiAngelo. It rings very true. Although I pride myself in being an "up by the bootstraps" person, I would be foolish not to realize that many of the opportunities I have had in my working-class to upper-middle class life were available to me because I am white.

This does not discount my talent, my ethics, or make me a white supremacist (I try to work against racial and other forms of oppression), but it would be foolish to think that I have had the same advantages as a black person from a similar socio-economic background.

[brer cat]

47. I just ordered that book also.

I'm looking forward to reading it. Welcome to DU.

[DavidDvorkin]

31. Meaningless Twitter poll

The numbers might as well have been entirely made up. It tells us nothing.

[irisblue]

34. Yeah, you mentioned that yesterday in Editorials&Other Articles. Thanks for the reminder.

[DavidDvorkin]

41. Since the meaningless poll has been publicized again

Last edited Sat Jul 28, 2018, 05:05 PM - Edit history (1)

A reminder was needed.

A lot of people reading this thread probably didn't see the other one.

[irisblue]

42. admire your consistency. BTW, what did you think about the rest of article after twitter lead in?

I am truly interested in knowing. Thanks David.

[DavidDvorkin]

45. It's a good essay

But it's undermined by the use of fake numbers. I wish he had just written it as an essay.

BTW, although I have never encountered the kind of rejection -- condemned as not belonging -- that he refers to, I have been subject to a milder version of it from an early age. What he's saying needs to be said, and I wish he hadn't undermined his essay. Reliable numbers might be available. I don't know. If they are, I wish he had used them. As it is, he's handed ammunition to the yahoos.

For reference, you might find this essay of mine interesting:
http://www.dvorkin.com/essays/imcotr.php

[irisblue]

59. You write very well

[DavidDvorkin]

60. Thank you.

[KitSileya]

44. The point of the article wasn't the poll results,

But rather the reactions to and the comments on the poll itself. Didn't you read it?

[DavidDvorkin]

46. I read it, but as I said in #45

Using fake numbes undermines the essay.

[TygrBright]

33. Excellent article and well worth reading the whole thing.

I wonder how many of my fellow DUers will actually do so before posting in this thread?

By the looks of it so far, somewhere less than fifty percent.

sadly,
Bright

[ProfessorGAC]

68. I Did

The writing is fine!
The conclusions are wildly singular and unsupported by anything but a random Twitter poll.

[heaven05]

35. ++++

nail on the head with a big goddamn hammer. Boom!!!

[SunSeeker]

36. K & R

[mehrrh]

37. whites apparently need no explanation

Interesting observation.

[roamer65]

38. European Americans.

I prefer that term since North American caucasians are a hodge podge of differing European races. If you are white, you are a European American. You are descendent from European immigrants. I am one.

It also denotes that we were not the original inhabitants of this continent. We came here as invaders and destroyed cultures...many of them....Aztec, Incan, etc, etc...

We also enslaved Africans and brought them here against their will. That’s the cold, hard truth.

[left-of-center2012]

40. I trashed threads/posts using "wypipo"

Call me white;
I respect all other races.

[Iggo]

55. I type "white people", but I pronounce it "wypipo".

[MrModerate]

43. Context is everything. I call black people "black people" . . .

When that's the context of the discussion. Otherwise, they're just part of "people."

And so on.

[brer cat]

48. K&R

[kacekwl]

49. I could not care less just

don't call me late for dinner.

[oberliner]

50. This article was written by an American white person

[tirebiter]

51. I got used to haole

Even on kill a haole day.

[beachbum bob]

52. I hate being called late to dinner way more than being call white,, all seems

Like joke to me..

[Iggo]

53. Yeah...well...tough.

[jcboon]

57. Crackers, Honkey, whatever fits

We deserve it

[whathehell]

61. Lol..You are joking, right?

Definitely one of the odder assertions I've seen here of late.

[EffieBlack]

62. Funny how a thoughtful OP about white people hating to be called "white people"

was met immediately with several white people complaining about some white people being labeled with a term that describes specific behaviors that they don't think they engage in so it it doesn't apply to them and that they likely weren't even aware of until a couple of months ago when they first happened to read about it on DU - and was completely beside the point of the piece.

Interesting.

[hfojvt]

65. nah, it is okay to be white

the racism only comes in with the blanket negative statements about white people, but there's really no point in objecting since in our society these days it is also okay to be racist against white people, but that mostly comes from the left too.

I also disagree with this "In most situations in the US, a woman is a female person. Someone part of a racial minority is a black person or a Latino person, etc. Gay people. Trans people. Immigrant people. All these groups are [adjective] people, people with an asterisk,"

A lot of situations that people deal with for most of their lives, they are people, people with names and not categories. Working with C for 3 hours last night he was C, and not "a black guy". When they are strangers, they are probably mostly ignored, and not put into categories. Also, people that I am with have no way of knowing if I am straight or gay or an immigrant. Other labels can easily be attached to me on sight - I am an old guy. I am a skinny guy. I am an unattractive guy. Maybe even a semi-tall guy. People also decide pretty quick that I am a strange guy. So straight white guys can pick up an asterisk just as easily as anybody else. There are also other labels that we accept, like Irish or German or Scot or Weegie, etc.

[wasupaloopa]

67. The OP is not a study. It is someone's opinion. There are no references, no footnotes. Just a

theory some guy comes up with using his powers of observation I guess. But these kind of OP's are taken very seriously at DU.

I call them the mea culpa white people threads. White people saying Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa Mea Maxima Culpa. Mostly guilt tripping others who don't agree.

Oh Yes you have to have read the whole thing before you are permitted to have an opinion. And of course those who agree don't need it but those who need it don't read it.


The best ones are those that say white people are unwittingly racist. The racist things you don't know you do but are racist just the same.

[Judi Lynn]

70. Who on earth wouldn't understand exactly why someone would know exactly what is meant?

Who is so stupid he/she does NOT know the horrific suffering inflicted by the people who had all the advanced weaponry, the wealth with which to control militaries and weapons, and the viciousness involved in committing genocide and riding roughshod over every single person different from them?

Who doesn't know? Why wouldn't he/she know? Congenital idiot?

The subject is too stupid to consider for more than a moment.

If the shoe fits, wear the damned thing, and shut up.

If you don't identify with those who have committed genocide, astonishing degrees of hellish hatred handed out to the powerless, cowardly bullying, you should keep your own counsel, knowing that those who are aggrieved have every damned reason in the world to be so.

If you're not guilty, stay out of it. If you are guilty, you should take your lumps until it occurs to you not to hate your fellow beings. The world has seen more than enough of that thousands of years ago. Don't even try to keep it going, as you'll have no one but ugly, backward losers to support your warped, twisted trucculence toward imaginary enemies.

Why DO these threads keep returning anyway? What's the point?

[whistler162]

71. So if someone writes a article about

some twits on twitter that answer a poll in such away that the numbers show that African-Americans like being called the N word then it is very enlightening to you!