i just stumbled across that dumbthingswhitepplsay blog and um…okay

(i really don’t want to sound uneducated or ignorant or prejudiced at all, so hear me out)

i am, quite obviously, white. i am a third-generation white american woman, to be more specific, i guess. i live in new york city, where i see/interact with more people of color than white people. in class, i’m one of the few white people. in my neighborhood, i’m one of the few white people. when i meet someone, i usually identify them by race subconsciously. i don’t mean to be racist (i don’t think it is), but it’s convenient. if i meet someone at school and i’m telling my friend about it, i’ll say, “oh, so i met this black guy at school.” if i meet someone, i donno, on the street, and i’m talking about it later, i’ll say, “wow, i met this crazy white girl today!” same goes for latino, asian, eastern european, any race, nationality, ethnicity, whatever.

i don’t only identify people of color by their race, i do it with white people as well. when i talk about a white acquaintance, i’ll say, “oh, this white guy i know…” just as readily as i’d say, “oh, this asian guy i know…” again, maybe it’s because i live in the city and everyone is jumbled up equally in my head. my life is full of mexican co-workers, african cab drivers, pakistani food cart guys, pretty black girls in my classes, friends from all different backgrounds and races and everything because that’s just how it is here.

anyway, when i saw this dumbthingswhitepplsay blog, it enraged me. not in a “omg i’m white this person is racist against white people how dare he/she!!!!!” way, but because i read their about me page and their FAQ page and was appalled. first of all, if you ask this person anything, they want you to google it. okay, that’s fair for facts and theories, but what about opinions? this blogger refuses to explain anything about why they are personally so racist, so bigoted, what their opinion of anything is, and so on. they simply state their shit and tell you that it’s a fucking fact, and that your opinion is automatically wrong if you think otherwise.

on the faq, one of the questions is “why do you hate whites so much?” and the blogger answers, “because take a history class and look up some modern statistics, that’s why!” excuse me, the last time i checked, the past was history. history teaches us a lot, and it also teaches us NOT to be racist. learning about the horrible shit that went on in this country makes me want to be a better person, not an ignorant fool. 

maybe my rant will not convince you of anything. but if you go to that blog, i’m sure you’ll see the same thing i see. i know there are standards, there are things that people don’t like to put into words, there is white privilege and racism and oppression. but instead of helping us (and by “us” i mean the human race) move forward to try to change that, this blogger is trying to build a house in the past and live there forever. that blog doesn’t make me feel racist against people of color, and it doesn’t make me feel racist against white people. it makes me feel sick that someone thinks that way.

that blogger doesn’t know me, and he/she doesn’t have any interest in knowing me, because i’m white. and that’s something i can’t say about anyone. i have never been uninterested in knowing someone based on their race. it has made no difference. gah, i’m not trying to be like “oh, i’m a friendly white woman trying to befriend people of color to make myself feel better.” NO. almost everyone has racist thoughts. they can range from “oh, she’s pregnant at 14 because she’s puerto rican!” to “IT’S 11 PM AND I’M A 16 YEAR OLD GIRL WALKING HOME AND THERE’S A GUY WALKING 10 FEET BEHIND ME AND I’M SCARED BECAUSE HE’S BIG AND BLACK!” yes, those thoughts still exist.

and sometimes i have thoughts that could be considered racist, too. but against EVERYONE. sometimes when i see asian girls wearing really colorful, outrageous clothes and accessories, i’ll think, “they must be japanese.” is that even racist, i don’t know. equally, i think tiny racist thoughts about white people, as well. especially middle-aged white men. i work in a restaurant, so i have constant thoughts of, “just order your dumb burger and fries you dumb white guy, i know you’re already going to tell me you want a drink too after you’ve already paid so i might as well ask you ahead of time. dumbass businessman.” same with the annoying, elitist white women i meet who think they’re entitled to some special treatment because their bad plastic surgery cost more than my mother’s house. ugh.

my (long, winded, horribly written) point is that these kinds of blogs and mindsets push everyone back. there is truth to some of what the blogger is saying. yes, oppression, white privilege, etc…but to be so close-minded, ignorant, and rude otherwise is not going to get that point across, at all. they’re not trying to educate people, as they explicitly state. it’s been a long night.