American white people really hate being called "white people"

[irisblue]

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/policy-and-politics/2018/7/26/17613844/racial-diversity-poll-twitter-white-people
snip..."
question is also notable for its unstated premise: that the growing presence of people other than whites in the US (what else could “increased racial diversity” mean in a majority-white country?) is a subject of active political debate. It is not taken for granted as constitutive of a multiethnic democracy but treated as a kind of add-on, an extra feature. “Is it working? Maybe we should roll it back. Let’s discuss.”

snip..."I tried to imagine how that question might strike, oh, someone whose grandparents immigrated from Uganda. That person is just as much a citizen as any other American. She did not choose to be black and cannot choose to be some other race. But now she hears that it is, at the very least, an open question whether her mere presence — and her choice to have children, to further diversify America — is detrimental to her country. Is it bad to have her around at all because she’s black? Let’s discuss.

>This is something I see when I visit conservative websites.<
snip..."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."

snip..."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 ..."


The article is giving me much to think about

[bobbieinok]

1. Thanks for link. Info no real surprise, but situation is real and will increasingly cause problems.

[WhiteTara]

2. K&R

[DavidDvorkin]

3. It's a Twitter poll

It's meaningless.

[irisblue]

5. Oh yeah, a twitter poll is 'meaningless' but

did you read this part..."Yale psychologist Jennifer Richeson, noting she “has done pioneering work on the way perceptions of demographic threat and change affect people’s political opinions, voting behavior, and ideas about themselves.”

One of Richeson’s key insights is that reminders of coming demographic decline — the notion that America will soon become a “majority minority” country, with people of color outnumbering whites — not only cause increased hostility toward other racial groups (which might be expected) but also push white people in a conservative direction on seemingly unrelated policy questions like tax rates and oil drilling."


And this part..."
Indeed, as research on “priming” shows, 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."

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Nonetheless, the numbers given in the OP are meaningless.

[irisblue]

7. Ok, well thanks for input. nt

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

4. K&R

[Turbineguy]

8. There are a lot of white people

that have made it a derogatory term.

[cyclonefence]

9. What I don't get

is that while talking about race (esp. among Democrats) is "divisive," the issues being talked about (esp. white privilege) are somehow not divisive? I think white privilege (or insert any one of the endless examples of overt, intentional racism that have been posted here) would make people of color feel *more* divided from the majority than talking about it would. Wouldn't the example of white people being interested in exploring racism, especially institutionalized racism which we white people are largely unaware of, be a *unifying* matter? The only division I've seen here coming from discussions of racism has been from white people who don't want to discuss racism, who feel *divided* from other white people who want to talk about racism. It's not the racism, it seems, that divides us (crazy as that sounds) but the willingness to talk about it (which sounds even crazier).

[Oneironaut]

10. White males in the US are the "default" person.

Ever notice how the media describes people? If someone is anything other than white and male, it is pointed out. We cannot have equality when white males are given a “default” status in this country.

[irisblue]

12. Well, thanks for your input. HEHEHEHEHEHE.

Like every other DUer I can & will post articles of interest to me.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[lagomorph777]

13. Your attitude makes it pretty clear which side you're on.

[irisblue]

14. Or a solid laugh at being called a troll. HEHEHE

"Hope Vlad sends you a bonus.

A Democrat would have recognized that the "white people" here at DU consider ourselves allies with people of any color or background, who share values of justice and unity. We (like all smart Dems) can spot a Russian troll a mile away.)

[Lady Freedom Returns]

15. I'm multiracial.

I'm not all Caucasian, not all Native American, not all Hispanic, and not all African American.
First glance people see me as Caucasian, then they start to notice things that does not look Caucasian in my features.

And when it comes to the race question on some paperwork, it's not that I don't want to answer, not all give me a box to pick for my full linage.

And the insults that come with some people that find out about my background is unbearable. I feel for Congresswoman Warren when the tyrant calls her Pocahontas. I was called that since Middle School.
And another name I got called was Pinky due to the African American. And some other nasty names in Spanish I will not repeat because of my Hispanic blood lines.

I am proud of my heritage, though it has been rough. Then to hear there are people that are upset being called white. Something that some have use as an excuse to reschedule me for not being totally...

Sorry if I can't feel bad for white people being called white. There are worse things to be called than White.

[MicaelS]

16. I'm a white person...

And perfectly fine with that description.

If asked to describe myself, I would say "I'm a big, fat, white man with short blonde hair and glasses."

[irisblue]

17. Okay & your point in stating this is what, exactly please?

[MicaelS]

18. That I am not the least bit bothered..

By being called a white person.

[irisblue]

20. Ok, so how do you feel about

The white supremacy that certainly helps to foster racism in this country? The article does examine that point. Thanks for responding.

[MicaelS]

21. I think it's wrong.

What else is there to say?

[uriel1972]

19. I doubt many whites like being reminded of the "heritage"...

of rape, genocide and plunder that our history records almost absentmindedly... almost as if somebody was trying to hide it.

That said, I'm as white as they come, generations and generations of anglo-scot-irish-welsh.
Am I racist? Of course.
I was raised in a racist society and it rubs off on you, no matter how you try to deny it.
However, I recognize this fact and try to deal with it the best I can.

No matter your situation, if you are white, you are most likely to be better off than someone who isn't.

If I was born into a non-anglo family, my healthcare and financial situation would have been adversely affected by that fact.
I have benefited a great deal by being white in a structurally white environment. I have benefited from generations of racism.

That I think is a hard pill to swallow for many priviliged people to swallow. That it wasn't their work or effort or brains, it was their melanin-deficiencey.